There is ample evidence that atheists make up a sizable chunk of the population. Furthermore, atheists are on average smarter and more educated than the average person (I am not making a claim of a causal relationship, at least not here). This leads to, among other things, greater wealth and...
I am going to be moving out of my apartment soon. Because of this, I have lots of cardboard boxes. One of these boxes is on my table. What do you believe is in the box?
I'm not asking for guesses. I'm asking for what you believe.
There is only one right answer.
(Moderators, I know that...
I consider myself a pacifist. I don't believe that war is inherently wrong; but I do believe that nearly every war that is fought is wrong. I don't blame this on the soldiers, but on the people at the top. I feel it would be my duty if I were to be drafted to conscientiously object.
This...
How do you think most frubals are gained: by posting more posts, or by posting better posts?
Personally, I give out frubals for quality. But it seems that if you post enough, no matter how inane your posts, someone will find them insightful. I find that when I post more often, I get more...
Bad ideas are often sold using good marketing. The entire Bush administration was sold on catchy slogans and clever renamings. Think "swift boat veterans for truth" or "enemy combatants". The Project for the New American Century had an entire article on selecting terminology.
The practice...
What's your favorite bible verse?
My personal favorite is:
Why is this my favorite verse?
The verse is an example of uninteresting translation of a vague phrase. 'My little finger' is more literally, 'My little one'. While 'little finger' is a possible meaning, the entire point of...
The Roman Catholic church and a few other denominations have strong stances against birth control. Even assuming that life begins at conception rather than implantation or birth (which is biologically spurious), methods such as condoms do not even allow conception to occur.
There are two...
Numerous theists have asked atheists the question, "What evidence would it take for you to believe that god exists?"
The answers have been numerous, but the basic idea of the answers I have seen from atheists (including myself) has been, "Any valid evidence at all would work."
So now I ask...
Given the likelihood of this thread becoming an issue with Islamic fundamentalists, I would like to request that only non-fundamentalists post on this thread. For purposes of this discussion, if you believe that any book holds inerrant truth, that humans did not evolve from apes, or that any...
I recently took an ethics class which I hated. The professor seemed intent on promoting the theory of ethical egoism -- that is, we should always act in self-interest. The one redeeming caveat of the theory is that it asserts that sometimes acting in the interest of others is in your own...
God created the heavens and the earth, in the process creating evil (or allowing it to be created).
He then allowed this evil to infect humans, then punished these humans for doing the obvious thing.
He let off the first murderer with a slap on the wrist.
After a few generations, he all but...
I've been an agnostic for about three years, and an atheist for about a year now. I've worked through most of my issues with Christianity and now feel that I am well-reasoned enough to defend my beliefs thoroughly.
However, I still have an issue with how to define my ethics. Simply copying...