Saturday, January 30, 2010

An Update & Another Carnival of the Godless Submission



Hi everyone! I've been a bit busier lately and haven't had the time to post as much as I usually do. I am working on a post that collects evidence refuting the claims that religion is necessary for a happy fulfilling life.

On other news, I submitted two blog posts to the newest Carnival of the Godless, posted at Right to Think, unfortunately only my post refuting the many arguments for god was posted. I hope people like it! The post that seemed to be rejected for entry was my refutation of David Aikman's Delusion of Disbelief, though perhaps it will be accepted into the next Carnival? I'm not sure how that works.

I found it amusing how the blog author of Right to Think introduced my post. He wrote:

"And finally the Arizona Atheist takes down all the major arguments for God in one fell swoop. No-one can accuse the guy of not being thorough."

Very cool.

Maybe I'll try to submit a few other reviews in the next few Carnivals and see what happens. If anyone has a post they particularly like please write in and tell me you'd like to see me submit it for the next Carnival.

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Friday, January 22, 2010

An Interview with Arizona Atheist



Someone sent me an email a while back requesting that I give an interview at whohub.com. I finally was able to get to that today. I chose the topic of blogging since that was the only one that seemed to make the most sense for me to do. The questions were mainly about my blog and my experiences. It was interesting. I post it here for anyone who might be curious about me, my blog, and why I choose to write.

Enjoy!

Read my interview on Whohub
Ask my opinion about something:



However for my readers’ convenience I’ve copied it below.

1. What is your blog address? What subjects do you deal with?

My blog's address is http://arizonaatheist.blogspot.com/

My blog deals mainly with issues relating to atheism, religion, and anarchism.

2. What was it that made you create your blog? On what date did you start it?

I created a blog and website called Arizona Atheist long before I ever started posting at Blogspot. The very first domain I had was at Yahoo.com, but that only lasted a few months, when I decided to move all my writings over to MySpace, where you can create your own blog. Both of those sites are now down and all I have left is my current blog at Blogspot.

I don't recall when I created the first website on Yahoo.com, but it was in late 2006. My current blog was started August 17, 2007 and thus far I've amassed over 500 posts. The reason I began writing was because some Christian friends I had at the time were constantly witnessing to me and were heavily influenced by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron's 'Way of the Master'. One evening I decided to watch the show to see what my friends were talking about. I couldn't even finish the show, Cameron and Comfort's outright lies and deception really got to me and so I decided to write about the falsehoods they were spreading and correct them. I've been writing ever since.

3. What blogging system have you adopted and why?

I'm still a bit of a novice when it comes to blogging in regards to the formatting, HTML, and whatnot, so I'm not entirely sure what is meant by blogging system. But the system I use is whatever Blogspot uses and I like it just fine. It's easy to use and I like it, though I haven't used any other so I can't compare.

4. How many visits a day do you get? What type of comments do you receive?

My visits vary but on average I get roughly 30 to 40 hits a day, sometimes more if I do a lot of promoting. Once I gained roughly 1000 hits in one day because blogger and author John Loftus at http://debunkingchristianity.blogspot.com/ posted one of my posts on his blog after asking for his feedback about it.

I don't receive a lot of comments, which does honestly bum me out a bit sometimes, but at least people are reading and that's what's important. However, I do receive some and much of it is praise, though I do get a few nasty comments, along with a minuscule amount of spam.

5. How has 'having a blog' contributed to your life?

I would say having a blog has contributed by allowing me to discuss issues that are important to me; allowing me to vent my frustrations, root out deception and error, and do my best to promote rational thinking, all of which are very important to me.

6. Have you created relationships with other bloggers or readers of your blog?

I guess it would depend on what is meant by 'relationship.' But I have met some very nice fellow atheists and anarchists that I otherwise would not have met if it weren't for my blog. Some readers email me stories to post about and I'm very thankful for that. I don't regularly chat with any other bloggers, though I have off and on given my opinions about a blog post every once in a while. I have also had some farily long discussions with some readers who write in to ask me questions and those are enjoyable. Not too long ago one Christian emailed me and said he was writing a paper for school and wanted to use me as a source so he asked me a bunch of questions and afterwards I wished him luck on his paper.

