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Sunny Jackson

Atheism | The Kojo Nnamdi Show - 0 views

thekojonnamdishow.org/...transcript

shared by Sunny Jackson on 26 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • Atheism is just the idea that you can have a philosophy of life that doesn't include a belief in God.
  • But what they want is authenticity and transparency. They want to know what kind of human being this is.
  • that religious values are the only metric of morality and moral character is really not something that is really productive in a country that claims to be a place of freedom of thought and freedom of religion.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • It's really a question of individual character rather than religious character, when there are plenty of people of religious upbringings that act in an unconscionably immoral way at times.
  • you can certainly have character as an Atheist and talk about that
  • Ethical culture is a humanistic, religious and educational movement inspired but the ideal that the supreme aim of human life is working to create a more humane society.
Sunny Jackson

Friendly Atheist » The Religious Exemption to the New York Same-Sex Marriage ... - 0 views

friendlyatheist.com/...ew-york-same-sex-marriage-bill

shared by Sunny Jackson on 26 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • Churches have every right to be bigots. The government does not.
  • It would be funnier, though, if their religious views didn’t cause so many people so much pain.
  • “You can always count on Americans to do the right thing – after they’ve tried everything else.” – Winston Churchill
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • true understanding
  • timeless truths
  • So, a bunch of folks who believe a magical sky ghost and base those beliefs on a book written 1800 years ago (as well as others who hold similarly ridiculous beliefs) don’t want to perform marriages on two people who are in love. That’s cool – as long as the state itself has process in which those two lovers can be married.
  • these organizations can still discriminate on whatever basis they want, they just can’t receive taxpayer money for it
  • The general rule is that religious groups can discriminate when they’re operating as religious groups, but if they’re operating in a secular capacity, they have to comply with secular laws
  • the sooner churches work out that marriage has little to do with religion for many people the better
  • Some day, not so far off any more, when the Shamans disapprove of something, society’s overall response will be, “So?” Not so long after that, the overall response will be “Who?”
  • How arrogant. “As revealed by god”
Sunny Jackson

Myth: Atheists Attack Theism & Religion Because They Deny God - Do Atheists' Criticisms... - 0 views

atheism.about.com/...AtheismBelief.htm

shared by Sunny Jackson on 26 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • Not everything which an atheist does can be attributed to their atheism
  • beliefs and preferences may or may not be common for atheists, but they do not derive from atheism itself.
Sunny Jackson

What Is Atheism? Narrow vs. Broad Definitions of Atheism: Why Do Atheists Define Atheis... - 0 views

atheism.about.com/...whatisatheism.htm

shared by Sunny Jackson on 26 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • broadly defined, atheism is the absence of belief in the existence of any gods
  • agnosticism is about knowledge rather than belief (a related, but separate issue)
  • Agnostic Theism: belief in a god without claiming to know for sure that the god exists.
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • Agnostic Atheism: disbelief in gods without claiming to know for sure that none exist.
  • the simple absence of belief in gods — aside from being the default position — is automatically justified and made credible so long as theists are not successful in making a credible case for their god.
  • Atheists agree that gods exist as ideas in people’s minds; the disagreement lies over whether any gods actually exist independently of human beliefs.
  • Atheism implies no further belief system
  • Atheists vary as much in their beliefs and attitudes as theists do. If you know that a person is an atheist, then you know that he or she lacks belief in gods — nothing more, nothing less.
Sunny Jackson

Beliefs & Choices: Do We Choose Our Beliefs? If Beliefs Aren't Voluntary Acts of Will, ... - 0 views

atheism.about.com/...BeliefChoice.htm

shared by Sunny Jackson on 26 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • Belief requires good reasons, and although people may differ on what constitutes "good reasons," it is those reasons which cause belief, not choice.
  • If a belief is impossible, then the opposite is not something we simply choose: it is the only option, something we are forced to accept.
  • If no one can deny something, then it isn't a choice to believe it.
Sunny Jackson

