Update

Hey all, just a quick update. Acadia National Park has been amazing, although it is pouring rain right now, it has been great weather for the majority of the trip. I will be returning home Sunday evening, and I can catch up and start writing some more in depth stuff. I look forward to it and sorry for the wait to all who are reading.

Climate Change

I recently came across this quote by Thomas Jefferson

"all tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent"

And it got me thinking how this political statement could be turned into a religious statement very easily:

"all irrationality needs to gain a foothold is for people of good reason to remain silent"

I think this is something we all need to think about in today's society, especially with the state of affairs in the world right now. When our elected leaders refuse to accept the implications of global warming because only god can destroy Earth, people of good reason must speak up!



How can these people get into office you might ask? Well, we have no one to blame but ourselves. The great thing about democracy is that it gives the power to the people. The bad thing is that the people can be stupid, irrational, unreasonable, and wrong. How do we differentiate between right and wrong, what is true and what is false? Through debate, through science, through exploration of the known world and through discussion with fellow human beings. There is overwhelming evidence that the Earth is warming up, and regardless of humankinds's blame for that, if we have the ability to reduce this process, why wouldn't we! This is pure idiocracy at its purest, and it shows one of democracy's few weak points.

Think about it this way: If I go out and murder an atheist, and then at the trial I present the evidence that in the Bible, it clearly states "and everyone who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman" (2 Chronicles 15:12-13 NAB). Will a judge and jury accept a verse from the Bible as evidence that what I did was right? Absolutely not, and for this same reason should the Bible never be used in any political stage ever. It is not the infallible word of god, it is not the holy book, it is not full of absolute truths. It is a book, just like any other, written a long time ago by a myriad of authors, many anonymous, and should in no way be depended upon as a guide of action. If you want to believe the Bible that is fine, I am glad we live in a free society where everyone is free to believe what they want. However, when you are entrusted with a public office and are making decisions that affect the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of people, verses from the Bible are just not good enough.

Maps of the World

I came across this while browsing the web, the green represents secular nations (with no state religion). After studying it for a few minutes, I came to a startling, albeit unsurprising conclusion: The nations that are not secular (i.e. have a state sponsored religion) tend to be the same geographic regions where the majority of armed conflict is (and has been) occurring. I searched for a map of current armed conflicts in the world, and my expectations were confirmed. Here are the maps below (red represents areas of current armed conflict):

While I am not trying to make any conclusive, absolute statement, the correlation certainly is significant. When religion and government are mixed, violence tends to result. Thankfully, the US Constitution has prevented the establishment of any state religion, stating "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" in the First Amendment. Perhaps if other places in the world followed suit, we could prevent much conflict. In Indonesia, "terrorist threats have emerged from the revival of ethnic and religious nationalism", while in Somalia "religious devotion may have predisposed them to sympathize with the Islamist cause". Secular states have a history of being more peaceful and secure nations, and those states with religious affiliation can often suffer from armed conflict, stemming from their religious beliefs.

Morality Part 1

A topic that never fails to come up in a conversation between a theist and an atheist is morality. Most theists, at least of the Christian variety, hold that their god created right and wrong and good and evil, and he (because of course he is male) is the ultimate source of morality. They are often quick to argue that atheists are only atheists because they want to sin. However, if you ask any Christian if they have ever broken one of the Ten Commandments, 99% of the time the answer is yes. They feel they are somehow exempt from responsibility for their actions, because they have asked for forgiveness for their sins, whereas I haven't. You know what I say to this? Bull. Shit. If I have wronged someone, for example by lying to them, or saying something insulting during an emotional fight, I don't think it's very moral to go home and tell some supposed supernatural being that I'm sorry. I do what I can to make things right in a real, tangible way, for example by apologizing to the person I have wronged. Why do I do this? Because that's the person who actually got hurt, and who I actually care about as a fellow human being.

Religion fosters a culture of selfishness, where your actions are only reflected upon yourself, and all you have to do to clean the slate is to pray and ask god for forgiveness. The claim that their god is just, but how just is it for a murderer to keep on killing innocent victims, but always asking for forgiveness. Can they still get into heaven? The very idea seems absurd, yet many Christians truly believe that asking god for forgiveness is all it takes to cleanse yourself of any sins. I say that's wrong, and I think the world would be a much better place if people would finally take responsibility for their own actions. Morality cannot come from a god, just look at how just and fair the aforementioned system of forgiveness is.

So if not from a god, where does morality come from? This is an issue that I am still wrestling with myself, and I am open to any suggestions or arguments from you. It is important to note, however, that just because I am not sure where it does come from, I am not going to make something up, or believe in something because it feels good or because other people believe in it. This is the same reasoning behind the creation of the universe or life on earth: Just because we are not exactly sure of how it did happen, we are not going to make something up, or blindly follow what others tell us.

