Michael Nugent

December 27, 2008

Atheism as a Belief Part 1

Filed under: Atheism,Philosophy — Michael Nugent @ 10:33 am

The Thinker by Brian Progressive Spin (cc)As an atheist, I believe that atheism is a belief, or more accurately a set of related beliefs, and that it is not merely an absence of belief. This is the first in a series of articles in which I will tease out my thinking on this. I would welcome any feedback as I do so.

I realise that many atheists today choose to interpret the word “atheism” to mean simply a lack of belief that gods exist. This interpretation has its uses in, for example, shifting the burden of proof in debates.

But I believe that this is a mistake, both etymologically and practically. Here’s why.

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December 21, 2008

UN Split on protecting gay rights

Filed under: Secularism — Michael Nugent @ 3:50 am

The United Nations was split this week between States supporting gay rights and States supporting religious homophobia. But gay rights campaigners are pleased with the outcome, as it is the first time that the UN Assembly has considered such a declaration.

66 nations signed a French declaration calling for the global decriminalisation of homosexuality.

But almost sixty nations signed a rival Islamic-backed declaration that claimed that the phrase “sexual orientation” could lead to legitimising paedophilia.

The Catholic Church, which attends the UN through its pretend State in the Vatican City, called for an end to violence and criminal sanctions against gay people. But it refused to support the French declaration, because it would protect sexual orientation and gender identity as human rights.

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December 16, 2008

Social networks spread happiness

Filed under: Happiness,Science — Michael Nugent @ 5:44 pm

Happiness Clusters from Framingham StudyHappiness is infectious. It spreads through social networks, infecting people that you don’t even know. And it spreads more strongly than sadness does. That’s according to a recent study that examined the happiness of almost five thousand people over twenty years from 1983 to 2003.

The study was compiled by professors James Fowler of the University of California in San Diego and Nicholas Christakis of the Harvard Medical School. They examined records from a long-established heart study that included details of the emotional states of families and friends.

They found that, when you become happy, any friend of yours who lives within a mile becomes 25% more likely to also be happy. Amazingly, they also found that a friend of that friend becomes 10% more likely to happy, and a friend of that friend’s friend has a 5% increased chance of being happy.

They also found that people at the core of a local social network are more likely to be happy than people at the periphery. And they say that  the reason seems to be that being at the core of the social network increases your happiness. It is not that being happy brings you to the core of the network.

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Vatican opposes gay rights at UN

Filed under: Religion,Secularism,The Vatican — Michael Nugent @ 1:06 am

The Catholic Church, through its pretend State in the Vatican City, is joining with Islamic States to try to stop the United Nations from protecting the equal rights of gay people throughout the world.

Gay people can be executed in seven Islamic countries: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Yemen, Sudan, Mauritania and parts of Nigeria and Pakistan.

And gay sex between consenting adults in private is a crime in almost eighty other countries.

France wants the UN to pass a declaration calling for an end to these laws. It wants all States to ensure that sexual orientation or gender identity may under no circumstances be the basis for criminal penalties, in particular executions, arrests or detention.

The Catholic Church has joined with Islamic States in opposing this move. The Vatican complains that the move would “add new categories of those protected from discrimination”. They also fear that it could lead to gay people being allowed to marry.

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December 12, 2008

Charitable atheists

Filed under: Atheism — Michael Nugent @ 3:36 pm

Irish people with no religion are slightly more likely to do charitable work than the average citizen, and Irish Catholics are slightly less likely to do so. David Quinn (Irish Independent, 5 December) argues the opposite, but he has misunderstood the census figures. Irish Protestants are the most likely to do charity work.

The charitable impulse is universal. David Quinn argues that it is religious, citing the large Red Cross presence after Hurricane Katrina. But the Red Cross is not a religious charity. Its symbol is based on the Swiss flag, as it was founded in Geneva.

The large Red Cross presence in New Orleans actually disproves the point Quinn was trying to make.

Ireland has over seven thousand listed charities, many of them secular. Bob Geldof, an Irish atheist, founded Live Aid. And internationally, the two largest charitable donors in world history are the atheist or agnostic billionaires Bill Gates and Warren Buffet.

