Toward a Naturalistic (Atheistic) Worldview
(Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, etc.)
(09/11/08)
The New Yorker, May 10, 2004, The Back Page, by Lee Lorenz:
In the universe, as we know it today, there is no mystery that will not in
the end be explained by physics and chemistry.
If you hold to a naturalistic worldview free of supernatural and
mystical elements (Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, reincarnation, Allah, the
Devil, God, the soul, or kismet) then
, the
Secular Web,
EvoWiki, the
Humanist, or the
Secular Humanists may be
for you.
Is God willing to prevent Evil but not able? Then He is not omnipotent.
Is He able but not willing? Then He is malevolent.
Is He both able and willing? Then whence cometh Evil?
Is He neither able nor willing? Then why call Him God?
Epicurus, 341-270 BC
The American Humanist Association's Definition of Humanism:
"Humanism is a rational philosophy informed by science, inspired by art,
and motivated by compassion. Affirming the dignity of each human being, it
supports the maximization of individual liberty and opportunity consonant with
social and planetary responsibility. It advocates the extension of
participatory democracty and the expansion of open society, standing for human
rights and social justice. Free of supernaturalism, it recognizes human beings
as a part of nature and holds that values -- be they religious, ethical,
social or political -- have their source in human nature, experience and
culture. Humanism thus derives the goals of life from human need and interest
rather than from theological or ideological abstractions, and asserts that
humanity must take responsibility for its own destiny."
"The way to see by Faith is to shut the eye of Reason."
-Benjamin Franklin (Poor Richard, 1758)
The Freedom From Religion Foundation
FFRF's radio show "from the secular point of view" now to be carried
nationally once a week by
Air America Radio!
"When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity. When
many people suffer from a delusion, it is called Religion."
-R.M. Pirsig, "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"
Richard Dawkins
"The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if
there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but
blind, pitiless indifference." (River out of Eden, Basic Books, Harper
Collins, 1995)
Further observations, books, videos by Richard Dawkins: on
evolution/religion,
"Intelligent Design",
on the events of
09/11/01,
and more generally at
the Richard Dawkins website.
and
The Richard
Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science.
Time for we Atheists to Come Out of the Closet!
Wear the "Scarlet Letter"!
"Blasphemy is a victimless crime."
-Richard Dawkins
Dr. Craig Venter- of The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR)
As reported in the Economist (Dec.4th, 2004):
"...Making a bacterium (or, at least, the genome of a bacterium) would be one
of the last nails in the coffin of vitalism- the curiously persistent idea
that there is something more to biology than mere physics and chemistry.
...How long it will take to make a synthetic bacterial genome remains to be
seen, though an announcement could come sometime next year."
There is no greater evil than to inculcate blind faith upon the mind of a
child.
Paul Krugman, of the New York Times.
Has
something to say about the
religious right in America today.
"A free man has no need of God".
-V. Nabokov
Sam Harris
Faith and Madness: An excerpt from the newly published
"The End of Faith".
Also by Sam Harris:
"An Atheist Manifesto", and
an interview with Sam Harris.
"People who want to share their religious views with you almost never
want you to share yours with them".
-Dave Barry
Dave Armstrong
A vast compendium of articles and essays on
Agnosticism, Atheism,
Humanism, & Secularism
Don't Pray in my School, and I won't Think in your Church.
-Bumper sticker
Hypotheses and Theories
Some musings on the validity of
hypotheses.
"I contend that we are both atheists.
I just believe in one fewer god[s] than you do.
When you [come to] understand why you dismiss all [gods other than your
own], you will understand why I dismiss yours".
-Stephen F.
Roberts
W. Somerset Maugham, novelist.
An excerpt from
"Of Human Bondage" on the
meaning of life.
"Nobody with a sense of humor ever founded a religion."
-Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-99)
Robert G. Ingersoll, "The Great Agnostic".
His
creed.
"God is the immemorial refuge of the incompetent, the helpless, the
miserable.
They find not only sanctuary in His arms, but also a kind of superiority,
soothing to their macerated egos; He will set them above their betters."
-H. L. Mencken
"Can you name one moral action, or moral utterance, performed or spoken by a
believer that could not have been performed or spoken by an atheist?
-Christopher Hitchens
"Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it you would have
good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good
people to do evil things, that takes religion."
-Stephen Weinberg
