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I heard this on Free Thought Radio and thought I’d find the text and post it.  Enjoy.

Christ, according to the faith, is the second person in the Trinity, the Father being the first and the Holy Ghost the third. Each of these persons is God. Christ is his own father and his own son. The Holy Ghost is neither father nor son, but both. The son was begotten by the father, but existed before he was begotten – just the same before as after.

So, it is declared that the Father is God, and the Son God, and the Holy Ghost God, and that these three Gods make one God.

According to the celestial multiplication table, once one is three, and three times one is one, and according to heavenly subtraction, if we take two from three, three are left. The addition is equally peculiar, if we add two to one, we have but one …

How is it possible to prove the existence of the Trinity? Is it possible for a human being, who has been born but once, to comprehend, or to imagine the existence of three beings, each of whom is equal to the three?

Think of one of these beings as the father of one, and think of that one as half human and all God, and think of the third as having proceeded from the other two, and then think of the three as one.

Think that after the father begot the son, the father was still alone, and after the Holy Ghost proceeded from the father and the son, the father was still alone - because there never was and never will be but one God. At this point, absurdity having reached its limit, nothing more can be said except: ‘Let us pray.’

-Robert G. Ingersoll

Here’s David Mills on WAJR Radio in West Virgina (both his and my home state).  As usual David makes a logical and compelling argument and the locals tear into him like a pack of rabid wolves-as usual.  I’d expect no less from either of them.  When we can’t open the topic of religion up for analysis and debate then we’re heading down a dangerous path.  There was a point in our history where society executed people for that sort of thing.

I also find it somewhat humorous how predictable, ill-informed, knee-jerk, and just plain stupid the counterarguments were.  I can’t say I’m surprised.

Anyway, it’s an interesting appearance and it shows just how pervasive and reason-suppressing religion can actually be.

Listen to David on WAJR

With such a deluge of stupidity and hate coming from fundamentalist groups and religious zealots, it’s easy to get caught up in all that and begin to generalize.  I just listened to a wonderful interview on Free Thought Radio with Jon O’Brien, president of Catholics for Choice, concerning Bill Donohue and his reactionary group The Catholic League.

It was particularly insightful because O’Brien was very progressive and tremedously logical, reasonable, and smart.  His stance on religion and the protection of secular society was refreshing and thoughtful, and it reminded me that not all religious people are insane or stupid.  I’ve been so innundated with the barrage of fundamentalist idiocy that rules the airwaves and drives …read more »

Psalms 14:1

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”  They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.

This is the basis for this little montage below.  I’ve already mentioned this before but I thought this video expanded on it a bit.  Get ready for a bit of enlightenment.

This is one of the main reasons why I’m voting for Obama.  A return to a secular America at last…

So today begins “The Bible Study Project”, a project I’ve been planning for some time but just now finally got around to.  Lately I’ve spent a lot of time reading both atheist and Christian books and articles.  Each of these make interesting points while quoting verses from the Bible.  I’m openly skeptical of the Bible, the message it sends, the actual morality it teaches, its followers’ actual piety, and of Christianity’s audacious claims of divinity.  I’m a science-minded individual, preferring proof to faith, and the Bible, quite frankly, just doesn’t provide me with adequate proof to support the incredible and miraculous claims it makes.  At least not what I’ve read so far which is limited.

David Mills says that one of the contributing reasons people believe science and religion can harmoniously coincide with each other is because neither side really understands the other.  Religious people generally don’t know a lot about science and scientists often don’t know much about religion.  There’s a hopeful ideology that the two can find a common ground that really doesn’t exist, at least in David’s opinion.

I think he’s right but I want to find out for myself.  I don’t believe I can accurately and effectively continue to …read more »

I was watching a particularly amusing video clip sent by a friend to me of Sean Hannity having his ass handed to him by Christoper Hitchens and Hannity, in true Fox News fashion, pulls out the same tired old list of atheist mass murderers in an attempt to vilify and dehumanize atheists across the world. O’Reilly does the same thing, as do a number of conservative ditto heads. He sites Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, and Joseph Stalin in particular. He refers to atheists as “good atheist communists” which is almost juvenile in its intended misrepresentation and blatant misdirectional “slight of hand”. He’s pulling the same routine, attempting to imply that these people committed their heinous crimes because of their atheism, not because they were homicidal megalomaniacs.

The non-belief in a deity has little more to do with the motivation for these people’s crimes than their hair color or their favorite food. If someone is homicidal they’ll find a way to carry out their plans, regardless of religion. Religion can be twisted any which way; it’s not an impediment to immorality. It’s the same old tired argument, made time and time again to inextricably combine morality with religion. It’s a tactic fundamentalists have used for centuries and they’re still doing it today. It’s tired, it’s old, but, apparently, it’s effective.

Since Hannity has decided that all atheists are “good atheist communists” and are mass-murderers then I thought I’d present a list of other atheists to “watch out for”. You might be surprised by this list which includes the likes of Woody Allen, Lance Armstrong, Isaac Asimov, Berkeley Breathed, Warren Buffett, Rodney Dangerfield, Jodie Foster, Bill Gates, Katharine Hepburn, Penn Jillette, Billy Joel, Angelina Jolie, Diane Keaton, Bruce Lee, John Malkovich, Barry Manilow, Julianne Moore, Desmond Morris, Jack Nicholson, Ron Reagan Jr., Keanu Reeves, Gene Roddenberry, Andy Rooney, Salman Rushdie, Teller, Carl Sagan, Arthur C. Clarke, William Shatner, and Linus Torvalds, just to name a few.

I guess Hannity didn’t want to mention the …read more »

Arthur C. Clarke was my favorite science fiction writer and I own virtually all of his fiction. He was a strong influence on my logical and reasonable approach to understanding the world and provided me with countless hours of enjoyment and mental stimulation. Some of my favorite of his books are probably Rendezvous With Rama, The Songs of Distant Earth, The City and the Stars, A Fall of Moondust, and The Fountains of Paradise.

Clarke once said, “The greatest tragedy in mankind’s entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion.” This, I believe, is probably the most profound statement he ever uttered.  It supports the crux of my arguments concerning the so-called “necessity” of religion.

An atheist and humanist, a scientist and thinker, Clarke showed me what we have the potential to be if we employ education, reason, and open-mindedness. In a world permeated with sinister fundamentalist extremists bent on dragging the rest of the world down into a new dark age, Clarke’s example of human potential is a guiding light. Although he never knew me he taught me a lot and I hope that one day he’ll teach my children and their children as well.

I read an article while I was waiting to get my hair cut a couple weeks ago in AARP magazine that featured a survey of the religious opinions of people over the age of 50. They took 50 people and asked them basic questions about their belief in an afterlife, God, etc. Not surprisingly most of the people interviewed said they believed in God (more women than men did actually) but one interviewee surprised me a bit. This guy said that he did not believe in an afterlife although he went to Catholic church every Sunday and went through all the motions anyway. On the surface he looked just like everyone else but inside he was very, very different. Not surprisingly he did not provide his name for fear of reprisals, not uncommon to non-believers.

This guy was using Pascal’s Wager, which essentially says this: I’m not sure I believe but I’m going to pretend I do just in case. If I’m wrong nothing’s lost; I’m going to die anyway. But if I’m right then I have a wonderful afterlife to look forward to. Some have mentioned …read more »