I just can’t improve on Pat Condell’s brilliance.

I’ve seen his videos in the past, but I didn’t realize he has been so prolific. (I know, I live under a rock). He did this latest video about a month ago and it’s awesome, as usual. I decided to do a transcript mainly for myself because I agreed with just about everything he said. So I thought I’d add it here. Thanks Pat, you really did nail what I think!

Godless and Free by Pat Condell

Somebody pointed out to me recently that by focusing on what I don’t want, namely religion, I’m attracting more of it into my life, which I agree would be a very unfortunate irony if not for the fact that I’m focusing on what I do want, and that’s freedom, and lots of it. Read more…

Show Bookmarks

Hide Bookmarks

This is so clever, I have to share it with you. We all need to keep copies of this to hand to those pesky christians trying to convert us to their cult: The Christian Proselytizer Questionnaire:

If you’re reading this paper, it means I’ve given it to you because you were proselytizing to me and you are a Christian. I’m giving you this paper to save us both some time; you see, I’m not a Christian, although I used to be. I’m a secular humanist, and I became one for both logical and emotive reasons.

Since I’ve been a Christian, I do know quite a bit about the religion, although I might not know much about your particular sect. (I use the word sect instead of the word denomination because I think it unfair that Christians get denominations, which is a nice-sounding word, while everyone else gets sects, which is an evil-sounding word.) I became a non-Christian because I didn’t like what I knew about the Christian religion. If you want to even begin attempting to convert me, you have to settle those problems. Specifically, you have to answer the questions below. Answers to each question should be typed or neatly handwritten on a separate sheet (or sheets) of paper, and no answer should exceed 100 words. This is because one of the reasons I left Christianity is that it was so complex, and I’ve found that the simplest answer to a question is usually the right one. Quotes from scripture count for bonus points as long as you can refute other quotes from scripture that contradict the passage that you are quoting. If you return this paper to me personally, or if you mail it to me, and if I think that your answers justify my return to Christianity, then I will get in touch with you. Read more…

Show Bookmarks

Hide Bookmarks

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. I’m a bit bummed out that I don’t have a great outfit to wear to dinner on Thursday. Like one of the 30 or so anti-religious shirts my husband Butch I have created on Zazzle and Cafepress with maybe some nice black cargo pants. I just don’t think I could get one shipped to me in time. Maybe if I order soon, I can have something festive for baby jesus’ birthday.

Oh if I only had the nerve. Maybe it’s not nerve but respect for the people who throw the family get-togethers - Butch’s aunt and uncle. She’s a bit on the religious side, so I wouldn’t want to upset or offend her. She’s the kind of christian that I don’t mind at all. I know she’s a christian because she goes to church every Sunday, but we’ve never talked religion and she’s never tried to push her faith on me. She is a good person, one of the few christians I know that I truly respect, because she walks the walk without talking the talk, if you know what I mean.

Her mother, on the other hand, she’s nasty. The typical fundie moron that is unbearable and full of lies and hatred for anyone who actually thinks for themselves. As a schoolteacher, I just wish she wouldn’t be so ignorant about simple facts like oh, I dunno, maybe that we’re not a christian nation, and that the founding fathers created a separation of church and state very deliberately. Read more…

(also called Appeal to Authority) Stating a claim is true because a person or group of perceived authority says it’s true. The claimant emphasizes the many years of experience and/or formal degrees held by the person or organization making the claim.

This argument is the opposite of the Ad Hominem Argument because the arguer appeals to positive characteristics of the source to support their argument, such as its perceived authority. If an advertisement shows someone wearing a white labcoat or a stern business suit, that is an appeal to authority.

This is Part 5 in a series I introduced the other day about Logical Fallacies, Misconceptions, False Beliefs. We’re going to go through one fallacy at a time. There are about 20 main fallacies altogether. I’m going to try to explain them with examples then find ways to help you refute those arguments when they occur.

While it’s reasonable to take into account the proper background of education and credentials, or to be suspicious of someone without such expertise, it must inevitably come down to logic and evidence to support the claim, not the person promoting it.

A good authority supports a position because there is evidence or other justifiable reasons that the argument merits, not the other way around. So, good scientists do not attach significance to their own authority. The theory needs to stand on its own and be peer reviewed. There is no need for an appeal to authority. Read more…

I read something the other day that was titled Atheistic Societies are Happy Societies. It’s based on a study by Phil Zuckerman and finds that the most organically atheistic countries in the world are better off.

The top 10 non-religious countries according to the study are:

1. Sweden
2. Vietnam
3. Denmark
4. Norway
5. Japan
6. Czech Republic
7. Finland
8. France
9. South Korea
10. Estonia

This is from the paper, from the site I was at: Read more…