Atheist Exposed - Wed, Jul 13, 2005
The touching preface to a new blog, Atheist Exposed:



Shirley works in a Texas prison, and decided to test her godlessness out on the inmates before confronting the chaplin. Apparently this experiment was inspired The God Who Wasn’t There cabal.

Go visit this dear woman and leave lots and lots of comments.

http://nicomachus.net/2009/05/theres-probably-no-god-says-british-ad-campaign/

these are getting popular. they ran ads in canada and indianapolis. i've had people push me to start raising funds in nyc to do these ads but i see it as a waste of money considering the cost.

i will say, though, it is not easy coming out as an atheist. as much as you guys know what i believe or don't believe in, i am still a closet atheist in some regards.

really? why the trepidation?

i'm agnostic, and really have no qualms about telling people my stance on such issues. i don't push, and never offer my views unsolicited, but when someone asks, i answer. i get lots of from self-satisfied religious types, but i've never found "coming out" as an agnostic to be a big deal.

Spoiler: show

yes, i get that agnosticism isn't quite atheism, but i'm still a distinct minority.

Truly, how often does it come up anyways? Personal belief is like sexuality, pretty much private except with a select group of people.

really? why the trepidation?

i've never found "coming out" as an agnostic to be a big deal.

Truly, how often does it come up anyways? Personal belief is like sexuality, pretty much private except with a select group of people.

why are religious or philosophical beliefs personal like sexuality?

may i ask why you're an agnostic?

hahaha. the first book i ever bought on the subject was bertrand russell's "why i'm not a christian." i'm agnostic.

i'm attracted to the idea that there is something greater out there, that we're more than the sum of our genetic code, that there is something more to our existence than mechanistic impulses and motivations. there may well be a reasonable biological explanation for our unique personalities, cognition, and free will. and if there isn't yet, i'd be willing to wager that such an explanation will be possible within my lifetime. but as it is, i find scientific explanations of our unique interdependence, cohesion, and free will lacking. i'm just not yet sold on the idea that this whole thing is the product of chance, be it cosmic, biological, or evolutionary. IMO, there's more going on than what necessarily meets the eye (or the nose, or the ears, or the brain).

i also think the claim that the existence of god can be either absolutely proven or absolutely disproven is an intellectual conceit. i recognize that it is every bit as likely that i'm wrong, that the notion of a larger being is utter nonsense. and that even if i'm right and there is a "god" or a larger cosmic being, it doesn't follow that we have the capacity to recognize or accurately assess such a being. unlike most, i'm completely comfortable with such ambiguity. i'm okay with not knowing whether god exists. why? because i don't derive my morals or philosophy from an external source. i don't need someone or something else to tell me how to live. the "god" i like to believe in isn't so narrow as to have a freaking list of things you can and can't do. and he's not so vindictive and arrogant as to cast aside otherwise good people for not adhering to said list. my "god" is more subtle and understanding than that. modern religious absolutes fall well short in describing a philosophy that i would adopt. the general notion of karma best describes my moral/philosophical/religious worldview. i find it very difficult to believe that "god," if after leading a life of leaving things in better shape than how i found them, of treating people with respect and empathy, of doing much more good than harm, of not harming anyone else in the course of bettering myself, would deem such contributions unsatisfactory because i didn't explicitly adhere to a rigid list of principles. frankly, i want no part of a "god" that would act so. my morality is grounded in concerns for humans and in improving the general condition of the fabric that binds humans together. i'm not willing to sacrifice those concerns for an antiquated (and, likely, fallacious) deference to a being that may or may not exist.

all that said, i could be convinced that god doesn't exist. in general, science and reason appeal to me more than naked faith.

in short, i'm agnostic and subscribe to a "live and let live" philosophy. i'm sympathetic to the notion that there is something bigger than us out there. but whatever it may be, no one person or organized religion possesses a monopoly on god's wisdom (or the ability to absolutely know whether god exists at all), let alone the capacity to understand and interact with said god. i'm comfortable with the ambiguity implicit in such a position because i don't think god (if it exists) is as narrow and vindictive as modern religious caricatures make him out to be. IMO, the notion of "karma" is a much more appealing, relevant, and appropriate worldview.

Because they affect ho wyou live your life but they don't need to be tattooed on your forehead to go about living your life.

Do you walk into a room and go "I'm hetero"? I see no need to make any kind of pronouncement on either except where and when you feel comfortable and necessary. I'm quite sure you've jerked off to porn, to you feel the need to come out about this too? Hell, the subject of sex can come up and I can be pretty tight lipped about my preferences, depending on the audience and situation.

I think making these declarations is all about wanting "acceptance" rather than being happy with tolerance. Acceptance I'd like from my friends and family, but from work associates and strangers acceptance will do. I find no need to state preferences or hard wiring to gain tolerance.

hahaha. the first book i ever bought on the subject was bertrand russell's "why i'm not a christian." i'm agnostic.

this is off topic, but i am of the mindset that religion should be openly involved in politics. i think i'll make a thread about it.