Why I Think Jesus Didn’t Exist: A Historian Explains the Evidence That Changed His Mind

Dr. Richard Carrier describes how he examined the methodology af Jesus myth proponents, found it wanting and created an academic methodology that would stand up to peer review.

The Truth About "Atheist Tolerance" and Other Self-Delusion

Reblogged from @Gspellchecker's Blog:

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I spend a significant portion of my time debating and exchanging views with fellow primates on Twitter.  I make a rule of never being abusive, hostile or assuming to know what someone else believes.  I frequently pose my responses as questions, in order to avoid being presumptuous.

I also never tell anyone they haven’t the right to believe what they want to believe, as this would clearly be wrong.  

Read more… 3,373 more words

Tolerance of intolerance is a diminution of our humanity, our ability to empathise with those whose opinions and ideas differ from our own.

Giant Leaps

Giant leaps are impossible without many tiny steps.

Conservative MPs to campaign for ban on eating black pudding!

Conservative MPs, angry that Parliament has lifted the ban on gay marriage, are to campaign to ensure other biblical prohibitions are enforced.

The MPs have decided that as the command in Leviticus 18:22 that a man should not sleep with another man as he does with a woman has been so disgracefully overturned they will now concentrate on Leviticus 3:17 and demand that eating blood must be banned.

However, there is a problem in that blood forms a significant percentage of the MPs favourite meat, roast beef. It has been decided, therefore, that products consisting mainly of blood should be banned – and that means black pudding.

It is expected that a significant number of Conservative MPs who eat black pudding with their English breakfast will refuse to support the forthcoming bill but the majority feel that giving up black pudding is essential if biblical prohibitions are to continue to be enforced, the gay marriage vote can be eventually overturned and common conservative values of decency can be restored.

Nature: Social Evolution: The Ritual Animal

Nature: Social Evolution: The Ritual Animal

Dan Jones, in an article published by the online science journal Nature, explores the evolution of ritual and asks if ritual could explain the evolution of human civilizations. While the article does not cover the evolution of belief itself it does show how closely the imaging and patterning associated with the human mind could be responsible for the rise of religions and the need of most human to feel they are part of a group of like-minded individuals. But, warns Jones, rituals can be used not only to establish social cohesion but to induce terror as well.

14 year-old girl asks: Has science explained religion?

14 year-old girl asks: Has science explained religion?

Catherine Hochman was just 14 when she asked the question in teen magazine KidSpirit. Maybe she would not come to the same conclusions now but I find it heartening to know that a teenager would even consider asking the question in what is essentially a religious blog.

I happen to think that science is getting ever closer but, as Catherine points out, it is not there yet. If and when it does happen, there will be tremendous upheaval as so many humans are nowhere near psychologically able to cope with the implications.

Anyway, I hope you read the post and see what you think.

Your Christmas Meal

This Christmas (Christ Myth, Mithras Day, Saturnalia, Solstice Celebration or whatever you like to call it) will you sit down to a meal that includes meat? Whether it is a meal of turkey, goose, beef, salmon, pork, venison or some other meat, maybe a combination of meats, will you say a grace or a prayer to whatever supreme being you believe in? Or none if you are an atheist?

This year, though, would you mind doing something else for me?

Would you mind just sitting still for a brief moment before you begin your feast and think of the animal that gave its life for your enjoyment? I say enjoyment because we all eat far more than we need at this time of year, don’t we? But would you spend a moment wondering how the animal lived its life, whether it enjoyed its own food, whether it was an alpha or a lesser member of the flock or herd? Was it bullied by others? Was it treated as a valued member or as an outcast or a freak? Ask yourself how the animal died. Did it know it was going to be killed? Was it afraid? Was it treated with respect?

I know I will sit down to enjoy a meal of turkey and all the trimmings with my daughter and her family. We will pull crackers and the house will be full of the laughter of their children, my grandchildren. In the evening I shall have a tea that probably includes ham sandwiches, possibly some turkey left over from their main meal. And at both meals I shall say a silent thank you to the animal(s) who gave their lives so that we might enjoy our meals.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with eating meat. I love it. I am not a vegetarian or vegan. Not that I have anything against anyone who disagrees with eating meat. I respect their right to eat what they like. Perhaps it is because I eat meat, however, that I try to respect the lives, and deaths, of the animals I consume.

