These days I like using the term "non-theist" -- still accurate but carries less baggage.

Dropping the insistence that God is omnibenevolent seems like the solution that best fits what we see in scripture.

No one's ascribing morality to the disease itself.

What the problem considers is the omnibenevolence that some ascribe to god, and whether that’s compatible with (say) choosing to give a child leukemia — or in weaker terms, choosing not to allay the child’s suffering when they could easily do so.

Today I asked the top nonpartisan budget official in our government an important question.

What single piece of legislation has contributed most to the national debt in the last decade?

The answer? Trump's Big Ugly Bill—and it's not even close.

Quite so. Morality's neither fully objective nor fully subjective, and it doesn't depend on gods.

What an amazing and beautifully timed photo!

The universe is scary, but it's also glorious.

People are fragile, but they're also precious.

Thinking about and discussing the big questions of the universe can be fun and enriching. Don't you think so?

Again, leukemia is not something that one takes on as a matter of self-determination or choice.

As for your suggestion that it's important for children to suffer from leukemia, and that intervening would deprive them of a valuable experience... you make my point.

As for the problem of evil taking a human perspective, that’s intentional: it considers why things *we* consider bad occur.

If the answer is that what God considers good/bad is very different from what we consider good/bad, then we can't sensibly claim that God's omnibenevolent — or even good.

🤷

To stick with the example of childhood leukemia, it’d be strange to think that intervening to prevent it would violate the agency of those affected, since it's not by agency that they suffer from it.

No child chooses leukemia.

Yeah, I think the problem of evil's pretty toothless when it comes to moral evils.

However, I think the problem still has some bite when it comes to natural evils (say, childhood leukemia) which aren't matters of will or consent. The defenses I see on that front tend to be pretty cringeworthy.

Trump TS post featuring an illustration of himself as a Christian faith healer

I’m not sure it has broken through to the general public that the president is a megalomaniac crazy person. Hopefully posts like this help.

#SuperstitionSaturday
#ChristopherHitchens
#Journalists #Authors #Quotes
#Writers #Booksky
#Atheists
#Science

The "duped voter" narrative is a comforting myth. If only we had better messaging.

The reality is tens of millions of voters looked at a platform of mass deportation, ethnic cleansing, state violence, and the dismantling of civil rights, clearly understood it, and said, "Yes, that is what I want."

The Vice President is abroad campaigning for a dictator.

The President is threatening to wipe out an entire civilization.

Congress is on recess.

This is a total collapse of American moral leadership — at a historic scale.

Happy War Crimes Day to all who celebrate.

As an American, there are always disappointments to register and arguments to engage; amid the chaos of our battered, monied attempt at self-governance, dissent is constant.
But this feeling of being utterly ashamed of America and embarrassed to the core by its president is new, raw and unnerving.

Probably thinking that atheists have no firm moral values: "Without God you must think nothing's truly right or wrong!"

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It is a good day to fortify with caffeine and to make sure all eligible voters in your circle check their voter registration. Nonpartisan place to start is www.vote411.org

Some cosmological models posit that the observable universe around us is part of an infinite cycle of expansion and contraction.

If so, then the universe existing without a creator is no more problematic than God existing without a creator.

An argument that fails if you apply reason isn't a strong argument, which is my point.

Encouraging people to accept the existence of a creator solely on faith is a more honest approach, and one I can respect.

No offense meant, I'm simply noting that it's a poor argument.

If complex things need a maker, then who made God? If no one did, then you believe complex things can exist without a maker... which undercuts the watchmaker argument. 🤷

If complexity requires a maker, then God requires a maker, since God is complex.

If God is complex yet needs no maker, then we can say the same for the universe.

(Strange that the watchmaker argument still circulates since it's among the all-time worst arguments for a creator.)

It’s time to stop posting on X There aren’t any good arguments left to stay on Elon Musk’s platform

Elon Musk took over Twitter and turned it into the anti-woke, fascist-amplifying X.

There’s been debate about whether to stay since he bought it. But seeing how it’s evolved and the recent Grok deepfake scandal, there’s no good argument to stay.

I stopped posting there. You should too.

What is humanism? 1. Humanism is a non-religious approach to life, centred on living a meaningful, ethical life based on reason and compassion. 2 Humanists see the universe as a natural phenomenon with no supernatural side, and look to science to answer questions about the natural world. 3. Humanists believe this life is the only life we have, so they focus on living well in the here and now, guided by empathy and our shared humanity.

What is humanism, anyway?

Well, it's this 👇

🤔

Storm Over The Irish Sea, 2022, painting by Sarah Evans, Welsh landscape and seascape artist.

For example, if a fairy ring grows in your yard, we can explain that through the natural growth of fungal mycelia. As such, reaching for a supernatural explanation (dancing fairies) isn't needed.

Because it's not the explanation that best fits what we see.

If we can explain a phenomenon through a natural process, there's no need to invoke a supernatural one. (As the saying goes, "entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity.")