brief points
These are random thoughts I have yet to put into any essays.
Current arguments I intend to create
Argument from hypocrisy
Argument from theological architecture
Argument from pseudo-ethics
Argument from amoral theology
Argument from accountability
Argument from WTF?
AFA
The Jews don't consider god is accountable by his own laws, so he isn't called "good" in Judaism. But xtians say he is, thusly he becomes morally accountable, so then can be judged for his crimes, but if the xtians says you cannot judge him, then he is not accountable, so he cannot be considered good.
Without a dichotomy of morality, evil to contrast good, nothing can be labelling either. Even by his own 613 commandments he is a lawbreaker, let alone by any more enlightened ethical standards. To get him off the hook, you have to make him immune from having to follow his own ideas about good, making his arbitrary behaviour unquestionable, and beyond the scope of his arbitrary rules, resulting in a complete absence of ethical reasoning.
copy errors in religious doctrine lead to mutation, which when selected by circumstance, environment or the schemer create more successful memes, leading to greater and greater religions than can spread quicker, and create deeper rooted dependencies, Judaism better than Zoroastianism, Xtianity greater than Judaism, Islam greater than Xtianity...
listen to an apologist and replace the word Jesus with crack
every xtian comes with a threat, the one that says "you go to hell if your not one of us!" it is implicit in all their beliefs, they need to include threats as their doctrine lacks any virtue that can stand on it's own.
Does the pope crap on humanity?
Push any philosophy or religion to its extreme or logical conclusion and judge it by that.
they say faith and belief is great, well I say it's greater to know, and the things you loose when faith is abandoned are insignificant compared to what knowledge brings
well, I must be off, the world isn't going to de-convert itself (my sig)
That's what we call Intellectual Terrorism, go in, blast their minds, and leave behind a swath of devastation, all in the name of the cause.
Current self-definition.
philosopher rationalist humanist freethinker Stoic Epicurean humanitarian environmentalist strong-atheist sceptic otaku empirical-ethicist (all categories subject to change, don't ever say I'm not flexible)
The only reason theistic ideas make sense to them is cuz they haven't actually thought them through.
"intellectual" or "academic" theists are naught but shallow reflection of the genuine type, and no more real thinkers than a someone can be truly called a body builder if they only exercise one limb
"faith is justifiable only when something cannot be determined by knowledge"
In the absence of evidence either way, faith, or hope, assumption is understandable, and even under some circumstances desirable, a source of strength etc. But when there is knowledge, evidence, and a reason to deny it, faith becomes the "acceptable" name of a policy of anti-intellectual, anti-freethought, anti-university, anti-learning assumptions, the cause of many a setback in society.
Those believers unfortunate enough to be part of such a faith are no longer in a reasonable or in an understandable position, but have to develop a stubborn refusal to think, see or let go of an indefensible assumption. Most theist think their faith is a virtuous and necessary thing as there's no proof, and can't be for "free will" or other arguments. But as there is a great deal of empirical material on which to judge the validity of theistic claims it is simply ignorance that makes faith appear to be a decent position to base all of ones life. To have a world-view dependant absence of consideration of the facts, or a hated of those that do, sceptics, atheist, scientists, is a pitiful state to be in.
its very easy for a rationalist to develop a deep hatred for all religion, simply as an insult to the intelligence, but most people are not intelligent to realise they are being insulted, so they don't really appreciate the Wheless or McCabe style contempt for religion, so the best strategy is a more tempered Socratic method, and to save the disgust for the moral outrages.
a humanist's first responsibility is to human life, the theists obedience to their deity, its a question of responsibility and who can be trusted
religion makes people "behave" by giving them a mental illness, this is simply a bad method to employ, effective at time, but too many drawbacks.
All xtians are either sadists or masochists, the "turn the other cheek type", or the "shoot them all, let god sort them out" type
Life is short enough, but thinking it goes on forever makes life even shorter
With theism the degree of certainty is out of proportion with the amount of reasons for being so. Atheism is always less certain on principle, even though are reasons for it are vastly greater than the opposition's.
god is the most popular "reason" to hurt others, so an atheist is less likely to hurt others unless another "reason" is invented, and such ideas must be opposed as much as theism. Otherwise we might as well worship gods again for all the good we will do.
