The Fine Tuning Argument AGAIN?

Click on the link below for debunking of the Fine Tuning argument with a different approach:

Why Fine Tuning Is Evidence Against God

The US Supreme Court: It's Worse Than You Thought

"The U.S. Supreme Court — that over sixty years ago ruled against state-led prayer in public schools — has swung back the other way with a vengeance. The ultra-conservative majority on the current court has reversed 60 years of progress and put the rights of non-believers in jeopardy.

"In this episode, Jim Underdown speaks to Nick Little, former Director of CFI’s Legal department, and Eddie Tabash, Chair of the CFI Board of Directors. The two lawyers talk about the state of the court, recent decisions, and the problematic future for secular Americans."

Click on the link below for a podcast exposing, not just its destruction of the separation of religion and government, but essentially the foundation of the entire US Constitution:

Supreme Injustice

Religious Apologists: Your Services Are Useless

Religious apologists, you depend on philosophy and theology to support your claims. However, opinions from such cannot be verified/justified. They have reached the end of usefulness to humanity, especially since modern science is able to verify/justify its findings. They are dead academic disciplines.

 
All religious claims have been evaluated by branches of science with the strong probability that there is nothing new that will change the findings that religion is a construct of the human brain for comforting and controlling.

You instead need to adopt the state of the art regarding knowledge/information encased within the scientific disciplines of modern science. Since religion takes advantage of the weakness of the unassisted brain to understand reality, the understanding of the basic science of psychology is necessary to change the brains of you folks.

How To Get The Non-Religious Politically Active

 "The Nones are on the rise! When asked about their religious affiliation, year after year, more and more Americans are choosing “none of the above.” The number of religiously unaffiliated Americans, which includes atheists and agnostics, has been rocketing up over the past couple of decades, and today these Nones make up about one-third of the American population. But they’re not matching their religious counterparts in terms of political organization or cultivating tightly bonded communities, so what’s going on?

"In this episode of Point of Inquiry, Free Inquiry editor Paul Fidalgo talks to political scientist Dr. Juhem Navarro-Rivera, Political Research director and Managing Partner at Socioanalitica Research and a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Humanist Studies. His article “The Boundaries of Secularism: Who’s in? Who’s Out?” is featured in the October/November 2023 issue of Free Inquiry, and he has some important observations about the rise of the nones and what’s preventing the nonreligious from becoming a social and political force to be reckoned with."

Click on the link below to better understand why, in spite of the reality of there being at least as many "Nones" as Trumpers, the Nones have virtually NO political clout:

The Challenge of Rallying the Nones

The History Of The Israel - Palestine Conflict And Territorial Rights

One cannot fully understand the motives of the players in the Middle East until one understands its history. Click on the links below for videos providing a good start:

How Zionists Came to Palestine Under British Protection

Britain in Palestine 1917-1948

History of the Israel-Palestine Conflict

Whose Land Is It? Palestine Or Israel?

How Britain Started the Arab-Israeli Conflict

The Problem With the Middle East's Borders

Why the Middle East’s Borders Guarantee Forever War

Current Bad Actors:

The evil of Hamas and other Palestinian terrorists

The evil of Israel's Ultra-Orthodox

The evil of Evangelical Christians regarding Israel

More:

Podcast: Summary of the full spectrum of thought on the issues

Article: The Moral Deficiencies of a Liberal Education

Territorial Rights:

The discussion over who has rights over territory is the history of civilization and NO culture is "right" anywhere on the planet. It is more than time for humanity to grow up and learn to live together peacefully as a united human family.

At its base, the problem is tribalism and its bedfellow religion. As civilization has evolved from clans/tribes into wider communities, the residual of this basic social structure remains deep in our psyche. Today, with the findings of science, we know that race and religion are false and harmful human constructs. History clearly shows that cooperation trumps tribalism and individualism in the flourishing of humanity.

Science must be THE tool we use to inform our innate reason, wisdom, and common humanity!

