Oh boy! Our first true philosophical post!
Bear with me on this one. I could spend a few days reading a bunch of fancy articles and repeating them here, but instead I intend to use my own words. I do encourage you to check out the wikipedia article on this for a mostly unreadable synopsis of common views on the Un-Caused Cause (henceforth the UC).
We live in a universe where action tends to cause reaction. In short, when we ask the question 'Why did X happen?' we can usually trace X back to Y.
Not so with the UC.
For Theists, the UC boils down to the existence of G-d. Genesis begins with the line "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
This implies that before there was a 'beginning' there was a G-d. We do not know how he came into existence - we are told instead that they were there before time. We are not told how G-d came to be, simply that they were. Whether reading the Bible as a series of parables/metaphors or as a factual account, anything before G-d creating the heavens is the UC.
There's a lot of debate and speculation here that I'll leave to apologetic thought to explain. Put plainly, we are not given a cause for the origin of G-d. Only their effect of creation.
On the flip side, for Atheists, the UC boils down to the Big Bang. Off the top of my head, I believe that some physicists have gotten within a few nano-seconds of the BB in terms of their modeling everything that came after. But, no one can offer an acceptable theory as to how conditions that LED to the BB came about. Granted, everything after the BB seems to line up (with the annoying exception of dark matter and dark energy) but as to how we arrived there? *shrug*
Both sides tend to fixate on the other's UC as 'proof' that they are being foolish.
False. Both sides have the same logical gap. We cannot show an X that leads back to Y. In this, both parties are essentially telling their adherents to go with what they feel to be true.
At the end of the day, the difference between a Theist and an Atheist boils down to which theory they place their faith in.
Also, whether or not they are putting on pants on a weekend.
Bourbon count: 5
6.7.16
29.6.16
Tenets of Atheists
Hi! This is going to be relatively short, as I told you in my last post that Atheists don't have a unified dogma. Nevertheless, I believe anyone who claims the title of Atheist believes in some variation of the four following tenets (yay arbitrary numbers!).
----
#1. There is no Reload, Restart or New Game Plus mode to life.
From a video game analogy. There is no reload, restart or NG+ available. This means that when you die, not only is the game over but that there is no chance to retry with what you have learned. In short, your existence is a speed-run on hardcore mode. When you die, the game's source code is wiped from your perspective.
What does this mean? Live your current life and don't waste any time thinking about the possibility of what might come after. An Atheist does not subscribe to the notion that 'there are no atheists in foxholes' - indeed, they are the people screaming obscenities as shells rain down. Because death is an ending, and an early ending means a low score.
#2. Truth is what we can observe and verify.
If I hear a voice, but no one else can, and the voice does not repeat: there was no voice. In short, the scientific method trumps personal experience and belief. You can stand there and honestly tell me that you heard the voice of G-d telling you to be a better person, but if no one else can hear it, I'm sorry that you are suffering from schizophrenia.
What does this mean? My own observable experiences will shape my likely beliefs, but the ability to verify your experiences will shape my certain beliefs. If you can't record All-h telling you to burn someone alive, I'm going to call you crazy and a lunatic rather that 'god-touched'.
#3. Any intelligent creator would be an active creator.
If there was a G-d that set the universe in motion, he would be interested in it from more than an observational standpoint. If he isn't, then worshiping him is a waste of time. To flip the old 'clock maker' analogy, if you stumbled across a working pocket watch in the desert, why would you think the clock maker is around and cares what happens to the watch? It's in the freaking desert!
What does this mean? That the Un-caused Cause (to be covered next week!) dilemma doesn't really bother Atheists. Yes, I can't prove that your G-d didn't cause the Big Bang. But since we don't see evidence of it's active involvement today, why should I live my life by what you say it's rules are?
#4. Don't you hate pants?
Waking up early on any weekend to sit around for an hour being told what to think either makes you a Theist or an old Republican. Sleeping in naked is a much better use of our time.
What does this mean? Whenever you are worshiping, I am spending my time on things that I value. That doesn't make me better than you, it just means I have different priorities in mind.
----
So, I've stated that this blog is not meant to poke at active Theists, and I'm certain that someone reading this somewhere has steam coming out of their ears. Relax, buddy!
This is a very loose attempt to give you a view into how most Atheists set our worldview. It is not meant to criticize your own. I am deliberately exaggerating uncommon Theist viewpoints to try and set the parallel up.
If you are offended, I would encourage you to take each point and set up your counter argument. Finished? Congrats! You have laid out a few tenets of your own beliefs! This doesn't make me wrong or you right, instead it simply shows that we have different viewpoints.
Bourbon Count: 6
----
#1. There is no Reload, Restart or New Game Plus mode to life.