Maybe, just maybe, if we all think about the animals we are eating at this time of year our thoughts will stay with us and we will think about animal welfare throughout the year ahead.

Whatever you decide, have a great time over the coming weeks and enjoy a wonderful meal, and I hope you are also able to enjoy the season and the feeling of happiness and contentment being with friends and family can bring.

BBC’s bias against gay men.

The BBC today reported on its website ‘Highest-ever HIV diagnoses in gay men’.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20526380

The BBC reported that:

“The number of gay and bisexual men being diagnosed with HIV in the UK reached an “all-time high” in 2011, according to the Health Protection Agency (HPA).

It said there had been a “worrying” trend since 2007, with more and more new cases each year.

Nearly half of the 6,280 people diagnosed last year were men who had sex with other men (MSM).”

Sky News reported the same story.

http://news.sky.com/story/1018117/alarm-as-hiv-cases-in-uk-soar-to-record-high

Sky reported:

“A record number of people in the UK are living with HIV, with almost a quarter of those with the virus not aware they are infected.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) says there are about 96,000 people who have the HIV – an all-time high.

Nearly half of all infections in 2011 were through heterosexual sex. Of these, more than half were probably acquired in the UK, compared to only 27% in 2002, according to a HPA report.”

Note the difference in emphasis? Is the BBC biased against gay men? It would certainly seem so. Why should this be? Well, the BBC is a very religiously-biased organisation. Considerable coverage is given to religious events, services are broadcast, Radio 4′s Thought for the Day is strictly religious and the BBC boasted that it had ‘seen off the atheists’ when secular organisations demanded that the secular worldview should be represented and the BBC refused.

Where does the BBC get its bias from? Could it be the Bible, and in particular Leviticus? Homosexual sex is forbidden in Leviticus. But, then, so is the eating of blood. So why when there is a meat-poisoning scare does the BBC not immediately blame black pudding eaters for being behind the poisoning?

Pope Benedict Disputes Jesus' Date of Birth

Reblogged from NewsFeed:

Pope Benedict XVI has revealed in the third installment of his trilogy, dedicated to the life of Christ, that Jesus may have been born earlier than previously thought. The calendar we use today, which commences with the birth of Christ and was created by a Dionysius Exiguus, a 6th century monk, may be mistaken. According to the Telegraph, the Pope explains in his book that Exiguus, who is considered the inventor of the Christian calendar, “made a mistake in his calculations by several years.

Read more… 763 more words

Did the observations of atheists influence Benedict XVI? For years, atheists, sceptics, humanists and historians have tried to tell Christians that if the date was correct, the Jesus story must collapse because Herod was already dead. Unfortunately for Benedict, placing Jesus's birth earlier raises questions concerning later claims about the lives and deaths of the early saints. Historically, Christian history could be in a more perilous state now than it was before Benedict's book was published. Interesting times ahead.

Malala’s friend shows her bravery.

Incredible defiance of girl, 13, who was shot when Taliban opened fire on her friend Malala | Mail Online.

Here’s a question I’d love to know the answer to: Is Islam the problem or is it just that the religion attracts insane, homicidal maniacs? From reading the Koran, I’d say it is the religion but I can well understand it attracting nuts.

It would be the same, I guess, if Christians disregarded the Bible’s New Testament and only abided by The Old. Come to think of it, quite a few Christians seem to disregard the New Testament when it comes to gays. Those Christians hop and jump in rage while quoting Leviticus.

But if Christians can act as if they’re insane and about to riot over gay equality and a child can be shot by extremist Muslims because she asked for an education and, thinking back, Sikhs can riot because of a play, maybe the problem isn’t a particular religion. Maybe the problem is religion itself.

Anyway, good luck to Malala’s friends as they attempt to return to school. May their experiences lead them to question their beliefs and find the additional bravery and intelligence to reject religion altogether.