Boston Atheists membership hits 666

Fictional character has disdain for other fictional characters

Goldstein's arguments for a fictional god

At Edge.org, John Brockman introduces a brief excerpt from the first chapter of Rebecca Newberger Goldstein's forthcoming 2010 novel, 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction. Especially interesting in this preview, is the nonfiction appendix from the book -- it lists 36 arguments for the existence of god, and the reasons they each fail. Including "15. The Argument from the Inconceivability of Personal Annihilation":

1. I cannot conceive of my own annihilation: as soon as I start to think about what it would be like not to exist, I am thinking, which implies that I would exist (as in Descartes' Cogito ergo sum), which implies that I would not be thinking about what it is like not to exist.


2. My annihilation is inconceivable (from 1).


3. What cannot be conceived, cannot be.


4. I cannot be annihilated (from 2 & 3).


5. I survive after my death (from 4)

[The argument now proceeds on as in the argument from Survival After Death, only substituting in 'I' for 'a person,' until we get to:]

6. God exists.

FLAW 1: Premise 2 confuses psychological inconceivability with logical inconceivability. The sense in which I can't conceive of my own annihilation is like the sense in which I can't conceive of those whom I love may betray me—a failure of the imagination, not an impossible state of affairs. Thus Premise 2 ought to read "My annihilation is inconceivable to me.", which is a fact about what my brain can conceive, not a fact about what exists.

FLAW 2: Same as Flaw 3 from The Argument from the Survival of Death.

COMMENT: Though logically unsound, this is among the most powerful psychological impulses to believe in a soul, and an afterlife, and God. It genuinely is difficult—not to speak of disheartening— to conceive of oneself not existing!

The public responds to our Coalition of Reason

Spotted on a Red Line train, 11/9/09.

Boston Atheists Report 1.16

Our end-of-October podcast (having skipped our middle-of-October session), recorded 11/1/2009. Topics: Atheists celebrate Halloween in Boston; Religious zealotry still in Salem; spirituality threatens health care reform. Roundtable: Being good without gods

Download this podcast from our website, or, look for us on iTunes!

Sources Cited:

• Spiritual Health Care Bills Alert (Freedom From Religion Foundation)
• Keep Nonsense Out of Health Care Reform (Ed Brayton)
• Haunted Happenings - Salem, MA Halloween
• The Last Witchfinder by James Morrow - Review
• Church burns "witchcraft" children (Daily Telegraph)
• Decomposing Humanism: Why Replace Religion?
• Does Morality Depend on God? The Problem of Circularity
• Trust your Gut? Study Explores Religion, Morality, and Trust in Authority (Science Daily)

Scientology self-destructs a bit more

Ah, Boston -- the Athens of American, home to dozens of schools of higher learning. But even here, in this Beanpot of bibliophiles and brainiacs, the worst forms of collective delusion are able to survive. One of the more incredible organizations is Scientology, which houses its Boston programs in a lovely old brownstone building on Beacon Street in the Back Bay. In the past two years, Anonymous protesters have made a bit out noise out in front of their facility, but the Hubbardites are pretty snug in there... I don't think they're really considering dissolving their local activities just because a group of Guy Fawkes clones are inciting passing cars to honk their horns. The Church of Xenu, it often seems to me, is here to stay.

Which is why it is good to read about the increasingly bizarre public behavior, and increasingly rancorous internal politics, of Scientology's upper echelon. Optimistically, I'd like to label as just the latest step toward the cult's eventual collapse.

What Hitchens has learned from debating the religious

I haven't yet run into an argument that has made me want to change my mind. After all, a believing religious person, however brilliant or however good in debate, is compelled to stick fairly closely to a "script" that is known in advance, and known to me, too. However, I have discovered that the so-called Christian right is much less monolithic, and very much more polite and hospitable, than I would once have thought, or than most liberals believe.

-- Christopher Hitchens, the meanest Atheist in the world, in his latest column for Slate magazine.

Boston CoR ads on the Red Line, and in the Globe

Visit the website of the Boston Coalition of Reason, or read about the BostonCor ad campaign in the Globe.

Hello, Atheists who saw the Chronicle show!

We've seen a surge in our web traffic today, which must have something to do with Channel 5's feature on the nonreligious community, those of us who are good without gods.

To those of you who are here looking for more information about the secular community in Boston, I suggest you start with the website of the Boston Coalition of Reason. This website will lead you to the individual websites for all of the most active local secular resources -- social groups, campus organizations, and secular congregations.

Attending a Boston Atheists brunch or pub night is a great opportunity to meet like-minded people in the area. Our events calendar is managed at our Meetup.com page.

Jackie Lavache is the Boston Atheist Examiner, and writes about life in Boston from an Atheist perspective as well as about events of interest to the secular community. Her articles are a great and often entertaining blend of blogger commentary and journalism -- check it out at Examiner.com.

As the Director of the Boston Atheists, I work with our group's assistant organizers to plan events, create a programming calendar, and work toward a greater sense of shared interests among our members. Feel free to email me if you'd like to ask questions directly about our organization. I am also the State Director of the American Atheists, and happy to answer your questions about that educational organization.

The Chronicle broadcast could only offer a limit ed view of our community. We're happy to meet new people, answer questions, and share our experiences. So please, come on out!

UPDATE 11:51 pm, 10/27/09:
PS: I am marginally irritated that the Mormons are riding on our bespoke secular coattails. The video advertisement preceding the fourth segment of the Channel 5 Chronicle web broadcast is selling LDS snake oil.

A recent poll...

... suggests that the frequency of rationality among Channel 5 viewers is unusually high. Note: this poll did not control for the higher percentage of rationalists who enjoy participating in web surveys. Nonetheless, it is an exciting number to see. I think we should aim at such numbers, and even higher.