Answering Lonnie's Questions part 1

1.How do you explain the high degree of design and order in the universe if there is no God?


The universe is so vast that at this time we can't know how ordered or disordered it is. We often see order where there is none, we see shapes in clouds or faces in everyday items. There is even a Facebook page called Everyday Objects with Faces. By identifying patterns we can infer information about our surroundings which help us survive. It doesn't mean that there is order in everything we think there is. Even identifying that there is order, does not require that it be caused. If there is a cause, jumping to the conclusion that a supernatural being is that cause, isn't necessary. Finally, even if there were a supernatural being that created the massive universe that we observe, the odds that it would be the christian god is just as unlikely. 


2.How do you account for the vast archaeological documentation of Biblical stories, places, 
and people?

Some bible stories are based on recounts of things that happened in actual cities, so it isn't surprising that there is archaeological evidence of those cities. Other stories were modifications of mythologies that had been around for hundreds or thousands of years. While there is evidence supporting that the locations existed, there is no evidence for the supernatural claims. The Missouri river flooded last year. There is plenty of physical evidence to support that statement. If I said that leprechauns caused the flooding, the fact that there is physical evidence for the flood does not prove there are leprechauns.

3.Since absolutely no Bible prophecy has ever failed (and there are hundreds), how can 

one realistically remain unconvinced that the Bible is of divine origin?

Well there are a number of prophecies that haven't come true.  If I claim enough things eventually some of them will come true, and if they haven't I just have to say, "it hasn't come true YET". 

Matthew 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. --

 Well almost 2000 years have passed and that generation is long gone. So the statement that "no prophecy has ever failed" is false, that along with an abundance of other conflicting evidence suggests that it is not of divine origin.

Lonnie's Questions

When I checked the Facebook wall today I was surprised to see posted on the wall was a comment from someone who was not a member of M.E.A.N.  It was a series of questions from Lonnie Faubion http://www.facebook.com/lfaubion  Now, after visiting your wall Lonnie, I find it very unlikely that any of my answers will sway you in any way or seem satisfactory, however I hope that I am wrong. In the very least I hope you will understand where we come from and respect our position even if you don't agree with us. Also quick disclaimer, while the majority of atheists will likely agree with most of my answers, these are MY opinion (aside from the facts that I source) and not believing in a god is the only thing I can guarantee we all agree on.  

