Posts

Showing posts from 2011

Send an Atheist to Seminary

I am often told that the only reason that I am an Atheist is because I shield myself from the religious side and follow science with blind faith. Obviously, these claims are baseless as none of these people (to my knowledge) have installed cameras or computer logging software to track my actions, but it occurred to me recently that this might actually be a testable claim (a rare event indeed amongst the religious crowd). Therefore, I have created this 'Send an Atheist to Seminary' campaign in order to carry this claim through a real-world test: I am ready and willing to attend a full Seminary 'education' in order to expose myself to 'the other side'. If I come out of it a Christian, then I will preach the Word of God until my dying day. I will renounce Atheism and anti-theism and will publicly debate any Atheist who is willing to do so. There is a bit of a catch, however - I have a family, so not only do I need the funds to attend the Seminary (and all of

Upcoming Project: "Evidence That Demands A Verdict" review

As a result of an online debate with a wonderful fellow (whom I happen to have once had as a pastor, in fact), I will be reading Josh McDowell's best-selling book "Evidence That Demands a Verdict, Volume 1: Historical Evidences for the Christian Faith".  I will be taking liberal notes, and upon completion I will create and upload a YouTube video review of the book.  Also, just in case anyone cares, I will be purchasing this book rather than borrowing it from one of my many Christian family members (who very likely would be more than happy to provide one), mainly because I'm probably going to take notes in the sidebar.  To maintain my own personal philosophy, I will be purchasing the book at a 'Half-Price Books' or other used book store to ensure little or no royalties will go toward encouraging this sort of behavior (heh). For his part, my counterpart will be reading "The Demon-Haunted World" by Carl Sagan, and making a similar review afterward (wh

Podcast Shout-Out!

So I know we're behind on Podcast #3, but we're going to try to have to recorded in the next week or so. In other news, I wanted to give some shout-outs to some podcasts that I have subscribed to and that I think are awesome - you should too. The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast - http://hppodcraft.com/ Each episode, these guys go over one of Lovecraft's stories with selections being read by professional actors.  The podcast is very well-made, the audio quality is superb, and the content is really entertaining.  I was only vaguely familiar with Lovecraft's work before finding this podcast, and I find that it actually appeals to me greatly.  Also, the music and sound effects that they use really add to the ambiance of the story.  Check out their podcast! Living After Faith - http://livingafterfaith.blogspot.com/ Rich Lyons is a former Pentacostal preacher who discusses his experiences in leaving religion and his life now as an out Atheist.  He also appears on Ask

Mysterious Mysteries: Belief in the Unknown

"You can't solve a mystery with another mystery." - Matt Dillahunty, The Atheist Experience I see it time and time again, when theists get backed into a corner, they often resort to a 'Mysterious Ways' argument, or they appeal to 'The Unknown' to account for their unreasonable beliefs.  It's weak, but they use it anyway. This is, of course, not acceptable in the slightest.  If mankind has no actual knowledge about something, why choose to believe the most plausible-sounding lie? For starters, many people are indoctrinated from a very young age to accept authority for authority's sake; but I think that the problem is much deeper than this.  It seems like we want to find answers, but for some reason many of us don't care whether or not those answers are correct.  When you watch or listen to a few debates/arguments between theists and atheists, you find very quickly that 'I don't know' is an unacceptable answer to most theists.

Advocating Reality Podcast - Episode #2 with co-host Lonny!

Hey everyone, we've finally got Episode #2 finished up!  I think that it turned out well, and we definitely learned a great deal in the process.  Please comment and let us know what you like, what you don't like, etc. Advocating Reality Podcast #2 - Evidence-Based Thinking Thanks! Edit:  I've created an MP3 version of the podcast, I don't want to use the Blogger video module any more.

Self-Education in the Age of the Internet

My friend Wayne made a post on his Facebook Wall earlier today: Everyone should dedicate one hour to education per day. Yea, go do something useful. Now, I actually do this already.  I am always looking for documentaries, lectures, debates and whatnot in order to further my understanding of science and of the world in general.  The more I think about it, the more I realize that this is something that everyone should do.  I realize that many people have little free time in their lives, but I say do it anyway.  Learning is the absolute best use of your time, in my opinion, and it has innumerable benefits. For one thing, learning will  challenge your preconceptions.  I can't count how many times I have watched Lawrence Krauss' lecture 'A Universe From Nothing', because it completely changed my perspective on how the Universe actually works.  This has happened to me on a number of occasions, on such topics as cosmology, biology, chemistry, and physics. Another measur

One-on-One with Brian Dalton, a.k.a. Mr. Deity

Brian Dalton is the producer/director/main character of the popular web show 'Mr. Deity', a series of web shorts (usually 5 minutes or so) consisting of thought-provoking and hilarious glimpses into the satirical day-to-day life of Elohim, the God of the Bible. Common themes include the origins of good and evil and explanations of why things are 'the way things are'. Visit http://mrdeity.com/ for episodes, swag, and more! If you enjoy the series, the cast and crew would be eternally grateful for donations/subscriptions, which can be done through the above site. This is my interview with Brian Dalton in its entirety.  I hope that you enjoy it, and please feel free to comment below! Chris:  Mr. Deity is a unique show as far as I can tell, there isn't anything else quite like it. Can you tell us a little about how you came up with the idea to make a comedy/satire show about 'God’? Brian:  The initial idea was simply a script I’d written for myself — a m

Why be an Atheist Evangelist?

