atheists's Journal: Good links

To get the juices flowing in the group I'm trying to create consider this article.

More links:

link

link

one nation, under reason

Biblical Errancy

a meeting

Gay and Lesbian Atheists and Humanists

Gullibility isn't in the dictionary

Inquisitive Atheists

Positive Atheism

The Skeptic's Annotated Bible

Irrefutable proof of the existence of a Supreme Being - After you get past the boring junk that takes up the first half you get down to the assumptions that are claimed as "facts that are irrefutably proven."

Feel free to post more to share. I got the one from LPetrazicis' journal, which often has good links and good discussion.

Here's some disgusting links:

one

two

Here is another article with this good quote: Golen considers it offensive for her and other Christians to have to hear chants from a mosque. "I do not impose Jesus on them because He's quiet," the Hamtramck resident says. "Jesus calls in a quiet, gentle voice -- He doesn't have to blare over a PA system to call His followers.

The anti-atheist webring is quite insensitive.

Don't you just love the insensitive idiots of the world?

Two off the top of my head...

[Dirtside]

talk.origins [talkorigins.org] (all about evolution)

logic and fallacies [infidels.org] (mostly relating to religion)

Re:Two off the top of my head...

[bamberg]

The Bible [gospelcom.net] is a fantastic site for using in debates against christians because so much of it is contradictory or ridiculous. Sites like the Skeptic's Annotated Bible [skepticsan...dbible.com] and the Evil Bible [evilbible.com] are great for finding quotes but when it comes time to link to them in discussions I find it useful to link to a "neutral" bible site. It makes it harder for the christians to blindly dismiss them. Often they are left with no choice but to stop responding, as shown in this (to toot my own horn) example [slashdot.org].

Here's a fun Bible [rr.com]

I know the problem

[FortKnox]

The problem with religion is the same problem with Linux and open source.

Zeal

The zealous make everyone in the group seem like tards. Think about it. The "RTFM" guys make Linux 'user unfriendly with childish teenagers wanting to be 1337 and you not know the stuff they know.'
Same for religion. Some whack job will hold up a giant sign reading "you are all going to hell!" and spouting off crap about how everything you do is wrong.
Honestly, the actual teaching of religion (Christianity, especially) is t

Re:I know the problem

[FortKnox]

Most bible quotes like that are either:
A.) Taken entirely out of context
B.) Old school old testament stuff that has been overruled (a la eating pork, etc...)

And no need to AC unless you are 'afraid' to be an atheist.

Re:I know the problem

[bamberg]

Most bible quotes like that are either:
A.) Taken entirely out of context

I hear this claim a lot, but I never see any of the christians ever provide the correct context, something that they would have to be able to do if they were being honest about their claim.

"Out of context" is just an automatic response that christians use when they have no answer to the quote, which is almost always.

B.) Old school old testament stuff that has been overruled (a la eating pork, etc...)

Here are some [gospelcom.net] bible [gospelcom.net] q [gospelcom.net]

Re:I know the problem

[FortKnox]

Keep this in mind, I'm trying to have a normal debate. If you start attacking rudely or violently, I'll simply ignore.

The stuff I talk about 'out of context' is when someone says "Look God kills babies" and points to a bible verse that's about the destruction of Sodom and Gamora. Stuff like that.
Yeah, its a usual response because people just read a bible verse and point it out without reading the entire chapter.

Re:I know the problem

[bamberg]

Keep this in mind, I'm trying to have a normal debate. If you start attacking rudely or violently, I'll simply ignore.

I'm not sure what you found "rude" or "violent" about my message or why you think a threat (even a weak one like threatening not to respond) is appropriate. In responses to other messages where christians have accused atheists of not having any morality or reason to live I have not felt any obligation to hold back but I have not said anything rude to you. If I were a suspicious person I

Re:I know the problem

[FortKnox]

This does not in any way invalidate the point that killing babies is wrong and that the bible says that god did it.