7. How often do you post? Does regular posting of your blog require a lot of effort on your part?

I try to post as often as I can. I don't like to let my blog remain stagnant for too long. I try to write something at least once every week or two. No, I wouldn't say that blogging regularly requires a lot of effort. If I am busy I try not to worry about not posting something, but I do my best to arrange my schedule so I can.

8. Does blogging bring in income for you? Can one make a living from posting?

For me personally, no, blogging brings in no income and from what I've seen I don't think blogging could make much of an income for anyone, unless there is something out there that I'm unaware of.

9. How do you promote your blog?

I promote my blog by reading blog posts that are relevant to something I write about, leave a comment to the author about how I enjoyed his post and ask if he/she would like to read my take on that subject. I've also signed up for a few blogging websites where bloggers get together and exchange links and discuss issues. Such sites that I've signed up at are: http://atheistbloggers.ning.com/; http://www.blogcatalog.com; and http://www.blogged.com. I've also posted some at http://www.reddit.com/ and have posted quite a bit of material at http://www.articlealley.com/.

10. How would you define your readers? Have you got a faithful audience?

I certainly have many atheists who read my blog and even a few christians. Based upon some of the Blogger social network websites I am signed up with and the helpful Google Friend Connect application, which allows people to 'follow' your blog or website, I have several regular readers.

11. Are there any blogs you follow daily or regularly?

Yes, I follow several. They are:

http://bobclapp.blogspot.com/
http://aigbusted.blogspot.com/
http://dead-logic.blogspot.com/
http://bhascience.blogspot.com/
http://eyeam4anarchy.blogspot.com/
http://camerafraud.wordpress.com/
http://debunkingchristianity.blogspot.com/
http://www.makingmyway.org/

12. Have you ever received gifts for blogging about your opinion of products or services? What do you think of bloggers who do that?

No, I've never received any gifts for my writing. I've never really given my opinions about anything other than books, and if someone wanted to make a little extra money doing that I see no problem with it. They are doing a particular company a service for promoting a product.

13. How do you see your blog evolving in the future?

This is a tough one because I often try to live in the present moment, though my blog will remain a place where I will do my best to write about the truth, regardless of what that may be. The subject matter has changed slightly in the past, going from writing purely about atheism and religion to anarchism, so maybe I'll branch out to other topics sometime in the future? I have no idea. I just hope I will continue to write things that will make people question and educate and that's all I can hope for.

14. What advice would you give to someone who wishes to begin a blog?

My advice would be to just write what you feel. Don't shy away from expressing your true opinions and feelings no matter what they are. Find a website that is user friendly and that you feel comfortable using. I would also recommend remaining anonymous, depending on the subject matter, because there are a lot of crazy people out there who probably wouldn't mind harming, harassing, or threatening you if they had the chance if something you write rubs them the wrong way.

But most of all, enjoy it and remember to think about your readers and what they most likely would want. To do this, just think about what you would like to see in a blog in the way of formatting, topics, etc. and go from there.
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Sunday, January 17, 2010

I'm Featured in the Latest Installment of Carnival of the Godless!











I wanted to post a quick note to announce that my refutation of Scott Hahn and Benjamin Wiker's Answering the New Atheism: Dismantling Dawkins’ Case Against God has been selected for the current edition of Carnival of the Godless! I'm very excited about this!

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Saturday, January 16, 2010

Rant: ON - Another Smear Campaign???



Yet again, instead of any argument against my positions I am lied about and smeared, this time by the completely illogical "Bruce Bain" (who I sometimes suspect is David Marshall himself using another name). Instead of one argument against my book review of Answering the New Atheism, Bain reposts things I said in the distant past to the few liars and assholes I've run across on Amazon.com in retaliation and complete frustration over their continuous lies and insults about me. Though Bain never mentions this, and instead distorts the picture to make it look as if all I do is insult people and am rude on a constant basis and for no reason. Lies!

