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Sunny Jackson

Defense of Godless Liberalism: Godless Liberalism, Godless Liberals, and American Politics - 0 views

atheism.about.com/...GodlessLiberal.htm

shared by Sunny Jackson on 26 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • Godless liberalism should be defined as a liberal or progressive political perspective which doesn’t rely on gods, divine revelation, or religion for its values, ideas, or policies.
  • there is nothing about godlessness, liberalism, or the combination which deserves derision or hostility
  • the label is misused by the Christian Right in America
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • not all liberals or everyone opposed to contemporary American conservative policies is a godless liberal
  • Godless liberals base their liberal or progressive political policies on philosophical considerations independent of religion
  • If you want to know what a godless liberal believes, you have to ask.
  • Godless liberals oppose basing public policy and civil laws on any religious doctrines or dogmas.
  • It’s one thing if someone’s position is influenced by religious values, but quite another to base a law on those values.
  • When religious conservatives attack something in society, politics, or law which they don’t like, there’s a good chance that they will attribute the problem to godless liberals.
  • being a godless liberal is not inherently bad. There is nothing wrong with basing one’s politics on something other than religion
  • there is nothing wrong with not being religious
Sunny Jackson

Religion vs politics- goes both ways by *Verixas92 on deviantART - 0 views

verixas92.deviantart.com/...itics-goes-both-ways-346066628

Reason(s) and Belief Dislike

shared by Sunny Jackson on 01 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • Marriage comes with civil benefits
  • Religiously, marriage can be a multitude of things
  • If you really want to have more credibility with your arguments, maybe you should try to not sound like you are generalizing a whole group of people.
  • ...19 more annotations...
  • Civil partnerships are not equality. It's like asking black folks to drink from the "civil drinking fountain."
  • religion and politics should be kept separate
  • I'm also curious to know what glass house you think I'm in.
  • You can fact check all my statements and you'll find them to be quite true.
  • If he is allowed to post his beliefs in a stamp, journal, or art, then I am allowed to post my opinion in a comment.
  • I am not forcing Atheism on anybody
  • I am not in any group concerning christians
  • I'm only stating my opinion
  • I wasn't searching for religious stamps, but political stamps.
  • I don't care if christians think I'm a troll
  • the picture is in the group. Too bad. I am not
  • This isn't a "Christian community" this is deviantart. As a fellow atheist, I found this stamp by searching for "gay art", not "Christian community", just like many of the other commentators did
  • Just because it's featured in a Christian group doesn't mean it can't be found outside the group
  • unless you're actively searching IN the group there's no way to know that the stamp is part of any religious club
  • Marriage is not religious. I'm atheist, and I can get married any time I want.
  • I'm an atheist, and I celebrate Christmas as a holiday to love my family.
  • Get over yourself.
  • it's what gives people morals
  • If you NEED religion to have morals, you're actually a pretty shitty person.
Sunny Jackson