True, but usually its implied that God simply kills babies on a whim. With the full text, they were a part of something 'viciously wrong' that God felt was necessary to destroy. I imagine he killed quite a few babies when he flooded the earth, too (Noah). God was pretty damn mean by in the OT...

As far as the rude comment, maybe I just read it aggressively by mistake. I apologize, and

Re:I know the problem

[bamberg]

True, but usually its implied that God simply kills babies on a whim. With the full text, they were a part of something 'viciously wrong' that God felt was necessary to destroy. I imagine he killed quite a few babies when he flooded the earth, too (Noah). God was pretty damn mean by in the OT...

But, being all-powerful, certainly he could have saved the babies while destroying what he considered evil? Especially since, being all-knowing, he knew in advance that this would happen. He must have deliberate

Re:I know the problem

[bamberg]

I read Exodus 21 from start to finish. As you know, it's basically a list of punishments, and Old Testament. So as I understand it (and as you say), the mere existence of Jesus trumps "eye for an eye" (Ex 21:24). Jesus was all, "turn the other cheek". This has the negative of removing the strong force of old-school Jewish law, I guess. At least under Moses the sentencing guidelines were clear.

I'm not sure what you're replying to, but I personally do not believe this. On the contrary, the bible is quite [gospelcom.net]

Re:I know the problem

[Talence]

But isn't the whole anti-gay part ALSO based on the old testament? In fact, the two conflicting accounts of how the universe was created is also in there. It is a little odd to consider all the "bad stuff" overruled even though there is no explicit mention of which parts exactly are overruled.

The argument "out of context" is a knee-jerk reaction: do you also 'correct' people who quote Jesus as if he literally spoke the words attributed to him? I like to ask them: "what are the last words of Jesus". If they

Re:I know the problem

[FortKnox]

OK, if you want to talk gay and such, the only thing you'll find about homosexuality (at least that I've really read to be right on point about it), is in Gensis, God creates Eve to be with Adam (woman for a man), and Sodom and Gamora (thats more along the lines of homosexual sex).
Now, that being said, I'm not 100% sure there is anything really in the bible that states "Homosexuality is BAD." In fact, I'm not against homosexuals. I'm not one, though I think its a bit against nature. I'm for civil unions

Re:I know the problem

[Talence]

I'm not against homosexuals either... I see it as something that people have to decide for themselves. The state should be as neutral as possible in these matters, since every citizen should have the same fundamental rights.

As far as I know, biblical anti-gay comments are indeed hard to find. If people would take similar passages as seriously as the anti-gay ones, they would have a hard time not breaking contemporary laws or staying out of jail. That leads me to believe that people more often base (their i

Re:I know the problem

[heliocentric]

Wow. That is such a wonderful post. It is rare for me to find an entire post on /. or anywhere on the internet that I agree with so much.

I first noticed this atheists user account, or group, whatever, here on Slashdot when it friended me a few days ago and I wasn't sure what was up. I came back to read some of the activity and this post alone is making me want to get active as it appears I am no longer alone with such views.

It looks like I am going to be marking some wonderful slashdot useres as friend

Re:I know the problem

[Talence]

Well, I'm glad you liked what I wrote :-) The reason you probably feel you're alone in what you think is because those who think what you think (like I do apparently), also tend to not stalk people with their views or be excessively outspoken about them. They are there. You may like some of them, you may hate some of them... but they exist :-)

I've also had the nice surprise of seeing someone else making good arguments (according to my view) with some nice references to sites I've seen before. It really is

Re:I know the problem

[Dirtside]

The problem with religion is the same problem with Linux and open source. Zeal

Well, zeal is one problem shared by religion and open source. They both have other problems. I don't know whether zeal is even the main problem with them, but that's another argument...

Honestly, the actual teaching of religion (Christianity, especially) is to love one another, and not point out flaws.

I wasn't under the impression that most religions teach either that you should love one another, or that you shouldn't