Thank you Watcher for your support. I have been dusgusted by how my thread has been hijscked and turned into a forum for pointless prostelyzing by know-alls who know nothing such as Yuyutsu. I would like to know where this person is.Is it Australia? Queensland? where there seems to be more brainwahsed Christian fools than elsewhere in Australia.
Now just as I was writing this I got an e-mail notification of yet another reply by Yuyutsu who spews out his/her usual diatribe of rubbish and then says: I will be delighted to write a chapter in the sequel: "Religious atheism: Living with God rather than with the idea of God".
If you do that Mate, I will get that printed chapter and have the greatest pleasure in tearing it up and stuffing it down your throat. For you information ATHEISM IS NOT A RELIGION. The Macquarie Dictionary states it is the doctrine that there is no God. The Atheist Foundation of Australia defines Atheism as "Atheism is the acceptance that there is no credible scientific or factually reliable evidence for the existence of a god, gods or the supernatural.”

Atheists have no beliefs, do not worship anything, do not have an organization, no leader, no clergy, no text.

Dear Eccles64,

"Atheism is the acceptance that there is no credible scientific or factually reliable evidence for the existence of a god, gods or the supernatural.”

That makes me a perfect atheist. I was saying that all along.

"ATHEISM IS NOT A RELIGION"

I know that already, why do you need to shout?

Atheism is not a religion, but what possibly prevents anyone from being simultaneously an atheist AND a religious person?

Eccles 64 demonstrating the outworking of his non faith

'If you do that Mate, I will get that printed chapter and have the greatest pleasure in tearing it up and stuffing it down your throat.'

Charming

Watcher

I was quite struck by Dr. Tamas Pataki and his 'Religion and Violence' chapter.

It strikes a chord with those here who impose their certainty of 'goodness' on us and their expressions of extreme 'lurv', so long as you are on-side with their team.

Also, some interesting information in Chrys Stevenson's chapter, the first one, that rather undermines those overblown claims that Australia is a 'Christian nation'. Seems Chrys is writing a book on this topic, so the chapter is a good taster fo what will be coming.

I've already commented on Leslie Cannold's article on abortion, very interesting, and shows the anti-abortionists from their 'Christian' perspective to be a bunch of bah-humbugs, if not out and out liars.

I read the five chapters on 'education' first, and found a lot of familiar themes from OLO pages, gathered together in this section.

A must-read for those OLO posters on the 'who trusts teachers' thread.

Considering religions are so pro-male, it has always shocked me that so many women fall for the scam, so eagerly too.

So the chapter by Lyn Allison, 'Ever wondered why God is a bloke?', is one that every female believer should read.

There is not a single chapter trying to justify views along the tedious lines of Yuyutsu, the half-smart approach trying to show off some ever-so-clever arguments.

Neither is there any prosyletising, such as quite-a-few here engage in.

Yuyutsu wrote: 'Indeed, one cannot attain God through the mind and indeed, the heart is completely unreliable when addressing issues of the world, that which you think of as "reality".'

By reality I do not mean what you're calling the world, I mean, um, reality. That which exists. Playing with words doesn't change that, nor change the fact that your heart cannot tell you that God exists. All it can tell you is what you wish is true - and the road to Hell is paved with that intention.

So beware. If you persist in that attitude you will burn in hell for eternity, for refusing to live how the True Creator intended - the life of a thinking being who believes nothing on faith. If you persist in flagrant contradictions ("what possibly prevents anyone from being simultaneously an atheist AND a religious person"), more nails in the coffin - or should that be more coals in the fire. So my heart tells me - and apparently, it must be right.

I am of course making a point: arbitrary claims, such as yours, are meaningless. An arbitrary claim is one made without any evidence. They are meaningless because for every arbitrary claim there are an infinite number of equal and opposite arbitrary claims. Which makes action on any of them impossible.

So you won't be in The Australian Book of Atheism Part II. Only articles based on fact and reason have meaning - meaning which can be proved or disproved based on the rules of evidence and the rules of thinking. Thus people who read the book might not agree with everything in it: but the authors have given their reasons in fact and logic, and that is what people can be convinced by, or refute.

Dear Watcher,

Again you are right: why should anyone go about seeking information using their hearts? silly, isn't it? Information should indeed be gained by the mind.

But have I ever claimed that God is a piece of information?

So your reality is limited to that which exists? OK, this is just what I refer to as the "world". Your definition of "reality" is my definition of "the world" - that which exists. It is perfectly understandable why God is not part of your reality.

As for contradictions, the onus is on you to prove that something is impossible. I find no contradiction between compliance with the definition of "atheist", as set by The Atheist Foundation of Australia, and being religious. In fact, I am myself an example that both can coexist happily side-by-side. I think that this is an important fact that should be mentioned in The Australian Book of Atheism Part II.

The Blue Cross,

Just to set the record clear, I am not pro-male, nor have I ever considered God to be a bloke...