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December 11, 2008

Medieval faith vs reason Part 2

Filed under: Philosophy,Religion — Michael Nugent @ 5:56 pm

Triumph of St thomas Aquinas by Benozzo GozzoliReligious Medieval philosophers tried to use reason to do three things: to support their belief in a god, to prove their belief in a god, and to develop a unified theory of all knowledge, divine and human. They partly succeeded in the first of these aims, and failed in the other two.

We must remember the context of Medieval times. Tradition was very important. Philosophy was considered an art (or a craft in today’s language). Philosophers were expected to first learn existing knowledge, and only then start to develop their own ideas.

Medieval Christian, Islamic and Jewish philosophers each faced different problems in trying to reconcile their faith with reason and logic. In Part 1 of this article, I described how ten of them attempted to do this. In this second part, I examine why they failed to do so.

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December 9, 2008

Medieval faith vs reason Part 1

Filed under: Philosophy,Religion — Michael Nugent @ 11:59 pm

Triumph of St thomas Aquinas by Benozzo GozzoliMany medieval philosophers tried to reconcile their belief in a god with the logic and reason of Greek philosophy. In this article, I outline how ten of them tried to do this:

Augustine (354-430), an Algerian Christian.
Boethius (480-524), a Roman Christian.
John Scotus Eriugena (810-877), an Irish Christian.
Psuedo-Dionysius (6th Century), a Syrian Christian.
Al-Farabi / Abunaser (870-950), a Turkish Muslim.
Ibn Sina / Avicenna (980-1037), a Persian Muslim.
Anselm (1033-1109), an Italian Christian.
Ibn Rushd / Averroes (1126-1198), a Spanish Muslim.
Moses Ben Maimon / Maimonides (1135-1204), a Spanish Jew.
Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), an Italian Christian.

In part two of this article, I will look at how successful they were in their attempts to reconcile faith and reason. First, here is a summary of their efforts:

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December 8, 2008

The Q atheist song contest

Filed under: Atheism — Michael Nugent @ 3:52 pm

Q Transmissions, a skeptical radio talk show in Alberta, Canada, is organising an Atheist Song Contest. Put your entries on YouTube or mp3 and email the station before January 2. For inspiration, here are four skeptical singalongs, starting with Chumbawamba’s toast to Charles Darwin.

Charlie by Chumbawamba

Over the river and over the sea
Through holy storm and thunder
Steer a course for a brave new world
Of common sense and wonder

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December 5, 2008

Catholic radio advert banned

Filed under: Secularism — Michael Nugent @ 10:07 pm

The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland has banned a radio advert for the Catholic bookstore Veritas. The advert promoted religious Christmas presents. Catholic spokespersons have slammed the decision as bizarre, ridiculous, silly, absurd, farcical and ludicrous.

Why did this happen? Irish law bans adverts that are directed towards a religious end. There is a free speech case that they shouldn’t be banned. And there is a public protection case that they should be. For me, the key point is that our advertising code treats religious adverts on the same basis as any other advert.

So why do we have an advertising code? It is to protect vulnerable people from being misled. As an advertiser, you must be able to rationally prove, using objective evidence, that you can deliver what you are promoting. This is the test, whether it be slimming tablets that soak up fat or eternal salvation after you die.

That’s why the law bans adverts directed towards a religious end. And, despite its subtle message, this advert is clearly one of these. The Catholic bishops own Veritas. The stated purpose of Veritas is “to serve the needs of the Irish Catholic church”. It does this by “using the culture and modes of communication of the time to speak to the people about god and his message.”

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December 3, 2008

Welcome to Atheist Ireland

Filed under: Atheism,Secularism — Michael Nugent @ 6:06 am

I had the honour last Sunday of being elected the first chairperson of Atheist Ireland, which is Ireland’s first atheist advocacy group. Our mission to provide a platform for people who wish to work together to build a rational, ethical and secular society free from superstition and supernaturalism.

We have two aims. One, to promote atheism and reason over superstition and supernaturalism. And two, to promote an ethical and secular Ireland where the State does not support or fund or give special treatment to any religion.

Our priority goals include promoting our aims, initially to Irish people of no religion, and campaigning for a secular Irish Constitution and a secular Irish education system.

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