Hi Chuck,

Yes I remember you--you were the only one that stopped their vehicle to talk to me while I was picketing the church.  Although I cannot entirely rule out the possibility of there being gods, I really have difficulty with the concept.  I guess you could label me an agnostic technically, but I really do regard myself as an atheist.  As people learn just how many atheists there are in the world the defence shield that goes up upon hearing the word will diminish.

Darwin Bedford
www.atheists.net


At 10:07 AM 9/13/2002 -0700, you wrote:

Darwin,
Met you a couple of days ago in Tsawwassen. Bravo! The following website will appear at first "surf" to be a humorous putdown of religion but if you dig deeper there are lots of serious philosophical essays and (clipping service) articles that will help your cause. Try http://www.uctaa.org/index.html
Chuck C*****
 
On a personal note:
I used to be an atheist but realized that implied a belief that there is no god. Fundamentally I think "faith" or "belief" are dangerous modes of developing your own reality or world view. I think it is much healthier to just endorse what seems to be the most rational explanation for anything, i.e. I don't believe in the "theory" of evolution but I do endorse it as the current most logical explanation of how living things got to their present state of development. Although we've made great scientific strides in the last couple of centuries, our collective brain power is still insignificant when it comes to learning ultimate truths (and I doubt if we'll ever get there). Unfortunately the psychological development of our brains is lagging behind and the majority of people seem to be stuck believing in some fanciful religious/cultural presumptions.
That said I think the probability is extremely low that there is some anthropomorphic entity (god) creating/guiding/meting out ultimate justice. However to say that I believed that there is(are) no god(s)) puts me in the same fancifully presumptuous rut as a religious person of "faith".
Perhaps consider changing your label. The vast majority of society hear the word atheist and an invisible defensive shield goes up immediately. It doesn't help that the word has been associated in the past with unpleasant concepts (think: godless communists, heathens, savages, burned-up heretics, foxholes, Madeline O'Hare). A lot of people don't really understand what agnosticism is all about and you can get your philosophical foot in their spiritual door before it gets slammed in your face and the full defensive shield goes up. Just a thought.