“ A really clever trick – and I'm not sure how the great religions have managed to pull this one off - is to make the rest of us feel that we ought to respect people for believing impossible things on faith, and that we should not laugh at them for fear of offending them. In a society that strives for honesty and openness, that values scientific and historical truth, and that encourages the search for knowledge, this is outrageous - and it's scary that we still fall for it. ”
(Susan Blackmore)
- “ How many Muslims does it take to change a lightbulb? None. Islam doesn't allow change. ”
- “ Prayer: How to do nothing and still think you are helping. ”
- “ It always mystifies me that people who claim that God works in mysterious ways are nevertheless so certain about his motives. ”
(Jerry Coyne)
I have long been an atheist. I support Richard Dawkins's view that atheists should be encouraged to "stand up and be counted" so that our numbers can fairly influence government and the media. Atheism is mainstream but even many atheists don't realise this. This set of pages is my contribution.
Consciousness-raiser: "Atheists should be proud, not apologetic, because atheism is evidence of a healthy, independent mind."
- Articles on this web site
- Religions and gods?
- Atheism and separate topics
- The UK's laws constraining free speech about religion
Articles on this web site
Simple topics
- My voice of disbelief (From religious study, then from science)
- Religions are hobbies (A model for peaceful coexistence)
- Ethics and moralities (Where do we get moralities from?)
- Science versus religion (Topics of conflict)
- Religions in future (What will happen in a more open world?)
- Dimensions of enlightenment (How should we evaluate people and organisations?)
- Religious humour (YouTube; what car did Jesus drive; etc)
How to convert an atheist
- How to convert an atheist 6-page framework, including:
Islam
- Islam - summary and index (The background to the problems it causes)
- Spurious Islamic claims of Human Rights:
- Islamisation in the UK:
- Organised Islamic excuses and denial in the UK:
- Commentary on "Islam-is-Peace" (Campaign & web site)
- Comments on "Inspired by Muhammad" (web site)
- Islamophobia and infidelophobia (Including Muslim views of non-Muslims)
- Islamic humour and cartoons
- Child maintenance in some Muslim cultures
- Paternity testing and Islam
Christianity
- Christianity - summary and index
- Objectionable Christian behaviour in the UK
- The Roman Catholic Church
- Blogs about the Roman Catholic Church from "Child Support Analysis"
Correspondence
- A letter to MPs (Requesting a more secular UK)
- Replies to my "Letter to MPs"
Religions and gods?
In many debates about atheism, religious people argue from the naive (and probably unconscious) stance that their religion is the only one worth discussing, and their god is what an atheist denies. Here are links to articles elsewhere that illustrate the wider scope of religions and gods, (and hence of atheism). All religions are minority religions. Whatever a person's religion, most religious people in the world deny that person's fundamental beliefs!
World Christian Database:
"... every day some two or three new religions are formed, and ... in the contemporary world some ten thousand religions are currently practiced".
- Wikipedia: Major religious groups | List of religions and spiritual traditions | List of groups referred to as cults | List of new religious movements | List of Christian denominations
- Wikipedia: List of deities | Names of God | People who have been considered deities
- Wikipedia: Religious text | List of founders of religious traditions
- Wikipedia: World Christian Encyclopedia | Online-version: World Christian Database
- Wikipedia: Comparative religion | Religious pluralism | Irreligion by country
- Guides: Godchecker.com: Your Guide To The Gods | Encyclopedia Mythica: Searchable encyclopedia of mythology, folklore, and religion | The Internet Sacred Text Archive
- Statistics: Major Religions of the World - Ranked by Number of Adherents | Adherents.com | Religions of Today's World
- Articles: The New Religions of the Millennium | Supernatural Selection | Oh, Gods! | Memorial Service
A few gods: Athena, Aphrodite, Hermes, Nike, Hades, Cronus, Rhea, Ascelpius, Psyche, Hera, Poseidon, Zeus, Hestia, Apollo, Hephestaus, Eros, Prisoners of Tartarus, Demeter, Dionsyus, Oranos, Gaea, Apollo, Bacchus, Dionysus, Ceres, Demeter, Cupid, Eros, Diana, Artemis, Fortuna, Janus, Juno, Hera, Jupiter, Zeus, Maia, Mars, Ares, Mercury, Hermes, Minerva, Athena, Neptune, Poseidon, Pluto, Hades, Proserpina, Persephone, Saturn, Cronus, Uranus, Ouranos, Venus, Aphrodite, Vesta, Hestia, Vulcan, Baldr, Borr Bragi, Iðunn, Búri, Dagr, Delling, Eir, Forseti, Freyja, Frey, Frigg, Fulla, Gefjun, Hel, Heimdall, Hermóðr, Hlín, Höðr, Hœnir, Iðunn, Jörð, Kvasir, Lofn, Loki, Máni, Mímir, Nanna, Nerþus, Njörðr, Norns, Skuld, Verdandi, Nótt, Óðinn, Sága, Sif, Sjöfn, Skaði, Skirnir, Sól, Thor, Týr, Ullr, Urd, Váli, Vár, Vé, Verdandi, Víðarr, Vili and Vör.