Council for Secular Humanism - 0 views

www.secularhumanism.org/index.php

Cached ≡ Humanism

shared by Sunny Jackson on 22 May 13 - Cached
  • secular humanists don't believe in a God or an afterlife
  • secular humanism encourages people to think for themselves and question authority
  • secular humanism says the morality of actions should be judged by their consequences
  • ...57 more annotations...
  • There is no central authority
  • People come to secular humanism by following their own curiosity and reasoning
  • secular humanism is not so much a body of beliefs as a method for reaching understanding
  • It is an approach to life that tries to be positive, rational, realistic, and open-minded
  • we are not expressing a doctrine
  • doing our best to state the consensus shared
  • Secular humanists believe morality and meaning come from humanity and the natural world
  • It is our human values that give us rights, responsibilities, and dignity.
  • We believe that morality should aim to bring out the best in people, so that all people can have the best in life.
  • morality must be based on our knowledge of human nature and the real world
  • treat others with the same consideration as you would have them treat you
  • the common moral decencies - for example, people should not lie, steal, or kill; and they should be honest, generous, and cooperative - really are conducive to human welfare
  • Humanists realize that individuals alone cannot solve all our problems, but instead of turning to the supernatural, we believe that problems are solved by people working together, relying on understanding and creativity
  • humanists are committed to promoting human values, human understanding, and human development
  • Humanists also emphasize the importance of self-determination - the right of individuals to control their own lives, so long as they do not harm others
  • freedom of choice
  • people create their own meaning and purpose in life
  • The value and significance of life comes from how we live life, not from some supposed transcendent realm
  • The moral differences between secular humanism and religion do not justify the allegation that secular humanist have no morals. This claim is not an argument, just an insult.
  • Nonreligious, humanistic moral systems existed before Christianity
  • the Epicureans, Skeptics, and Stoics of classical Greece and Rome
  • the common moral decencies are found throughout the cultures of the world
  • The most important moral and political concepts of the modern era have developed out of humanistic thinking
  • You will search the Bible in vain for opposition to slavery or support for democracy and equality
  • neither the Supreme Court, nor this circuit, has ever held that evolutionism or secular humanism are `religions'
  • they refused to reverse a ruling that secular humanism is not a religion
  • Secular humanism is not a religion by any definition: There are no supernatural beliefs, no creeds that all humanists are required to accept, no sacred texts or required rituals. Humanists are not expected or required to have "faith" in what is said by any authority, living or dead, human or "supernatural."
  • humanists derive their meaning and values from the natural world. Secular humanism is a naturalistic, nonreligious worldview
  • humanists don't worship anything
  • Humanity's constant challenge is to understand itself and improve itself
  • We don't pretend that our ethics and values are divine: we recognize that they are human, and therefore part of nature
  • individual secular humanists differ
  • the human species has evolved by the same natural processes as every other species
  • some of our most treasured traits, such as language and the ability to understand and care for others, are on an evolutionary continuum with communicative and cooperative behaviors of other animals
  • humans have a moral responsibility towards the rest of the natural world
  • secular humanists cover a wide spectrum
  • One political view that secular humanists do share is unswerving support for democracy, freedom, and human rights
  • All secular humanists are utterly opposed to totalitarian systems
  • The United States Constitution and Bill of Rights contain no references to God or Christianity. Their only references to religion establish freedom of religion and separation of church and state
  • The motto on the Great Seal of the United States, unchanged since its adoption in 1782, is E Pluribus Unum ("From Many, One")
  • The Pledge of Allegiance did not contain an oath to God, until it was added in the 1950s
  • In 1797 the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Treaty of Tripoli which stated that "the government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion."