Ray Comfort vs. Thunderf00t

In case you haven't already seen it, I think its worth having a look at the video below:



It is a debate between well known internet atheist Thunderf00t, and Ray Comfort, a Christian Apologetic. It is in these debates that the magic really happens. If you watch the video, I think that many believers will be quick to jump on Thunderf00t's admission that there are a few, if not many, things that he does not know. However, this is the only rational thing to say. Ray asserts that he "knows" that a god created earth, however his definition of "know" is at odds with Thunderf00t's definition. Thunderf00t is not willing to assert that he "knows" something until it has been properly proven to him, through demonstrable evidence. Ray is willing to sacrifice his definition of knowledge, to the point where he can "know" something based on otherwise substandard evidence(i.e. "because the Bible says so" or "I can't come up with any other explanation"). Atheist are not afraid to say that "we don't know", because we don't know, and we aren't going to make up something that sounds good just to fill in the gaps. As Socrates once said, "I appear to be wiser than he, because I do not fancy I know what I do not know."

Vacation

It seems rather silly to create a blog and start all the hard work for a few days, only go to on vacation for a week, but alas, that is my current predicament. Fear not, however, as I have spent countless hours today, and I will continue tomorrow, to write posts. I am trying to schedule them once a day for the week that I am gone, starting tomorrow evening until next Sunday (Aug. 2), however I do not want to sacrifice quality for quantity, so we will see how far I get. If you are wondering where I am going, the answer is to Acadia National Park, in Maine. I am camping there for a week with my girlfriend, and we plan on hiking, fishing, relaxing, and laying on the beach all week, enjoying the great outdoors.

I will have limited internet access, but I will try to keep in touch with anyone that emails me or comments on a post. I hope so far they have been interesting, and please feel free to offer any suggestions for improvement you have. I've been working really hard on this blog, and its taking much more time and effort than I had expected, but it is well worth it. I am looking forward to future discussions and debates in hope of attaining true knowledge of the world.

Science vs. Religion, via metaphor

I recently came across this post on another blog, and I think it serves as a great example as to the difference between science and religion. Feel free to share your own examples or argue with this model:

Thoughts from a Godless Heathen: Why Science Will Always Beat Religion (an extended metaphor)

Although it is not perfect, it gets the point across easily enough. Refusing to accept something as true in the face of substantial, demonstrable, measurable, tangible evidence (religion) is plain stupid, and can often lead to harm. Using real data from the real world around us (science), however, leads to progress, which will lead to improvement and betterment of the world and the people in it.

What Is Atheism?

I thought an appropriate topic for my second post would be to define atheism, and talk a little bit about it's place in the world. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as two things:

"a: a disbelief in the existence of deity b: the doctrine that there is no deity"

I would argue that part b above is actually not correct. Atheism is really just a lack of theism, in the same way that something that is atypical is lacking typical. Being an atheist doesn't mean you have to assert that there are no gods or supernatural beings. It only means you choose not to believe in any supernatural deities, with the current state of evidence. Some atheists would posit that there is no god, and they feel that there is enough evidence to support this claim. I, however, am not one of these people. While I most certainly do not accept the existence of any of the proclaimed gods throughout history, it is not because I believe there is no god, but because I do not see anywhere near sufficient evidence to support these assertions. And just because I am an atheist, don't think that I am biased towards there being no god/s. If sufficient evidence, up to my standards of evidence, were ever to be presented to me either for or against the existence of a god or other supernatural being, I would almost certainly believe in it. Throughout history, however, no amount of evidence or support for any theistic claims have ever come close to convincing me of the existence for a god, and I see no good reason why human beings should ever operate on the premise of a divine being.

Atheism is not a religion. It is purely the absence of religion. It does not prescribe a set of political views, ethical systems, or lifestyle choices. You can be atheist and Republic, Democrat, gay, straight, a utilitarian or Kantian, college graduate or high school dropout, the list goes on and on. While most estimates put the percentage of atheists/agnostics in the U.S. at around 10%, they are a quickly growing population. It is important for atheists, just like any other demographic, to get their voice and opinions out there in the public eye, because unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of people in the U.S. are religious, mainly Christian. Whether they know it or not, their interactions with other human beings on this planet are all too often affected by their religious dogmas, and much of the time this can lead to bad things for society as a whole. My father once asked me, "why not let religious people hold their beliefs and you hold yours, and not worry about one another". It is a common question asked of atheists, and my response is always this:

Human beings are social beings, and we depend on one another every day. We cannot live a meaningful life if we each lived alone in this world. I believe that human beings have the capacity to be good, kind, caring, compassionate, understanding, and rational people, but so often these pursuits are impeded by religion. I would much rather live in a society where truth is sought after, and interactions are guided by reason and rational thought rather than religious hate or ignorance. I firmly posit that we each should try to believe as many true things as possible, and as few false things. This ideal is just not possible with the majority of society believing in superstition and supernatural dogmas. Religion has long been attempting to tell me how to live my life, and it's about time I return the favor.

