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By Neece, on March 15, 2010, at 12:40 pm
 I have 2 studies to share with you then a video to cheer you up afterwards.
The first paper is titled ‘Believers’ estimates of God’s beliefs are more egocentric than estimates of other people’s beliefs’. It found through a series of 7 studies and surveys that people believe that god has the same beliefs that they have. Here is what they concluded:
The researchers noted that people often set their moral compasses according to what they presume to be God’s standards. ”The central feature of a compass, however, is that it points north no matter what direction a person is facing,” they conclude. “This research suggests that, unlike an actual compass, inferences about God’s beliefs may instead point people further in whatever direction they are already facing.”
Isn’t that convenient? It certainly explains how god can hate all the same people they hate, and basically agree with them [...]
By Neece, on February 25, 2010, at 11:00 am
There is a new Pew Survey about religion of people coming of age around the year 2000 (called the Millenials) out. It’s quite interesting. I’ve included some of the charts and tables for you.
What is interesting is how the Millenials are less affiliated, but they still believe in the afterlife, miracles, angels and demons to a high degree. I think that’s where atheism is lacking for a lot of people; that comfort that there’s more to life than just the natural, that life doesn’t just end when we take our last breath. Personally I find that it makes life much more precious.
Let’s see some charts and tables!
Note that in the Unaffiliated group are the Religious Unaffiliated, people who describe their faith as “nothing in particular” but say that religion is somewhat or very important in their lives. Whatever that means.
If you take [...]
By Neece, on December 9, 2009, at 9:30 pm
 The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life just released a new survey today. I’ve given it a quick persusal and I have to say, while some of it is interesting, most of it doesn’t surprise me. Apparently large numbers of Americans engage in multiple religious practices. Stuff you’d think would cancel each other out, but they handle the cognitive dissonance without hesitation.
For example, many blend christianity with Eastern or new age philosophies such as reincarnation, astrology and the belief in spiritual energy in physical objects. Sizeable minorities in all major U.S. religious groups say they have experienced supernatural phenomena, such as being in touch with the dead or with ghosts.
A third of Americans attend different religious services. Personally I find this amazing. When I studied different religions, I lost my faith in all of them pretty quickly because they sort of canceled each [...]
By Neece, on October 20, 2009, at 4:42 pm
Hello everyone! I hope you’re having a great day!
This is one of those catch-all posts where I have several items to share with you.
Some atheist news and education which is great, and some church news that is horrible. So the score for the day is Atheists 2, churches -100.
 First, the United Coalition of Reason is getting ready to post ads on the subway in New York. These are different than the ones they posted for us here in Morgantown, WV.
The bus ads say: A million New Yorkers are good without God. Are you? That’s awesome! The NYTimes wrote a long article about it, and our Morgantown billboard even gets a mention!
Next, I saw a video on The Friendly Atheist of Neil deGrasse Tyson explaining the Argument from Ignorance. [...]
By groovecat, on September 16, 2009, at 11:08 am
 Debating Evolution with religious folk is a waste of time.
With the unknown, one is confronted with danger and discomfort–the first instinct is to abolish these painful states. First principle: any explanation is better than none. We all do it, we hear a strange noise and we quickly come up with a guess to explain the noise, i.e., wind, a ghost, a…? All tribes/social groups through time have come up with myths to explain unknowns, answers arrived at not through reason or logic, but to tranquilize the fear of the unknown, providing comfort.
Religious folk form their identities through their religious teachings and any information that doesn’t fit their belief system, triggers feelings of insecurity and fear; emotionally, they feel they are being personally attacked–they must abolish the danger and discomfort they feel. They can’t use reason or logic to evaluate any of the millions of facts supporting [...]
By Neece, on September 4, 2009, at 9:51 am
I thought I’d share this with you. The BBC has a page for each religion where they give a bit of information at a glance, and one for atheism too.
Atheism is the absence of belief in any gods or spiritual beings. The word Atheism comes from a, meaning without, and theism meaning belief in god or gods.
- Atheists don’t use god to explain the existence of the universe.
- Atheists say that human beings can devise suitable moral codes to live by without the aid of Gods or scriptures.
Reasons for non-belief
People are atheist for many reasons, among them:
- They find insufficient evidence to support any religion.
- They think that religion is nonsensical.
- They once had a religion and have lost faith in it.
- They live in a non-religious culture.
- Religion doesn’t [...]
By Neece, on August 4, 2009, at 4:58 am
 While I am a 7th degree black belt atheist, I do have a heart of gold, as I’m sure you know. (just kidding! I’m trying to lighten the mood! Ok, you’re right, I’m not kidding, I really do have a heart of gold)
Where was I? Oh, right. When someone comes to me and asks me to have a conversation with them about religion and atheism, I feel it’s my responsibility as an atheist to show that a discourse is possible. I want to show religious people that I am indeed a living, breathing ethical atheist. I am rather nice to people, especially if they aren’t visiting my home for more than one night. (Then all bets are off) I try to show people how to use reason, logic and facts to find out things for themselves.
Sure, sometimes I can get a bit testy when a christian insults [...]
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I have 2 studies to share with you then a video to cheer you up afterwards.
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