One of the profound and fundamental misunderstandings theists have of atheists is the belief that the latter lead a cold and narrow existence, unconcerned with the mysteries of the universe. Anything that can't be immediately, rationally known must be rejected. Wonder is sapped from life. What's happening when this view is articulated, however, is an unfortunate assumption about the very idea of mystery. The theist defines mystery as "the unknown filled by unfounded imagination." The atheist sees it differently.
Analogies often best illustrate distinctions, so imagine a mystery novel constructed from the theist's perspective. A body is found in an alley, shot through the heart. The detective called in clears away the uniformed officers, ...
categorized as Essays.
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The Hole is my serial apocalyptic horror novel, based in Mormon mythology, about a global plague, zombies, and a small group of survivors making their way across a very weird Midwest.
What Atheism Offers: Freedom from Sin
Theistic religion of the Christian variety espouses two kinds of morality, both owing their existence to god and his scriptural commandments. The first is familiar to all moral systems and forms ...
What Atheism Offers: Justifying a Life’s Purpose
There exists a need among theists to justify life's purpose. Far from being content with self made goals, with personal achievements set by the individual for his own existential benefit, they ...
What Atheism Offers: How Should the Atheist Act?
Mormons believe the North American continent was once populated by a race of white Christians, emigrants from Israel who built an advanced civilization in the new world over a thousand years before ...
What Atheism Offers: A Sense of Purpose
Without religion, won't life be meaningless? Won't we all collapse into nihilism, muttering "What's the point?" while we waste away our years in front of the television, waiting for it all ...
What Atheism Offers: The Value of Life
Citing Stalin, Mao, and Hitler, religious believers frequently condemn atheists for not valuing human life, and condoning and causing widespread death and human misery. Setting aside the genuine question of Hitler's ...
The Locally Owned Business Fallacy
William Gibson had a new novel out. Because he's one of a very short list of authors whose works I make a point of buying as soon as they're released and ...
The Evils of Disability Advocates
Wrongful birth and life suits, in the context of disabilities, are brought when a doctor's negligence causes a child to be born with disabilities. The plaintiff seeks damages for the resulting ...
Why Techcrunch is Wrong About Paid For Blog Posts
The influential Web 2.0 news site Techcrunch has been on a campaign as of late against the evils of bloggers being paid by companies to talk about products. The business model ...
Stem Cells, Rationality, and Unicorns
The stem cell debate is raging in the Senate, Bush is threatening to veto, and the future of rationality is dangerously close to the chopping block. Once again, America is allowing ...