Israel: There Is No Excuse For USA Support Of Apartheid

"Israel's politics have been upended by the return of Netanyahu as Prime Minister, put in office with the help of extremely far-right factions who have now pushed through reforms to the Israeli Supreme Court that fundamentally undermine their democracy. All this while they were already a farce of a democracy due to the maintenance of an apartheid-like system of differing rules applying to different residents based on ethnicity."

Click on the link below for a podcast exposing a country that should not be allowed to hoodwink the USA with its religious bigotry (heads up, Evangelical ideologues). 

Israel's Political Upheavals (and more)

Evangelical Christians Have A Lot To Answer For

"On May 29, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed a new anti-gay law that puts the country’s already persecuted LGBTQ+ community at risk of life imprisonment for same-sex relations and calls for the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality.” This draconian legislation is the latest blow to fundamental human rights in Uganda, and it has deep links to American evangelicals who have for years sought to export US culture wars over gender and sexuality to African countries and Uganda in particular."

Click on the links below for the evil details. Christian morality is an oxymoron 😡:

The Unholy Relationship Between Uganda's Anti-LGBTQ+ Law and US Evangelicalism

How US 'Christian Values' Helped Uganda Become An Evil African Presence

How U.S. Evangelicals Helped Homophobia Flourish in Africa

Another Christian Apologist Attempting To Explain Free Will

 Click on the link below for a short video of a Christian apologist attempting to support the discredited concept of Free Will:

Goofy Arguments About Free Will

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This video clarified the subject 2 years ago: 
("We don't have it, but should live like we do.")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_BTVN68-ZA

Sacred Frequencies: The Worst Of Quackery?

I was watching one of my favorite YouTube channels and came across this advertisement. It's so bad, it could pass as a parody. I reported it to YouTube.

In my efforts to find out more about it, I found a similar one, here, almost as bad. 

"Sacred Frequencies", my arse. That said, much music is calming and therapeutic, just not in the category of working miracles!!

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Some reading this may have heard the term "Solfeggio Frequencies." The term was new to me. It was found in researching "Sacred Frequencies" and appears to be similar to such (maybe the same thing?). In any event, below are some links describing it as quackery:

https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4474

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Solfeggio_frequencies

https://glasgowguardian.co.uk/2023/03/29/solfeggio-frequencies-and-making-a-quick-buck/

https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/no-evidence-support-claim-solfeggio-frequencies-remove-toxins-from-body/

A Debunking Of Christianity

 "God is dead, Friedrich Nietzsche predicted it over a century ago. No, God did not die. We just came to the realization he never existed in the first place. We no longer need him to explain what needs to be explained. We now have better natural explanations of the existing phenomena.

"1) The science of Philology first did this when it was learned that texts could be dated based on grammar, vocabulary, and dialect. Lorenzo Valla (c.1406-1457) used it to show the Donation of Constantine decree was a forgery. In this forged decree the Emperor Constantine transferred authority over Rome and the western part of the Roman Empire to the pope. From the science of philology we've learned there are many forgeries in the canonized Bible (2nd Isaiah, Pastoral Epistles, II Peter, and so on) and that certain other books in the Bible reveal an evolutionary history.

"2) The next big hit came from Astronomy. The Copernican astronomical revolution as defended later by Galileo showed us that we do not live in a geocentric universe. Never did.

"3) An even bigger hit came from Biology, specifically but not limited to Darwinian evolution.

"4) Archaeology has debunked many stories in the Bible.

"5) Psychology shows us we are largely products of our environment, that we think illogically many times, that we believe what we prefer to be true, that human beings are not evil so much as ill, largely because of their social environment.

"6) Anthropology has shown us from the fact that there are many different cultures around the globe and with it a great deal of religious diversity, that there are many rational ways to understand our place in this world.

"7) Neurology shows us there is an extremely close relationship between our beliefs and neuron firings, which can be drug induced, or even surgically removed. There is therefore no need for the supernatural explanation of the soul."

(https://www.debunking-christianity.com/2010/08/top-seven-ways-christianity-is-debunked.html)

Neil deGrasse Tyson: A Clear And Concise Rebuttal Of Religion

"In this video, Neil deGrasse Tyson explains how science and religion are *somewhat incompatible both in a historical and contemporary manner."

* ?

