Anyhow, I was over at the almighty El Sid's blog You Are Not Special yesterday when I stumbled upon this rather nifty little questionnaire.
Ten Questions Every Intelligent Atheist Must Answer
Now, while I consider myself to be agnostic (sorta, tis a long story), I suppose the term "atheist" is used as a sweeping generalisation for anyone who doesn't:
1. Are you a moral relativist, or do you believe in absolute morality? In other words, do you believe that cultures, or even individuals, can define their own rules on what is moral and what is not, or do you believe that every action has one unique, absolute, and true moral assessment?
Morality is subjective to each individual. In other words, everybody has a different set of morals and ethics that they live by. Nevertheless, there are a few basic morals that most people have in common such as 'killing is wrong' and 'frequenting post-op tranny hookers may land you in hot soup' (boy did I learn that the hard way) so these morals must have come from a common source. Since we don't believe in the existence of a God, let's go with a scientific theory borrowed from Darwin: maybe most of us feel killing is wrong because we're purposefully taking out a member of our own species, therefore slowly contributing to the extinction of our race? You see? My knowledge on the Origin of Species is major pimping. I'll save the chapter on pigeons for another time though.
Then again, Dostoyevsky and Nietschze gave an interesting little twist on morality, where they claimed that some people are morally superior to others (see Crime and Punishment or any of Nietzsche's philosophical works) meaning they don't feel guilty about say, killing people.
But no, there's no absolute morality. It's all subjective.
2. Is your trust in science based on faith or based on science?
It's based mostly on faith in science. I find their explanations much more plausible than most theist theories out there. Plus, scientists usually admit when they're wrong. Except for Dawkins.
Besides, Science has Stephen fuckin' Hawking. That's enough to convince me.
3. Where does language, art, music, and religion come from?
I think it just comes from pure luck. Maybe those cave paintings just came from a couple of throwbacks throwing their own shit on a cave wall then thinking 'holy fuck, that looks like an ox! Groovy!'
Same applies to music. Except for the poo flinging. As for religion, I believe it comes out of the insecurity we all feel about handling death and what happens when we snuff it.
4. Suppose, hypothetically, that you met with someone who knew nothing about you except your first name. And this person was able to accurately name deceased family members, discuss in detail how they died, and describe intimate personal details about your relationship with these people (including people you aren’t consciously thinking about). How would you explain this?
Let's ask John Edwards, shall we?
"Kenny! Channel Kenny!"
"Sorry, kids, it doesn't work that way."
5. Is absence of proof the proof of absence?
Yar, you'd have a hard time proving otherwise. Just ask the christians.
6. What does the atheist position offer people? How has it improved your life? Why will it improve others’ lives?
This question stumped Richard Dawkins, so maybe you have a better answer.
It hasn't really improved my life. Not as much as NEW CILLIT BANG GRIME AND.... Oh, sorry.
But I dunno, I feel better off believing that there's nothing at all up there and being pleasantly surprised rather than believing there IS a god and being horribly disappointed.
7. When you attempt to use logic to conclude facts about religion, are you starting at the conclusion (God is not real), or are you starting at true premises? Be honest. If you are starting at true premises, then what are they? And how are they true? Think about #5 when you answer.
It's more that I'm trying to disprove the existence of God. Instead of trying to prove he's not real, you start off assuming God is real, then working with proof and indications that lead you to said conclusion. Keep yer options open, then people can't accuse you of having a closed mind and soiled underwear.
For instance if I was to disprove Noah's Ark, I would start off by trying to find genuine proof in the Bible or elsewhere that Noah was a real person, that he had spoken to God, etcetera. Then go about studying the logistics of everything; how could he make such a fuck-off big boat, then capture two of every animal without the aid of his Super Best Friend Steve Irwin. Then ask, why two? What if the animals were homosexual? and so on and so forth.
Heh, and they say I trivialize things.
8. If all Christians believed that the Bible was entirely allegorical, what would you argue in support of your position?
I think I'll use El Sid's answer for this one:
9. Why is it important to you that everyone is an atheist?
Erm... It isn't. As long as they don't try to ram their beliefs down my throat, it's all good.
10. Do you believe in extra-terrestrials?
I sure do. Maybe not as much as Dan Akroyd, but I think it's a possibility.
Yeah, so there you have it. I think I might tag a few people with this one.
They're some kickass blogs. You should check em out.
Peace,
James
- Bomb abortion clinics in the name of Jesus
- Bomb Americans in the name of Allah
- Circumcise their kids in the name of Jehova
- Not believe in anything because they're Buddhist and better than that
1. Are you a moral relativist, or do you believe in absolute morality? In other words, do you believe that cultures, or even individuals, can define their own rules on what is moral and what is not, or do you believe that every action has one unique, absolute, and true moral assessment?