  • the remarkable thing about the United States is precisely that it was created as a secular republic organized around the rights and freedoms of its citizens
  • on the basis of shared philosophical principles and ideals
  • The myth that secular humanists are unAmerican is an insult to the patriotism and distinguished service of millions of people.
  • all beliefs are fallible and provisional, and that diversity and dialogue are essential to the process of learning and developing
  • we value tolerance, pluralism, and open-mindedness as positive and beneficial qualities in society
  • Humanists are staunch supporters of freedom of religion, belief, and conscience, as laid out in both the U.S. Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These rights protect the freedom of religious belief equally with the freedom of nonreligious belief, the freedom of religion equally with the freedom from religion.
  • the neutrality of a secular society
  • Secular humanists believe that a healthy society supports a variety of worldviews
  • We also believe that religious and philosophical views should be every bit as open to debate and discussion as political beliefs.
  • All these claims make the same mistake: they confuse neutrality with hostility
  • neutrality toward different worldviews is the best protection from persecution
  • Separating church and state doesn't mean that the state promotes atheism and humanism, but that it provides equal protection to all beliefs
  • The amoral, power-hungry "secular humanist" conspiracy described by some religious conservatives is a myth
  • the vibrant movement that champions a moral approach to living based on reason and happiness is alive and growing
  • there are secular humanists. But no, there is no bogeyman.
Sunny Jackson

Introduction to Humanism - 0 views

www.religioustolerance.org/humanism1.htm

Humanism

shared by Sunny Jackson on 22 May 13 - No Cached
  • knowledge can be obtained through rational thought and experimentation
  • developed into the scientific method and is the major underpinning of all sciences today
  • a philosophy centered upon the needs and interests of people
  • ...57 more annotations...
  • truth could be discovered by human effort
  • rationalism
  • free thought
  • rational philosophy
  • Many regard Socrates as the first and greatest of the Humanists
  • value knowledge based on reason and hard evidence rather than on faith
  • the preciousness and dignity of the individual person is a central humanist value
  • universe that obeys natural laws
  • rejection of divinely inspired ethical and moral codes in favor of codes derived by reason from the human condition
  • full responsibility for the future of the world, its political systems, its ecology, etc. rests with humans. There is no God in heaven to intervene and save us
  • religious groups' "promises of immortal salvation or fear of eternal damnation are both illusory and harmful."
  • reject both theocracy and secular dictatorships as political systems that are dangerous to individual freedoms
  • accept democracy
  • value freedom of inquiry, expression and action
  • combating bigotry, hatred, discrimination, intolerance and censorship
  • supporters of the principle of separation of church and state
  • moral values derive their source from human experience
  • regard life here on earth to be particularly precious
  • creator of Third Force Psychology
  • human rights
  • it represents a consensus of what Humanists do believe
  • Knowledge of the world is derived by observation, experimentation, and rational analysis
  • Humans are an integral part of nature, the result of unguided evolutionary change
  • Ethical values are derived from human need and interest as tested by experience
  • Life’s fulfillment emerges from individual participation in the service of humane ideals
  • Humans are social by nature and find meaning in relationships
  • Working to benefit society maximizes individual happiness
  • Isaac Asimov
  • scientist and author
  • literary freedom activist
  • Margaret Atwood
  • Brock Chisholm
  • conceiver of the Theory of Relativity
  • Albert Einstein
  • Betty Friedan
  • feminist activist
  • R. Buckminster Fuller
  • futurist and inventor
  • United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organization
  • Julian Huxley
  • Richard Leakey
  • Abraham Maslow
  • highly motivated to alleviating pain and misery around the world
  • John Boyd Orr
  • human rights activist
  • A. Philip Randolf
  • creator of Client Centered Therapy
  • Carl Rogers
  • Bertrand Russell
  • developer of the polio vaccine
  • Jonas Salk
  • Margaret Sanger
  • Andrei Sakharov
  • Gloria Steinem
  • American Humanist Association
  • Humanism and its aspirations
  • Humanism and Its Aspirations
Sunny Jackson