Let me tell you a little something about Bain. His posts in Amazon discussions are continuously voted as "unhelpful" and he often writes these long meandering, nonsensical posts - not to mention the absurd formatting! If you've seen his posts you know what I mean! If you haven't seen them here's an example:



You're not even able to begin to see his supposed "argument" until you scroll down some more! You basically have to sift though all that mess just to see what this numb nuts has to say - which usually isn't much, if anything, at all! But I've already written a little about Bain before and how annoying he is. The guy has no knowledge about anything, never puts up a coherent argument (if he even tries you have to decipher it through the absurd formatting of his posts), and to top it all off, he is on my shit list for his contributions to the smear and lying campaigns by David Marshall and J.R. Fraser.

As I've mentioned these smear campaigns and lies in the past, I'm about at the end of my rope here with this bullshit. As I've demonstrated in the links above, I've been lied about and smeared a few times in just the last month!!! And some might wonder why I went overboard and lost my tempter and went off on these assholes (as Bain so eloquently demonstrates - sarcasm anyone???) I'm fucking sick and tired of this shit. Nothing but lies, discrediting campaigns, and no counter arguments against my positions are ever posted! And that's all I've ever asked for! A respectful dialogue! But can any of these morons possibly do this? It appears that they can't. I've tried for two years now! In fact it was January of 2008 when I posted my first message on an Amazon forum to David Marshall asking him about my review of his book and even then in his first reply to me he initiated the personal attacks! It wasn't as vulgar as his later attacks have been, but it was a personal attack nonetheless (at least that's how I perceived it as I mentioned in my reply to him, in which I was perfectly polite, despite his rude demeanor). Here is a screenshot of this from my post exposing these lies, which has long sense been deleted by Marshall, no doubt to hide the fact that he was rude to me from the start:


As I've amply demonstrated I've been on the receiving end of an immensely dishonest discrediting campaign for a solid year and a half now. I've truly had it up to here (!) with this bullshit - which is exactly what it is!

Are christians that scared their crap will be exposed that they have to engage in huge discrediting campaigns and lies against atheists??? I've refuted David Marshall's book, which is what kicked this whole thing off, and I think these christians, and friends of Marshall, are pissed about it. What a bunch of pathetic, immature jackasses.
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Friday, January 15, 2010

With Friends Like These…, by Kelly W. Patterson



A fellow anarchist found me on BlogCatalog and while looking at his blog (It's very good, please go visit him) I came across a piece he published at www.fr33agents.com about the government's never ending attempts to turn this country into a Nanny State. The author doesn't use that term, but it's very apparent that's what's going on and it's despicable. I think Mr. Patterson's views on this issue were so well expressed, and mirror my own feelings, that I won't add my own comments. Without further ado...


With Friends Like These…,
By Kelly W. Patterson
Published: 11 September 2009


If you want to know whose side the Government is on just look at what they do during the bad times, and more importantly, who they do it to. For some good examples of everyday ways in which Government eliminates competition by the average citizen in favor of their corporate masters you should read this essay by Charles (Radgeek) Johnson. However, this dedication to squashing independent entrepreneurial options kicks into high gear once the economy falters. In the current downturn, it didn’t take long for people to figure out the value of direct sales, either online (Ebay, Craigslist, etc.) or through yard sales, to earn extra money and/or acquire necessary things cheaply. Neither did it take long for the Government to announce that they would be cracking down on this newly blossoming marketplace which overwhelmingly benefits the everyday citizen. At a time when the common worker is most in need of secondary sources of income, this belies the frequent claim that the Government is there to serve the people. In truth, the Government is there to serve certain people and you’re not usually one of them.

This is more evident than ever in the Government’s response to the current recession. Congress tripped all over itself to authorize bailouts for the financial sector that was largely responsible for the situation through bad lending practices that bordered on outright fraud. The next thing they did was announce that they would be hiring more IRS agents to audit tax returns in an effort to squeeze more blood out of an already dry stone to fund those bailouts. In the eyes of those looking down on us from Capital Hill, the people who authorized loans to borrowers that had no business taking out those loans are “too big” to fail, but those not so big people facing foreclosure should be punished for their lack of foresight.

