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Greta Christina has decided to start posting her Atheist Memes in her blog once a week instead of daily, although she will continue to post them daily on her Facebook page (since I don't have a Facebook, I get them from her blog).
So here are this week's Atheist Memes:
Disagreeing With Religion Is Not The Same As Opposing Religions Freedom
Our choices for dealing with different religious beliefs aren't limited to uncritical ecumenalism or fundamentalist theocracy. We can question and criticize religious beliefs we disagree with, while passionately supporting religious freedom and people's right to believe whatever they like. That's where most atheist activists are coming from. Pass it on: if we say it enough times to enough people, it may get across.
Religious Beliefs Affect People's Decisions And That's Why We Care
The reason many atheists care what other people believe is that beliefs affect decisions. Including political decisions. Political decisions should be made based on evidence about what works in this world, not on what an invisible being whose opinions we have no way of evaluating supposedly wants in an otherworldly realm nobody can agree about. Pass it on: if we say it enough times to enough people, it may get across. (Posted the day after same-sex marriage lost in Maine.)
Pascal's Wager Is A Bad Reason For Religious Belief
"Believing is a safer bet than not believing" is a terrible reason to believe in God. Which God should we bet on? If we're believing in God just to hedge our bets in the afterlife, which of the thousands of contradictory religions should we follow? And how would that be sincere belief? Pass it on: if we say it enough times to enough people, it may get across.
Unfalsifiable Claims Are Not Useful
If there's no possible way to show that a hypothesis is wrong -- if any possible event can be interpreted to confirm a hypothesis -- then that hypothesis isn't useful. And that applies to religion. If anything that happens, bad or good, can be seen as a sign of God's existence, then God's existence is indistinguishable from God's non-existence. Pass it on: if we say it enough times to enough people, it may get across.
Atheists Are Happy Too
Atheism doesn't mean cynicism, nihilism, or despair. Atheists can and do have happy lives, full of meaning and joy, and with comfort and solace in difficult times. Pass it on: if we say it enough times to enough people, it may get across.
Where Did God Come From?
"Something had to have made the universe, things don't just make themselves" is not a good argument for God. If things can't just exist forever or pop into being out of nothing... where did God come from? And if God can have existed forever or come into being out of nothing... why can't that be true for the universe? Pass it on: if we say it enough times to enough people, it may get across.
Religion Is A Hypothesis
Religion is not just a matter of personal opinion or different perspectives. It's a hypothesis about how the world works and why it is the way it is. And it's not unreasonable or intolerant for atheists to treat it as a hypothesis, and to point out when that hypothesis is inconsistent with the evidence. Pass it on: if we say it enough times to enough people, it may get across.
So here are this week's Atheist Memes:
Disagreeing With Religion Is Not The Same As Opposing Religions Freedom
Our choices for dealing with different religious beliefs aren't limited to uncritical ecumenalism or fundamentalist theocracy. We can question and criticize religious beliefs we disagree with, while passionately supporting religious freedom and people's right to believe whatever they like. That's where most atheist activists are coming from. Pass it on: if we say it enough times to enough people, it may get across.
Religious Beliefs Affect People's Decisions And That's Why We Care
The reason many atheists care what other people believe is that beliefs affect decisions. Including political decisions. Political decisions should be made based on evidence about what works in this world, not on what an invisible being whose opinions we have no way of evaluating supposedly wants in an otherworldly realm nobody can agree about. Pass it on: if we say it enough times to enough people, it may get across. (Posted the day after same-sex marriage lost in Maine.)
Pascal's Wager Is A Bad Reason For Religious Belief
"Believing is a safer bet than not believing" is a terrible reason to believe in God. Which God should we bet on? If we're believing in God just to hedge our bets in the afterlife, which of the thousands of contradictory religions should we follow? And how would that be sincere belief? Pass it on: if we say it enough times to enough people, it may get across.
Unfalsifiable Claims Are Not Useful
If there's no possible way to show that a hypothesis is wrong -- if any possible event can be interpreted to confirm a hypothesis -- then that hypothesis isn't useful. And that applies to religion. If anything that happens, bad or good, can be seen as a sign of God's existence, then God's existence is indistinguishable from God's non-existence. Pass it on: if we say it enough times to enough people, it may get across.
Atheists Are Happy Too
Atheism doesn't mean cynicism, nihilism, or despair. Atheists can and do have happy lives, full of meaning and joy, and with comfort and solace in difficult times. Pass it on: if we say it enough times to enough people, it may get across.
Where Did God Come From?
"Something had to have made the universe, things don't just make themselves" is not a good argument for God. If things can't just exist forever or pop into being out of nothing... where did God come from? And if God can have existed forever or come into being out of nothing... why can't that be true for the universe? Pass it on: if we say it enough times to enough people, it may get across.
Religion Is A Hypothesis
Religion is not just a matter of personal opinion or different perspectives. It's a hypothesis about how the world works and why it is the way it is. And it's not unreasonable or intolerant for atheists to treat it as a hypothesis, and to point out when that hypothesis is inconsistent with the evidence. Pass it on: if we say it enough times to enough people, it may get across.
