I was looking to do some research on religions recently. I know there are a lot of them, I’ve heard, from others, the term thousands used. I’ve never really questioned that assertion, but if I’m going to write something about the subject, I’d like to be a little more precise. So, I asked one of those online knowledge bases, you know, those programs people erroneously refer to as artificial intelligence, how many religions there were and to make a list for me.
Continue reading
Does it really matter how we refer to one another concerning belief or non-belief? I was ticking about this recent post of mine and the more I consider, I really wonder if any of this makes any difference/ Why? The world as we know it is changing faster than most of us are able to keep up with today. Anyone aware there’s still a major European war raging in Eastern Europe? Not by any news feed. In fact it’s been fairly well covered up for several months now. What about the U.S. conflict in Iran? If it doesn’t bleed, there’s no lede. In other words, the world has become used to such tragedy to the extent that no one really cares anymore what’s going on outside of their neighborhood, much less their city, state, or country.
Continue reading
I’ve heard all my life, that it is god, not man that grants our unalienable rights. It’s in the Declaration of Independence, so it must be true, right? A single sentence in our founding document declares that god, not man, is responsible for the freedoms we enjoy as human beings. Where did these men get that idea? Many of them were students of the enlightenment that shaped the Declaration. Philosophers like John Locke were key influencers on how the founders viewed and understood the rights of man.
Continue reading
I almost never debate Christians about their faith or my lack thereof. Why? It’s because when I ask for objective proof of what they say, I receive the same old evidence: The Bible Tells Me So. Of course, some use other sources, but those sources they quote are mostly apologists, people paid to reconcile faith with fact (poorly) and for those that need to justify their faith. Other sources they use, to their benefit are scientific: archeology mainly, but then, non one is arguing that Babylon didn’t exist, or that Nazareth didn’t exist. what we’re discussing is the idea of a god, and in particular, Jesus.
Continue reading
“I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.” – Mark Twain
What happens to us after death? It’s a creepy question, isn’t it, but don’t most of us wonder if this life is it or if, depending on what religious belief followed, there’s some sort of afterlife whether it is reward or punishment, after this life ends? Everyone does, yea believer and non-believers. As a non-believer, I choose to not think about it because, like the quote above from Mark Twain, death is, well, nothingness to me. I think of it as having been in a deep sleep where I don’t remember dreaming, then waking up. I woke up from, well, nothing, in my mind. when I dies, I return to just that. Nothing.
Continue reading