To learn, to challenge or for personal matters, it's all good.
Question from Anon: Hi, I’m engaged in a discussion with a Christian friend of mine who has presented this syllogism to me: “1. Simply put, if there is no external cause of the universe, then the universe is either eternal or self-created. 2. But, it is cosmologically ridiculous and anti-scientific (i.e. against laws of thermodynamics) … Continue reading “Thermodynamics (it’s not what you think)”
Question from Jethin: Space, Time and matter expanding from a tiny spot as formulated in the big bang theory still looks to be confined especially to the question of where and how all the stuff came for the bang. What if the universe that we see is a part of a recycler that create a … Continue reading “The Big Spill?”
Question from Anonymous: To whoever receives this message, I was raised from birth as a Muslim, but as I began to study science, the stories that are told- such as Noah’s ark, Jesus, Moses etc.- seemed, well, improbable. I’m on the verge of becoming an atheist but there’s a couple of questions which I can’t … Continue reading “Cloudy With A 15% Chance of God”
Question: Do atheists want religious education to be removed from schools, especially public and other secular schools? Answer by SmartLX: Generally not, though it depends on the type of religious education. Like it or not, participate in it or not, religion is a huge part of modern life. Kids need to learn about it so … Continue reading “Religious Education”
Question from Zach: Hi all. I’ve recently come out about my atheism to my Catholic ( and extremely intolerant) family. Their biggest “proof” of god is the argument from contingency. Now I’ve read up on the atheist refutation of this argument but I found it extremely confusing, thus I cannot explain it to my parents. … Continue reading “The Great Big Arguments #8: Contingency”
Question from Tim: i suppose all you sinful atheists believe we’re just simulations as well like the matrix or something Answer by SmartLX: It’s a possibility, sure. In fact, have you considered the possibility that “God” has such power in this universe simply because He’s the computer geek in charge of the simulation? Could you … Continue reading “> Repent, the Matrix has you…_”
Question from Meg:…well, see title. That was the whole question. Answer by SmartLX: In much the same way as you do from day to day, Meg. I have various ways of identifying events or actions which match my broad, generally unspoken definitions of “right” and “wrong”. I can use different objective criteria to analyse them … Continue reading “So how do you differentiate between right and wrong?”
Question from Matthew: Hi there! In the “About” section of this site, one of the first things that’s mentioned is morality (and, later: “right from wrong”). Clearly, an atheist wouldn’t believe that morality is granted to us from on high. But, on the other hand, I think it’s safe to say that moral traditions as … Continue reading “The Foundations of Morality”
Question from Cedric: Victor Stenger says supporters of the Fine Tuning argument make the mistake of holding all the parameters constant and varying just one. He says “changes to one parameter can be easily compensated for by changes to another, leaving the ingredients for life in place.” “The ingredients for life” is a more complex … Continue reading “Fine-Tuned Gravity: Don’t Touch That Dial”
Question from Kristen: What is Atheism? Answer by SmartLX: Years ago, site founder Jake did a great job answering the question, “What is an atheist?” He defined the word very simply, and dispelled some myths about atheism which even now are depressingly prevalent. In an effort to be complementary instead of redundant, I will instead … Continue reading “Atheism is a…what?”