Beliefs & Choices: Are Beliefs Like Actions? Why Arriving at a Belief is Not Like Engag... - 0 views

atheism.about.com/...BeliefChoice_2.htm

shared by Sunny Jackson on 26 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • You don't "choose" to believe this, it simply because your belief due to the force of the facts in front of you.
  • The act of concluding something isn't a choice of a belief
  • your conclusion is a logical result of what you know. After that, you make no extra, identifiable steps to "choose" to believe
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • we are indirectly responsible for the beliefs we do and do not hold because we are directly responsible for the actions we take which do or do not lead to beliefs.
  • It would be wrong to hold us responsible for not trying hard enough to "choose" to believe, but it may be appropriate to hold us responsible for not trying hard enough to learn enough to arrive at reasonable beliefs.
  • One can be praised for acquiring beliefs through having gone to the trouble of studying, researching, and making a genuine attempt to gather as much information as possible. By the same token, one can be blamed for acquiring beliefs through deliberately ignoring evidence, arguments, and ideas which might tend to create doubt about long-held assumptions.
  • there can be no rational argument that a just God would send a person to hell if they had investigated and simply failed to find sufficient reason to believe.
  • Sometimes, we may value a comforting lie over a harsh truth
  • while we may be willing to allow others to believe a lie for their peace of mind, it is rare to find anyone who does not doggedly believe that they must always believe things that are truthful.
Sunny Jackson

Desire and Belief vs. Rational Belief: Why Beliefs are Not Based on Desire & How to For... - 0 views

atheism.about.com/...BeliefChoice_3.htm

shared by Sunny Jackson on 26 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • there are social influences to the beliefs we have.
  • if we say that someone believes in a god because they want to, that isn't true. Instead, it may be that they want it to be true that a god exists and this desire influences how they approach the evidence for or against the existence of a god.
  • A rational person is one who accepts a belief because it is supported, who rejects a belief when it is not supported, who only believes to the extent that evidence and support allows, and who has doubts about a belief when the support turns out to be less reliable than previously thought.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • A rational person does not "choose" to believe something simply because evidence points that way. Once a person realizes that a belief is clearly supported by the facts, there is no further step which we could call "choice" that is needed for a person to have the belief.
  • be willing to accept a belief as a rational and logical conclusion from the available information.
Sunny Jackson

Do Atheists Choose Atheism? Evangelists are Wrong to Ascribe Choice and Free Will to At... - 0 views

atheism.about.com/...BeliefChoice_4.htm

shared by Sunny Jackson on 26 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • beliefs and the absence thereof are not acts of will which I had to consciously take — they are, rather, conclusions which were necessary based upon the evidence at hand.
  • Instead of focusing on the actual beliefs, which are not themselves choices, it can be more important and more productive to focus instead on how a person has arrived at their beliefs
  • it is the method of belief formation which ultimately separates theist and atheists
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • it is more important to try and encourage skepticism and critical thinking in people rather than to try and simply "convert" them
  • not by choice but instead simply because belief is no longer possible
Sunny Jackson

Quotes on Religion - Carl Sagan - 0 views

atheism.about.com/...bl_q_CSagan.htm

shared by Sunny Jackson on 26 Jun 13 - Cached
  • Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
  • In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they 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.
  • 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.
  • ...10 more annotations...
  • I'm not any more skeptical about your religious beliefs than I am about every new scientific idea I hear about. But in my line of work, they're called hypotheses, not inspiration and not revelation.
  • 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.
  • The question [Do you believe in God?] has a peculiar structure. If I say no, do I mean I'm convinced God doesn't exist, or do I mean I'm not convinced he does exist? Those are two very different questions.
  • 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.
  • Thomas Aquinas claimed to prove that God cannot make another God, or commit suicide, or make a man without a soul, or even make a triangle whose interior angles do not equal 180 degrees. But Bolyai and Lobachevsky were able to accomplish this last feat (on a curved surface) in the nineteenth century, and they were not even approximately gods.
  • We should be teaching our children the scientific method and the reasons for a Bill of Rights. With it comes a certain decency, humility and community spirit.
  • religions are tough. Either they make no contentions which are subject to disproof or they quickly redesign doctrine after disproof. The fact that religions can be so shamelessly dishonest, so contemptuous of the intelligence of their adherents, and still flourish does not speak very well for the tough- mindedness of the believers. But it does indicate, if a demonstration was needed, that near the core of the religious experience is something remarkably resistant to rational inquiry.
  • There are many hypotheses in science which are wrong. That's perfectly all right; they're the aperture to finding out what's right. Science is a self-correcting process. To be accepted, new ideas must survive the most rigorous standards of evidence and scrutiny.
  • If we long to believe that the stars rise and set for us, that we are the reason there is a Universe, does science do us a disservice in deflating our conceits?....For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
  • Avoidable human misery is more often caused not so much by stupidity as by ignorance, particularly our own ignorance about ourselves.
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

