Hi Martin

I'm a first year RS and Philosophy at Kent (Canterbury, not the States), 22, male, etc. I'm an Atheist touching on the overenthusiastic/ fundamentalist/ strong/ whatever side, I try to keep my ranting in check but not always sucessfully.

I linked to your site from another's links page that came up in a Yahoo search, but I can't find it again so I'm not sure, it had quite a long list of graphical links and your site was at the top. The title attracted me, I though it might be something to do with Susan Blackmore's book, but it wasn't.

I'm chuffed, it's an excellent site all round, I've been reading it all night this week! I agree with most of what you say on the Atheism pages but will have to reserve judgement on some of the Politics. A World Government? People have enough trouble trying to run small countries, let alone the whole world.

Keep up the good work, I'll certainly keep on reading it, I don't think I'm half way through yet.

Ben

9 February 03

Only a week in? You've just scratched the surface. ;-) Seriously, there is a lot there, it will soon pass the 400 pages of HTML mark, I estimate in book form it would be about 20 cm thick, far too big for a single volume, even printed on fag paper like a bible.

I'm glad you are enjoying it. Of course a world government would present problems and challenges, and there would be downsides too, but the benefits are enormous. The downsides that worry me most are obviously connected with human rights but also the possibility of choking off new developments.

I don't buy the idea that "absolute power corrupts absolutely" is a good reason not to have a single government. For a start it is a phrase, not a Law of the Universe, secondly it refers to individuals more than it does to institutions. While states like Britain and the US might be mixed blessings, they might have downsides, only a blind twisted idealist could think that the bad they do outweighs the good. Leviathan is a good father figure. Only a handful of extremists suggest no government is better than a good government trying its level human best.

I don't see how or why this argument that states are good should breakdown at the global level. The prize is so enormous, making economics work for our benefit not its own, stopping the international competition in under-cutting wages and standards of ethical treatment of farm animals etc. that it must be worth serious consideration. Yes the prospect of world government is frightening. So is the dark, but why not shed some light into the dark and see what it is we may have to fear?

Martin

Since you're married and marriage is relegion based Do you find yourself fighting the hypocritical loop ?

universal mind

Marriage is not religion based. Religion has to be in charge of everything, it takes over whenever it can. See how priests rush into wars and disasters? See how Dubya brings God into every issue he can?

Marriage is a social institution, it has a social function. Religious people hate there to be a secular aspect to society so they hijack such things whenever they can and even manage to convince people that religion is in charge of patriotism, marriage, justice, morality, conscience etc. etc. etc.

Marriage exists in secular societies, revolutionary France made state marriage ceremony compulsory, they still are (many French people have two weddings, one secular, one Catholic) and the Communists supported marriage too. Marriage is a good thing for the stability of societies, that is why religions like to hijack it, anything good must be of God, or it wouldn't be good, would it? That is their reasoning.

Martin

Atheism and Marriage

Yes you're right but dont you think that we have left it a bit late to do anything about it ? I mean how you gonna stop people having sex specially those idiot people they dont care about the environment etc they just like to have kids to give themselves a sence of purpose. Oh by the way how many children have you got? For your information I got your to your web page by typing in "the biggest problem in the world today" ok got to go

cheers

Rupert

Too late? OK. Let's face the doom together. If you were in a car that rounded a bend and saw a rock fall would you hit the brakes or just think to yourself "Fuck, I'm gonna die!" It may be too late, I don't know how good the brakes are, but it is worth a try, isn't it? I have two children. Everybody should have two children. If we don't there will be nobody to care for us in our old age. There may be people to look after us, but that is not what I wrote.

Martin

Are there any groups or individuals who feels as I do re: God. All of my life I have hated God. I need the support......to meet with them.....to communicate with them.

Thank you.

Patrick

I don't believe in God so it would be absurd for me to hate him. It seems to me you have two problems. Firstly you have an absurd belief and secondly you have a damaging hatred. You can damage yourself by hating, the fact that the hate is not being received is academic, it is being generated, and this process must be damaging to you.

There are two ways out of the problem. Stop believing in God or learn not to hate him. Which is the least attractive strategy to you? You will either have to become a rational atheist or become some kind of a happy-clappy believer, unless you are content to continue as you are.

Which way do you want to turn?

