Freedom had been hunted round the globe; reason was considered as rebellion; and the slavery of fear had made men afraid to think. But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing.
~ Thomas Paine, Rights of Man, 1791 ~

Saturday, March 25, 2017

Biblical poems, are much more interesting, would you like some more?

I read the Bible.
I searched for the evidence.
I couldn't find it.

They said, "Just have faith".
That didn't make any sense.
I couldn't believe.

Thursday, March 23, 2017

Why don't you pray to Thor for rain?

When you look out at the natural world, what do you see? Whatever you see, and however you interpret it, I think it's very human to seek an explanation for it. People have been coming up with explanations for the natural world for thousands of years, at least since the invention of writing, and probably much earlier than that. If you look at the explanations offered over time you will notice some patterns emerging. Our explanations for things changed over time, just as we humans have changed. I doubt you would find the oldest explanations compelling. Is Thor responsible for storms? We still celebrate Thor's day (Thursday) every week. Should we offer sacrifices to a fertility goddess? Are there any ancient superstitious rituals that are still practised today?

Monday, March 13, 2017

There once was a book called the Bible

It was Adam and Eve in the garden
And God said, "I do beg your pardon.
New rule, this just in,
Eating fruit’s now a sin,
And for goodness sake please put some garb on!"

Sunday, March 12, 2017

Viruses and floods require an Intelligent Designer

One of the most common arguments used by believers for the existence of God is the "argument from design". Perhaps you've heard it as "Just look at the trees", or "How could all of this just happen by chance?". These are essentially just ways of saying that because nature is complex, therefore it must have been designed by some intelligent being.

The core assertion is that "complexity necessarily implies design, and design requires an intelligent designer", or simply just "complexity requires an intelligent designer". Lately I've noticed that another assertion has been added to the mix, namely "information requires an intelligent designer". This is very similar to the argument from complexity, and on closer inspection it seems that the logic underlying it is indeed the same, and therefore so are its flaws.