Ultimate Reality When we hear the assertion “God does not exist,” we know this is intended to be equivalent to saying “there is no God.” But “God does not exist” is an interesting formulation of the thought. It is incoherent, read literally, because it seems to be saying that there is a God, but then that the God just […]
Read more...Category: False Neutrality
Extraordinary Claims
The Artificial Standard Skeptics often approach a proposition with a screen through which they intend to sift any evidence: “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” This phrase was popularized by Carl Sagan, and is repeated by skeptics routinely, when encountering any hint that there might be a God. It sounds reasonable superficially, but it’s actually just a way of […]
Read more...Agnosticism Is Not Religious Neutrality
In “Nothing” is Not Religious Neutrality, we suggested two competing ideas, A and Z. A and Z are mutually exclusive, and together they comprise the only two possibilities concerning the subject matter. If we disbelieve A, we should believe Z, and vice versa. After following the logic of the thought experiment involving generic ideas A […]
Read more...Materialism Is Not Religious Neutrality
In “Nothing” is Not Religious Neutrality, we suggested two competing ideas, A and Z. A and Z are mutually exclusive, and together they comprise the only two possibilities concerning the subject matter. If we disbelieve A, we should believe Z, and vice versa. Non-belief Does Not Create Neutrality We discussed how muddled thinking might cause […]
Read more...“Nothing” Is Not Religious Neutrality
We considered the concept of “nothing,” for example in Is Nothing Something, and in It’s Not Nothing. Instead of conceiving of truly nothing, we tend to think instead of a something. That something may be simple or minimal or invisible or insubstantial, but it is not nothing. Something from Nothing The tendency to mis-conceive nothing […]
Read more...It’s not “nothing.”
The jump to materialism Here’s a curious phenomenon. Many Americans today come from a Christian background but become disaffected by it, for one reason or another, and then find “permission” in the culture to reject it altogether, saying they’re now atheists. Didn’t they skip a step? If we’re to come off the claims of Christianity […]
Read more...Is nothing something?
Analogy: the absence of light You’re in a deep cave. The tour guide directs you and those with you to find a comfortable place to stand, or lean, and to get ready for the sensation of total darkness. Then he switches off the lights. The darkness is so complete that you imagine it to have […]
Read more...Materialism, and How It Is Advanced
Materialism is the spirit of the age, and we must understand its implications. First, though, we should understand the word. It’s important not to blow past the meanings of words, as if we’re all on the same page because we speak the same language. It turns out that too often, we think we speak the same […]
Read more...Review: The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins is certainly incendiary, and it’s not just because he makes free use of acerbic anti-Christian language. It’s also because he would advocate prior restraint on free speech (chapter 1); considers religious teaching to children to be child abuse (chapter 9); and lays violence at the feet of religion while excusing the bridle-high materialist […]
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