The Philippine Atheists and Agnostics Society(PATAS) and the International Humanist and Ethical Youth Organization (IHEYO) invite you to join a three-day conference on Humanism scheduled on June 21-23, 2013 in Cebu City, Philippines. The conference will tackle human rights issues affecting our…

My brother sent this to me. I had never seen it before even though it's been circulating for some time. I thought that I'd post it here in case you've never seen it either.

The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Cups of Coffee

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his…

I just stumbled upon a year-old YouTube video named, “Sam Harris gets destroyed by Dr. William Lane Craig”. It’s the 2-hour University of Notre Dame debate held on April 7, 2011, between Harris and Craig. It was titled: “The God Debate II: Is Good from God?” The video can be found at the bottom of this page.

And guess what? Harris really was destroyed by Craig!…

The following maps were originally published by the London Times Faith Central blog. It's an interesting contrast between religion and science.

As much as we hear about U.S. Christians pushing I.D. in public schools and building multi-million dollar creation-themed parks, it's good to be reminded that…

Hello Saudi Arabia

by Pat Condell, May 2, 2012 (#109)

Transcribed by AtheistExile.com

I’ve had a few emails, recently, from people in Saudi Arabia who seem genuinely puzzled about why I criticize their country. A country,…

The naturalist understanding of morality asserts that we have evolved empathy as an impetus to cooperation. Combined with personal experience, empathy leads most of us to a "Golden Rule" sense of morality. From experience, I know what hurts me: with empathy, I know the same things likely hurt you too. Experience and empathy is all we need to decide most moral matters. "Do unto…

I had previously posted an earlier version of this blog entry (with a different title). I decided that, although I knew what I was saying, I hadn't properly fleshed out my thoughts for general consumption. So I revised it to be more readable and connect ideas together more coherently. I hope you find this version makes more sense and is easier to read.

“I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being…

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…

“An argument which proves too much, proves nothing.” ~M.M. Mangasarian

Carl Popper popularized the concept of scientific falsifiability. He asserted that a hypothesis, proposition, or theory is observably valid only if it is falsifiable. This criteria has become a fundamental test of scientific validity. Here’s Wikipedia’s definition:

Falsifiability or refutability of an assertion, hypothesis or theory is the logical possibility…

It’s nearly impossible to discuss the concept of free will unless we can agree on what it is. If you don’t believe in free will, then free will is merely an ideal; something that should, hypothetically, be a certain way. If you do believe in free will, how do you define it in any coherent way? Whether or not you believe in free will, it seems no two people agree on how, precisely, free will is supposed to work.

But do we really know how ANY mental process really works? Take reason,…

Introduction:

I've grown disappointed with philosophers on the subject of free will. The great philosophers of the past knew nothing about the brain. Modern philosophers contradict each other. What I've been trying to do is to stick with the knowledge we have and avoid philosophical entanglements and conjecture as much as possible. However, certain philosophical conundrums must be addressed, such as: (1) the false dichotomy of free will versus causality; (2)…

The Internet is amazing. It hosts media of all kinds. Anybody can communicate with anybody. And you can find out anything you want to know. It's huge and complex but we don't need to understand how it works to know that it does. In the same way, we don't need to understand how the brain works to know that it does. Its electro-chemical machinations, while interesting, aren't necessary to understand in order to know that the brain deliberates. That's what it does.

Neuroscience can't yet…

Dancing with Causality: Purposeful Steps

Free will, in the form of self-determinism, is only a big mystery if you allow your thinking to be governed by the centuries of philosophers who have never managed to figure it out. They've been arguing in circles because they've defined "free will" to fit their premises. This is because they…

I was reviewing the stats for my website and saw that somebody had been referred to my site from Yahoo Answers. So I clicked the link and this is what I saw . . .

It turned out to be a question I answered 3 years ago and had forgotten…

The 10th anniversary of 9/11 has come and gone. Leftist liberals everywhere all seemed determined to make the worst possible interpretations of the U.S. response since that historic day. It was a pathetic display. It's rhetoric like that which has led to my becoming an Independent. I no longer identify with Democrats. I feel pushed to the center and now see myself as a moderate centrist. I'm simply appalled at the extremes of the left, just as I am at the extremes of the right.



When…

If God provided proof that he exists, then it would be logical to believe in him.  The absence of proof leaves only faith for belief.  You do not need faith if you have proof and vice versa.  By God’s own choice, he can only be known by faith.



But why have faith in this particular God?  If God won’t give us proof, what’s to stop us from believing in Allah or Zeus?  To have faith is to deny logic.  What alternative is there to logic?  How do we think?  Mindlessness is the absence…

Google Plus (Google+) stirred up a controversy by deleting, wholesale, accounts created under pseudonyms instead of under real names. Google+ acknowledged their mistakes and is now formulating an official policy for naming conventions on their new social network.



There are legitimate reasons that users might need to use pseudonyms. The most obvious and crucial one is anonymity for political dissidents and social activists. Without that anonymity, activism can be too dangerous to…

“A belief which leaves no place for doubt is not a belief; it is a superstition.” ~José Bergamín

God tells Adam and Eve not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. If this was the only way they could understand the difference between good and evil, how could they have known that it was wrong to disobey God and eat the fruit?" ~Laurie Lynn

Martin Azua, of Spain, has come up with an eco-friendly way to dispose of your corporeal remains after you die.  He is marketing his design as the Bios Urn.

The Bios Urn is a biodegradeable urn made from coconut shell,…