1. How do you explain the high degree of design and order in the universe if there is no God?
2. How do you account for the vast archaeological documentation of Biblical stories, places, and people?
3. Since absolutely no Bible prophecy has ever failed (and there are hundreds), how can one realistically remain      unconvinced that the Bible is of divine origin?
4. How do you explain David's graphic portrayal of Jesus' death by crucifixion (Psalm 22) 1000 years before Christ lived?
5. How do you explain that the prophet Daniel prophesied the exact YEAR when the Christ would be presented as Messiah and also prophesied that the temple would be destroyed afterwards over 500 years in advance (Daniel 9:24-27)?
6. How could any mere human pinpoint the precise birth town of the Messiah seven full centuries before the fact, as did the prophet Micah?
7. How do you account for the odds (1 in 10 to the 157th power) that even just 48 (of 300) Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus Christ?
8. How was it possible for the Old Testament prophet Isaiah to have predicted the virgin birth of Jesus (Isaiah 7:14) 700 years before it occurred?
9. How can anyone doubt the reliability of Scripture considering the number and the proximity to the originals of its many copied manuscripts?
10. In what sense was Jesus a "good man" if He was lying in His claim to be God?
11. If the Bible is not true, why is it so universally regarded as "the Good Book"?
12. Did you know that the Bible has been the number one bestseller almost every single year since the 1436 invention of the Gutenberg printing press?
13. If God does not exist, then from where comes humanity's universal moral sense?
14. If man is nothing but the random arrangement of molecules, what motivates you to care and to live honorably in the world?
15. Can you explain how personality could have ever evolved from the impersonal, or how order could have ever resulted from chaos?
16. If Jesus' resurrection was faked, why would twelve intelligent men (Jesus' disciples) have been willing to face death for what they knew to be a lie?
17. How do you explain the fact that a single, relatively uneducated and virtually untraveled man, dead at age 33, radically changed lives and society to this day?
18. Why have so many of history's greatest thinkers been believers?
19. Have you ever wondered why thousands of intelligent scientists, living and dead, have been men and women of great faith?
20. If time never had a beginning, but rather goes backwards infinitely or has gone through an infinite number of cycles, then how is it possible that we are here today?
21. How can something as small as a brain understand extremely complicated aspects of the universe, even though it is (supposedly) just a bunch of chemical reactions and electrical signals? But at the same time, this brain can’t create another brain like itself, so how can nature, that has no brain, create a brain?
22. Everyone knows Mount Rushmore was the result of intelligent design. Do you think the human body is the result of intelligent design?
23. When you look at a lot of creatures such as zebras, turtles, butterflies, bees, lady bugs, leopards, etc., you will notice amazing color patterns designed into them. Who came up with those? Does nature have a “taste” in colors, and does it know which colors go together nicely?
24. How do you account for the origin of life considering the irreducible complexity of its essential components?
25. How can the Second Law of Thermodynamics be reconciled with progressive, naturalistic evolutionary theory?
26. How do you reconcile the existence of human intelligence with naturalism and the Law of Entropy?
27. How come there are some things on our planet seem that they are especially designed for us? For example, the 2 most comfortable colors are blue and green , which happen to be the color of the sky and most of the nature around us. Who chose those colors to be there , before earth even existed?
28. Why does the Bible alone, of all of the world's holy books, contain such detailed prophecies of future events?
29. Is it absolutely true that "truth is not absolute" or only relatively true that "all things are relative?"
30. Is it possible that your unbelief in God is actually an unwillingness to submit to Him?
31. Does your present worldview provide you with an adequate sense of meaning and purpose?
32. How do you explain the radically changed lives of so many Christian believers down through history?
33. Are you aware that every alleged Bible contradiction has been answered in an intelligible and credible manner?
34. What do you say about the hundreds of scholarly books that carefully document the veracity and reliability of the Bible?
35. Why and how has the Bible survived and even flourished in spite of centuries of worldwide attempts to destroy and ban its message?
36. Have you ever considered the fact that Christianity is the only religion whose leader is said to have risen from the dead?
37. How do you explain the empty tomb of Jesus in light of all the evidence that has now proven essentially irrefutable for twenty centuries?
38. If Jesus did not actually die and rise from the dead, how could He (in His condition) have circumvented all of the security measures in place at His tomb?
39. If the authorities stole Jesus' body, why? Why would they have perpetrated the very scenario that they most wanted to prevent?
40. If Jesus merely resuscitated in the tomb, how did He deal with the Roman guard posted just outside its entrance?
41. How can one realistically discount the testimony of over 500 witnesses to a living Jesus following His crucifixion (see 1 Corinthians 15:6)?
42. If all of Jesus' claims to be God were the result of His own self-delusion, why didn't He show evidence of lunacy in any other areas of His life?
43. Is your unbelief in a perfect God possibly the result of a bad experience with an imperfect church or a misunderstanding of the facts, and therefore an unfair rejection of God Himself?
44. How did 35-40 men, spanning 1500 years and living on three separate continents, ever manage to author one unified message, i.e. the Bible?
45. Because life origins are not observable, verifiable, or falsifiable, how does the theory of "evolution" amount to anything more than just another faith system?
46. What do you make of all the anthropological studies indicating that even the most remote tribes show some sort of theological awareness?
47. If every effect has a cause, then what or who caused the universe?
48. How do you explain the thousands of people who have experienced heaven or hell and have come back to tell us about it?
49. How do you explain the countless people who have received miracles from God?

Placeb-O no he didn't!

I saw this clip on The Friendly Atheist  and had to share it. This is from a show called "Shark Tank" where business people come to the show looking for investors to start or expand their business.
Well, Mark Cuban wasn't going to conned by the psuedo science that Ryan Naylor was bringing. He was quick to call him out and make sure the rest knew how he felt. Sorry, having trouble embedding the video because it's from Hulu, but this link will show just the section that he is on.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/332432/shark-tank-week-6?c=1442:1856

They must be counting on the fact that most people haven't seen this clip however, because their website boasts "As seen on Shark Tank". They even offer a buy 2 get 2 by using Shark Tank as a promo code.

I'm always surprised how much influence that "balance test" has on people. Whether they are selling an ion watch or necklace, magnetic bracelet, shoe inserts or half a dozen other items it seems that they always use the "balance test" to show effective their modern snake oil is.

Personally I recommend the Placebo band(infused with the maximum amount of placebo allowed by law lol)  I have purchased a couple and they might be here by May 6 if anyone is interested. I bought a couple extra, they were $5 and I thought they might be a good conversation starter for those of you have friends/family that buy into this. You can have them try yours and once they see how great it is you can show them the "Power of Placebo"

Ash Whatagain?

