Free Republic

Atheism’s Burden of Proof Problem By Philip Cottraux An effort to redefine what “atheism” actually means started a few decades ago but is popping up everywhere in the online community. I’ve seen plenty of debates never get anywhere because people get sucked into a vortex of trying to establish what an atheist actually is. While the traditional definition of atheism is the belief that God doesn’t exist, the new subversion is that it’s a “lack of belief” in God. The amount of energy devoted to this controversy is both fascinating and instructive. The first time I encountered the vehement denial...

This is a listing of the various types, and sub-classifications of American conservatism today. As one delves deeper, one can clearly see that modern American conservatism comes in many types, shapes and flavors. There is no “one size fits all” American conservative. Here we discuss 29 different types of American conservative. The key to the success of any Presidential Conservative candidate or President is to be able to unite all these disparate groups under one singular banner. Is it even possible? [1] The members of the “conservative movement.” We start right off, addressing one of the most common themes used...

Atheism is cool. At least, that's the popular perception of a worldview that's enjoyed a rebrand and a renaissance in the last couple of decades. Authors like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens have issued forceful public challenges to the claims of the major faiths and the rights they've traditionally been granted, while well-respected and high-profile public figures have lent vocal support to their ideas. When Stephen Fry outlined an atheist (or even anti-theist) position on an Irish talk show, the interview went viral in hours, while comedian Ricky Gervais frequently uses his substantial platform to attack and undermine religion in...

At the end of a long day when I was abnormally busy, and cutting back on my coffee intake, I did a 2 hour debate review video. Haha. I may be a bit tired but I think the content here is valuable and I'm looking forward to getting some feedback on it.

For the first time in history, atheists constitute the largest religious group in America. According to the General Social Survey, the number of Americans who have no religion has increased 266% over the past three decades and now account for 23.1% of the population, just barely edging out Catholics and Evangelicals as the nation’s dominant faith. Mainline Protestant churches have suffered the greatest collapse, declining 62.5% since 1982 and now comprising just 10.8% of the U.S. population. As religiosity has declined, social ills have abounded. Nearly one in five American adults suffers from anxiety disorders, which now constitute the most...

The observable universe contains more than 100 billion galaxies. Our galaxy alone, popularly known as the Milky Way, has more than 100 billion stars. Does that make you yearn for those days of yesteryear when many followed the thought of Aristotle and Ptolemy: Five planets plus the sun and the moon circling Earth? Was it easier to evangelize before people thought of Earth as a little sphere circling a fifth-rate star on a minor galaxy’s periphery -- so why should God care about us? A century ago scientists of course knew the Earth moved, but many still thought we were...

An award-winning scientist recently told the world that science and religion are not incompatible. The Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports (3/19/19), “The annual Templeton Prize, which recognizes outstanding contributions to ‘affirming life's spiritual dimension,’ was awarded Tuesday to Brazilian Marcelo Gleiser---a theoretical physicist dedicated to demonstrating science and religion are not enemies.” Gleiser, a professor at Dartmouth College since 1991, said, “Science does not kill God.” Although he is described as an agnostic, the AFP reports that Gleiser “refuses to write off the possibility of God's existence completely.” He said, "Atheism is inconsistent with the scientific method…Atheism is a belief in...

Atheism Is Inconsistent with the Scientific Method, Prizewinning Physicist Says In conversation, the 2019 Templeton Prize winner does not pull punches on the limits of science, the value of humility and the irrationality of nonbeliefLee Billings Marcelo Gleiser, a 60-year-old Brazil-born theoretical physicist at Dartmouth College and prolific science popularizer, has won this year’s Templeton Prize. Valued at just under $1.5 million, the award from the John Templeton Foundation annually recognizes an individual “who has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life’s spiritual dimension.” Its past recipients include scientific luminaries such as Sir Martin Rees and Freeman Dyson, as well...

I lived in the Bible Belt when I was an atheist. Was I discriminated against? I don't know. Maybe. I do know that the service industry jobs I applied for were always happy that I was willing to work on Sundays. Discrimination was a term I never thought about in regards to myself. I guess I was more self-sufficient and confident than today's atheists. Definitely more so than those who live in Portland, Oregon. Apparently, the 42 percent of Portland residents who identify as atheist, agnostic, or a religious "none" have been suffering under a great wave of persecution in their...

For the college-educated elite, work has morphed into a religious identity—promising identity, transcendence, and community, but failing to deliver... In his 1930 essay “Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren,” the economist John Maynard Keynes predicted a 15-hour workweek in the 21st century, creating the equivalent of a five-day weekend... In a 1957 article in The New York Times, the writer Erik Barnouw predicted that, as work became easier, our identity would be defined by our hobbies, or our family life... These post-work predictions weren’t entirely wrong. By some counts, Americans work much less than they used to. The average work year...