From a video game analogy. There is no reload, restart or NG+ available. This means that when you die, not only is the game over but that there is no chance to retry with what you have learned. In short, your existence is a speed-run on hardcore mode. When you die, the game's source code is wiped from your perspective.
What does this mean? Live your current life and don't waste any time thinking about the possibility of what might come after. An Atheist does not subscribe to the notion that 'there are no atheists in foxholes' - indeed, they are the people screaming obscenities as shells rain down. Because death is an ending, and an early ending means a low score.
#2. Truth is what we can observe and verify.
If I hear a voice, but no one else can, and the voice does not repeat: there was no voice. In short, the scientific method trumps personal experience and belief. You can stand there and honestly tell me that you heard the voice of G-d telling you to be a better person, but if no one else can hear it, I'm sorry that you are suffering from schizophrenia.
What does this mean? My own observable experiences will shape my likely beliefs, but the ability to verify your experiences will shape my certain beliefs. If you can't record All-h telling you to burn someone alive, I'm going to call you crazy and a lunatic rather that 'god-touched'.
#3. Any intelligent creator would be an active creator.
If there was a G-d that set the universe in motion, he would be interested in it from more than an observational standpoint. If he isn't, then worshiping him is a waste of time. To flip the old 'clock maker' analogy, if you stumbled across a working pocket watch in the desert, why would you think the clock maker is around and cares what happens to the watch? It's in the freaking desert!
What does this mean? That the Un-caused Cause (to be covered next week!) dilemma doesn't really bother Atheists. Yes, I can't prove that your G-d didn't cause the Big Bang. But since we don't see evidence of it's active involvement today, why should I live my life by what you say it's rules are?
#4. Don't you hate pants?
Waking up early on any weekend to sit around for an hour being told what to think either makes you a Theist or an old Republican. Sleeping in naked is a much better use of our time.
What does this mean? Whenever you are worshiping, I am spending my time on things that I value. That doesn't make me better than you, it just means I have different priorities in mind.
----
So, I've stated that this blog is not meant to poke at active Theists, and I'm certain that someone reading this somewhere has steam coming out of their ears. Relax, buddy!
This is a very loose attempt to give you a view into how most Atheists set our worldview. It is not meant to criticize your own. I am deliberately exaggerating uncommon Theist viewpoints to try and set the parallel up.
If you are offended, I would encourage you to take each point and set up your counter argument. Finished? Congrats! You have laid out a few tenets of your own beliefs! This doesn't make me wrong or you right, instead it simply shows that we have different viewpoints.
Bourbon Count: 6
22.6.16
The Lack of Dogma
One of the things that makes Atheism so hard to pin down and define is the lack of any sort of centralized dogma. On the one hand, this makes it very difficult to unite the growing percentage who identify as non-theistic around any cause. On the other hand, it remains Atheism's greatest recruitment tool.
In a society where literacy is damn near universal, and where we increasingly value the ability to think critically and independently, it should come as no surprise to see attendance and adherence to any form of Theism. For all the beauty and spirituality found in various places of worship, each and every one practices according to some 'universal' accepted views. As humanity continues to evolve socially, some of these views fall out of favor/practicality/accepted moral scope and are de-emphasized. A critical reading of spiritual texts will still find them, and I believe more and more are electing no religion as a result.
Take the following from Deuteronomy 22 (text from NIV, emphasis my own):
"13 If a man takes a wife and, after sleeping with her, dislikes her 14 and slanders her and gives her a bad name, saying, “I married this woman, but when I approached her, I did not find proof of her virginity,” 15 then the young woman’s father and mother shall bring to the town elders at the gate proof that she was a virgin. 16 Her father will say to the elders, “I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he dislikes her. 17 Now he has slandered her and said, ‘I did not find your daughter to be a virgin.’ But here is the proof of my daughter’s virginity.” Then her parents shall display the cloth before the elders of the town, 18 and the elders shall take the man and punish him. 19 They shall fine him a hundred shekels[a] of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, because this man has given an Israelite virgin a bad name. She shall continue to be his wife; he must not divorce her as long as he lives.
20 If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the young woman’s virginity can be found, 21 she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done an outrageous thing in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father’s house. You must purge the evil from among you."
This post isn't going to devolve into bashing any particular faith, I promise. But please, re-read that passage and think how it must look to someone born in the modern age. If the man lies, he owes the family money - and the WOMAN is forced to stay married to someone who made a false accusation that, if upheld, would have had her killed!
This is the downside to dogma. When things change, your dogma can attempt to adapt, but each adaptation detracts from your message of having a universal truth. It's why some Catholic hard-liners are infuriated at the mere mention of women being allowed the priesthood, despite the growing difficulty obtaining enough men of the cloth. If they accept this one change, they are fully aware that it could cause a genuine crisis of faith among members of their church.