Atheism and Theism; Proof and Disproof - 0 views

atheism.about.com/...aa100798.htm

shared by Sunny Jackson on 26 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • That the theists have some burden of proof simply cannot be denied. They are obviously making at least one claim - that at least one god exists. Theists must, then, be prepared to offer justification for their claims - they must face up to their burden of demonstrating that their assertions are reasonable.
  • one of the first steps any theist will have to take is to explain the nature of this god they are claiming.
  • Unless we have a good idea of what we are looking for, we'll never know if we've found it or not!
  • ...20 more annotations...
  • atheists aren't necessarily making any particular claims about the world.
  • When a person says to you "I am an atheist," all you can really assume is that they are saying "I do not believe in any gods."
  • no one need deny any particular theistic beliefs in order to be an atheist, they only need to not believe in any gods, whatever their reasons or attitudes.
  • Just because an atheist believes something doesn't mean that that belief is so connected to atheism that, in order to justify atheism, the belief in question needs to be justified.
  • evolution describes how life has developed over time, not how it originated.
  • Unless an atheist does not believe in any gods because of evolution, the an atheist has absolutely no need to defend evolution in order to defend atheism.
  • There are theists who accept the explanation of evolution, and theists who do not. There are atheists who accept the explanation of evolution, and atheists who do not.
  • So atheism is not inherently dependent upon evolution
  • Theists will commonly ask "Well, where did the universe come from?" Like the atheist reaction to evolution, we can approach this question with: "I don't know. So what?" Unless a person's atheism is dependent upon a particular description of the origin of the universe, they neither need to know the answer to the theist's question nor do they need to support any particular answer.
  • The only possible origin for the universe which is incompatible with my atheism is that of a creation by a god. This, of course, would be for the theist to demonstrate - and if they cannot, my atheism remains, whatever the real origin is. I do not need to account for this "real origin" in order to account for my atheism.
  • Theists need to explain and account for their god, because that's what theism is: belief in a god.
  • I hold a wide variety of beliefs
  • my atheism is not about the universe
  • are atheists required to disprove theistic claims? In general, no.
  • the burden of proof is on whoever is making the claims.
  • This is sometimes on the atheist, if they choose to deny something specific.
  • Only after the theist has presented coherent and rational arguments might the atheist need to explain why she does not accept them.
  • justification of atheism is based upon inadequate justification for theism
  • Just because the atheist happens to disagree with the theist on other issues does not mean that the atheist needs to justify these other beliefs in order to justify atheism.
  • If the discussion is about the existence of gods, then that is where it must be kept.
Sunny Jackson

Atheism & Choice: Atheists Choose Atheism & to be Atheists; Atheists Should Choose God ... - 0 views

atheism.about.com/...AtheistsChoose.htm

shared by Sunny Jackson on 26 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • belief itself simply does not appear to be a matter of will or choice.
  • These beliefs and the absence thereof are not acts of will which I had to consciously take — they are, rather, conclusions which were necessary based upon the evidence at hand.
  • focus instead on how a person has arrived at their beliefs
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • try and encourage skepticism and critical thinking in people
  • an atheist, not by choice but instead simply because belief is no longer possible
Sunny Jackson

