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Materialistic Monism
Luke Muehlhauser ("lukeprog") is an atheist and naturalist who arrived there via a journey as a devout pastor's kid. His story is moving. The tone and discussion here is sympathetic and friendly, and the writing almost always thought provoking. The site includes some impressive resources, like an evaluation of all of William Lane Craig's debates and a voluminous list of debates about God. Luke's site is a beacon of thoughtful and respectful dialogue. Highly Recommended. About itself: "See, believers have two ways of thinking. In most situations, they think with the same logic as most people do: this is our 'common sense.' Tell a believer that the bank stole his money, or that an ancient book says you can heal disease by dancing around a fire, and he will ask for evidence. That is common sense. ... The whole point of my website is this: If a believer applies his special thinking to any other area of life, it becomes clear how irrational that special thinking is. And if he applies common sense to his religion, it becomes clear how irrational that religion is."
David Bentley Hart's "Believe It or Not" at First Things (May 2010).
I am averse to swift and outright dismissals of opposing views. No well-populated point of view is without its reasons and cogent defenders. So, it is with some reluctance that I commend the attached article. Hart himself feels the need to clarify: "I am not — honestly, I am not — simply
being dismissive here." Nevertheless, David Bentley Hart indicts New Atheist literature with merciless aplomb, hitting his marks in withering, Hitchens-like prose. Observe his grief at the insipidity of the New Atheists, an elegy for the atheists of old. "The utter inconsequentiality of contemporary
atheism is a social and spiritual catastrophe. Something splendid and
irreplaceable has taken leave of our culture — some great moral and
intellectual capacity that once inspired the more heroic expressions of
belief and unbelief alike. Skepticism and atheism are, at least in
their highest manifestations, noble, precious, and even necessary
traditions, and even the most fervent of believers should acknowledge
that both are often inspired by a profound moral alarm at evil and
suffering, at the corruption of religious institutions, at
psychological terrorism, at injustices either prompted or abetted by
religious doctrines, at arid dogmatisms and inane fideisms, and at
worldly power wielded in the name of otherworldly goods. In the best
kinds of unbelief, there is something of the moral grandeur of the
prophets — a deep and admirable abhorrence of those vicious idolatries
that enslave minds and justify our worst cruelties." Hart's words are strong medicine for strong tonic, but his aim is straight and true. Consider his devastating critique of Hitchens' "unstated major premise, trivial minor premise" logic (much more trenchant than my own, similar attempt). ~ Nathan
In its own words: Navigating through life can be complicated. We do
well to check ourselves with trusted and tested sources as well as to
learn methods to reliably test our worlds. All beliefs are fed by our
emotions, our dispositions and our environment. For this reason,
triangulation is always of utmost importance. ... I use the pen name “Sabio Lantz” since I work and live in a
predominantly Christian community where many patients of mine would
stop coming to me if they knew how I felt about religion. Further,
many casual, but useful relationships may be damaged if they knew what
I write here. Several families who we are friends with us would stop
meeting with us and stop their children from playing with ours. People
can get ugly when it comes to religion (or politics, or sex ... OK,
people can just be plain ugly).
In its own words: Over the past several years, I have observed to my dismay the forces
of militant religious fundamentalism gaining in strength, both in my
home country, the United States of America, and worldwide. This ominous
development, driven by those who are dedicated enemies of all the
progress and enlightenment that has been achieved over the past several
centuries, threatens the liberty and happiness of all people
everywhere. As a result, I have been compelled to grow more involved in
political causes to help oppose it, and to defend the human rights that
once more need defending. This process of awakening led to my writing
the essay "Unapologetic",
but did not stop there. We need as many voices as possible calling
attention to the evil of the religious right and shining the light of
scrutiny on their true goals. Only by doing so can we hope to stop
them, and I hope to play some small part in that.
The final motivating factor is the fact that there are not nearly as
many good atheist weblogs as there should be. There are many blogs
written by atheists, but relatively few that are about atheism, relatively few that are well-written and address the subject frequently and knowledgeably.
From Richard's Website: Richard Carrier is a nationally-renowned author and speaker. As a professional historian, published philosopher, and prominent defender of the American freethought movement, Dr. Carrier has appeared across the country and on national television defending sound historical methods and the ethical worldview of secular naturalism. He holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University in ancient history, specializing in the intellectual history of Greece and Rome, particularly ancient philosophy, religion, and science, with emphasis on the origins of Christianity and the use and progress of science under the Roman empire. He is best known as the author of Sense and Goodness without God and a major contributor to The Empty Tomb, as well as writer and editor-in-chief (now emeritus) for the Secular Web, and for his copious work in history and philosophy online and in print.
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