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Saturday, 03 October 2009

  • A couple of Arguments on Atheism

    I was thinking on Pascal's Wager recently, and I realized that many Atheists make a similar (or analogous) gambit. It goes something like this (keep in mind this only applies to those trying to live a good life):

    Atheists choose to not believe in God. They try to live ethical, upright and good lives, and strive to seek truth and beauty in the world and themselves. They try to be the best humans they can be (just like religious folk).

    Suppose God exists.

    If God exists, and it turns out he has the qualities ascribed by theists, then he'll judge humans harshly on the arbitrary criteria he has chosen - i.e., he would be an insufferable bastard. If this be the case, I would be hard pressed to find anyone (atheist or otherwise) who would actually WANT to spend an eternity with such a tremendous celestial douchebag.

    On the other hand, if God exists and it turns out he's not basing his judgments on arbitrary factors like a total asshole, then atheists WILL go to heaven by virtue of having lived good and true lives and sought truth, etc. And they may enjoy spending eternity with a fellow so enlightened and so enlightening.

    Either way, however God turns out to be in reality (if he exists), the best course of action is Atheism. Or at least Rationality.

    Here's another simple argument that was floating in my head.

    1. A system where the "punishment fits the crime" is a just system. Conversely, a system where the punishment does not "fit the crime" is an unjust system.

    2. The life of man is finite. So, the sum total of evil a man can possibly commit in his life is finite.

    3. The afterlife is eternal (infinite). So a punishment which lasts the duration of the afterlife is eternal (infinite).

    4. God punishes man eternally (infinitely) for his finite crimes.

    5. God is unjust.

Sunday, 22 February 2009

Sunday, 23 November 2008

  • Poll!

    "Just like what Nazi Germany did to the Jews, so liberal America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It's no different. It is the same thing. It is happening all over again. It is the Democratic Congress, the liberal-based media and the homosexuals who want to destroy the Christians. Wholesale abuse and discrimination and the worst bigotry directed toward any group in America today. More terrible than anything suffered by any minority in history." - Pat Robertson

    I know this quote is rather extreme, but this is something that's been on my mind lately. It's a sentiment I seem to hear with some frequency, on TV and in real life (though not of that severity, lol). So I'd like to know what you all think about it.

    Do you think Christians are a persecuted minority in America?

    I'd love everyone's feedback on this, Christian folk or otherwise.

Tuesday, 18 November 2008

  • Arabs are Semites, too

    Antisemitism has quickly become one of America's most despised forms of racism, earning offenders swift and severe retribution. Anyone throwing casual epithets towards the Jews or exhibiting a whiff of unfair business practice against the chosen people can get themselves a severe ass-pounding by the giant throbbing dick that is the American legal system. These offenses are given the blanket term "antisemitism".
    But I'd like to point out a very simple fact. Arabs are Semites too.
    So for those dishing out casual (and not-so-casual) rejoinders at the magi from the east, or framing their hiring practices to the exclusion of the sons of Ishmael, remember that you're no better than a skin-head neo-nazi Jew-hater. You are an anti-semite. You are probably just as batshit insane as Hitler himself. Because this is the standard of judgment applied to those who hate Jews (ie, Mel Gibson). And by this token, it should be applied to those who hate Arabs.
    Just a thought.

Saturday, 15 November 2008

  • I got tagged...

    I was tagged by AlterEgo909, so now I have to say 5 random things about myself.

    1. I collect hats because hats are awesome.

    2. I collect books because of compulsion.

    3. I prefer the woman to be dominant in the relationship.

    4. I love nap. And not the sleepy kind.

    5. For those wondering about my religion, I do not practice any particular religion. I study religions, and I have practiced many in the past, to know them. Philosophically I am a sort of Deist, and I embrace Humanist principles. I am technically an Atheist, since I reject a personal anthropomorphic God-entity. I'm a Socratic, a proponent of Natural Philosophy, and lover of religions.

Asok_Yeesrim

  • Visit Asok_Yeesrim's Xanga Site
    • Name: Ryan
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    • Metro: Davis
    • Birthday: 2/17/1987
    • Gender: Male
    • Member Since: 2/12/2005

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