Friendly Atheist » At Least We're Not Like the Baptists… - 0 views

friendlyatheist.com/...ast-were-not-like-the-baptists

shared by Sunny Jackson on 26 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • And they called their conference “Sword of the Lord.” That’s really quite funny.
  • I raised my daughter to be strong and I’m glad I did.
  • She knows that some men can be pigs, but that knowledge doesn’t stop her from pushing forward
Sunny Jackson

The myth of Christian persecution in the United States - National atheism | Examiner.com - 0 views

www.examiner.com/...-persecution-the-united-states

shared by Sunny Jackson on 26 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • Christians are very much privileged in the United States.  Christianity is an ideology in the US that enjoys implicit, unreflecting, and uncritical acceptance and one would have to be a complete idiot to counter the fact that the mythical delusion of Christianity is dominant here.
  • While it can be a gut-wrenching decision for an unbeliever to “come out”, Christians don’t worry about revealing their religion to parents, friends, etc
  • Without worry of being labeled a bigot amongst their own, they christians can discriminate in ways not otherwise allowed.  
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • Christians can assume that almost anywhere they go and anything they do, they’ll feel normal. 
  • Yes, many of these privileges are seeing a decline as more and more of the godless are becoming vocal and getting involved, and so Christians interpret this as persecution, but this is only because privilege is all they have ever known. They have been on top of the food chain in this country for so long that they are largely clueless that in a free society, such privileges are inappropriate. 
  • There is a reason so many unbelievers refuse to be accommodating and stand idly and quietly on the sidelines. It's because so many unbelievers get routinely thrown under the bus.  
  •  There is a reason so many unbelievers cannot keep their mouths shut while the children of our Nation are getting indoctrinated every Sunday morning, rendering them totally and completely unequipped to integrate into a post-modern society. It's because they are being taught that the earth was created six-thousand years ago, that a nine-hundred-year-old man crammed an army of animals into a boat for forty days, that donkeys and snakes talk and all the other countless and totally insane fairy tales that they are taught as unmitigated truth.
  • That unbelievers should be tolerant and accommodating is an insult to the collective of human intellect and against the very backbone of basic human rights.  
Sunny Jackson

Rebutting more outlandish statements about atheists | Psychology Today - 0 views

www.psychologytoday.com/...dish-statements-about-atheists

shared by Sunny Jackson on 26 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • correlation does not equal cause
  • These broad-based assertions about atheists are so groundless and outlandish that it's difficult to know where to start in rebutting them.
  • atheists have indeed inhabited foxholes
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • In truth, of course, atheists, like all people, regularly experience far more severe "stress" without abandoning their worldview.
  • the most important factor in creating atheists is education, not material comfort. In fact, if material comfort correlates to atheism, that is only because it also correlates to education.
  • a non-theistic worldview is attained via a lifetime of education and thoughtful consideration of knowledge and reason
  • this is insulting to the millions of atheists and humanists who take their lifestance seriously, who have given much thought and energy to understanding the world
  • Atheists suffer like everyone else, atheists watch loved ones suffer, atheists encounter unbearable hardships, and atheists die in pain - all the while remaining atheists.
Sunny Jackson

Atheism and Agnosticism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) - 0 views

plato.stanford.edu/...atheism-agnosticism

shared by Sunny Jackson on 26 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • I shall here assume that the God in question is that of a sophisticated monotheism.
    • Sunny Jackson
      Sunny Jackson on 26 Jun 13
       
      This statement assumes a specific god. Why?! This article is definitely a bad source of information.
Sunny Jackson

