Saturday, June 21, 2008

Atheist 13 Meme

I decided to answer the questions in the Atheist 13 meme that has been going around not because I was tagged, but just because I felt it would be another great way for my readers to get to know me since I am still new to the blogging world.

Q1. How would you define “atheism”?

Atheism is the lack of belief in any god.

Q2. Was your upbringing religious? If so, what tradition?

I grew up going to a conservative baptist church. Practically anytime the doors were open I was there. I was a leader in the youth group. I went door to door handing out fliers and witnessing. I even went to Bob Jones University for a year. It is only by the grace of reason that I am who I am today.

Q3. How would you describe “Intelligent Design”, using only one word?

TSIB (The Stupid It Burns) I know that isn't exactly one word, but it was closest

Q4. What scientific endeavor really excites you?

Transhumanisim

Q5. If you could change one thing about the “atheist community”, what would it be and why?

I wish we would all just shout from the rooftops that we are atheists and proud of it.

Q6. If your child came up to you and said “I’m joining the clergy”, what would be your first response?

I don't have kids, so I am not sure how I would respond. I am pretty sure that I would support him and I know that I would still love him.

Q7. What’s your favorite theistic argument, and how do you usually refute it?

"Evolution is just a theory." I show them link after link of what a theory means in regards to science. I love it when they quote the definition right from dictionary.com because at the bottom of the definition there it says " A theory in technical use is a more or less verified or established explanation accounting for known facts or phenomena: the theory of relativity." They always seem to miss that part.

Q8. What’s your most “controversial” (as far as general attitudes amongst other atheists goes) viewpoint?

I am not sure that I have one, I am pretty mainstream.

Q9. Of the “Four Horsemen” (Dawkins, Dennett, Hitchens and Harris) who is your favourite, and why?

I haven't really read enough by any of them to know yet. I did read "The God Delusion" by Dawkins and throughly enjoyed every moment. Then I read "Letter to a Christian Nation" by Harris and found it to be a great little book. Currently I am reading "God is not Great" by Hitchens and so far it is also very good. I haven't read anything by Dennett except for a few articles online, but I am sure that we have something by him on our bookshelf that I will read sometime soon.

Q10. If you could convince just one theistic person to abandon their beliefs, who would it be?

My little sister. She is amazing and I love her even though I don't agree with her religious beliefs. We have agreed to not let religion get in the way of our relationship, but I really wish that we didn't have to keep ignoring the elephant in the room.

At this point I know that I am supposed to name 3 more people to be in the hot seat, but since I am so new to the atheist blogging community I don't really know anyone to name, so I am just going to say if you haven't been tagged yet then consider it your turn.

4 comments:

DB said...

Regarding question 4: Interesting. I will look into that.

Question 7 is my all-time favorite. This is when you know you are arguing with someone who has never studied biology or read anything outside of their own beliefs. It kind of sets the standard level for the discussion, albeit a low standard.

Godless Woman said...

jaajoe, I will look into that book I am always willing to read books on both sides. No promises, but I will try to read it.

db, I just can't believe how many Christians still believe that. I know that I did growing up, it wasn't until I took a college science course that I learned about evolution. Then the wheels of logic and reason started taking over. Along the same lines you got to love this question "well if we came from monkeys why are there still monkeys?" I have heard that question twice since I became and atheists. Both times I just had to bite my tongue and just show them website after website, including Christian websites that say that argument shouldn't be used.

Thank you both for your comments. I love to see that there are actually people reading my blog :)

The Super Sweet Atheist said...

The monkey statement makes as much sense as "if I came from my parents why are my parents still here?"

I always counter this one with a dog reference: "If dogs are ancestors of wolves, why are wolves still here?"

It's amazing to see the logic kick in....

Cliff O'Neill said...

Very interesting!

I'm tempted to answer these myself. Maybe on my personal blog. If I get around to ever updating that!

Thanks!