As a humanist their life means more to me than it does to them
xtian morality is an oxymoron
There are too many things in this world that are real to fixate on things that aren't
it all boils down to the balance of freedom and responsibility
freethinker is a healthier mind, as to be a theist "intellectual" is like excising only one half of your body
socially responsible individualism
direct humanitarianism = humanism
we cut out the middle man/god/ideology/state/revolution
to help humanity you help humanity directly not by serving a god or the state, as such indirect routes become a source of inhumane systems
cults kill thousands, religions kill millions
The meaning of life is yours...
words fail me...
Original sin is backdated to Adam by xtian theology but is nonetheless absent from Judaism
All faith is placebo
Religion is a bluff, and I'm calling it
Religion thrives on ignorance, as philosophy thrives on knowledge
Any philosophy can have moral elements, it's the reduction of immorality that must be the focus of the "ethicist", as that is a more argent concern. The positives must be ignored, as they can be replicated, if needed, but an established or powerful ideology has to be scrutinised and judged by it's negatives, as they are what negate it's right to exist.
religion can be used to justify good and evil, but there's only so much good it can do, and the evil it justifies is infinite
there is nothing about xtianity that implies a divine origin
theists live in the clouds, be able to shoot them down by having your feet very firmly planted on the ground
proselytisers are trick or treaters, that bate with a treat, but only have a trick
intellectual inbreeding is what has resulted from apologism, and xtianity's attempts to steal scholarly credibility has made PhDs whose world-views are only valid within the narrow confines of theistic assumption.
reducing xtain doctrine to handy Sound-Bites miss-represents what the religion is really about, both over all, and once you get deep enough into it, for those who live as superficial xtians the golden rule is what their faith means, but this is not reflected in xtianity's history, as it takes some real trite reductionism to get it to a benign state that is no more truly xtian that I am.
refusing to be anti-xtian is as morally inexcusable as refusing to anti-nazi, If you do not stand up to these abomination of ethics and decency then you are as bad as they are.
its largely the ignorant xtians that are moral, those who are aware if its history and doctrine and defend it are the most ethically abhorrent
all xtians are victims, they are being exploited and conned, so there's nothing
wrong with exploiting them yourself, as it's their natural state, and what they are made to do to everyone less, except those in the "know" i.e. the likes of me
religion is not a right, its an affliction
enough of this lesser mortalry!
I assume the xtian is ignorant, because there is no way you could know what I do about the bible and still believe it, unless your insane
I never worry about what people think, because they don't, it their actions that worry me.
Man borne free and everywhere without brains
we are less than animals, until we have reached the level we are meant for, we have no right to claim superiority
Humanism is based on the acceptance eof certain facts
Theism is based on the necessary rejection of certain facts
we are going to die, all that remains is our memory in others, so our goal, like Cleobis and Bito should be to make that memory as positive as possible.
just say Jesus sent you and you'll get a free funny look
women are not a commodity
Looking for answers? Go to a church.
Looking for the truth? Look no further.
Humanity is an end unto itself
My moral imperative is, life first, ethics second, and a philosophy that recognises itself as third and the only one I find that fits that is humanism
Mistaking the allegory of Noah for a historical fact is like mistaking Aesop's fables for nature documentaries
It is best to confine ethical principles to be severe limits of human behaviour, and not tried to force perfection on anyone
All religion is a heresy to reason.
I really dislike the dishonesty of using god to hide behind when their bigotry compels them to persecute others, they always pretend it is not "them" and that they have nothing personally against those they speak out against, that it is only because its their lords will that they do this, I do not believe it. Gods morals always vary according to regional demography of education, culture and the balance of conservatism or progress.
God is a fixed standard-a ruler not a ruler
A "Necessary lie" no matter how benevolent always has a flaw, it has to be believed, and there are always those that need more substance in their reality diet
sin is disobedience to an authority that is wrong
immorality is just wrong
Will tomorrow never stop?
The burden of freedom
The Bible is not the final word on anything, even itself, dead words of dead men
Because it is right, not because it is scripture
It is the current state of rapid change in society that harms our moral stability, we need an ethical system designed to keep up, not tradition. It is this a lack of responsive ethical standards and examples that leads to immorality, not secularisation, religion is a static model, society is not static,
It is possible to be chaotic and moral
Hate is never worth the emotional investment.