Human knowledge has progressed exponentially since the dawn of modern science. It is no longer reasonable to accept claims without sufficient objective evidence. The harm from religion, alternatives to medicine, conservatism, and all other false beliefs will be exposed on this blog by reporting the findings of science. This blog will also reinforce what should be the basics of education: History, Civics, Financial Literacy, Media Literacy, and Critical/Science Based Thinking.
Saturday, December 12, 2020
The Watchmaker Argument Debunked
Thursday, December 10, 2020
Listen To Science, NOT Some Scientists
- "Why do some scientists believe in God? Has science proven God's existence? Here, Dr. Gerald Schroeder, Dr. John Lennox, and Dr. Francis Collins use science and religious apologetics to argue for God. Lennox defends Christianity against the problem of evil, Collins uses the fine-tuning argument, and Schroeder "proves" the Biblical God using a creative argument of his own. He claims you will "believe in God in 5 minutes." These men are smart, but even smart people believe weird things sometimes. My atheism and skepticism still feel unchallenged for now."
Monday, December 7, 2020
Is The Multiverse Scientific?
Wednesday, December 2, 2020
Another Look At "Nothing"
Tuesday, December 1, 2020
A Different Angle On The Naturalism Vs Theism Debate
Saturday, November 28, 2020
Madonna Of Guadalupe Debunked
There are countless claims of Mary, the supposed mother of the supposed Jesus, appearing at many times and places to do miracles, give prophesies, et al. In every case there are reasons for serious doubt regarding their truth. The Madonna/Virgin of Guadalupe is on par with the visions of Mary at Lourdes and Fatima in their acceptance by Catholics. Below you will find links questioning the Guadalupe appearance. Since all of these "visions" would be "Extraordinary", I require extraordinary evidence and none is seen.
Madonna of Guadalupe 'fake'The Marian Apparition of Guadalupe and Her Fantastical Portrait
The Myth of the Virgin de Guadalupe
Friday, November 27, 2020
No, Religious Societies Are NOT Better
There is a trove of data rejecting the claim that religious societies are better. Click on the links below for the truth:
- - - - - - -
"Do societies fall apart when they become more secular? Clearly not.""Are secular countries worse off than religious ones? Is atheism the downfall of nations? Are countries cursed by god when they stray from the faith? Or do non-religious outperform religious countries on measures of wealth, well-being and success? Today, we'll dive into the data to see if atheism is, in fact, the downfall of nations or if the blessing of God/curse of secularism is a myth."
"Are Christian countries better off than secular countries? Does God bless Christian nations and curse atheist countries? Or are the secular countries better off when we measure wealth, prosperity, happiness, and well-being?"
Saturday, November 21, 2020
Why Is Christianity So Splintered?
From its beginning, Christianity could not agree on anything. Because of the complicity with the Romans (see Constantine), Christianity, under the Catholic Church, created an official monopoly on "Truth (tm)" and evolved into the most powerful force in Christianity that we are living with today. In spite of this situation, the disagreements within Christianity persist, and each entity claims that THEY have the "Truth (tm)". Why?
Unlike science, where it is possible to form a consensus on a topic, Christianity, and virtually all organized religions, have no tool to do so. The latter relies on philosophy and theology, which don't have a way to justify/verify opinions.
If you disagree with anything above, I suggest you peruse in detail all of the posts in my "Featured Post" page above, and especially those labeled "Religion/Christianity." Peace.
Thursday, November 19, 2020
Personal Relationship With God Explained
One of the hardest "nuts to crack" when attempting to get a strongly religious person to look at their beliefs in a God outside of the dogma and indoctrination from which they have been exposed is their "personal relationship" with God. Science, and specifically psychology, explains what is going on in the brain of such a person. Click on the link below to better understand why this is so:
Sunday, November 15, 2020
Why A Christian God Would Be Extraordinary
- The claim for a Christian God lacks plausibility and probability, thus, it is extraordinary and requires extraordinary evidence for acceptance. There is no objective evidence for any God.
Friday, October 30, 2020
Faith Is Easy To Debunk
Tuesday, October 27, 2020
Street Epistemology: It Works
Wednesday, October 14, 2020
European Colonialism Demythicized
There is a strong movement from the US political Left to remove statues of Christopher Columbus and his holiday because of the verified cruelty of many of his actions (link). The political Right is in opposition to these actions (link). What is the truth about him? The link below is to a podcast that goes in-depth on the actions of Columbus, the general history of European colonialization, and "American Exceptionalism:"
Saturday, September 26, 2020
Slavery And Christian History
Christian apologists have many challenges in defending their unsupported dogma. Included in these challenges are the passages in both the Old and New Testaments that appear to support slavery. The 20-minute video below does an excellent job presenting the truth of the matter.
Friday, September 25, 2020
Western Civilization And Values
One Christian apologists' arrow in their quiver of false claims is that Western Civilization owes its values to Christianity. The 10-min video below sets the record straight:
Thursday, September 24, 2020
A Clear & Succinct 3-Point Debunking Of Christianity
- There is no evidence of an "Original Sin"
- The Bible has no "Primary Sources", Thus, it is not trustworthy as history
- There is no evidence for any claims on our reality made by Christianity
Sunday, September 20, 2020
More on "Original Sin": Not Only Is It Falsified, But It Is Immoral
Thursday, September 17, 2020
The Catholic Church, Scientists, And Executions
Critics of the Catholic Church, especially atheists, have charged that numerous scientists in history were executed by the Catholic Church for promoting the results of their scientific inquiries. As is the case with all attacks on the Catholic Church, apologists attempt to "set the record straight." Below are examples from one Catholic apologetic website and my responses to such:
1. Hypatia
2. Roger Bacon
3. Pietro d' Abano
4. Cecco d' Ascoli
5. Michael Servetus
6. Girolamo Cardano
7. Giordano Bruno
8. Lucilio Vanini
9. Tommaso Campanella
10. Kazimierz Lyszczynsk
Conclusion
- - - - - - -
My comments:
- During the period of time that these events occurred, there was functionally no divide between the Catholic Church and secular law.
- Virtually all scientists during this time were under the thumb of the Catholic Church.
- The "crimes" were essentially blasphemy/heresy against the Dogma of the Catholic Church punishable by torturous death. Science during this time was essentially any claim approved by the Catholic Church, and any opinion, scientific or otherwise, not in keeping with the Dogma was blasphemy/heresy.
- In other words: not all who were executed for heresy were scientists; not all scientists were executed for scientific heresy; all who defied the dogma of the Catholic Church were punished if not executed.
- Note that this apologetic didn't address the "Biggie": Galileo. Here is what happened to him and why.
Saturday, September 12, 2020
One Christian Dogma They Keep Quiet About
Conscience: the inner sense of what is right or wrong.
Unfortunately, all branches of Christianity exert pressure on the non-believer to become a member by explicitly or implicitly using threats of going to Hell and separation from God after death if one remains a non-believer. However, rarely do they point out the Christian dogma of primacy of personal conscience (link)(link)(link) in deciding whether to remain a non-believer or convert to Christianity.
I was a Devout Catholic most of my life. However, as a skeptic (science-based thinker) since college in all but religion (funny how compartmentalization fools the brain), I finally had to accept that there is no objective evidence for any God, in spite of Christian claims on our reality. This conversion from Catholicism to atheism is what my informed conscience told me I should do.
Imagine what would happen if Christianity would emphasize this primacy of the conscience and also promoted informed critical thinking on religious claims.