This is a post about finding meaning. Also crossposted at thephyseter.wordpress.com.

Why do I call myself The Physeter online? My internet moniker is the name of a beautiful and majestic creature:

The sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), or cachalot, is the largest of the…

Look around the world and notice the pressure put on people to just put faith into whatever the local belief system happens to be. This is especially true (currently) in Middle-East Muslim culture, so I'm most interested in hearing back from them, in particular.

It's not just Muslims who put peer pressure on their own society to practice faith, as almost all religions are a product of local peer pressure. So my question still applies (to various degrees) to every religion.

I…

                                                          Morality Without God

      Ten reasons why I would argue that my lack of a belief in a punishing God makes me a more moral person than someone who is religious. My moral choices aren’t made out of fear of eternal punishment. Just as I don’t have a reason to have “good” morals, I don’t have an excuse for bad ones, either.

1.) I don’t have a…

So, you find yourself questioning the existence of your god. No matter your religion, that’s pretty frightening. All these years, raised to believe that an all-knowing, all-loving being was out there, somewhere, and that he had a plan for you. That your parents and community knew the ‘Truth.’ Most importantly, you’ve been instructed that when you die -if you followed all the rules, or asked for forgiveness- you’d join your loved ones for eternity in a paradise of sorts.

Maybe this…

If there was real separation of church and state there would be: 

1. No crosses on public roads and public highways
2. No "In God We Trust" on the currency
3. No "Under God" in pledge of allegiance
4. No "Acts of God" in the books of law
5. No taking oath to public office in name of god, or on the bible
6. No adding of god to the party agendas
7. No "In God We Trust" license plates issued for free on tax payers dime
8. No laws banning…

Another post from my blog: http://www.brainhulklogicsmash.blogspot.com/

-------------------

Sunday I was reading the local paper when I ran across the following Q&A column by Billy Graham.

Faith must be nurtured to thrive

 …

so i went to this christian camp ( i wanted to go to see if i could find god) and what they taught is that having religion is not the most important thing what matters is that the christian has a personal relationship with god. and they said that you feel god presence and his (god) love,  when they had worship time. but all i saw was crazy people screaming JESUS!!!!!!! and that crap. so my question is what is so wrong with having an imaginary friend that can make people feel like they have…

Up until recently I had been a believer, but never a true christian. I got baptized at about 12 years old but never read the bible, I just believed in god and didn’t want to hell. The church I went too is located in Franklinton, North Carolina. Don’t bother looking for it on the map because you probably wont find it. Anyways it was a black baptist christian church, but they was always shouting and acting a fool and all that shit. I think I seen somebody's head to a 360 turn like on the…

There's a fundamental disconnect between atheists and the word "atheist". Part of this is because there isn't complete agreement on what the word means.

• Lack of belief in God
• Lack of belief in God's existence

Lack of belief in Godcould simply mean a choice not to believe in God because he is cruel or undesirable for some reason -- but does…

There are two distinct ways of leading your life. The first is to follow someone else into obscurity – blind, cold, and full of false promises. All over the world, there is a plethora of false prophets ready to abuse your faith and trust, ready to betray you at the next moment if it is to their own advantage.

The second, then, is to enlighten the way in front of you by your own lights – take reason as your guide, and it shall never betray you. You may be wrong from time…

Of course, science is not the enemy of religious faith. Sanity is. (ichbindaswortistich)

Over the ages, all religious pretensions, regardless of the respective faith of which they may have originated, have been disproved beyond any reasonable doubt. The earth is not flat but a sphere. The earth revolves about the sun, not vice versa. The earth is not the centre of the universe but a tiny planet in only one of myriads…

In musing about what might become of a vicar if he or she found faith and belief dwindling.. It suddenly struck me that a paradox may have been played out somewhere, at some time. and it may well have happened without the knowledge of the congregation..



I guess a young man (I did have fleeting thoughts about seminaries as a boy), brought up in belief and with the necessary means, might embark upon a journey that he hoped would end well. He would be expecting to complete his…

I just pulled mself from the quicksand. I've been trapped for the last two days in a fruitless and frustrating back and forth with a pro life, anti euthanasia, creationist... I know, I know "Someone is wrong on the internet" but it is so frustrating recieving her messages. You know you shouldn't look, but the stupid calls to you. "How bad can it be this time" you ask yourself.

Seriously, this girl uses all the talking points! She repeats "questions" over and over looking for…

I was attending Thanksgiving service last Sunday at a Lutheran church with my wife and two sons. I only attend church at Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas eve to appease my wife and in-laws, although I don't actually participate in any of the rituals. Anyway, one of the flock was making announcements when she added at the end a bit of religious wisdom, which went something like this: "We are like pumpkins. God plants the seed, nurtures the growth, and when harvested, lops of the top and…

Three of the major religions formed out of the early Israelite religion, this religion was essentially a precursor for Judaism, Islam and Christianity.

The original scriptures of the Israelite religion were written between 900 – 100 BC. Not all of these had a directly religious origin, but were given religious significance by being collected together into a single compilation.

It was around 1200 BC that a number of tribes of diverse origin inhabited the hills…

Original Statement

Even science believes that in the beginning there was nothing and then came the biggest bang in history. Einstein said: 'Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind'. Personally, I'm with Pascal - though I am not betting on it.



Some Thoughts

1. Science believes there was something from nothing

Okay, this does get banded about allot, but sadly it's not totally true. Science can take us back to a…

Faith: a belief that is not based on proof



All religions, if they are completely honest, come down to faith. We can safely set aside all of the arguments that the atheist / theist debates often raise, while these are important they seldom have the ability to remove ones faith. The reason for this is simple; the religious will often throw themselves onto the sword of faith regardless…