An old theist friend I've lost contact with because of this blog berated my choice of "agnostic atheist" as a description of my mindset as being a ridiculous term. I guess he couldn't fathom the reasons for my choice of terminology, and many others might be confused.
I'm certainly not saying I think the kind of "god" most people claim to believe in could be true. That fantasy is completely unreal.
James, the editor of The Painful Truth, commented on a recent comment of mine and stated what I mean in a particulary good way. Here's what he said:
"Its not if a God exists. Its about the wonder of the development of a human life.
If a god exists, “it” would be nothing that we can fathom. Hence the god of Gerald Flurry and the rest of the minions does not exist. Religion, as in ancient days, tries to explain the unknowable by contributing it to a god.
If there be a “creator” (if you want to call “it” that), it is not seeking the worship of the “created.”
We exist by some external source beyond us, the same force that relates to the link Ralph put up above. What is behind it? Don’t know, and I really don’t care. I am, therefore, I exist.
Religion has nothing to do with creation. Religion is, an invention of men to explain away the unknowable and to ensure that life continues after death.
Religion is about hope and driven by fear. At least in some people. Not all religion is bad. It serves a purpose of cohesion within societies."
I am agnostic because, as James puts it, there is some unknown force that led to existence existing. I just don't know and can't define what that force is. We may never completely fathom it. At the same time, I know all the gods people have invented are impossible figments of people's imaginations. That makes me anti-theist, therefore, an atheist.
I'm not waffling. I'm just recognizing the "agnostic" fact that there is something I don't know and likely will never know. It may be impossible for the existent to explain ultimate existence, but science can never stop its quest and resort to the stultifying certainty of delusional religions.
I hope that makes it a little plainer.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
A DEMAGOGUE CULTIC DICTATOR RULES THE USA
There is a mad, fanatic demagogue that has my nation by the "balls" -- and he's gleefully squeezing! He's more insidious and dangerous than any communist dictator or Muslim mullah ever could have been or is.
The enemy to be most feared is the enemy within who poses as a patriotic citizen, when he is anything but.
His name is Grover Norquist. He has succeeded in getting 270 members of Congress to sign a pledge to never under any circumsetances raise any taxes, regardless of the needs of the nation and fairness to the 99% of Americans who are not in the privileged 1% aristocracy.
His insane program reminds me of the insanity of Herbert W. Armstrong, Rush Limbaugh and all the other extremist loud mouths who have taken this country and turned it into a bastion of ridiculous insanity. He's a fanatic on a cult-style campaign and has succeeded in backing 270 members of congress into a corner where they can no longer use reason to represent the American people as they have sworn an oath to do.
Grover Norquist is the de facto dictator of the American government!
His insanity is destroying everything thinking and principled Americans have established in the last seven decades! He has turned the greatest nation on earth into a third world hellhole of advancing poverty and class inequality! He has single-handedly brought back the age of the robber barons while being painted as some sort of hero! And, dumb Americans are falling for it and voting for those spineless sell-outs who are under his fanatic thumb! To the destruction of everything that made this nation the greatest nation in the history of mankind!
Here is the list of members of Congress who have sold out the American people in exchange for political support: http://www.atr.org/current-list-taxpayer-protection-pledge-signers-a5597.
Let's make sure these congressmen never have the opportunity to darken the halls of congress again after their next stand for re-election. That's a message they, and their replacements, will clearly understand.
The enemy to be most feared is the enemy within who poses as a patriotic citizen, when he is anything but.
His name is Grover Norquist. He has succeeded in getting 270 members of Congress to sign a pledge to never under any circumsetances raise any taxes, regardless of the needs of the nation and fairness to the 99% of Americans who are not in the privileged 1% aristocracy.
His insane program reminds me of the insanity of Herbert W. Armstrong, Rush Limbaugh and all the other extremist loud mouths who have taken this country and turned it into a bastion of ridiculous insanity. He's a fanatic on a cult-style campaign and has succeeded in backing 270 members of congress into a corner where they can no longer use reason to represent the American people as they have sworn an oath to do.
Grover Norquist is the de facto dictator of the American government!
His insanity is destroying everything thinking and principled Americans have established in the last seven decades! He has turned the greatest nation on earth into a third world hellhole of advancing poverty and class inequality! He has single-handedly brought back the age of the robber barons while being painted as some sort of hero! And, dumb Americans are falling for it and voting for those spineless sell-outs who are under his fanatic thumb! To the destruction of everything that made this nation the greatest nation in the history of mankind!
Here is the list of members of Congress who have sold out the American people in exchange for political support: http://www.atr.org/current-list-taxpayer-protection-pledge-signers-a5597.
Let's make sure these congressmen never have the opportunity to darken the halls of congress again after their next stand for re-election. That's a message they, and their replacements, will clearly understand.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
SPACE, NOT JESUS, IS THE ANSWER
Steven Hawking is making it plain that human salvation doesn't lie in a Jesus returning in the clouds of heaven but literally getting to the heavens by manmade technology. He'll be delivering this message tonight on Discovery World HD. I plan to be listening.
Hawking states: "Our only chance of long-term survival is not to remain lurking on planet Earth, but to spread out into space."
It's been apparent for more than half a century that the human race is toast if we are confined to this planet indefinitely. Any number of manmade or natural disasters could doom us to extinction, or at least the destruction of civilization and the return of savagery and barbarism. If our infrastructure collapses, we would soon be doomed to see our accumulated knowledge and progress not only halted but completely lost -- as lost as the knowldge and technological know how about how the pyramids were built.
You may continue to place your faith in divine rescue if you wish. As for me, I'll be listening and pushing for science and technology against the dumbass purveyors of faith in their sky god.
Hawking states: "Our only chance of long-term survival is not to remain lurking on planet Earth, but to spread out into space."
It's been apparent for more than half a century that the human race is toast if we are confined to this planet indefinitely. Any number of manmade or natural disasters could doom us to extinction, or at least the destruction of civilization and the return of savagery and barbarism. If our infrastructure collapses, we would soon be doomed to see our accumulated knowledge and progress not only halted but completely lost -- as lost as the knowldge and technological know how about how the pyramids were built.
You may continue to place your faith in divine rescue if you wish. As for me, I'll be listening and pushing for science and technology against the dumbass purveyors of faith in their sky god.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
I WAS WRONG (PARTIALLY)
I'm always willing to own up when one of my conclusions have been wrong or partially wrong. I'm speaking of my previous statements that Ronald Reagan was the beginner of the wholesale Republican give-away to the rich. Turns out, that was at least partially wrong, as shown in this article this morning:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/how-the-gop-became-the-party-of-the-rich-20111109
Ronald Reagan started some precedents such as his pushing for "reforms" that started the ball rolling and gave us the original savings and loan crisis. The mindset began then and steadily snowballed to where the top one percent of our population sits as the privileged elite in our society and the vast majority see only ruin and despair on the horizon.
Read the article for more details.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/how-the-gop-became-the-party-of-the-rich-20111109
Ronald Reagan started some precedents such as his pushing for "reforms" that started the ball rolling and gave us the original savings and loan crisis. The mindset began then and steadily snowballed to where the top one percent of our population sits as the privileged elite in our society and the vast majority see only ruin and despair on the horizon.
Read the article for more details.
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