Jesus in a jar!
Jesus shows up in the most unlikely of places. There was once a time when he would appear directly as an apparition or burning bush, but I guess the economic crisis has hit everyone hard. Now all Jesus/God can seem to manage is appearing on a lid of jar of Marmite, or as a vague rendition in a cheesy snack.
What those who experience these miracles fail to recognise is our brains ability to find patterns in data – it even find patterns where none exist. For example, no one is suggesting that a race of Kermit the Frog’s inhabited Mars, but I defy you not to see his image carved into the rock.
It’s the same mechanism that turns :) into a smiling face. People see what they want to see.
44 – An Atheist Temple
BBC News – Row over Indonesia atheist Facebook post Priority is to protect marriage | Herald Sun No Fetus Can Feed Us | Unreasonable Faith Alain de Botton: Atheism 2.0 | Video on TED.com
Further Reading
ACL lie about census
The Australian Christian Lobby are lying again. This time they are mischaracterising the Atheist Foundation of Australia’s “No Religion” campaign by stating (emphasis mine): “While the census data is rightly used to assist the government to plan for services and infrastructure, other groups, including some atheists, are seeking to push their agendas by encouraging people [...]
Dog Heads
The excellent British broadcaster BBC 4 recently aired a fascinating program called “The Medieval Mind” which explores the philosophy, theology, and predominate thinking of the dark ages. The first episode deals with knowledge and revealed numerous intriguing insights into how the medieval mind determined epistemological truths. Monks, priests, and other godly people were in possession [...]
Atheists n Agnostics speak out in Arabic
I flagged this video a few days ago, but only watched it this evening. It’s is not often we see ex-muslims speaking out against the “religion of peace”. What these people have done is extraordinary and brave given the fundamentalists attraction to extreme violence.
The perfect God
I want a god whose ultimate goals which do not necessitate the creation of mysterious suffering and death. I want a god who doesn’t violate causation by causing things to begin to exist from nothing in the absence of time. I want a god who does not give us “free will” then punishes us for [...]
Atheism 2.0
“Atheism 2.0” is a 20 minute TED presentation by Alain de Botton in which he proposes a new approach to evangelising atheism. Alain suggests (apparently without evidence) that we have “secularised badly” and we should sift through the rituals, traditions, and behaviours of religion to identify and adopt their efficient mechanisms. “I have come here [...]
The Bizarre Bible
Atheists are often told by believers to read the Bible and it will all become clear. Trouble is, many of us have tried that and it doesn’t seem to have helped. Take these verses for example: This does not sound like a great night out to me. “But Rabshakeh said unto them, Hath my master [...]