Carl Sagan - Wikiquote - 0 views

en.wikiquote.org/Carl_Sagan

Wiki Quote Book

shared by Sunny Jackson on 03 Jul 13 - Cached
  • Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.
  • If you are only skeptical, then no new ideas make it through to you … On the other hand, if you are open to the point of gullibility and have not an ounce of skeptical sense in you, then you cannot distinguish the useful ideas from the worthless ones.
  • The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counterintuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not determine what's true. We have a method, and that method helps us to reach not absolute truth, only asymptotic approaches to the truth — never there, just closer and closer, always finding vast new oceans of undiscovered possibilities. Cleverly designed experiments are the key.
  • ...49 more annotations...
  • We live in a society absolutely dependent on science and technology and yet have cleverly arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. That's a clear prescription for disaster.
  • I would love to believe that when I die I will live again, that some thinking, feeling, remembering part of me will continue. But much as I want to believe that, and despite the ancient and worldwide cultural traditions that assert an afterlife, I know of nothing to suggest that it is more than wishful thinking. The world is so exquisite with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories for which there's little good evidence. Far better it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides.
  • If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.
  • Who is more humble? The scientist who looks at the universe with an open mind and accepts whatever it has to teach us, or somebody who says everything in this book must be considered the literal truth and never mind the fallibility of all the human beings involved?
  • In science it often happens that scientists say, "You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken," and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion.
  • Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.
  • We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it's forever.
  • It is all a matter of time scale. An event that would be unthinkable in a hundred years may be inevitable in a hundred million.
  • The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion and politics, but it is not the path to knowledge; it has no place in the endeavor of science.
  • With insufficient data it is easy to go wrong.
  • Human beings have a demonstrated talent for self-deception when their emotions are stirred.
  • For a long time the human instinct to understand was thwarted by facile religious explanations.
  • They (i. e., the Pythagoreans) did not advocate the free confrontation of conflicting points of view. Instead, like all orthodox religions, they practised a rigidity that prevented them from correcting their errors.
  • If we long for our planet to be important, there is something we can do about it. We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and by the depth of our answers.
  • We embarked on our journey to the stars with a question first framed in the childhood of our species and in each generation asked anew with undiminished wonder: What are the stars? Exploration is in our nature. We began as wanderers, and we are wanderers still. We have lingered long enough on the shores of the cosmic ocean. We are ready at last to set sail for the stars.
  • If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.
  • A googolplex is precisely as far from infinity as is the number 1... no matter what number you have in mind, infinity is larger still.
  • The universe seems neither benign nor hostile, merely indifferent to the concerns of such puny creatures as we are.
  • The library connects us with the insights and knowledge, painfully extracted from Nature, of the greatest minds that ever were, with the best teachers, drawn from the entire planet and from all of our history, to instruct us without tiring, and to inspire us to make our own contribution to the collective knowledge of the human species.
  • Books permit us to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors.
  • I think the health of our civilization, the depth of our awareness about the underpinnings of our culture and our concern for the future can all be tested by how well we support our libraries.
  • Other things being equal, it is better to be smart than to be stupid.
  • As the ancient myth makers knew, we are children equally of the earth and the sky.
  • History is full of people who out of fear or ignorance or the lust for power have destroyed treasures of immeasurable value which truly belong to all of us. We must not let it happen again
  • Those afraid of the universe as it really is, those who pretend to nonexistent knowledge and envision a Cosmos centered on human beings will prefer the fleeting comforts of superstition. They avoid rather than confront the world. But those with the courage to explore the weave and structure of the Cosmos, even where it differs profoundly from their wishes and prejudices, will penetrate its deepest mysteries.
  • there are no sacred truths; all assumptions must be critically examined
  • We must understand the Cosmos as it is and not confuse how it is with how we wish it to be.
  • whatever is inconsistent with the facts must be discarded or revised.
  • Human history can be viewed as a slowly dawning awareness that we are members of a larger group. Initially our loyalties were to ourselves and our immediate family, next, to bands of wandering hunter-gatherers, then to tribes, small settlements, city-states, nations. We have broadened the circle of those we love. We have now organized what are modestly described as super-powers, which include groups of people from divergent ethnic and cultural backgrounds working in some sense together — surely a humanizing and character building experience. If we are to survive, our loyalties must be broadened further, to include the whole human community, the entire planet Earth.
  • Human history can be viewed as a slowly dawning awareness that we are members of a larger group.
  • the choice, as H. G. Wells once said in a different context, is clearly the universe or nothing.
  • Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.
  • it is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is no ground whatever for supposing it true.
  • For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love.
  • Do we, holding that the gods exist, deceive ourselves with insubstantial dreams and lies, while random careless chance and change alone control the world?
  • God for you is where you sweep away all the mysteries of the world, all the challenges to our intelligence. You simply turn your mind off and say God did it.
  • Humans are very good at dreaming
  • For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love.
  • You can’t convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it’s based on a deep seated need to believe.
  • We wish to pursue the truth no matter where it leads. But to find the truth, we need imagination and skepticism both.
  • We're made of star-stuff.
  • The cosmos is full beyond measure of elegant truths; of exquisite interrelationships; of the awesome machinery of nature.
  • We wish to pursue the truth no matter where it leads. But to find the truth, we need imagination and skepticism both. We will not be afraid to speculate, but we will be careful to distinguish speculation from fact. The cosmos is full beyond measure of elegant truths; of exquisite interrelationships; of the awesome machinery of nature.
  • We on Earth have just awakened to the great oceans of space and time from which we have emerged. We are the legacy of 15 billion years of cosmic evolution. We have a choice: We can enhance life and come to know the universe that made us, or we can squander our 15 billion-year heritage in meaningless self-destruction. What happens in the first second of the next cosmic year depends on what we do, here and now, with our intelligence and our knowledge of the cosmos.
  • The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars.
  • War is murder writ large.
  • By exploring other worlds we safeguard this one. By itself, I think this fact more than justifies the money our species has spent in sending ships to other worlds. It is our fate to live during one of the most perilous and, at the same time, one of the most hopeful chapters in human history.
  • Exactly the same technology can be used for good and for evil.
  • You can use your technology to destroy yourselves or to carry you to the planets and the stars. It's up to you.
Sunny Jackson