I was never falling-down drunk. I was never belligerent. I always got my work done. I was never unkempt. I was always clean, I was always shaved, I always performed at work. I was always kind and gracious in the dining room. But I lived in hell. When we opened Joe Beef in 2005, we were inspired by Martin Picard at Au Pied de Cochon, by these grandiose bistros of Paris, by seafood towers, by excess. We were two portly men who ate and drank well. I was and still am very insecure about anybody coming to the restaurant and...

Atheism is a natural and inseparable part of Marxism, of the theory and practice of scientific socialism. – Vladimir Lenin Religious, as indeed any other, ideas being born out of the soil of the material conditions of life and above all the soil of class contradictions, only gradually clear themselves away and then live on by the force of conservatism longer than the needs that gave birth to them and disappear completely only after the effects of serious social shocks and crises. – Leon Trotsky If I were asked today to formulate as concisely as possible the main cause of...

Anthony Hopkins is one of the most well-known actors of our time. For years, he was a well-known atheist, too. But all of that changed when a woman at an AA meeting challenged his disbelief with one, simple question. That was the beginning of the inspiring Anthony Hopkins testimony! No matter how successful someone may seem from the outside, we all have our own internal struggles. During the earlier years of Anthony Hopkins’ career, he found himself in his own battle with alcoholism. Anthony’s addiction started “innocently.” He adopted a worldly mindset and drank because “that's what you do...

Government officials are going after primary and secondary school students to fill their minds with atheist ideology.“I will adhere to the correct political direction, advocate science, promote atheism, and oppose theism.” Those are the words the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is now requiring students to sign on to in its quest to indoctrinate every Chinese person with a hatred for religion so that it can stamp out all traces of it in China. Last August, the Education Bureau of Lishan district in Anshan city, in China’s northeastern province of Liaoning, issued a plan for the campaign to resist religious beliefs...

The Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky bathed in sunset colors. | ANSWERS IN GENESISOne of the nation’s leading atheist legal groups has sent a warning to over 1,000 public school districts telling them not to take field trips to Answers in Genesis' creationist attractions in Kentucky.The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, which claims 31,000 members across the U.S., announced Tuesday that it contacted school districts in five states warning them that field trips to the Ark Encounter or the Creation Museum would be a violation of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.“Public schools and public school staff may not constitutionally organize...

They can sense it. They can feel it. Something is seriously wrong in our civilization, and many people know it. This is why despite the relatively good economic times, most Americans polled say our country is on the “wrong track.” Yet many are like a gravely ill man who knows he’s not well but can’t precisely identify his ailment. Most often, Americans have only a vague sense of cultural malaise, or they “self-diagnose” wrongly. Years ago I had a brief “state of the nation” discussion with a very fine, older country gentleman. While no philosopher, he did offer the following...

God’s Name Will Not be Mentioned By Philip Cottraux I personally think there’s no such thing as an atheist. Deep down inside, everyone knows there’s a God. Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness (Romans 2:15). The reality is they don’t believe He doesn’t exist; they hate Him. The war against everything related to God, the intense hatred of all religion, and the burning desire to scrub any mention of His name from society betrays their true feelings. The murky reference to “separation of church and state” is a thinly-veiled false...

Atheists are fighting the war FOR Christmas? Solstice, Yule, Saturnalia, Hanukkah, and other traditions were blended centuries ago to form Christmas, and embellished with fairy tales and fables into the rich secular modern celebration we have today.See for yourself at http://atheistchristmas.org/ Values like joy, peace, sharing, and celebration are not limited to one faith or culture in December. The foundations of Christmas may be mythological, but the Spirit of Christmas is universal. Keep the Merry, without the Myths!

Commenting on the cable news network CNN, Bishop E.W. Jackson said that it was founded by the notorious atheist Ted Turner and his mindset, which is "anti-God and anti-Christian," permeates the entire news outlet. This anti-Christian spirit is apparent in CNN's lead anchor, added Bishop Jackson. "CNN was founded by a renowned, convinced, convicted atheist," said Bishop Jackson on his Nov. 15 radio program, The Awakening. "Ted Turner, as far as I know, has not changed his mind." "Ted Turner said that Christianity was ridiculous," remarked the bishop. "The idea of somebody dying on the Cross, he ridiculed. He thought...

Progressive pundit Cenk Uygur argued recently the Bible is pro-abortion. The founder of The Young Turks — a far-left outlet — employed a passage from the Old Testament to make his case. Uygur, taking Numbers 5 out of context, claimed it’s “a fact” Scripture endorses abortion. “You’re wrong about your Bible,” he said, speaking to Christians. “You’ve been misled; you’ve been lied to. Your religious and political leaders have kept you in ignorance. The Bible is actually pro-abortion — that’s a fact.” Uygur went on to suggest abortion has never been a religious issue. “It was never about the Bible,”...