Profiles Index

What is Materialism? History of Materialism, Materialist Philosophy
Materialism is the idea that everything is either made only of matter or is ultimately dependent upon matter for its existence and nature. It is possible for a philosophy to be materialistic and still accord spirit a (secondary or dependent) place, but most forms of materialism tend to reject the existence of spirit or anything non-physical.

Nativity vs Gospels: Are the Gospels Reliable About Jesus' Birth?
Because Christmas has traditionally been a Christian celebration of Jesus' birth, it's common during the Christmas season to see and hear depictions of wise men, shepherds, a star, a manger, and so forth. A closer investigation, however, reveals that the nativity story occurs in just two of the four gospels, Matthew and Luke, and that they hardly agree on any of the details. It's almost as if they are describing two entirely different people being born.

Crucifixion of Jesus: Contradictions in Gospel Accounts of Jesus' Crucifixion
Crucifixion may be one of the most horrible methods of execution ever invented. A person is nailed to a cross or stake and hangs there until their own weight suffocates them. The horrors of crucifixion are glossed over by the gospel authors, however, in favor of the deeper theological meanings behind these events. Perhaps that is why the gospel authors are inconsistent in describing what happened.

Myth: Atheism is a Denial of God That Requires Faith
The most common misunderstanding about atheism involves the definition. Many people insist that atheism is really the denial of the existence of God, but there are two errors here. First, it pretends that atheism is exclusively about their god, the god common to Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Second, it focuses on a narrow sub-set of atheism and atheists to the exclusion of all others. Standard dictionaries list 'disbelief in god or Gods' as the first and primary definition of atheism.

Understanding & Criticizing Islam & Muslims Basic Holy Days, Holy Sites, Beliefs
Many Muslim beliefs are similar to the beliefs in Christianity and Judaism, but other beliefs do differ. The most central beliefs are contained in the Five Pillars of Islam. Muslims also have a number of important Holy Days and Holy Sites which differ from those found in Christianity and Judaism. Any basic understanding of Islam requires first understanding what Muslims believe, why, and how those beliefs differ from beliefs in other religions.

Islam's Holy Days: Muslim Holidays Define What's Important for Muslims
The Islamic calendar begins in the Western year 622 A.D. on the date which Muhammad and his closest companions moved from Mecca to Medina, known as the Hijra. During the twelve lunar months there are a number of important holidays, or holy days, including: Al-Hijra, Ashura, Mawlid al-Nabi, and Eid Al-Adhha. The term Eid is the Arabic term for festivity or celebration, and is only attached to a couple of holy days in the Muslim year.

Who Was Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus? Was She Really a Virgin?
The synoptic gospels (but not John) identify Mary as the mother of Jesus. Mark describes Jesus as the 'son of Mary.' In Jewish tradition, a man is always identified as the son of his father, even if the father is dead. Mark may not have done this because Jesus' birth wasn't legitimate - that his parents weren't married and, therefore, his biological father wasn't also his "social" father. This may be why Matthew and Luke change the text to describe Jesus as the 'son of Joseph.'

Why is Peter the Apostle (Simon Peter) Important? Profile & Biography of Peter
There are two reasons why Peter is important for understanding Christianity. First, he is treated as a model for Christians to follow. In theory, Christians are expect to act as Peter is described as acting - for better and for worse. Second, the gospels describe Jesus as calling Peter his 'rock' upon which the future church would be built. After his martyrdom in Rome, traditions developed which led to the belief that the most important Christian church organization was located in Rome.

What if Atheists are Wrong? Aren't You Afraid of Hell? Can You Take the Chance?
A common logical fallacy is argumentum ad baculum, which literally means 'argument to the stick' and which is commonly translated to mean "appeal to force." With this fallacy, an argument is accompanied by the threat of violence if the conclusions are not accepted. Many religions are based upon just such an tactic: if you don't accept this religion, you will be punished either by adherents now or in some afterlife. It's thus not surprising that theists would use this when debating atheists.

Politics of the Kaaba in Mecca: How did Muhmmad Use the Kaaba to Promote Islam?
The Kaaba is Islam’s holiest site and, as such, knowing more about it is critical to knowing more about Islam itself. The history of the Kaaba is intertwined with the origin of Islam because it appears that Muhammad used the Kaaba for political purposes, promoting new stories about the Kaaba's history in order to connect his new created religion with ancient Judaism. Knowing more about the Kaaba thus means knowing that not everything Muslims believe about Islam and Muhammad is true.

Is Atheism a Religion? Defining Atheism and Religion
Many Christians seem to believe that atheism is a religion, but no one with a fair understanding of both concepts would make such a mistake. Because it's such a common claim, though, it's worth demonstrating the depth and breadth of the errors being made. Presented here are the characteristics which best define religions, distinguishing them from other types of belief systems, and how atheism utterly fails to even remotely match any of them.

Why Should Atheists Study Religion? What Does the Study of Religion Offer?
Atheism is disbelief in gods, not the absence of religion, so why does so much criticism of religion come from atheists rather than theists? Christian theism has dominated Western culture, politics, and society such that resistance has pulled people towards irreligious atheism. Atheism doesn't have to be irreligious or anti-religious, but there is a high correlation among atheism, irreligion, and opposition to religion. To be effective, such criticism must be well-informed and educated.