Atheism and separate topics
- Wikipedia: Ethics | Morality | Ten Commandments | Antireligion | Antitheism | Evolution | Civic virtue | Scientific literacy | Human nature | Nature versus nurture | Universe | Yahweh
- Wiktionary: antitheism | ethics | morality | universe | truth | human nature
Typical discussions often conflate some of these separate (but related) topics:
- Gods or not?
(This is about the nature of the universe, and is often about theism/atheism). - Is religion good or bad?
(This about antireligion, or antitheism, and not about whether gods exist). - Is science telling us the truth?
(This is nearly always about "evolution by natural selection", but it shouldn't be!) - What about morals / ethics?
(Is religion the best way to achieve the good life, civic virtues and social harmony?)
Although these are obviously related, the relationships are not obvious nor consistent. For example:
- Some atheists are not antireligious. Some antireligious people are not atheists.
- Some atheists have little scientific literacy. Some religious people have scientific literacy.
- Some religious people are good, and some are bad. Some atheists are good, and some are bad.
- Some people claim that science has nothing useful to say about morals and ethics. Some people point out that scientifically illuminating human nature will reveal the limits of robust systems of morals and ethics, and help identify the most effective moral and ethical systems. They also point out that science can explain altruism.
It is useful for people to appreciate that these topics are separate. For example:
- Any harm done by religion doesn't prove that gods don't exist. After all, Yahweh (God of the Old Testament) appears to be the most evil character in the whole of human literature, so the existence of harmful religions may well be consistent with the existence of Yahweh!
- There is no evidence that people killed one-another in greater quantities before Moses (supposedly) revealed the "Do not kill" commandment than afterwards. And the Biblical commandments don't include "Do not rape", "Do not own slaves", "Do not discriminate on grounds of ...", or "Do not abuse children". (How could they, when the Old Testament encouraged all those?) What does this say about Yahweh versus modern moral and ethical codes?
The UK's laws constraining free speech about religion
The United Nations, led by Islamic countries, wants all countries to pass laws to make "defamation of religions" illegal.
The UN has already issued a non-binding declaration: PDF version of declaration. Now it wants this to become a binding declaration!
This may be expanded. In the meantime, here is a key section of the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006. This section came into force in October 2007.
(This section was opposed by Blair's government, who were trying to secure the Muslim vote. Blair was advised that, because of opposition, the government were inevitably going to lose, so Blair didn't bother to vote. The government lost by 1 vote! Had Blair bothered to vote, he would have defeated this section).
29J - Protection of freedom of expression:
"Nothing in this Part shall be read or given effect in a way which prohibits or restricts discussion, criticism or expressions of antipathy, dislike, ridicule, insult or abuse of particular religions or the beliefs or practices of their adherents, or of any other belief system or the beliefs or practices of its adherents, or proselytising or urging adherents of a different religion or belief system to cease practising their religion or belief system".
In other words, I can't be prosecuted for what I say here. I don't incite religious hatred or violence, I just criticise and ridicule religion as I see fit. (If people don't want their beliefs to be ridiculed, they shouldn't have such inherently ridiculous beliefs!)
I have contempt for racism and racial prejudice, but religion is a totally different topic. I also have contempt for those who try to conflate race and religion in order to censor criticism of (any) religion.
Abolition of common law offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel
The blasphemy laws of England and Wales are dead!
- Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008
- Section 79: Abolition of common law offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel
- Section 153: Commencement (The following provisions of this Act come into force at the end of the period of 2 months beginning with the day on which it is passed - section 79 and the related repeals in Part 5 of Schedule 28)