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Sunday 18 January 2015

well would you believe it? - I am an athiest

To some this post could be quite controversial, but I am only speaking my mind (or not?)
Cue Victor Meldrew if you must, but I am actually what is described as a 'negative atheist' - 
one who does not believe in God(s) but does not say that Gods don't exist. (definition here)


How can a chap from Irish stock, who was educated in Catholic Schools even say that?
My three prime reasons are:
1. Despite all I have been taught and seen in my life I have seen no real evidence of a God.

2. I am one of those 'simple' romantics who say that if there was a God, how could he stand by throughout all of creation and allow all the atrocities that man afflicts on man? - isn't 2000 years more than enough?

3. To my mind, the belief in Religion has caused more wars,strive and loss of life than is imaginable.Take two of the biggest religions, Christianity and Islam - how can Christians explain things like the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition? - How can German Catholics explain the Holocaust? - How can Islamic terrorists claim to be acting for their god, and if so why does he allow it? - In Iraq one brand of Muslim fights another.
3,600 people died in the recent 'troubles' in Northern Ireland, more than double that died in the mostly forgotten war of 1690. Where does it all end? ... It is all quite inexplicable to me.
Let bygones be bygones.
....................................................
to quote the above linked website:
Common myths about atheists include:
all atheists are arrogant, immoral, rebellious, and/or intolerant;
all atheists really believe in (the Christian) God and are simply in denial;
all atheists are depressed and believe life is meaningless.
(end quote)

Whilst I have been known to be a bit rebellious I am certainly not intolerant, in denial or depressed. Indeed, unlike many religious people I do know the meaning of life, the universe, and everything ....the answer is quite simply  42!

Give it some 'Deep Thought' and check out the teachings of the late Douglas Adams here



Stop
before you post any comment or call down the wrath of your god on me, or reach for your chosen weapon to attack me with, (whether that be a shiny new keyboard, bottle of holy water or Kalashnikov) first consider this:
is Kevin really an atheist, or does the reference to Douglas Adams suggest he is just being humorous?
That is the mystery wrapped up in a conundrum wrapped up in an enigma that you must solve, or would you rather just have a Poll on it  ?

2 comments:

  1. Hi Kev
    While I agree with some of your comments, I think if there is a God and he intervened every time mankind messed up he would be a very busy God and man wouldn't learn anything.
    As far as your answer being 42 can you just explain the relevance of the following for me please...

    42 is a Størmer number.
    42 is the only known value that is the number of sets of four distinct positive integers a,b,c,d, each less than the value itself, such that ab-cd, ac-bd, and ad-bc are each multiples of the value. Whether there are other values remains an open question.[3]
    42 is a (2,6)-perfect number (super-multiperfect), as \sigma^2(n)=\sigma(\sigma(n))=6n\,[4]
    42 is the resulting number of the original Smith number (4937775): Both the sum of its digits (4+9+3+7+7+7+5) and the sum of the digits in its prime factorization (3+5+5+(6+5+8+3+7)) result in 42.
    The dimension of the Borel subalgebra in the exceptional Lie algebra e6 is 42.
    42 is the largest number n such that there exist positive integers p,q,r with 1 - 1/n = 1/p + 1/q + 1/r
    42 is the smallest number k such that for every Riemann surface C, #Aut(C) <= k deg(KC) = k (2g -2) (Hurwitz's automorphisms theorem)
    In base 10, this number is a Harshad number and a self number, while it is a repdigit in base 4 (as 222).
    42 is a perfect score on the USA Math Olympiad (USAMO)[5] and International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO).[6]
    42 is the maximum of core points awarded in International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
    Thanking you for your answer in advance.
    Peter.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Quite superb Peter,
    If I run out of ideas for my blog would you consider a bit of part time ghost writing?

    1. My first response is that I'm disappointed you simply did not fill in the poll, the answer may be in there!.

    2. As to God, if he started something (as I have done with this blog) he should nurture it. I think intervention is needed as in over 2000 years mankind has learned begger all anyway.

    3. As your superb research shows 42 is quite a weird number to use in trying to explain the ultimate question - but since no-one seems to have the faintest clue what we are all doing anyway it's good enough for me.(and HHG was very entertaining)

    4. I haven't got time to look into your '42' findings at the moment though as I have a duty to keep on making posts that justify the title of my blog. I don't even need to know what the hell I'm talking about!

    ReplyDelete

I do appreciate any comments whatsoever -
but please know now that whilst this blog was created so folks can 'let off a bit of steam'
that I shall delete anything I consider may be offensive to other visitors.