This is where Atheism definitely comes out ahead. We have no sacred books. While we do have some famous speakers (Richard Dawkins is a household name) we do not treat their pronouncements as divine writ or infallible. The South Park episode "Go God Go!" skewers Atheism, and in my personal experiences every Atheist who has watched it with me has just about died laughing.
Here's the secret why - we are all atheists for our own damn reasons and follow its relatively few 'tenets' as we damn well please. The notion that any one of us could be absolutely right is just... well, it's weird. Unsettling.
Dogmatic.
Next week, a look at what I think the tenets are of Atheism. Hopefully you'll have forgotten this post by then!
Bourbon Count: 2
In a society where literacy is damn near universal, and where we increasingly value the ability to think critically and independently, it should come as no surprise to see attendance and adherence to any form of Theism. For all the beauty and spirituality found in various places of worship, each and every one practices according to some 'universal' accepted views. As humanity continues to evolve socially, some of these views fall out of favor/practicality/accepted moral scope and are de-emphasized. A critical reading of spiritual texts will still find them, and I believe more and more are electing no religion as a result.
Take the following from Deuteronomy 22 (text from NIV, emphasis my own):
"13 If a man takes a wife and, after sleeping with her, dislikes her 14 and slanders her and gives her a bad name, saying, “I married this woman, but when I approached her, I did not find proof of her virginity,” 15 then the young woman’s father and mother shall bring to the town elders at the gate proof that she was a virgin. 16 Her father will say to the elders, “I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he dislikes her. 17 Now he has slandered her and said, ‘I did not find your daughter to be a virgin.’ But here is the proof of my daughter’s virginity.” Then her parents shall display the cloth before the elders of the town, 18 and the elders shall take the man and punish him. 19 They shall fine him a hundred shekels[a] of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, because this man has given an Israelite virgin a bad name. She shall continue to be his wife; he must not divorce her as long as he lives.
20 If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the young woman’s virginity can be found, 21 she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done an outrageous thing in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father’s house. You must purge the evil from among you."
This post isn't going to devolve into bashing any particular faith, I promise. But please, re-read that passage and think how it must look to someone born in the modern age. If the man lies, he owes the family money - and the WOMAN is forced to stay married to someone who made a false accusation that, if upheld, would have had her killed!
This is the downside to dogma. When things change, your dogma can attempt to adapt, but each adaptation detracts from your message of having a universal truth. It's why some Catholic hard-liners are infuriated at the mere mention of women being allowed the priesthood, despite the growing difficulty obtaining enough men of the cloth. If they accept this one change, they are fully aware that it could cause a genuine crisis of faith among members of their church.
This is where Atheism definitely comes out ahead. We have no sacred books. While we do have some famous speakers (Richard Dawkins is a household name) we do not treat their pronouncements as divine writ or infallible. The South Park episode "Go God Go!" skewers Atheism, and in my personal experiences every Atheist who has watched it with me has just about died laughing.
Here's the secret why - we are all atheists for our own damn reasons and follow its relatively few 'tenets' as we damn well please. The notion that any one of us could be absolutely right is just... well, it's weird. Unsettling.
Dogmatic.
Next week, a look at what I think the tenets are of Atheism. Hopefully you'll have forgotten this post by then!
Bourbon Count: 2
15.6.16
Re-Up! You're Crazy!
Well, hello world! It's been over 5 years since I last posted here, and gosh have things changed.
In 2010 I was still a brand new lieutenant in the US Army. I was still pretty much angry about things that in hindsight didn't matter very much. I felt the need to convince others to feel the same way I do, and was surprised when I ran out of steam.
Nowadays, looking back, I realize that my problem was that I was trying to be an evangelical Atheist. That's not who I was, nor who I am. So we are doing a reboot!
Every Wednesday, I will be explaining what I believe and feel. Sometimes, this may be in regards to my lack of belief in a Theistic worldview. Other times, it may be politics or a science view. Basically, this is just my attempt to start putting down keystrokes to record my thoughts.
So let us see if this works! My previous record was 11 posts. If I make it to a Baker's Dozen, I'll count it time well spent.
Bourbon Count: 8
In 2010 I was still a brand new lieutenant in the US Army. I was still pretty much angry about things that in hindsight didn't matter very much. I felt the need to convince others to feel the same way I do, and was surprised when I ran out of steam.
Nowadays, looking back, I realize that my problem was that I was trying to be an evangelical Atheist. That's not who I was, nor who I am. So we are doing a reboot!
Every Wednesday, I will be explaining what I believe and feel. Sometimes, this may be in regards to my lack of belief in a Theistic worldview. Other times, it may be politics or a science view. Basically, this is just my attempt to start putting down keystrokes to record my thoughts.
So let us see if this works! My previous record was 11 posts. If I make it to a Baker's Dozen, I'll count it time well spent.
Bourbon Count: 8
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
