51. Open Letter to a victim of Ben Stein's lying propaganda

Comment #164792 by Count von Count on April 20, 2008 at 5:30 pm

Hmmmm:

Anyone care to explain the naturalistic basis for morality and compassion?

Sure! Read "The Selfish Gene!" Besides being a very eye-opening book, it is practically devoted to answering your question.

52. Interviews with Richard Dawkins and Michael Shermer

Comment #164486 by Count von Count on April 20, 2008 at 10:20 am

Vanitas et al.-

Welcome out of the closet. I just wanted to write a note about the "looking over your shoulder god" that seems to plague many of us unbelievers after we rid ourselves of a previous faith:

It goes away!

I was not raised religious, but when a pet died, my parents would say "he's with god now" supposedly to comfort me. My mom thought it was a good idea to pray every once in awhile, etc. Anyway, about ten years ago, after quite a bit of thought, I decided I was officially an atheist, and became much happier. However, I still felt the presence of something "looking over my shoulder," watching ever thing I did. I especially felt that there was a score being kept about my "naughty or nice" actions which would determine my fate in some afterlife, even though I didn't believe in that stuff!

Anyway, I am happy to say that after about 5 years, those feelings had completely faded. My guess is that it would take longer the more deeply your beliefs were a part of your life. Does anyone else have similar experiences about their "looking over your shoulder god" fading away?

53. Interviews with Richard Dawkins and Michael Shermer

Comment #164045 by Count von Count on April 19, 2008 at 1:03 pm

I didn't even bother to pray today...and I don't feel guilty about it, either

Congratulations Layla! I smiled a big warm smile when I read those words. Let's hear it for action rather than prayer and confidence rather than guilt!

54. Gods and earthlings

Comment #163477 by Count von Count on April 18, 2008 at 11:52 am

philiproulx-

As a philosopher, I'm okay with exploring this line of reasoning...as a scientist I find it very unnerving and very unscientific.

Really? Forgive me if I am being ignorant on this subject, but why should something unscientific be reasonable to consider philosophically? Philosophy, I thought, is a type of search for truth. Therefore it seems any reasoning that works in science should also work in philosophy. Philosophy may be a great supplement to science (such as in the case of questions about free will, etc.), but it does not make sense to me that it should override or conflict with scientific reasoning (that is to say, with reasoning).

55. Gods and earthlings

Comment #163466 by Count von Count on April 18, 2008 at 11:39 am

Nice article. My favorite take on this idea (complexity from complexity leads to infinite regress) is the question:

"Could god make a cake so big, he himself could not eat it?"

(Insert "burrito" or "joint" etc. for "cake" according to preference.)

thewhitepearl -
Welcome aboard! When I read your comment, I made a fist and said "Yes!" It reminded me of this:

56. Evolution: 24 myths and misconceptions

Comment #162992 by Count von Count on April 17, 2008 at 7:18 pm

Fascinating.

I have recently been thinking that rather than having articles and debates on "evolution vs. creation," it might be more useful to put our energies into having articles like this one that simply explain evolution. Remember the wonder you felt when you first started to understand evolution? The next time you are about to get in the old "e.v.c" debate with someone, maybe try taking a time out to just explain to them the basic ideas. Try to make them see the beauty rather than shoot down their ideas. (If anyone tries this, let me know about your results!)

The subtitle echoes a bumper sticker I thought of (which could perhaps be made a bit more catchy):
"Don't believe in evolution? Maybe you just don't understand it."

57. Richard Dawkins' secular army must be stopped. God is behind some of our greatest art

Comment #160603 by Count von Count on April 14, 2008 at 8:19 am

Theist music is so much better than that awful music by atheists such as Mozart, Beethoven, Verdi, Paganini, etc.

(This is my first post, so I hope the sarcasm in my above statement is apparent.)