Morality is subjective to each individual. In other words, everybody has a different set of morals and ethics that they live by. Nevertheless, there are a few basic morals that most people have in common such as 'killing is wrong' and 'frequenting post-op tranny hookers may land you in hot soup' (boy did I learn that the hard way) so these morals must have come from a common source. Since we don't believe in the existence of a God, let's go with a scientific theory borrowed from Darwin: maybe most of us feel killing is wrong because we're purposefully taking out a member of our own species, therefore slowly contributing to the extinction of our race? You see? My knowledge on the Origin of Species is major pimping. I'll save the chapter on pigeons for another time though.
Then again, Dostoyevsky and Nietschze gave an interesting little twist on morality, where they claimed that some people are morally superior to others (see Crime and Punishment or any of Nietzsche's philosophical works) meaning they don't feel guilty about say, killing people.
But no, there's no absolute morality. It's all subjective.
2. Is your trust in science based on faith or based on science?
It's based mostly on faith in science. I find their explanations much more plausible than most theist theories out there. Plus, scientists usually admit when they're wrong. Except for Dawkins.
Besides, Science has Stephen fuckin' Hawking. That's enough to convince me.
3. Where does language, art, music, and religion come from?
I think it just comes from pure luck. Maybe those cave paintings just came from a couple of throwbacks throwing their own shit on a cave wall then thinking 'holy fuck, that looks like an ox! Groovy!'
Same applies to music. Except for the poo flinging. As for religion, I believe it comes out of the insecurity we all feel about handling death and what happens when we snuff it.
4. Suppose, hypothetically, that you met with someone who knew nothing about you except your first name. And this person was able to accurately name deceased family members, discuss in detail how they died, and describe intimate personal details about your relationship with these people (including people you aren’t consciously thinking about). How would you explain this?
Let's ask John Edwards, shall we?
"Kenny! Channel Kenny!"
"Sorry, kids, it doesn't work that way."
5. Is absence of proof the proof of absence?
Yar, you'd have a hard time proving otherwise. Just ask the christians.
6. What does the atheist position offer people? How has it improved your life? Why will it improve others’ lives?
This question stumped Richard Dawkins, so maybe you have a better answer.
It hasn't really improved my life. Not as much as NEW CILLIT BANG GRIME AND.... Oh, sorry.
But I dunno, I feel better off believing that there's nothing at all up there and being pleasantly surprised rather than believing there IS a god and being horribly disappointed.
7. When you attempt to use logic to conclude facts about religion, are you starting at the conclusion (God is not real), or are you starting at true premises? Be honest. If you are starting at true premises, then what are they? And how are they true? Think about #5 when you answer.
It's more that I'm trying to disprove the existence of God. Instead of trying to prove he's not real, you start off assuming God is real, then working with proof and indications that lead you to said conclusion. Keep yer options open, then people can't accuse you of having a closed mind and soiled underwear.
For instance if I was to disprove Noah's Ark, I would start off by trying to find genuine proof in the Bible or elsewhere that Noah was a real person, that he had spoken to God, etcetera. Then go about studying the logistics of everything; how could he make such a fuck-off big boat, then capture two of every animal without the aid of his Super Best Friend Steve Irwin. Then ask, why two? What if the animals were homosexual? and so on and so forth.
Heh, and they say I trivialize things.
8. If all Christians believed that the Bible was entirely allegorical, what would you argue in support of your position?
I think I'll use El Sid's answer for this one:
If all Christians believe the Bible was allegorical, that Jesus wasn't real, that none of these things really happened... well, then the Bible would be proved to be what atheists have been calling it all along... a work of fiction. It imparts moral lessons, sure, but so do a lot of fictional works. And Christianity still wouldn't make sense, because now not only have they named themselves after a fictional character, but they're worshiping and praying to the author of a book. You don't see me setting up an entire religion around The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, though I could if I wanted to, easily.Yeah, it worked for L.Ron Hubbard.
9. Why is it important to you that everyone is an atheist?
Erm... It isn't. As long as they don't try to ram their beliefs down my throat, it's all good.
10. Do you believe in extra-terrestrials?
I sure do. Maybe not as much as Dan Akroyd, but I think it's a possibility.
Yeah, so there you have it. I think I might tag a few people with this one.
They're some kickass blogs. You should check em out.
Peace,
James
4 comments:
Excellent meme here, thanks for tagging me! I'll think of my answers while camping but probably wont get to post them till i'm back.
But...what do you have against Buddhists? True buddhism does not revere a deity but that does not mean that it is without belief or spirituality!
I'll comment more on your answers when I'm back too :)
~Shiv
Seriously interesting stuff. I may save it for a day I'm feeling more like being fed to the lions though ;) I can see this one getting some fires started but that's all to the good. Definitely one to make me think, so cheers! I think it'll be me sitting down with a nice beer to answer these.
It's funny, really, the more I read over those questions, the more I realize that the person who wrote them is pretty much an idiot.
"Do you believe in extraterrestrials"... like that has anything to do with Jeebus.
OH, and I nearly forgot. The person who wrote those questions is in one of my myspace groups. When I said I would respond to the questions in a blog, she was all "oh, thank you for noticing me!" But since I posted a link to my blog, she hasn't responded to me, on that group or by message or by posting a comment.
I thought she wanted a debate, but I guess not?
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