Strong Atheist's Journal - Democratic Underground

Certainty.

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:38:48

What is your definition, and do you apply it consistently? Now, I know that Emerson thought that a foolish consistency was the hobgoblin of little minds, but I think that most of us can agree that definitions HAVE to be consistent; or they are useless.

My definition of [u]certainty[/u] is that i...

"Now is not the right time"

Sun, 18 Jan 2009 12:36:14

This phrase, or something very like it, has been heard throughout recorded history by groups of people seeking equal rights in their society. It has been heard by the young and the old, by men and women (we STILL NEED the E.R.A.), by the religious and the non-religious, and by people of all ski...

The left's own rawstory whackjobs

Wed, 26 Apr 2006 07:34:10

The nutballs on the extreme right have kept us rational lefties so busy that we've neglected an important although onerous duty -- cleaning the rawstory whackjobs out of our own attic, the extreme left.

First, I would like to make it clear that not [font size = "20"] [b]ALL RAWSTORY EMP...

Oh yeah, another one.

Fri, 02 Dec 2005 23:14:53

When the opponent gets down to a few or one planet, it will start doing stupid things with the death fleets that it has almost always accumulated by then. If you attack, it will frequently move the fleet!
Usually, this is to a former colony of the enemy that you destroyed completely but did n...

Whoo, boy fasten your seat belt.

Fri, 02 Dec 2005 18:08:12

1. Keep a scout or other small ship at all your worlds at all times, especial in the small universes. You can be as little as four turns into the game, and opponents can be more than the three spaces that you can send people at that time, but if they explore your world with a scout, they can send ...

5. Meaning.

Tue, 29 Nov 2005 11:57:11

The last reason religion was invented. What is the meaning of life, we cry (to god, or whatever). Why are we here? What is our purpose? We cry out for someone to give our lives that all-important purpose.

Atheists know that life APPEARS meaningless because IT IS. We know that there...

4. Justice;

Tue, 29 Nov 2005 11:22:12

or vengeance, if you prefer. This is the fourth reason for religion to be invented. It fills the need to get back at all the nasty people (and their actions) in the world. No justice in this life? Bad guys getting away with it, good people having bad things happen to them? Well don't worry, it ...

3. Morality.

Tue, 29 Nov 2005 10:59:11

Religion was also invented to establish a moral system. It was reasoned that morality "must" come from outside of us, because for some reason we are too deficient to be moral on our own. The strangeness of this "objective" morality is rarely questioned by the majority it is so deeply ingraine...

2. Death.

Tue, 29 Nov 2005 10:17:49

Explaining death is the second and very important reason that religion was invented. It filled the need to explain a terrible, horrible, catastrophic event; maybe even provide for life after death. I, along with others in the minority, have never seen anything consistent with what I know of the un...

1. Existence (or: The Origin of the Universe)

Tue, 29 Nov 2005 07:30:06

This is in response to a subthread a while ago (before I joined DU) where the poster challenged atheists to explain how the universe came about. I would like to respond, but first I would like to say that this is the first of five related posts. You see, IMO, religion is both an idea and a to...