Having grown up in this area and in a catholic family I never gave much thought to ash Wednesday. When I returned to the area, my wife, whose hometown only had 1 catholic church, questioned me about the practice. Now, of course I knew it was the beginning of Lent , aperiod of time in which I would give up something I liked. That is, until I forgot I was supposed to be giving it up and ate it anyway. (for me it was usually a food, often candy) But what did this have to do with rubbing burnt palm ashes on my head? Having never given it much thought, this was a question I could not answer. Like most christian traditions there is actually more than one answer. I'll give you the christian and then the pagan version.

In the early Church, Ash Wednesday was the day on which those who had sinned, and who wished to be readmitted to the Church, would begin their public penance. As the practice of Ash Wednesday the first datable year was 960. Early on men and priests would have ashes sprinkled over their heads and women would have the cross made on their forehead. In the 12th century the practice of using the prior years burnt palms became a rule. What started as a way to mark those who were paying their pennance to re-enter the church, became a reminder of ones sins at the beginning of Lent.

In Nordic pagan religions they believed that placing ashes on their forehead would provide protection by Odin. This practice was done on Odin's day or what we now call Wednesday. This practice was spread into Europe during viking age of about 790-1066. It therefore comes as no surprise that this practice doesn't show up in church records until 960.

As you pass people today and see that familiar black smudge on their forehead, maybe just maybe they aren't celebrating Lent but hoping that Odin is looking out for them. As for me I think I will just find a marker and put a red "A" on my forehead. Maybe I can drum up some conversation and find a new member today.



http://www.americancatholic.org/newsletters/cu/ac0204.asp - Catholic reference for ash wednesday

http://www.examiner.com/bible-prophecy-in-national/the-pagan-origin-of-ash-wednesday - Pagan reference material

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking - Viking reference 1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_Age - Viking reference 2

We Need a Contraceptive from Religion

These two clips are from the New Hampshire house of representatives and their discussion about contraception. This is a great example of how religion influences politics and laws that effect us all. The bill they are discussing only deals with requiring employers to cover birth control under their insurance. To hear these women talk you would think it was a forced requirement for everyone to take it.

That's right ladies you're giving your men prostate cancer. Obviously Rep. Notter has not read that study and merely wishes to misuse the information. The study she is referring to suggests that there may be a link between countries with higher rates of prostate cancer and oral contraceptive use. It states as a hypothesis that perhaps the increased rates are due to estrogen in the drinking water. This could be coming from the urine of women taking oral contraceptives. This was only a hypothesis and not a published study.

This next clip is Rep Blankenbeker saying we already have two good forms of birth control, condoms and abstinence.  This is clearly a case of religion poisoning politics. If you take religion out of it,this whole discussion would not be taking place. People would not stand for this if they wanted to restrict blood pressure medication just based on their religious beliefs.

 I hope that what everyone was laughing about was abstinence being 100%. Sure, if practiced correctly it is, but we all know half of us are here because it isn't realistic. Also, states that have abstinence only sex ed have higher rates of teen pregnancy.

Okay just one more quick clip, this is Foster Freiss a financial backer of Rick Santorum. He said after the fact that this was just a joke, but I think it clearly shows the mindset of the religious right.

My goodness, I think what we really need to do is stay out of peoples personal business. If a woman decides she needs/wants contraception, whether it is for health reasons or birth control that is her business. These are medical decisions that should be made between a patient and doctor not my congressman and their church.

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0024658 abstinence education compared to birth rate statistics

Indiana Creation Bill on Hold

The Indiana state senate had passed Senate Bill 89, which would allow schools to teach religion-based views on the origin of creation. This bill was passed by the senate 28-22. It amazes me is that state legislatures are even wasting time with these bills and I believe tax payers should be upset about that. Good news however, when this bill reached the Indiana House of Representatives the leader of the house, Brian Bosma-R is shelving the bill. It is basically a delay tactic, with no guarantee that it will kill the bill however. Bosma did however say that he considered it "a lawsuit waiting to happen".

                                           

The bill would allow the creation theories of multiple religions including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Scientology. Senator Brent Steele-R said that the inclusion of the origin stories of religions other than Christianity was why he voted against it. I would like to see state governments working on more pressing matters and stop trying to dilute our science classes with mythology.  

http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula

http://blogs.indystar.com/education/2012/02/01/creation-science-bill-clears-the-indiana-senate/

Let's cut down every tree... of stupidity

This is from PZ Myers' blog this morning, definitely worth sharing. I hope that people don't actually buy into this kind of logic or lack thereof.