Click on the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzfIE9SW-Jc

Lying: Essentially the ONLY Tool Of The Republican Party

Lie: 

(Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

There is NO equivalency between the two major US political parties and their promoters and supporters regarding communication of truth:

• Trump's false or misleading claims totaled 30,573 over 4 years (link)
• Telling lies has become the norm for today's Republican Party (link)
• Lies, conspiracy theories, and the Republican Party (link)
• 27 Donald Trump election lies listed in his Georgia indictment (link)
• The modern GOP is built on lies (link)
• Fact-checkers find that Republicans lie up to 3 times more than Democrats (link)
• Fact-checkers are shown to be unbiased in their findings (link)(link)(link)
• The recent Republican debate was full of lies and misleading statements (link)
• The US Constitution is clear about the separation of religion and government but Republicans lie about such and attempt to force harmful and false religious dogma into our secular laws (link)
• In general, Republicans reject the findings of science if such interfere with their unsupported ideology.

Christian Theology Does Not Support A Non-Material Soul

To hear conservative Christians, and even most liberal Christians, speak of the Soul or Spirit, one would assume that the Bible supports an immaterial quality to such. In fact, the Old Testament is clear that the Soul or Spirit is associated with the material "Breath." In addition, Jesus preached this same concept of the Soul. Click on the link below for a video on the matter, which, once again, debunks apologist William Lane Craig:

Why We Shouldn't Believe in a Soul

Health Among The Amish

"Health among the Amish is characterized by higher incidences of particular genetic disorders, especially among the Old Order Amish. These disorders include dwarfism,[1] Angelman syndrome,[2] and various metabolic disorders, such as Tay-Sachs disease,[3] as well as an unusual distribution of blood types.[4]" (Wikipedia)

Any cult/closed community may have a high risk of genetic disorders but also may have some positive social traits.  Click on this link for more.

The Way Christian Counter-Apologetics Should Be Done

"In this episode, @TheCounselofTrent responds to critics like Paulogia and Candida Moss who critique the evidence for the Resurrection in the apostle's willingness to die for their faith in Christ."

One of my favorite Christian counter-apologist is the YouTuber Paulogia. Click on the link below for an example of his knowledge and skill in debunking Christian dogma. In this example, he picks apart virtually every statement of Trent Horn, one of my least favorite people, let alone apologists (link to my prior blog posts addressing his actions), regarding his claim that, because the apostles died for their beliefs, Jesus' resurrection is true. Oh, also read at least some of the comments, as there are essentially none that support Trent:

This Resurrection Argument Doesn't Add Up (Trent Horn response)

Syncretism: The History Of Christianity

Click on the links below for a clear understanding of how Christianity began and developed, just like virtually all of today's religions:

- - - - - - - 

"The word 'syncretism' comes from a Greek word first used to describe rival Greek armies who joined together to fight a common enemy. It later described the combination of religious ideas to form a new religion.

"Syncretism is not a distinct religion. It is the practice of combining teachings and practices of various religions, changing the tenets or beliefs of anyone. The combinations may result in a new theology for a religion, or even in a new sect."

Syncretism Not New to Christianity

- - - - - - -

"For @ColdCaseChristianity J Warner Wallace, he used to consider the Bible to be more like mythology than history... and not even original mythology at that. But now, the good detective seems to think that God inspired all the false religions before Christianity as a way to signal how really-real Christianity is.

"Dr. Dennis MacDonald is probably known best for a methodology called mimesis criticism. That's the use of imitation of classical Greek poetry in particular in the composition of the gospels and the acts of the apostles. He's joining me today to see if Wallace's claims make sense."

Yahweh Inspired FALSE Religions to Prepare for Jesus??

Incorruptibility

"Incorruptibility is a Catholic and Eastern Orthodox belief that divine intervention allows some human bodies (specifically saints and beati) to completely or partially avoid the normal process of decomposition after death as a sign of their holiness.

