Archive for September, 2011

Tradition Is Not A Valid Argument

Sep 23, 2011 Comments Off by

This is one of the rarer arguments that emerges in debates. The general idea is that because a certain country has always been tied to a particular religion, or was founded on certain religious principles, that its people should therefore continue to do things according to that religion. There are two obvious examples of when [...]

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Fashionable Atheism

Sep 20, 2011 Comments Off by

It seems the favourite catchphrase of the patronisingly religious, particularly now with the rise of new atheism, to call atheism fashionable, trendy, or cool. This is just another way of stating the same condescending remarks as the infamous line “I used to be an atheist, but now …”. It is so revoltingly arrogant and dismissive. [...]

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The Archbishop of Canterbury – Church of England Battling The Coolness of Atheism

Sep 20, 2011 Comments Off by

http://life.nationalpost.com/2011/09/20/church-of-england-battling-%E2%80%98coolness-of-atheism%E2%80%99-archbishop/

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Is it possible to be atheist and extremist?

Sep 20, 2011 Comments Off by

Clearly in order to answer this question we’re going to need to define extremism. Extremism is a relative description. One thing is extremist with respect to another. To label something extremist is to state that it is very different compared to the average. One could suggest that it is as different as something could possibly [...]

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Atheism and Science

Sep 20, 2011 Comments Off

Even the religious are starting to notice that one of the natural philosophical partners to science, is atheism. Bizarrely, this seems to confuse some religious people, as though they weren’t expecting it. Any atheist will tell you, that atheism is the only logically valid philosophy with regards to the existence of gods. It is the [...]

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Another Couple of Atheist Logos

Sep 17, 2011 Comments Off

You can read about the original design of this symbol here: http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/08/atheism_symbol.php

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“I Used To Be An Atheist …”

Sep 17, 2011 Comments Off

This is a common opening line used in arguments by the supposedly newly religious. It’s nonsense and here’s why. Firstly, there’s no reason why it is true. It could easily be just a persuasive technique aimed at bullying the other person into submission by suggesting they are behind in their thinking. Religious people like to [...]

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The Atheist Logo

Sep 17, 2011 Comments Off

Whilst it is probably preferable that atheism is not institutional, since this removes one more similarity to religion, there is a range of symbols that are used to represent the general principles or the movement. The most popular seems to be the red letter “A” emblazoned on a black background. Here are six copies of this symbol in [...]

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What Is Generalisation? When Is It Relevant?

Sep 12, 2011 Comments Off

Generalisation is a method used a lot in logic. The easiest to understand definition is when a concept is applied to a broader range of situations. We hear the principle of generalisation in debates most often with regards to extremism. One person might suggest that the views of the extremist reveal a flaw present in [...]

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Posters

Sep 02, 2011 Comments Off

 

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Why Don’t Personal Experiences Count As Evidence?

Sep 02, 2011 Comments Off

When citing the evidence they have for the existence of a god, many religious people will give examples of their own personal experience. On every such occasion, these references are discarded. The reason is simple. In science, all measurable effects are measured several times, often in several different ways by different scientists. The methods are [...]

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What Evidence Is There For The Existence Or Non-Existence Of A God?

Sep 02, 2011 Comments Off

This question may seem, on first inspection, to be simple, but it’s not. We will see that this question is phenomenally complex. Indeed this seems to be a pattern of many questions on religious topics. Once more, the complicated nature of the question is revealed through the definitions used to express it. We need to [...]

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