IGN TV has compiled a list of the top ten South Park episodes that poke fun at religion. It’s no secret that Matt Stone and Trey Parker bring to light the fallacies of organized religion whenever possible. They even bring out the inner hypocrite in some without intending to do so.  A perfect example of this is Isaac Hayes’ response to the Trapped In The Closet episode.  It seemed perfectly fine to Hayes that Christianity and Mormonism were knocked on a regular basis, but once Scientology was displayed as the insanely idiotic cult that it is, he decided to leave South Park. And I thought religions were supposed to be tolerant.

The list definitely contains some of my favourites – especially Go God Go.  I don’t think I’ve ever laugh so hard in my life as when I saw Richard Dawkins doing Mrs. Garrison doggy-style. And, there’s also Red Hot Catholic Love which shows that the apparent issue with sex scandals in the Catholic church has nothing to do with the molesting and raping of kids, but with the fact that these kids report it.

You can check out the Top Ten here.

Chris.

These guys are definitely the four best known atheists in the world. Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris and Daniel Dennett sat down a couple of years ago to speak about their views on religion, god, atheism and a whole lot more in an unmoderated setting. The result was two hours of excellent video. I have re-posted the full two hours below in two parts. If you have the bandwidth (who doesn’t these days), I would recommend watching the videos in HD.

The Four Horsemen (Hour 1)

Atheism is not a belief system nor a religion. I am fed up listening to people say that it requires a certain amount of “belief” to be an atheist or that atheism itself subscribes to it’s own tenets and values and that establish it as a religion. I know it has been said millions of times before, but atheism is only a personal stand that there is no god, deity or higher power. Nothing more.

I hold an atheistic view. I believe there is no god. There it is – the “B” word. I believe there is no god because there hasn’t been a single instance in my life to convince me otherwise – no experience, no fact – all fiction. My use of the word believe is accurate. I cannot prove nor disprove there is a god, therefore my belief is based on the evaluation of evidence (or lack thereof) and as a result is the most logical response when I pose the question “is there a god?”. Belief, in the religious context, is completely different. Those who believe in a deity need no irrefutable evidence at all to conclude that a god exists (to answer those of you who will no doubt bring it up, the Bible IS NOT a valid source of proof). That in itself constitutes belief based on superstition, stories and nothing more.

One mistake I see a lot of atheists make is they feel a need to defend their position. The onus is not on the atheist to disprove god – it is the responsibility of those who insist there is a god to show us the proof and evidence of such a beings existence. In a court of law (at least in the Western world), it is the responsibility of the prosecutor to prove the defendant’s guilt. A declaration has been made that an individual is guilty of a crime and it is therefore the job of the person or party who made that declaration to prove it so. It is not the duty of the accused to prove his or her innocence. Obviously there is much that can be said for either side of this analogy, however the point I am attempting to make is that when you make a bold declaration about anything, it is YOUR job to convince me that you are right and that your argument is logical and sound. It is not up to me to prove you wrong.

You may ask where I am going with this. On a daily basis I see and read debates between theists and non-theists that get way out of hand. They usually start calm and then escalate into childish name calling. If atheists truly understand what it means to be defined as an atheist, they would see no need to defend themselves. It should be as simple as – “Based on the lack of irrefutable, non-corroborable evidence the theistic community has presented to date, there is nothing you can say that will persuade me to believe in a higher power.” Or better yet, don’t respond at all. It weakens the atheist position when we get into these petty arguments. The passive response will always win the argument. When you start to get all heated up and feel the militant need to defend your position that is the point at which you have started to build up atheism as a belief system.

I agree that it is frustrating living in a world that is ruled by fairy tales and possessive & misogynistic “gods,” however at least we are dedicated enough to weed through the bullshit without getting caught up in the emotions and attacks of those who will needlessly continue in their attempt to convert us heathens to “the dark side.” Stay strong my atheist friends. We have a long, up-hill battle ahead of us, but the truth will always prevail. And remember – remain calm and focused. Let’s leave the childish name calling to…….the children.

Chris.

I just came across this video of Lewis Black on YouTube ranting about religion in his usual Lewis Black style.

This is good for a laugh (and is quite accurate):

Image c/o http://www.madatoms.com