Creed - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views

en.wikipedia.org/Creed

info Wiki

shared by Sunny Jackson on 03 Jul 13 - Cached
  • A creed is a statement of belief
  • The term "creed" can also refer to a person's political or social beliefs
  • derives from the Latin credo, which means "I believe"
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • The term "creed" can be used to refer to a set of non-religious beliefs, like political or social beliefs.
Sunny Jackson

Begging the Question Fallacy: Political Arguments - 0 views

atheism.about.com/...beggingquestion_3.htm

shared by Sunny Jackson on 26 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • a person's commitment to the truth of their political ideology may prevent them from seeing that they are assuming the truth of what they are attempting to prove
  • presumes the truth of a premise that isn't stated
  • closely related to the point in question
  • ...12 more annotations...
  • this premise is far from obvious
  • support it
  • that is exactly the point being disputed
  • assuming
  • the arguer is assuming
  • questionable
  • the assumption is unstated and debatable
  • Genetic Fallacy - an ad hominem fallacy which involves the rejection of an idea or argument because of the nature of the person presenting it
  • what is being offered here is not an independent reason
  • most people are smart enough to avoid stating their premises and conclusions in exactly the same manner
  • it is important to know how to take apart an argument and examine its constituent parts
  • look at each piece individually
Sunny Jackson

Is There a Godless Church of Liberalism or Atheism? Responding to Ann Coulter & Christi... - 0 views

atheism.about.com/...GodlessChurch.htm

shared by Sunny Jackson on 26 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • Liberalism is a political philosophy, no different from conservatism
  • Liberalism is a political philosophy, no different from conservatism
  • a person can oppose abortion in principle but be unwilling to criminalize it
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • children of all religions and no religions are equally free
  • Many who accept evolution do not believe that humanity was an acciden
  • It’s not enough to simply criticize liberal policies on the basis of real or even perceived flaws; instead, conservatives must claim that the real and fundamental problem with liberalism is that it is godless and then proceed to describe every real or perceived flaw as stemming from that godlessness.
  • Addressing the actual issues which liberals or atheists advocate would mean treating both the ideas and the people with some measure of respect.
Sunny Jackson

Clarkesworld Magazine - Science Fiction and Fantasy : Another Word: Reading and Writing... - 0 views

clarkesworldmagazine.com/another_word_02_13

Fiction Stories Clarkesworld Magazine

shared by Sunny Jackson on 09 Jan 14 - No Cached
  • We learn about some of the most important things in our lives vicariously through fiction.
  • I’ve known a lot of people for whom books have been profoundly important
  • Fiction isn’t powerless. And if the author just ignores the politics of their work, that doesn’t mean the book becomes apolitical. It just means they wrote their own defaults.
  • ...12 more annotations...
  • Think Black people are lazy and violent, but your work isn’t about that? I’ll bet you dollars to donuts it’s in there.
  • Reading is the same way.
  • He’s trying to be a better man and to create (in a small way) a better world by the way he chooses what he reads.
  • And it was a moral statement, even if it was mostly a private one.
  • How we read and how we write will always have moral and political implications. The only choice we’ve got is whether they’re unconscious or considered.
  • beautiful and damning distinction
  • best self
  • authentic self
  • Wanting to live in a better world is great. Working for a better world is great. It only becomes a vice when it keeps us from loving the world we’re in—warts and all. My experience is that life is full of strong women and weak ones. Venal ones. Active ones. Passive ones. Complicated ones. Unhealthy ones. Men are just as varied and complicated and screwed-up. Their lives aren’t our societal best self, but they’re who we are
  • Treating moral issues as if they were craft is asking for a literature of beautiful sermons.
  • reading projects that pull you out into different kinds of authors and stories are wonderful so long as the moral aspects of your reading list don’t become more important than the joy you take in reading
  • I would never argue that the power of story—and it’s a real power—comes without responsibility. But I would say that responsibility is both to the better world to which we aspire and also the broken, compromised one we live in now.
Sunny Jackson