The First Post

When deciding what to write for my first post, I mulled over many potential topics all day. I could start with a basic explanation of who I am, why I am doing this, and what I hope to get out of this. I could dive right into the heavy stuff, and begin discussing a political issue or dissecting a religion argument. Or I could do something light and fun, to ease my way into the "blog-o-sphere" of sorts. With so many possibilities, I decided it would be best to combine them, so I will try to touch on a variety of subjects for this post.

First and foremost, I think I will elaborate on myself and my goals here in order for me to better achieve them. I am currently a third year college student at a Catholic college in New England. I enjoy video games, any variety of sport (especially basketball), and any form of debate. I started college as a Political Science major before switching to Education and History, planning to become a high school Social Studies teacher. I first became interested in politics around the age of 14, when I was an adventurous youngster wanting to become more involved in the world. I watched the news whenever possible, and I became forming my own values and ideas mainly through discussion with my family and friends. I would often play devil's advocate in a debate just to test the strength of various arguments. As I grew older, I developed a keen interest in religion. I had gone to a Unitarian Universalist Church for the first 6 years of my life, but I was never attached to anything they taught me. I have always been skeptical of any supernatural claims, mainly because I just didn't see any evidence. After I entered college, I really began to think about religion, and after taking a Bible Studies class, examing the history of the Christian Church, and through various readings and discussions, I became an atheist. I continue to talk religion with my friends and family, as it is one of my favorite activities, and I would love for anyone to comment or email me with anything at all about religion, be it an argument for god's existence, or a friendly joke from a fellow atheist.

This last point brings me to my second topic, which was the purpose and goals of this blog. The impetus behind this was really the realization that I spend a good chunk of my day reading or debating things of religious, political, or societal nature. I firmly believe that debate and discussion is one of the best paths to knowledge and understanding the world around us, which is an idea I would like to foster. Secondly, I would love to debate or argue anything at all with anyone reading this. My hunger for knowledge is insatiable, and I really enjoy discussion various points of view, or arguing over any political/religious issue. Hopefully, this activity can always be mutually beneficial, with all parties involved learning something from the other. That being said, I invite anyone and everyone to comment on this blog or even better, send me an email, and we can begin a discussion about whatever you like, preferably the aforementioned topics. I did not become an atheist overnight. It took many hours of argument and debate and contemplation of evidence to arrive at the conclusion that I did. I believe that through argument and discussion, truth can be found. That being said, please feel free to hit me with any evidence for a god that you have, or even evidence that there is no god, as I would be more than happy to begin a friendly discussion with you.

One more thing: The name of my blog, The Secular Thinker, was chosen because I feel that it describes me as best as possible without being too narrow. I use the term "secular" based on its defination, as explained by George Jacob Holyoake who coined the term in the mid 1800's:

"Secularism is that which seeks the development of the physical, moral, and intellectual nature of man to the highest possible point, as the immediate duty of life — which inculcates the practical sufficiency of natural morality apart from Atheism, Theism or the Bible — which selects as its methods of procedure the promotion of human improvement by material means, and proposes these positive agreements as the common bond of union, to all who would regulate life by reason and ennoble it by service"
(Principles of Secularism, 17).

The word "secular" has also become associated with humanism, which is, to put it simply, an emphasis on human ability and capacity rather than on things which are inhuman, i.e. supernatural beings, divine scripture, etc. I am a firm believer that human beings do not need any holy book to be good, compassionate, productive members of society, and I think that religion can do much harm in this sense.

Lastly, it is important to notice that Holyoake talks about a "natural morality apart from Atheism, Theism or the Bible". I believe very firmly that people most certainly do not get their morals from God or the Bible, nor from atheism, which is the non-belief in any theistic claims. The source of morality is a great discussion topic, and I would love to hear what anyone else thinks, as I am still debating my personal beliefs on this. That reminds me, another purpose of this blog is for me to improve my own knowledge and understanding of the world and our existence in it. I don't think that I have all the answers, or I am right about everything. However, I do believe that people can work together to educate one another and to better themselves. As always, please email me with anything you have for me, be it a topic suggestion for a post, a question you have about atheism, politics, the Bible, or even to say hello, I would appreciate anything you guys have for me, and maybe we can have some fun along the way.

I will leave you all with a joke, to dedicate my first post:

Why did the atheist cross the road?
It was claimed that there was a sidewalk on the other side, but he wouldn’t believe it until he had gathered sufficient evidence for its existence.