Just some clarification

"If I were to suggest that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot revolving about the sun in an elliptical orbit, nobody would be able to disprove my assertion provided I were careful to add that the teapot is too small to be revealed even by our most powerful telescopes." -Bertrand Russell (his cosmic teapot)

So I started this blog without any clear direction in mind. I just knew I wanted to write an atheist blog. But I'm feeling now that I probably ought to have some sort of plan in mind. If nothing else, if anyone's going to take the time to read this, I ought to let them know what they can expect to get from it. So here goes.

My main goal is to merely make people aware of the issues surrounding atheism versus belief. I am definitely not setting out to literally prove there is no god. Since most believers I know are more than happy to retreat to the "God did/said it and I believe it so there" response to any argument made by nonbelievers, it's ultimately not even possible to prove conclusively that there is no god. What I do intend to do is point out what seem to me to be the logical fallacies of the arguments in favor of god's existence, as well as making some arguments as to why his existence is extremely improbable. I will focus almost exclusively on the Christian God, since that's who I was raised to believe in and it's what I know best. Many arguments will apply to all religions. Since almost all religions are based on a belief in some form of deity, it's somewhat unnecessary to disprove each religion individually if you can first simply prove, at least beyond reasonable doubt, that no god exists anyway.

I will include other things occasionally, like the survey I posted about a few days ago. I also plan a post about why, as an atheist, I was incredibly offended by last week's episode of Glee. I don't want this to become an impersonal list of proofs.

I hope some honest debate can take place, as it already is to a degree. Flaming will not be tolerated. Right now anonymous comments are allowed, but if there's too much trouble with trolling that will have to change.

If you have any specific topics you'd like to see covered, please let me know. I have several in mind, but I'm always looking for more. I do plan, at some point, on going through some apologist books (particularly some of those by Lee Strobel) and discussing my views on what is said, so if you have any books in mind, let me know. Do keep in mind though, that there are some issues that I am just not equipped to deal with (such as the "offenses against an infinite god" idea raised in a comment a few days ago).

I think that's all, so thanks for reading, and enjoy! ^_^

Allow me to introduce myself...

...I'm RosieLass, and I'm one of the many, many people who have decided to take it upon themselves to write an atheist blog. I probably don't have anything to say that hasn't been said a thousand times, but I do feel this is one subject that can't be written about enough, so I'll give it a whirl.

I'm a 25-year-old, happily married woman from Tennessee. As you might guess from the birthplace, I was raised Southern Baptist. I spent my entire childhood in church every Sunday, and to be frank never even realized that it was optional. I never put much thought into it, but I think I assumed there weren't really many atheists out there, and those that existed were unhappy, immoral people who would eventually find their way to God. I'm not sure how this tallied with the constant messages to go on mission trips and proselytize to everyone we met, but like I said, I didn't put much thought into it.

When I got to high school, I soon realized that the ultra-conservative lifestyle I saw in my parents was far from the norm. I spent those years wavering between being super Christian, and still believing in God but not caring much. I still didn't know how I could possibly not believe in God. I was so thoroughly indoctrinated that I genuinely believed that science showed evolution was impossible, and I didn't like the idea of no afterlife at all.

I don't want this to turn into a novel, so I'll sum up the next few years quickly. I slowly realized the logical fallacies of Christianity. Still afraid not to believe in something, I turned to paganism, but soon realized it made even less sense. Finally I faced my fears and read Richard Dawkin's The God Delusion. And to be perfectly honest, it was the biggest relief I've ever felt. I no longer had to force myself to believe something that I knew, deep down, just wasn't true.

Every Christian always asks me, and no, I'm not "angry at God," nothing happened to "turn me against God" or church or religion. I have simply studied the facts, from both sides, and decided which one made sense to me. Those facts are what I plan to discuss here, as well as pertinent news stories and even personal anecdotes. I hope people enjoy reading it. At the very least, I know I'll enjoy writing it.