Martin

Martin , what makes you think you can make a assumption on something you obviously know precious little about. Top scientists now recognize the theory of creation , for example. Some part of the Bible has really got to you martin , i've seen it so many times before. The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God. Psalms.

regards,

Kenny Gibson

N.Ireland

OK, please explain what these "top scientists" have found, in your own words, no cut and paste, no references, quotes or URLs. I am quite well aware of the scientific debate on evolution, are you even capable of summarizing the theory?

Why have you quoted the Bible at me? Do you think I haven't come across that quote and sentiment before? Do you think I consider the Bible an authority on anything? Do you know who wrote that psalm? When? Why? And where did his authority come from? And how do you know any of this except by believing what other people have told you? And can you tell me the name of one person without a religion who thinks your kind of faith is A Good Thing?

Martin

martin, God does'nt cease to exsist just because you say so. The Bible isn't a nonauthoritative document because atheism has decided so. atheism is a contradiction in terms, men have faith in the darkness of their own minds therefore every man has a faith. It will not save him from the judgement but it still renders atheism redundant. Completely.

kenny

Kenny,

God doesn't start to exist just because some Bronze Age goat herder hears some voices in his head.

The Bible isn't an authoritative document for anybody who has not been told it is, e.g. Most people who have ever lived and most people who are alive today. It is just old hearsay stories. Myths. Most people regard the Bible in just the same way most as Christians regard the Quran, the Book of Mormon and the Hindu Vedas. They don't accept that the books are literally the word of God and think people who believe that are deluded.

I don't have faith Kenny. Sorry. It just isn't so, I know it is hard to grasp the idea but deep down inside other people you will find other people, not people like you in denial. It is common human practice to see other people as bad copies of ourselves but it isn't useful. Girls are not boys hiding their penises out of spite, homosexuals will not become straight just by giving them a good kicking and people who say they have no religion are not Christians in denial who will repent on their deathbeds or under shellfire. Sorry if that makes reality complicated for you but that is just the way life is.

Billions of men went to their deaths believing that the sun moved around the earth. They were wrong. Billions have gone to their deaths expecting to be resurrected to eternal glory of one flavour or another. They too are wrong.

It is not too late for you to stop wasting away your life hoping that you have not been mislead and beating yourself up when you doubt the message you have been sold. You too can start to discover the truth about the world you live in.

"I had every reason to want to believe it, but the graft did not take. It did not make sense to me...." The reason is still there - hope, assurance, salvation, a relationship with your Creator. The graft not taking may have been due to disbelief. Yet truth remains truth, irregardless of whom believes it, true? "...and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear"

1 Peter 3:15

Faith Reason

That which is true is true.

That which is said to be true is said to be true.

That which is believed is believed.

Those are three totally separate concepts with no logical connection. Try reading them very, very slowly.

It has been said that there is a God. It has been believed that there is a God. It has been said that those that believe in God are better people. It has been said that the Bible is the word of God.

It has been believed that the Bible is the word of God.

That which is believed need not be true.

That which is said to be true need not be true.

That which is true need not feel true.

That which feels true need not be true.

That is the logic of faith. Faith is believing what you cannot know. Gnosis is believing you aren't even using faith to perform the mental trick.

To accept that that which feel true is true is an open invitation to insanity of all kinds. There is no reason to accept that truth should feel true or that which feels true be true. We know that hundreds of American women today absolutely KNOW their sons are still alive in Vietnam.

We know HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of people around the world KNOW they will become rich by winning a big state or national lottery. When they do happen to do so they always tell us!

Belief, gnosis or faith does not change reality. If you doubt it just experiment: toss a coin and KNOW which way it lands, have utter and complete faith, see if you can reliably beat 50/50. Of course you can't do that, because that belief conflicts with your central dogma and so cannot be true. Only God can be true by faith: that is your faith.

You could draw up a simple logic defeating routine in a simple programming language to represent the faith trick. It works like a Catch 22. It creates a hole in your logic, exploits your gullibility for its own purposes (its purposes, not yours!) and denies any other virus program access to the hole it has created while denying there is a hole there at all!

Right about now your Christian virus is turning your anger into pity for me. Before you pray for me I suggest you look at the logical short circuits in your own brain. And don't quote any of the Bible at me until you have read Matthew chapter 7 verse 5.

There is a cure

Martin