I'm almost amazed at how much they can get wrong in a single minute. In the first two seconds Pat is already wrong. "Atheists don't believe anything", he says. I assume he means we don't believe IN anything, and even that would be wrong. I believe, left to our own devices that most people are good and would look out for one another. I believe IN, human ingenuity, just look at nuclear energy, computer technology, and modern medicine. What I don't believe, is that there is any evidence that all of this happens because of a supernatural being.

Roberts goes on to say that "they don't believe in anything, but they can protest somebody that believes in something". This implies that we should not be allowed to protest anything as long as someone "believes" in it. I protest infringements on the rights of others. Whether  it is civil rights, gay rights, or women's rights the majority at some point "believed" something and through protest we were able to create a more equal society.

She goes on to say "you've got different kind of, i don't know, call them religions" and then goes on to completely getting her understanding of wiccan beliefs wrong. Wiccans believe that as intelligent beings it is our responsibility to take care of our environment. Not that trees are gods, as she would lead you to believe.

I also don't know any wiccans who want to dictate our foreign policy or run the country based on what the trees are telling them. Maybe when that happens I'll take up arms against the trees, but for now let's just prune our own stupidity.


http://www.religioustolerance.org/wic_beli.htm -summary of Wiccan beliefs

Atheism isn't a religion

Bill Maher tells it like it is. "Atheism is a religion like abstinence is a sex position." This is a pretty good summary of how most atheists feel about their lack of belief in the supernatural being called a religion.

He also has a mock un-baptizing of Mitt Romney's father-in-law who the mormon church baptized 18 months after his death.

Don't want to be labelled Atheist?

Many people who consider themselves non-believers are hesitant to use the term atheist to describe themselves. That is the case with Ian Jack,the man who wrote the article I linked to below. He was in the hospital and when asked his religion he chose to say none rather than call himself an atheist. I usually tend to get two explanations when I question people why they think this way. The first reason is that it carries what many would consider a bad stigma with it.  I believe that to overcome this stigma we must be more open about calling ourselves atheists. When people begin to realize that people they know and like are atheists, they may start to think differently about atheists in general.
The other reason, which Jack touches on in his article, is that people don't want to be defined by by just one term. Particularly a term that describes a negative about themselves. By negative I don't mean a trait that is bad but by something they don't do or believe. However, I think that there are other terms that identify us by our negatives that we use. Nobody is offended by being called a non-smoker for example.
Also, we often identify ourselves by only one term at a time, perhaps as a runner or a teacher. So those that say they don't want to be labeled by just one term should realize that we do this already. It usually is just a matter of context, obviously if someone asks you what you do, you wouldn't say atheist just as you wouldn't answer runner to that question. We have many labels which we use to describe ourselves and we just pick the appropriate one for the situation.
Christians label themselves with a single term and our term which is actually much broader should be suitable for us. Labeling yourself a christian comes with assumptions also, both positive and negative. So be proud of being an atheist and when asked about your religion, use that as a proper time to label yourself and be honest. "I am an atheist."


http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/dec/23/ian-jack-not-an-atheist?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Fcommentisfree%2Frss+%28Comment+is+free%29

Relaunch, New Look and New Goal

So in the past one of the things that has limited my posts was that I was trying to worry about too many things. Would anyone be interested, do I have a lot to say about this, is this really an atheist topic? I think I was overly concerned about too many things which caused me to wait until I had time to sit down and write a lot about something. In most cases by the time I would, the topic wold be outdated. I have several that are in a draft phase and I was only a click away from posting just because I wanted to find out a little more information.

Moving forward, some of my posts will be short summaries or links to articles I think are interesting or relevant. With most being short and sweet, there won't be that hesitation. Also, I want this to be a central location to pass on information about the meetup group. I find some of the discussions on Meetup's site to be a little difficult to follow and I have found several comments or questions that end up in a thread that isn't relevant. I try to answer most questions directly but will then pass on the general information of the question here.

The other goal is to get more group discussion and interaction throughout the month also. Seeing what topics are getting more discussion here will help make it easier to tailor topics of discussion for the monthly meeting. With a little more group feedback I hope to improve everybody's experience and reach out to even more atheists in our community.