Craziest Ann Coulter Quotes - Crazy Ann Coulter Quote Generator - 0 views

politicalhumor.about.com/...bl-ann-coulter-quotes.htm

Quotes Dislike

shared by Sunny Jackson on 01 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • ''I think [women] should be armed but should not vote...women have no capacity to understand how money is earned. They have a lot of ideas on how to spend it...it's always more money on education, more money on child care, more money on day care.'' —Ann Coulter, on ''Politically Incorrect,'' February 26, 2001
Sunny Jackson

Why do atheists talk so much about this God they disbelieve in? - Quora - 0 views

www.quora.com/ut-this-God-they-disbelieve-in

Quora Questions Learning

shared by Sunny Jackson on 07 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • when the god squad stops trying to enforce their god through legislation, we'll stop talking about it
  • oddly enough, despite my not believing in him, other people keep trying to cram him down my throat, often via efforts to enact laws based on his non-existent rules.This disturbs me.
  • Yeah, I know a detective who talks about crime a lot.  Mad isn't it?
  • ...74 more annotations...
  • I try to give equal time to all the gods that I don't believe in.
  • Religion is a huge force in the world. Good, bad or mixed, it's inescapable.
  • When something is a major component of the Human Condition, it's notable.
  • None.
  • wanted to make you and your children believe this too and were willing to change laws, education and polices to force this
  • how long would it take before you started speaking out?
  • Like all conscientious people who care about what goes on in the world, we are all struggling to define the best way for us to live.
  • There are good things in the world and there are bad things in the world. What is good and bad, and in what degree, depends on your perspective.
  • When it happens publicly, it is generally regarded by atheists as either gauche or extreme.It seems most extreme when it enters into political or other ostensibly secular arenas, like school.
  • the strengths of these secular institutions depends widely on the separation of religious and secular activities and ideologies
  • this resembles a backslide into barbarism and ignorance
  • For the atheist, it is a frightening prospect that people want to hinder education or freedoms based on Biblical writings.
  • if I did not care about the world, I would have nothing to say about God.
  • Both I, and the most extreme fundamentalist, want only to live in the best way we know how.
  • As an atheist, I personally have no qualm with any belief in a deistic God.
  • When I see people pushing other people around, trying to take away their rights of people, or hurting people in some way, I get angry.
  • For this atheist, it isn't about God, it's about how we treat people.
  • There is an unfortunate crossover with religion and social justice.
  • I am only concerned with the ways in which religion, as I see the world, hurts the vision I have of how we should best live. There are grave incompatibilities with that vision.
  • I don't believe in spirits, or souls, or gods or reincarnation. I do believe in finding meaning, in finding the "path to the self", and finding the best way to live in this world.
  • hope for the future elevation of humanity to freedom, to the best possible health and cooperation
  • There is beauty and wisdom in every belief system, but also there is ugliness and ignorance to be found, and I see it as a detriment to humanity if we simply avoid the hard work of re-examining those parts, and simply allow people to say "It is God's will, we've got a book that says so."
  • What am I talking about? Subjugation of women, ostracism of homosexuals, teaching creation myths as science to children, circumcision of boys by Jews, of girls by certain sects. From the eyes of an atheist, doing these things in 2012 is an archaic nightmare. Allowing these things to happen out of a fear of offending people is a most ludicrous failure of humanity.
  • a human person wrote any words in any book ever written. There are no gods, no sons of gods, and no prophets. To hold another person hostage for words written by a man, who possessed all the frailties we have today, but had far less knowledge, seems a dangerous and singularly terrible act to condone in this time. We know there is no basis for it, and it is frightening to see those who are willing to commit violence and abuse in the name of God and call it "good".
  • it seems simply like folly or madness
  • They had a belief that their view of the world was the right one, just as I have a view of the world that I believe is the right one.
  • To the atheist, it resembles a wave of madness taking over people.
  • Approach with caution and come with gifts
  • I know a lot about "this God" theists believe in
  • It is always good to engage your mind in an intellectual exercise
  • I was once a believer
  • I'm more certain on my position now that I ever was when I believed in god
  • it helps me refine my thoughts
  • often I find myself discussing something with a theist who has a strong intellect - and this is entertaining in the same way a sports person, or chess player, enjoys meeting their match or better; it gives me a chance to stretch and test myself - see where I might need to improve my "game".
  • All we do is try and unpack the reasons behind things
  • After unpacking these reasons the conclusion is baffling; These things are done, people are tortured, children are abused all in the name of a story.
  • I find belief in god and other supernatural entities an interesting human and social phenomenon.
  • Religion teaches to be satisfied with not understanding.
  • Religion teaches to not question authority.
  • Religion teaches a twisted concept of evidence and logic.
  • Religion advocates intolerance.
  • Religion promotes immorality.
  • Religion promotes inaction.
  • Religion inhibits progress.
  • I talk about the silly, stupid and vicious things that some people who claim to believe try to impose on the rest of us.
  • And sometimes I applaud the wonderful things that people of good character and religious belief do
  • What people do in this world matters.
  • Think of it as self defense.Atheists don't talk about their views until religious people refuse to shut up about theirs.
  • surrounded by theists trying to ram their beliefs down everyone else's throats, incorporating their religion into the government and legal system, corrupting the educational system by blurring the difference between fact and belief, and murdering and hurting people in the name of their "god"
  • Why should anyone assume that if one disbelieves in something, especially something that a lot of other people keep saying they believe in, one should not talk about it?
  • Why do anti-war people talk so much about war if they don't believe in war? Pretty much the same reason for atheists and talk about god.
  • I only really talk about it when someone else brings it up. Since I live in the United States, this happens about every ten minutes.
  • large percentages of each country believes in some God
  • They have TV shows to broadcast their beliefs
  • billboards
  • huge gatherings
  • radio shows
  • You have people standing in the street, shouting at you, telling you how you are going to hell
  • You have religious people questioning evolution, preaching creationism, questioning the Big Bang and promoting God-magic.
  • some people still insist in teaching their children that an invisible being thought the universe into existence, and that believing this is more rational than to trust science's explanation of the same event
  • Religion is stepping on my toes - a response is pretty much expected don't you think?
  • if 'talking about God' means 'talking about theology,' then Atheists totally have a right and a commission to do so, because theology can be done by both adherents and non-adherents
  • Atheists have been portrayed as belligerent, annoying twerps who need to be quiet; when, in reality, their calling out religion needs to be applauded. This is the 21st century—a supposedly new era—and Atheists are doing a good job of calling out politicians and leaders who cannot and will not rationalize their decisions outside of a faith context.
  • So many people do boneheaded things in the name of God, both those doers and their God need to be called out...and that calling out is often done by Atheists.
  • I, for one, find religion/mythology fascinating.
  • bad things religion pushes and endorses
  • we do not have to believe anything on insufficient evidence
  • the harms it can bring
  • that is a serious problem
  • Atheists do not keep talking about god. They keep getting asked about it
  • it's a part of our history and culture that is hard to ignore
  • we don't like being lied to
  • there's no reason to believe it
  • try to reason
Sunny Jackson