God: Do atheists disbelieve only in god(s) or do they disbelieve in any force that give... - 0 views

www.quora.com/...e-that-gives-human-beings-hope

shared by Sunny Jackson on 26 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • Many things give humans hope
  • normal human beings
  • an atheist is "someone who doesn't believe in gods." Full stop.
  • ...30 more annotations...
  • I'm just one atheist, and I believe hope exists, because I often feel it.
  • I hope it's a sunny day tomorrow, and the fact that the weatherman said that's what I should expect gives me hope it will be.
  • make sure you're using the word "belief" in a clear way. It can have several meanings.
  • Assuming something exists
  • Being in favor of something
  • There are people who believe God exists but dislike Him, but they're not atheists. Why? Because they believe He exists.
  • it sounds like you're using the second definition of "belief," which means being in favor of something. That's a value.
  • Though individual atheists have values (which often differ drastically from the values of other atheists), atheism has nothing to do with values.
  • it's not an allegiance
  • I like the idea of gods. But I don't believe they exist, so I'm an atheist.
  • I am in favor of hope. I value it.
  • I know there are things that give lots of people hope.
  • I do believe in hope.
  • I have hope that mankind will stop making war
  • I have hope that we will advance our medicine to provide health care to all of humanity
  • I have hope that human rights will be expanded and no one will be victimized or marginalized
  • I have hope that love will win over bigotry and bias.
  • I have hope that religions will not divide us.
  • I have hope that poverty and hunger can be eliminated.
  • I have hope for mankind reaching out to the stars.
  • I have hope for laws that are not based on religious ideology and yet are fair, moral and ethical.
  • My hopes are based upon everything mankind has yet achieved compared to where we once were.
  • My hope is powered by the potential for us to yet be better.
  • My hope is not based on any form of religion and yet is still hope.
  • I have hope for humanity.
  • You and I are free today because of endless unnamed heroes
  • Many of them downplay how far they've come, but I see their strength and compassion. 
  • Atheists do not hold to a single creed. The only thing they share is a disbelief in some particular kind of god.
  • they might believe in the power of groups of people, working in unison with a common spirit
  • Humanism tends to give people hope
Sunny Jackson

Leah Daughtry: Atheists Aren't Welcome in the Democratic Party? - 0 views

atheism.about.com/...me-in-the-democratic-party.htm

shared by Sunny Jackson on 26 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • What you should be asking is why a non-religious organization is holding a special, high-profile religious event that caters to religious theists and religious theists alone.
  • the Democratic Party could have held a "values" summit which is inclusive to all.
  • There is no more need to have a "religious believers only" event than there is to have a "Christians Only," "Protestants Only" or "Whites Only" event.
  • ...13 more annotations...
  • atheists themselves are excluded from public office
  • For years the Republican Party has sold itself by linking itself to religion
  • American values. One of those values, as expressed in the National Motto, is, "If you do not trust in God, then we do not want to think of you as being one of us."
  • here we have an unambiguous case of atheists not even being let in the door of a major Democratic Party event for discussing morals and values
  • By saying that "Democrats are...people of faith," the implication is that all Democrats are religious theists.
  • Belief is a private matter
  • People have the right to express their opinions in public, religious or otherwise. But they do not have a right to demand that others take them seriously. If they cannot support a belief, then they should expect ridicule for it.
  • Leah Daughtry is funding anti Gay, Creationist, and Anti Choice agendas within the Democratic party.
  • I don’t choose to be an atheist. I no more “choose” to disbelieve in gods than I “choose” to disbelieve in elves in my basement or elephants under my bed.
  • After the election, I will address the faults of Leah Daughtry and the Democratic Party.
  • Arthur Kaplan
  • Austin Cline
  • Victor Stenger
Sunny Jackson

Belief & Choice: Do People Choose to be Atheists? - 0 views

atheism.about.com/...beliefchoice.htm

shared by Sunny Jackson on 26 Jun 13 - Cached
  • we cannot really choose to just believe anything
  • a belief is not an action and thus cannot be attained by command
  • we are indirectly responsible for the beliefs we do and do not hold because we are directly responsible for the actions we take
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • One can be praised for acquiring beliefs through having gone to the trouble of studying, researching, and making a genuine attempt to gather as much information as possible.
  • one can be blamed for acquiring beliefs through deliberately ignoring evidence, arguments, and ideas which might tend to create doubt about long-held assumptions.
  • atheism is the only possible position I can have given my present state of knowledge
  • I can no more “choose” to just believe in the existence of a god than I can “choose” to just believe that the computer on my desk doesn’t exist.
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