I have spent a lot of time thinking about free will and determinism, and a fair bit reading others thoughts on it too. I’ve been trying to sift through my own thoughts on the matter because I am still mostly agnostic towards the whole thing though I do lean towards a form of compatibilism that I am unsure if anyone has thought of in the same way, though it is likely many minds greater than mine have considered these things…
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I’ve spoken about our tribal nature before, often about specific groups like antivaxxers, flat earthers, fundamentalists, fanboys etc but I have also turned that inwards to take a look at atheists and what the ‘new atheist’ movement has become. Let’s first briefly go over the basics so we are sure we are on the same page, and then move forward. Our Tribal Nature Humans are a tribal species. It’s in our DNA. We worked together in groups to survive as…
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The United States Pandemic Response In this paper I will take a short overview of all the epidemics and pandemics save a few in the history of the United States. Examination of the past outbreaks and the US government’s response is of vital importance to understanding how to properly implement plans to eliminate a health threat. The purpose of this is to highlight the delinquency in the 2016-2020 presidential administration’s responsibilities in regards to the current pandemic, Covid-19. Epidemics and…
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I’ve written a few articles about vaccinations from the scientific point of view but felt it was time to turn my attention to the morality of the topic; both from the angle of if it is a moral obligation to be vaccinated, and the morality of forcing vaccinations on people. What do we mean by moral? As we discussed on ‘Does morality have a purpose?’ we could see the ultimate purpose of morality is human wellbeing & flourishing. Therefore, anything…
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Continuing our miniseries of Bad Atheist Arguments on our quest for self-improvement I bring you a number of contradictory claims and statements I have seen many of my fellow atheists making, and indeed have possibly made myself in the past. Contents Words are Defined by Usage and ContextFaith, Atheism, Belief ONLY mean… Morality Is SubjectiveExcept I am going to hold you to a standard above your opinion Evidence will change my opinionExcept I reject any evidence not backed by an…
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Hello, and welcome to Fresh AiR! – I’m Joe… Words you will have heard a few times if you have already started listening to season one. What is Fresh AiR? ‘Fresh AiR’ is a podcast, hosted by Joe, Martijn and Dave. It is part of Answers in Reason but hopes to bring a fresh perspective on a number of topics you might hear from the atheist community. Who are involved in Fresh AiR? The short answer is anyone that wants…
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I’ve come across a lot of bias on the internet. I have even spoken at length in previous articles about Confirmation Bias, and how I have made mistakes through a cognitive bias to people I trust. I’ve noticed in conversations with people I felt I had a mutual respect with, they are often less inclined to listen if I suggest something they don’t agree with. This is amplified if the suggestion is something that is against the general atheist consensus…
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Alan has already debunked “The mathematical Impossibility of evolution” but I thought I would explain a little bit about statistics. Or rather than explain; I thought providing examples of statistics in order to help you increase your understanding. The Statistical Chance of You The statistical chance of you existing is such an astronomical calculation that it is really hard to compute. I’ve spent a while looking at different averages from various sites and and I have to say it was…
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In today’s society of theists you tend to find you have those who are rather liberal in their attitude to their holy book.
They take it as a metaphor, understand it is dated, written by humans, imperfect, and lean on the good examples it provides.
The other is the fundamentalists, the literalist, the inerrantist. These folks think the Bible, Qur’an or particular holy book is the written word of their deity.
As such, believe it is PERFECT. Without error, 100% factual. No metaphor. The world and humans were created as described in Genesis (or equivalent book) and therefore all evidence of evolution is thrown out.
You do get some theists that are in between these two extreme groups, but thanks to our tribal nature you tend to find people end up going to the proverbial left or right.
This literalist attitude leads to massive misconceptions about humans, science, and even faith.
As with previous CCM Gallaries by Lord Cropes this one tries to answer some of those questions and statements you often get
“The Bible is inerrant!” is something quite commonly said in debate. It’s part of the circular reasoning: “The Bible is the word of God, because it tells us so, God is perfect, therefore the Bible is infallible.” We have a number of articles that address things like: Common Theistic Fallacies (e.g. Circular Reasoning) Confirmation Bias Contradictions in The Bible Morality in the Bible Fine Tuning Watch Maker Evidence for Jesus’s Existence Apologetics This article is not going to address any…
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