I often question myself when I argue with religious people and other believers in the supernatural - not necessarily my own position, but the manner in which I assert it.  It has been pointed out to me that I tend to be brisk and sarcastic in my arguments.  I agree that this is true, but I think there's more to it than that. Any time I respond to someone, I read my own post over and over again, often times long after posting it, just to look for any possible holes in my argument and to observe how I responded to particular comments.  Time and time again, I find that the real sarcasm doesn't begin until I start to get exasperated with the same argument over and over again.  I also find that it happens when the other party starts asserting what my beliefs are or makes other assumptions about me or my position.  In short, I keep it to a minimum, but it does happen. I have always held strong convictions, but for many years I maintained a strict habit of keeping most of it to m

Vape Reviews - Alien Visions order came in!

Image
Ok, so I got the reviews done and posted.  My order came in 2 days earlier than USPS tracking indicated!  Please check 'em out, leave comments and whatnot :)

Bunch of Vape Reviews Posted!

Image
Hey guys, I posted 7 videos last night - 6 juice reviews and 1 device review.  The vids have been embedded after the break.  Feel free to comment!

Upcoming Stuff

Greetings!  It's been a while since I've updated the blog, but I'm gonna try and make up for it to you guys really soon.  I've got some stuff in the works that I think is pretty exciting :) First up, I have been conducting an email interview with Brian Dalton (Mister Deity) and I'm hoping to get that wrapped up and posted here soon.  It's been very entertaining and informative and I look forward to sharing it with the world! Next, I've got 6 Juice Reviews to record - look for those in the next few days.  My buddy Chris over at Alvin E-Cigs (alvinecigs.com) threw me some samples of the following Hi-Caliber juices:  Pineapple Plunge, Black Cherry Pina Colada, Robust, Caramel Cappuccino, Our 4, and Apple Pie.  Yes, I did receive these samples at no charge for reviewing purposes, but I assure you that I will be completely honest with my evaluation. On a minor note, I've been working on a ton of miniature wargaming stuff - minis, terrain, buildings, all

The Advocating Reality Podcast - Episode #1 - Evolution, Creationism, and Intelligent Design

The first episode of the Advocating Reality podcast is up!  I did this one on my own, but I'm hoping to have a co-host or two for the next one. This episode is an introduction to me and to the podcast, and the official topic is "Evolution, Creationism and Intelligent Design". Comments are welcome! Advocating Reality Podcast #1 - Evolution, Creationism & Intelligent Design Links mentioned in this podcast: My YouTube channel:   http://www.youtube.com/user/ddarklighter?feature=mhum TalkOrigins - http://talkorigins.org Email me at advocatingreality@gmail.com Opening Theme: Feed On Me Music Provided By freeplaymusic.com Composed by:Jeffrey N Ayers, Brandon Towers, Matthew P Dana, Matthew A Mrowka, Eric J Donovan, all ASCAP Published by: Freeplaynjj, ASCAP (50%), Rebekah M Music, ASCAP (50%)

On Evolution: Common Misconceptions and Deceptions

There are some critical misunderstandings of evolution out there, and I’d like to help clear some of them up. Ray Comfort is offering $10,000 to the first person who provides evidence of a ‘living transitional form’, and he defines this as a species giving birth to an entirely different species, such as a squirrel giving birth to a bird, or a chicken giving birth to a snake.  Now, I personally think Ray is being patently dishonest, but this raises a good point about what people seem to think evolution is all about. Let’s say that you are a paleontologist, and you have discovered fossils of a previously undocumented animal.  What you are looking at is a snapshot in time, as it were.  A ‘species’ is just that - it is a group of animals with particular shared characteristics, and when you look at a particular species, you are actually seeing the ‘current version’ of that genetic lineage.  If you take our hypothetical fossil find, you can determine approximately when that creature was

Soul Society - Do Souls Exist?

Just uploaded to Youtube.

The Clothes Make The Man: Video Adaptation

I've just released a video adaptation of my blog post "The Clothes Make The Man" on YouTube. Check it out, and please comment :)

No Verse Left Behind: A Biblical Commentary