Bundlr - Humanism 101 - 0 views

bundlr.com/...humanism

shared by Sunny Jackson on 24 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • reliance on reason, evidence, and free inquiry
  • considers the welfare of humankind - rather than the welfare of a supposed God or gods - to be of paramount importance
  • affirms our ability and responsibility to lead meaningful, ethical lives
  • ...80 more annotations...
  • people can find purpose in life and maximize their long-term happiness by developing their talents and using those talents for the service of humanity
  • human beings have the right and responsibility to give meaning and shape to their own lives
  • a democratic and ethical lifestance
  • value knowledge based on reason and hard evidence
  • this is the only life
  • adding to the greater good of humanity
  • using human efforts to meet human needs
  • recognizes human beings as a part of nature
  • supporters of the principle of separation of church and state
  • humanity must take responsibility for its own destiny
  • individual freedom
  • represents a consensus of what all or almost all Humanists believe
  • universal human dignity
  • we owe it to ourselves and others to make it the best life possible for ourselves and all
  • values-be they religious, ethical, social, or political-have their source in human experience and culture
  • an uncreated universe that obeys natural laws
  • service to others is a major focus of Humanism
  • stands for the building of a more humane society
  • people's fulfillment by personal effort
  • knowledge can be obtained through rational thought and experimentation
  • advocates the extension of participatory democracy
  • Humanists believe in and value love, equality, peace, freedom and reason
  • derives the goals of life from human need
  • accept democracy
  • the preciousness and dignity of the individual person is a central humanist value
  • an approach to life based on reason and our common humanity, recognizing that moral values are properly founded on human nature and experience
  • a philosophy, world view, or lifestance
  • a rational philosophy informed by science, inspired by art, and motivated by compassion
  • Humanist values are mainstream American values
  • when people are free to think for themselves, using reason and knowledge as their tools, they are best able to solve this world's problems
  • the open society, standing for human rights and social justice
  • Humanists take responsibility for their own lives and relish the adventure of being part of new discoveries, seeking new knowledge, exploring new options
  • a philosophy
  • Since most believe that an afterlife is non-existent, they regard life here on earth to be particularly precious
  • ethics based on human and other natural values in a spirit of reason and free inquiry through human capabilities
  • nature is all that exists or is real
  • Affirming the dignity of each human being
  • many people realize that they are already humanists and just did not know
  • Humanists stand for the building of a more humane, just, compassionate, and democratic society using a pragmatic ethics based on human reason, experience, and reliable knowledge-an ethics that judges the consequences of human actions by the well-being of all life on Earth.
  • Although religious texts can teach good lessons, they also advocate fear, intolerance, hate and ignorance.
  • highly motivated to alleviating pain and misery around the world
  • Secular Humanism a non-religiously based philosophy
  • supports the maximization of individual liberty and opportunity consonant with social and planetary responsibility
  • Humanists view this natural world as wondrous and precious, and as offering limitless opportunities for exploration, fascination, creativity, companionship, and joy
  • All quotes from religious texts were checked by scripture scholars to ensure accuracy, context and proper translation. 
  • value freedom of inquiry, expression and action
  • have a history of combating bigotry, hatred, discrimination, intolerance and censorship
  • truth could be discovered by human effort
  • humans have the freedom to give meaning, value, and purpose to their lives by their own independent thought, free inquiry, and responsible, creative activity
  • moral values derive their source from human experience
  • humanists enjoy the open-endedness of a quest and the freedom of discovery
  • Humanism considers the universe to be the result of an extremely long and complex evolution under immutable laws of nature
  • Humanists seek to understand the universe by using science and its methods of critical inquiry-logical reasoning, empirical evidence, and skeptical evaluation of conjectures and conclusions-to obtain reliable knowledge
  • The rights of men and women should be equal and sacred
  • a philosophy centered upon the needs and interests of people
  • marriage should be a perfect partnership
  • love coupled with empathy, democracy, and a commitment to selfless service
  • secular humanist values are consistent with mainstream America
  • fundamentalist religion has no right to claim the moral high ground
  • Humanism is the idea that you can be good without a belief in God.
  • the lack of any evidence for an afterlife means this life should be lived as though it's the only one we have
  • When people view the Bible as the word of a just and omniscient God, and attempt to have society's laws and social practices reflect biblical teachings, serious error and harm will occur if the Bible was actually written by fallible humans who lived in an unenlightened era.
  • When the subjects involve governmental issues, all of society can be affected
  • In most communities, an opposing view is rarely, if ever, heard
  • It would instead perpetuate the ideas of an ignorant and superstitious past - and prevent humanity from rising to a higher level.
  • written solely by humans
  • it contains numerous contradictions
  • The Bible is an unreliable authority
  • The massive and incessant promotion of the Bible significantly influences the beliefs of millions
  • Humanists also reject the Bible because it approves of outrageous cruelty and injustice.
  • because so many people have been told the Bible is the "Good Book," biblical teachings shape the attitudes of millions
  • Humanity’s condition could be greatly improved if those resources were used for solving the world's problems instead of worshiping a nonexistent God.
  • Logically, if two statements are contradictory, at least one of them is false.
  • the suffering of the innocent is the essence of injustice
  • the book has many false statements and is not infallible
  • the Bible teaches that God repeatedly violated this moral precept by harming innocent people
  • Instances of cruel and unjust behavior by the biblical God are seen in the most basic Christian doctrines.
  • hundreds of contradictions mean there are at least hundreds of incorrect statements in the Bible
  • because the writers of the Bible lived in an unenlightened era, the book contains many errors and harmful teachings
  • Each contradiction is an instance where at least one of the verses is wrong.
Sunny Jackson

