Advocating Reality

I recently shared a link to a great little article by The Atheist Advocate on patheos.com in which Christians are challenged to wear an Atheist t-shirt for one week, in order to learn about what persecution  means, due to the apparent misunderstanding which is often spread by Christians. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/04/25/challenge-to-christians-wear-an-atheist-t-shirt-and-gauge-reactions/ Pretty good idea, no? Now, I know that '____ Challenge' is currently extremely cliche, but would a good name for this be 'Persecution Challenge'?  Too emotive maybe? I may have found a taker, and I think it would be a really great experience, probably for both of us.  You see, she's a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  I would be required to wear a Mormon t-shirt for one week, while she would be required to wear an Atheist t-shirt during the same time.   If we both agree on this, how should we document eve...

Just a quick addendum to my review of 'God's Not Dead', and also a comment about the current state of Apologetics. The Problem of Evil, simply put, is the idea that an All-Powerful 'God' would be able to abolish evil and apparently has chosen not to do so. To many, this idea of a 'God' is evil itself. Imagine, if you will, a grown man raping a 2-year old toddler. Now imagine that an all-powerful bearded man in the sky is watching this unfold, yet doing nothing. For myself, I consider this being to be completely immoral. If it were a human watching this happen, with the power to stop it yet not doing so, we would never hesitate to call the person completely immoral. Why is it so different for a 'God'? Well, according to the movie and to current Apologetics, the solution to the Problem of Evil is 'Free Will'. By abolishing evil in this world, such a being would be abrogating human 'Free Will'. This seems to make sense on the surface...

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...

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. ...

"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. ...

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.

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...

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...

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 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%)