Category Archives: Atheism

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is cultural appropriation a thing?

There is this post that has got me thinking on why we have people all over the place complaining about cultural appropriation.

I think we have real problems than worrying damage that would come about if some white fellow started adorning a Luo head gear or playing nyatiti for that matter. What does it matter really? Are these real world problems? Have we solved all the problems that what is now left is arguments on who should wear dreadlocks and who shouldn’t?

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Why does the existence of evil necessarily mean God does or may not exist?

This is an interesting question I saw on quora.

The existence of evil is fatal to a specific type of god, the all loving, all knowing all powerful kind. But for those who believe in a god that suffers with us, or a god that is not all loving nor powerful nor knowing is not affected by the presence of any amount of evil.

There are theodicies that try to explain the compatibility of God and evil as we experience in the universe.

There are for example the argument that this is the best of all possible worlds, or that freewill can explain the evil( though this doesn’t explain natural evil), or that this is a place for preparation or learning or that we don’t have the understanding necessary to know why evil exists.

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On religious attitudes

Religious attitude is an attitude informed by the careful observation of, and respect for, invisible forces and personal experience and for our purposes, this definition will suffice.
The survey looked at how people feel about religion.There were 50 responses to the survey. 64% reported to be above 50 years old, 84 % had college or university education. 68% of those who responded said they were irreligious (it appears the respondents are members of the choir).
On the question of authorship of the bible (and Koran) 86% believe they are works of men with about 1% saying it is the work of men inspired by god.
92% of those who responded believe the universe is billions of years old (it appears the people I know are not unhinged). 2% believe the earth is 6000 years old and 6% believe the earth is millions of years old.
Now, the interesting bits.
50% disagree with Lloyd Geering that God is the embodiment of our highest ideals, and not some supernatural being. 16% agree and the rest are unsure.
64% believe, with Lloyd Geering that god is a humanly created idea. 22% disagree.
76% of the respondent agree with Bishop Spong that hell is an invention of the church.
What Christianity is, it seems depends on who you ask. For example, these were a sample of the definitions
Christianity is
A monotheistic religion centered on a belief that Jesus was the Messiah and savior of humanity
or
An unelected alternative government. (I think this respondent must be in the US of A)
or
One of many similar delusions.
and the answer that I liked the most
Best you ask Christians … but take it with a grain of salt. With tens of thousands of sects of Christianity, they disagree on most things
or these ones
A mythological belief system that far too many take as literal fact.
A large religion trying to rule the world through control
A behavior control device to move money from the base to the leadership at the top levels
Believing in and following the Jesus portrayed in the New testament for the forgiveness of sin and eternal life
Worship of the god presented in the bible, and belief in a magical savior
58% of the respondents agree with Renan that Jesus was a man of his time, that is, not divine. That Jesus is called son of God or God is the imagination of the biographer (John). He performed no miracles and was a victim of religious intolerance.
Whether Jesus of the gospels had any existence, only 26% agree with me that he didn’t. The rest either do not know, do not care or agree with scriptures that he existed.
Some of you think Lloyd Geering is a silly person because of the views he holds.
My conclusions from the small survey.
  1. This site’s guests are mostly members of the choir
  2. My religious friends are of the liberal fold in some aspects but not all

In the course of the study, I received comments that will be useful in future when I decide to carry out this study comprehensively. Since it was an online survey, I should have asked you to fill your countries, gender maybe and just see what we get.

Thank you everyone who participated and shared with their friends and enemies.

Pew with a bigger budget than yours truly did release this report about worldwide religious attitudes and it makes for an interesting info-graphic.
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Debate

The opposing side: religion is a creation of the shrewd man who sought nothing more than the imposition of order on a naive people (social control)

The proposal: religion is a bottom up process, driven by early humanity’s desire to understood the natural world.

Take a side and make your case.