Karl Popper - Wikiquote - 0 views

en.wikiquote.org/Karl_Popper

Wiki Quote Book

shared by Sunny Jackson on 03 Jul 13 - Cached
  • The genuine rationalist does not think that he or anyone else is in possession of the truth
  • When I speak of reason or rationalism, all I mean is the conviction that we can learn through criticism of our mistakes and errors, especially through criticism by others, and eventually also through self-criticism.
  • A rationalist is simply someone for whom it is more important to learn than to be proved right; someone who is willing to learn from others — not by simply taking over another's opinions, but by gladly allowing others to criticize his ideas and by gladly criticizing the ideas of others. The emphasis here is on the idea of criticism or, to be more precise, critical discussion.
  • ...35 more annotations...
  • The genuine rationalist does not think that he or anyone else is in possession of the truth; nor does he think that mere criticism as such helps us achieve new ideas. But he does think that, in the sphere of ideas, only critical discussion can help us sort the wheat from the chaff. He is well aware that acceptance or rejection of an idea is never a purely rational matter; but he thinks that only critical discussion can give us the maturity to see an idea from more and more sides and to make a correct judgement of it.
  • True ignorance is not the absence of knowledge, but the refusal to acquire it.
  • The game of science is, in principle, without end.
  • if our civilization is to survive, we must break with the habit of deference to great men. Great men may make great mistakes
  • The open society is one in which men have learned to be to some extent critical of taboos, and to base decisions on the authority of their own intelligence.
  • paradox of freedom is the argument that freedom in the sense of absence of any constraining control must lead to very great restraint, since it makes the bully free to enslave the meek.
  • paradox of tolerance: Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them.
  • counter them by rational argument and keep them in check by public opinion
  • We should therefore claim, in the name of tolerance, the right not to tolerate the intolerant.
  • No rational argument will have a rational effect on a man who does not want to adopt a rational attitude.
  • It is our duty to help those who need help; but it cannot be our duty to make others happy
  • There is no history of mankind, there is only an indefinite number of histories of all kinds of aspects of human life.
  • A rationalist, as I use the word, is a man who attempts to reach decisions by argument and perhaps, in certain cases, by compromise, rather than by violence. He is a man who would rather be unsuccessful in convincing another man by argument than successful in crushing him by force
  • Only if we give up our authoritarian attitude in the realm of opinion, only if we establish the attitude of give and take, of readiness to learn from other people, can we hope to control acts of violence inspired by piety and duty.
  • it always takes two to make a discussion reasonable. Each of the parties must be ready to learn from the other. You cannot have a rational discussion with a man who prefers shooting you to being convinced by you.
  • Do not allow your dreams of a beautiful world to lure you away from the claims of men who suffer here and now. Our fellow men have a claim to our help; no generation must be sacrificed for the sake of future generations, for the sake of an ideal of happiness that may never be realised.
  • If we choose freedom, then we must be prepared to perish along with it.
  • we do not choose political freedom because it promises us this or that. We choose it because it makes possible the only dignified form of human coexistence, the only form in which we can be fully responsible for ourselves. Whether we realize its possibilities depends on all kinds of things — and above all on ourselves.
  • The more we learn about the world, and the deeper our learning, the more conscious, specific, and articulate will be our knowledge of what we do not know, our knowledge of our ignorance. For this, indeed, is the main source of our ignorance — the fact that our knowledge can be only finite, while our ignorance must necessarily be infinite.
  • The more we learn about the world, and the deeper our learning, the more conscious, clear, and well-defined will be our knowledge of what we do not know, our knowledge of our ignorance. The main source of our ignorance lies in the fact that our knowledge can only be finite, while our ignorance must necessarily be infinite.
  • I believe it is worthwhile trying to discover more about the world, even if this only teaches us how little we know.
  • What we should do, I suggest, is to give up the idea of ultimate sources of knowledge, and admit that all knowledge is human; that it is mixed with our errors, our prejudices, our dreams, and our hopes; that all we can do is to grope for truth even though it be beyond our reach. We may admit that our groping is often inspired, but we must be on our guard against the belief, however deeply felt, that our inspiration carries any authority, divine or otherwise. If we thus admit that there is no authority beyond the reach of criticism to be found within the whole province of our knowledge, however far it may have penetrated into the unknown, then we can retain, without danger, the idea that truth is beyond human authority. And we must retain it. For without this idea there can be no objective standards of inquiry; no criticism of our conjectures; no groping for the unknown; no quest for knowledge.
  • Science must begin with myths, and with the criticism of myths.
  • I believe it is worthwhile trying to discover more about the world, even if this only teaches us how little we know. It might do us good to remember from time to time that, while differing widely in the various little bits we know, in our infinite ignorance we are all equal.
  • If we thus admit that there is no authority beyond the reach of criticism to be found within the whole province of our knowledge, however far we may have penetrated into the unknown, then we can retain, without risk of dogmatism, the idea that truth itself is beyond all human authority. Indeed, we are not only able to retain this idea, we must retain it. For without it there can be no objective standards of scientific inquiry, no criticism of our conjectured solutions, no groping for the unknown, and no quest for knowledge.
  • Science must begin with myths, and with the criticism of myths.
  • The history of science, like the history of all human ideas, is a history of irresponsible dreams, of obstinacy, and of error. But science is one of the very few human activities — perhaps the only one — in which errors are systematically criticized and fairly often, in time, corrected. This is why we can say that, in science, we often learn from our mistakes, and why we can speak clearly and sensibly about making progress there.
  • There are all kinds of sources of our knowledge; but none has authority
  • more people are killed out of righteous stupidity than out of wickedness.
  • There are all kinds of sources of our knowledge; but none has authority ... The fundamental mistake made by the philosophical theory of the ultimate sources of our knowledge is that it does not distinguish clearly enough between questions of origin and questions of validity.
  • Always remember that it is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood: there will always be some who misunderstand you.
  • All things living are in search of a better world.
  • Our aim as scientists is objective truth; more truth, more interesting truth, more intelligible truth. We cannot reasonably aim at certainty. Once we realize that human knowledge is fallible, we realize also that we can never be completely certain that we have not made a mistake.
  • There are uncertain truths — even true statements that we may take to be false — but there are no uncertain certainties. Since we can never know anything for sure, it is simply not worth searching for certainty; but it is well worth searching for truth; and we do this chiefly by searching for mistakes, so that we have to correct them.
  • Good tests kill flawed theories; we remain alive to guess again.
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