Things didn’t unfold quite as quickly with the auto bailout, because there was a union to bust. Before Congress could sign off on the billions of dollars to offset the decades of bad management within the Big Three they had to first blackmail the workers into agreeing to pay cuts, lowered benefits, and a betrayal of the retirees who in many cases literally bled and died for those pay and benefits. When the bankers who drove their companies into the floor wanted their bonuses, a contract was a contract and there was nothing that could be done about it. However, when an opportunity to put the screws to the workers presented itself, the union contracts were something to be torn up and rewritten at will.

This type of behavior is by no means a new development. During the Great Depression the Government payed farmers (many against their will) to destroy crops in order to artificially drive up food prices. While perfectly good food rotted in the fields, thousands starved in the streets. Included among them were many whose jobs as farm workers were eliminated by those same policies and others who could no longer afford food at the artificially inflated prices. Similarly, the Retail Maintenance Act in 1937 mandated restrictions on how low prices could be set forcing prices to artificially high levels when people had precious little money available to spend. Furthermore, New Deal programs were funded largely by excise taxes levied on things that mostly impacted poorer people, such as food, clothing, and electricity. These programs mostly benefited corporate interests at the expense of the working class and often resulted in the elimination of jobs during a time when they were already scarce.

So if you are a member of the working class and you think the Government is your friend, I would hate to meet one of your enemies in a dark alley.
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Friday, January 1, 2010

A Wrap Up of 2009



This last year sure went by fast. I was just looking over all the posts I wrote for the year 2009 and it just shocks me how fast the year went. While going through the 165 posts I wrote for last year I decided to link to some of my favorite ones, grouped by topic. I hope to begin soon on more content. I've even been toying with the idea of writing another refutation of a book arguing against the New Atheists but am not sure. If anyone has any recommendations for a book they'd like to see refuted please let me know.

This year has sure been interesting. I've done my best to foil unethical christians' personal attacks upon myself, written a new book review, and refuted most of the arguments for the christian god's existence. I also have done my best to spoil the propaganda by so many theists who continue to insist atheism played a part in the 20th Century atrocities. Other than several posts on religion I did a fair share of trying to enlighten by writing about anarchism and correcting many misconceptions about it.

I wonder what 2010 will bring? This year will also be my blog's three year anniversary!


Communism and Atheism:

Atheism is Dead Continues to Beat a Dead Horse: Communism & Atheism Revisited, Parts 1-4

The Subject of Communism/Atheism: A Respectful Dialogue


Exposing Lies About Me & Various Smear Campaigns:

When You Can't Beat 'Em...Smear 'Em II

The Lies, Distortions, Hypocrisy, and Immaturity of David Marshall


Arguments Against God's Existence:

Against the Gods: Arguments Against God's Existence - The Updates at the end of the posts also link to attempts at refuting my thesis. Though here is another half-assed attempt I didn't bother to link to from the theologyweb.com forums.


Debates:

"Does the God of Christianity Exist, and What Difference Does it Make?" - A Debate Between Christopher Hitchens, Lee Strobel, Douglas Wilson, James Denison, and William Lane Craig - Hmmm... Are christian apologists beginning to realize how full of it they are that they have to group together now in order to debate just one atheist???


Documentaries:

Atheism: A Rough History of Disbelief, with Jonathan Miller


America is Not a Christian Nation:

America is Not a Christian Nation, Part 1

America is Not a Christian Nation, Part 2

America is Not a Christian Nation, Part 3


Book Reviews:

The Truth Behind the New Atheism: A Refutation - While I originally finished this review in 2008 I later decided to make some changes to make it more scholarly looking and add footnotes in May of this year.

Answering the New Atheism, by Scott Hahn & Benjamin Wiker: A Refutation


Anarchism & Other Related Subjects:

Speed Cameras Are Inaccurate and Dangerous

Anarchism: A Philosophical & Scientific Justification

Statism vs.Theism: The Similarities Are Striking

Still Think Photo Radar Has Saved Lives?

"Nannyism" Running Rampant

Ignorance Abounds - Here I responded to some atheist critics about anarchism and expose their irrationality.


I thank all my readers for their support and readership. I hope each of you has a great new year!
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The Lucifer Effect - January 2010



Wow! It's a brand new year already. I wonder how many people the police will harass and brutalize this year???


video


video
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