Tag Archives: logic

Hitler, Mao and Stalin went into a bar…

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Of course, some devout Christians have nothing better to do than bring up Stalin, Mao and Hitler when they corner an atheist at an impromptu new years eve party.

“You know, no religion killed more people in the past century than atheism: Hitler, Stalin and Mao killed more than 100 Million”

[that thumping sound in the background are a million atheists collectively banging their head against the wall]

So stupid – and that’s after disregarding the ‘Atheism is a religion’ blunder.

Interestingly, a religious friend who overheard the remark intervened with the following observation:

“That’s like saying since 98% of all criminals in Europe are religious, 98% of all crimes are committed because of religion.”

Halleluhja!

A belated christmas miracle. And a not-so-subtle reminder to me that not all religious people are stupid.

Happy new year everyone, and may the facts be ever in your favor!

The man who claims to be god

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Imagine: one day you meet someone who tells you he is god. He doesn’t look special nor does he seem to possess any supernatural abilities. Of course you don’t believe him.

‘You shouldn’t doubt me’, he counters.

You demand proof. He declines, saying that although he is quite capable of doing so, any proof he presents would coerce you into believing and therefore destroy your free will. You ask him things only a god would now, and he just smiles and says ‘if I answered, that would give away my true self’.

So here are the questions:

  • would you believe him?
  • if not, what would change your mind?
  • if you do – why do you think he told you in the first place?

Can you steal from God?

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Yesterday, a priest in Germany discovered that thieves had stolen a 200 years old bible and a gold plated cross from his church.

To me, this is theft, plain and simple. Interestingly, so it is to the priest. I say interestingly because, theologically speaking, it’s impossible to steal from God. He either allows it, and then the ‘thief’ is merely fulfilling His will. If God doesn’t want you to steal from him, he could intercede any time. That’s where his omnipotence comes in. Knowing all this, and praising his Boss’ almighty powers, the priest still reported this as a theft.

Obviously, the police also doesn’t believe that this supposedly almighty god is able to intercede on his own behalf: they weren’t looking for, nor questioning, victims of recent lightning strikes, earth quakes or plagues. They are looking for a decidedly un-smitten perpetrator.

So is it really that far fetched to argue that not even priests believe in the might of their god?

No logic in Foxholes

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There is a saying that ‘There are no atheists in foxholes‘ – meaning that under extreme duress all people believe in, or hope for, a higher power.

Perhaps.

What is evident, though, is that in foxholes no-one believes in the Gods they claim to believe in. Because if they did believe in Yahweh, Allah, or whatever, they wouldn’t need foxholes: their god would protect them; and even if their God screwed that one, they’d be promptly whisked to paradise. If they really believed that, they’d have nothing to worry about.

So what is a religious person doing in a foxhole? Most likely they are afraid of meeting their god, and hope for a truly nice guy in the sky instead. They hope that their ‘real’ god doesn’t exist.

Hence the foxhole.