Incorruptibility is thought to occur even in the presence of factors which normally hasten decomposition, as in the cases of saints Catherine of Genoa, Julie Billiart, and Francis Xavier."[1](Wikipedia)

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Click on the links below for an expose' of this ancient scam to hook the gullible into unsupported dogma, which is always dangerous:

Incorruptibility - RationalWiki

Future shock: 'Incorruptible' corpses of saints are the McDonald's hamburgers of religious delusion

The Latest On The Brain

"Is what you see real? Join neuroscientist Heather Berlin on a quest to understand how your brain shapes your reality, and why you can’t always trust what you perceive. In the first hour of this two-part series, learn what the latest research shows about how your brain processes and shapes the world around you, and discover the surprising tricks and shortcuts your brain takes to help you survive."

The brain clearly isn't the tool humans should use to understand reality. Why? - - -

• It's a tool for survival and comfort
• It distorts reality to achieve such

Consciousness is clearly only the product of brain activity, thus essentially falsifying the concept of a separate supernatural Soul.

Click on the link below for an hour-long documentary supporting the claim that science is the route to understanding reality:

Your Brain: Perception Deception

History, Authority, Expert, And Growing Up

History: the study of past events.

Authority: the power to influence or command thought, opinion, or behavior.

Expert: a person who has a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of or skill in a particular area.

- - - - - - -

Human history began in ignorance, violence, and within small nomadic groups. As time progressed, humans became more organized and settled but ignorance and authoritarian control persisted. Democratic ideas evolved out of Greece but humanity at large was still ignorant of reality and under authoritarian control. Organized religion sprouted from persistent human ignorance of reality in attempts to explain the unexplainable, as well as to reinforce authoritarian control and to provide some comfort. Eventually, only a few hundred years ago, modern science and the Industrial Revolution sprouted. These phenomena exponentially expanded human knowledge, progress, and well-being. Democracy became a reality and knowledge expanded to the point where it caused the founding of institutions dedicated to creating expertise in specialized areas. 

The above growth in freedom, knowledge, and understanding of reality can be viewed as being analogous to a child growing up. However, there is a major immaturity from our ignorant and superstitious past holding humanity back and it is religion. Ironically, the most prominent religion has the following teaching but can't accept it as a reality:

• "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." ~ I Corinthians

ISN'T IT MORE THAN TIME FOR HUMANITY TO GROW UP?

 

Exposure Of The Delusion Of Christian Apologists

 Why atheists accept Christianity, according to one major Christian apologist organization:

1. GOOD LITERATURE AND REASONABLE WRITING.

THE BIBLE IS A COLLECTION OF INCOHERENT, MAGICAL STORIES WRITTEN BY UNKNOWN AUTHORS AFTER THE SUPPOSED EVENTS
2. “EXPERIMENTATION” WITH PRAYER AND THE WORD OF GOD.

SCIENCE REJECTS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PRAYER OTHER THAN THE PLACEBO EFFECT
3. HISTORICAL STUDY

AS A WORK OF HISTORY, THE BIBLE FAILS MISERABLY  
4. HONEST PHILOSOPHICAL REASONING.

ALL SYLLOGISMS IN SUPPORT OF CHRISTIANITY HAVE AT LEAST ONE FALSE PREMISE
5. REASONABLE BELIEVERS.

BELIEF IN CHRISTIANITY IS UNREASONABLE BECAUSE IT REJECTS THE FINDINGS OF SCIENCE AND ACCEPTS THE UNSUPPORTED "GOD OF THE GAPS" FALLACY 
6. MODERN ADVANCES AND LIMITATIONS IN SCIENCE.

THERE IS NO OBJECTIVE EVIDENCE OF ANYTHING SUPERNATURAL
7. EVIDENCE FOR THE RESURRECTION.

THERE IS NO EVIDENCE FOR THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS
8. BEAUTY.

A GOD IS NOT NECESSARY TO EXPLAIN APPRECIATION OF BEAUTY

Additional comments:

1. Atheists are more knowledgeable about Christianity than Christians generally.

2. Only 15% of professional philosophers are theists.

3. Morality is explained by evolution and nurturing.

4. The less religious the society, the more well-being is present

BOTTOM LINE:

The most common reason atheists reject Christianity is the same reason they reject all theism, there is no objective evidence. Obviously, if an atheist converts to Christianity or any other religion, critical thinking is lacking.