Ethics & Morality: Philosophy of Behavior, Choice, and Character
Atheists and theists frequently debate morality on several levels: what is the origin of morality, what are proper moral behaviors, how should morality be taught, what is the nature of morality, etc. For theists, morality comes from gods and ethics is a function of theology; for atheists, morality is a natural feature of reality or human society and ethics is a part of philosophy. Atheists unfamiliar with the basics of moral philosophy will be unprepared to discuss morality with theists.

How Can I Change Things? Fighting Anti-Atheist Bigotry, Discrimination
Godless atheists are the most despised and discriminated against minority in America. They face bigotry in a wide variety of ways and when it's known that they are godless or secular, their views on various political and social views may be immediately dismissed. Religion generally and Christianity in particular benefit from widespread privileges, but godless atheists can make a difference if they want. There are ways to fight and to promote justice for themselves as well as other secularists.

Atheism & Religious Experience: Atheists Haven't Experienced True Religion
Atheists have constructed many trenchant critiques of both religion and theism over the years. Some of these critiques can be responded to reasonably, but others are much more difficult to address in anything like an adequate manner. Sometimes, it may be easier to simply find a way to dismiss atheists entirely by claiming that atheists have never had any of the relevant and necessary experiences to teach them about God and religion. If they did, they would understand and believe.

Seven Deadly Sins: What Are the Seven Deadly Sins? Why Do They Fail?
In Christian tradition, those sins which have the most serious impact on spiritual development have been classified as 'deadly sins.' Which sins qualify for this category have varied - Christian theologians have developed different lists of the most serious sins which people might commit. John Cassian offered one of the first lists, and he came up with eight: gluttony, fornication, avarice, anger, dejection (tristitia), sloth (accedia), vainglory and pride.

Adolf Hitler & Christian Nationalism: Nazis’ Program of Positive Christianity
A popular image of the Nazis is that they were fundamentally anti-Christian while devout Christians were anti-Nazi. The truth is that German Christians supported the Nazis because they believed that Adolf Hitler was a gift to the German people from God. German Christianity was a divinely sanctioned religious movement which combined Christian doctrine and German character in a unique and desirable manner: True Christianity was German and True German-ness was Christian.

Why Should Atheists Care About Establishment Clause Cases?
The First Amendment to the Constitution reads "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." the phrase "respecting an establishment of religion" is the Establishment Clause and prohibits the government from establishing any religion as an official religion in America. Read broadly, it means the government cannot prefer, endorse, or promote any religion over any other, or even religion generally.

Atheists vs. Christians; Atheism vs. Christianity: Are Atheists Anti-Christian?
An essential element of Christianity, one which goes back to the origins of Christianity, is the belief that Christians will necessarily be persecuted for their faith. This was true of early Christians, but many today think that this is a permanent condition and must be the case for all 'true' Christians now. Thus they seek out examples of persecution where none exist and it's popular to claim that atheists are trying to oppress or marginalize Christians in America.

Why Do Atheists Debate Theists? Why Do Atheists Care What Others Believe?
People might legitimately wonder why atheists debate religious theists over the validity of both theism and religion. Atheism is only the disbelief in gods; this means that some atheists may themselves be religious while others may not care about either theism or religion. In practice, though, atheists are interested in both theism and religion, commonly regarding both as not only false but harmful to people and society. Atheists care because religion and theism affect them as well.

Contraception, Birth Control, and World Religions: Religions on Birth Control
When religious positions on birth control are discussed, we usually hear how contraceptives are forbidden. Religious traditions are more pluralistic and varied than that, however, and even within the religions most publicly opposed to birth control we find that there are traditions which would permit the use of contraceptives, even if only in limited circumstances. It’s important to understand these traditions because not every religion regards birth control as a simplistic issue.

Myth: Atheists Want to Impose their Secular Religion on America & Christians
There is a popular belief with America's Christian Right that secularism is really an atheistic conspiracy and, in essence, an attempt by atheists to impose a secular religion on America. This would undermine Christians' religious liberty and force them to conform to atheists' secular, possibly communist, vision for America. None of this is even remotely correct: most atheists are not religious and secularism by definition cannot be a religion.

Atheism as Rebellion & Pride: Are Atheists Just Rebelling Against God & Family?
There are many popular myths about atheism and atheists which claim that people are atheists on account of some sort of rebellion (against god, religion, church, families, fathers, etc.) or pride. At most, these myths might be true of some but not all or even most atheists; even if true, however, none of these myths would have any implications for the truth or reasonableness of atheism itself.

Myths About Church / State Separation & Hostility To Religion, Religious Belief
Some of the most popular myths about church / state separation and efforts to keep civil government secular are based on the belief that this is all evidence of hostility to religion. According to many Christian Nationalists, people want to separate church & state because they hate religion or Christianity and any state that is neutral in religious matters is necessarily hostile to religion. None of these myths make any sense when subjected to careful scrutiny.

Atheism, Science, Evolution: Is Atheism Based on Science, Evolution?
Atheism is commonly associated with science, which should be a good thing - right? What's wrong with science? It says something about the ideology and attitudes of some religious believers when they imagine that associating atheism with either science generally or evolution in particular somehow constitutes a criticism. One problem is how often people create myths about atheism and science. Most of these myths are relatively easy to dispel with a little research and time.