tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004436662131906365Tue, 26 Nov 2024 10:09:27 +0000Thoughts on various topics from the perspective of a Jewish non-theist,taking the position that there is no evidence for the existence of a supreme being that directs our lives or the course of the universe.https://4enlightenment.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Secular Guy)Blogger147125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004436662131906365.post-4087638917787744540Mon, 01 Apr 2024 04:08:00 +00002024-04-01T12:08:58.870+08:00In the matter of undecided voters, I simply cannot fathom how there can be fence-sitters when it comes to dealing with&nbsp; Donald Trump as a presidential candidate. He is so evil that in my mind&nbsp; this is one of those rare cases of political absolutes in which only those people who share his sick&nbsp; world view could support him,&nbsp; and those with a sense of decency could not.&nbsp; https://4enlightenment.blogspot.com/2024/04/no-middle-ground.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Secular Guy)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004436662131906365.post-4754237259560996994Thu, 20 Jul 2023 05:41:00 +00002023-07-20T14:25:05.028+08:00A few months ago I incurred a medical bill and charged it to my Master Card. I hadn't intended to leave it there very long, knowing the horrendous interest rate that I would be charged if I did so. I was just biding my time awaiting the opportunity to transfer this balance to&nbsp; a 0% APR deal that I knew another one of my credit cards, let's call it&nbsp; Credit Card X, would eventually offer https://4enlightenment.blogspot.com/2023/07/caution-balance-transfers-can-be.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Secular Guy)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004436662131906365.post-5357018615349661741Wed, 23 Nov 2022 08:10:00 +00002022-11-23T16:10:46.425+08:00<!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> https://4enlightenment.blogspot.com/2022/11/forgive-and-forget-not-necessarily.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Secular Guy)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004436662131906365.post-6476871576361284479Fri, 15 Apr 2022 07:49:00 +00002022-04-15T16:22:59.860+08:00As I have submitted in my previous posts on the topic of atheism, there is no scientific evidence for the existence of a supreme being. In this discussion, I'd also like to point out that such an entity is not even necessary in order explain the&nbsp; events that occur in the course of our lives, or for that matter, life itself..Theists attribute the reason for these happenings as a divine plan https://4enlightenment.blogspot.com/2022/04/why-god-is-not-needed.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Secular Guy)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004436662131906365.post-7389715582182064369Fri, 01 Oct 2021 06:06:00 +00002021-10-01T14:10:34.644+08:00Recently, a friend of mine referred to me an article from the "Wall street Journal"&nbsp; (Sept. 23, 2021) attacking atheism. The author,&nbsp; Michael Guillen,&nbsp; is a former athiest and regrets having been one.&nbsp; And like so many of his kind, his justifications for abandoning non-belief&nbsp; are completely wrongheaded. Here's what&nbsp; he has to say:Why Atheists Need Faith"Atheism's https://4enlightenment.blogspot.com/2021/10/on-saying-no-to-unfounded-faith.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Secular Guy)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004436662131906365.post-1524613291276176620Mon, 19 Jul 2021 07:00:00 +00002021-07-19T15:24:42.484+08:00The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously affected the minds of many&nbsp; Americans who've never even had the disease i.e. in terms of their reaction to the virus' mere existence which many of them refuse to even acknowledge. And in light of their hostility to compliance with&nbsp; simple life saving measures including&nbsp; wearing face masks and refusing vaccinations against the disease, I'm&nbsp; https://4enlightenment.blogspot.com/2021/07/what-f-k-is-matter-with-these-people.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Secular Guy)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004436662131906365.post-8221563789968756589Sat, 16 Jan 2021 08:35:00 +00002021-01-16T16:35:05.779+08:00As a result of four years of Trumpism culminating in an attempt&nbsp; by President Trump and his followers to viciously&nbsp; overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,&nbsp; American democracy has been grievously wounded. Considering the following two articles I wonder whether even a new and Democratic administration can repair the damage that&nbsp; Trump did to the country--or https://4enlightenment.blogspot.com/2021/01/can-america-really-recover-from-trump.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Secular Guy)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004436662131906365.post-2811509752914070453Sun, 15 Nov 2020 06:44:00 +00002020-11-15T15:09:21.410+08:00Now that Joe Biden has won&nbsp; the 2020 presidential election, I've been hearing a lot from various sources including the president-elect himself about the need for the American people to reunite and let bygones be bygones between the Dems and the Republicans. On one level, I understand--almost sympathize--with Biden in his desire to lead a country in which as he put it there are no red states https://4enlightenment.blogspot.com/2020/11/forgive-trumpsters-no-way.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Secular Guy)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004436662131906365.post-8337378362955724646Fri, 23 Oct 2020 08:05:00 +00002020-11-02T15:15:09.793+08:00<!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> https://4enlightenment.blogspot.com/2020/10/why-attacks-by-china-on-god-centered.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Secular Guy)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004436662131906365.post-2692882753385096786Sat, 11 Apr 2020 05:45:00 +00002020-04-11T14:00:50.936+08:00I certainly can't&nbsp; claim to&nbsp; speak&nbsp; for all other atheists. But in this time of the COVID-19 pandemic.&nbsp; my guess is that in trying to make sense of its existence and the worldwide havoc that it has wrought ,most of us who don't believe in a god are having an easier&nbsp; time doing so than those who do. This is because we&nbsp; are&nbsp; not needlessly wasting time and energyhttps://4enlightenment.blogspot.com/2020/04/an-atheists-perspective-in-dealing-with.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Secular Guy)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004436662131906365.post-6971089976100169514Sat, 15 Feb 2020 02:38:00 +00002020-02-17T07:36:39.069+08:00Like many other people, I have lived in places and taken&nbsp; jobs that I wound up hating.&nbsp; Yet with some exceptions, such as my childhood location of&nbsp; residence about which of course I had no choice in the matter, as an adult I was the one responsible for deciding where to live and where to apply for work. But once I was in, it was not easy to leave the former when I had a lease or a https://4enlightenment.blogspot.com/2020/02/whos-in-charge-here.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Secular Guy)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004436662131906365.post-5872057144226079419Wed, 09 Oct 2019 06:25:00 +00002019-10-09T14:25:04.931+08:00Global warming is not a burning issue (no pun intended.) for me. This is not because I don't believe that anthropogenic climate change is a menace to humankind. It certainly is. But for one&nbsp; thing as an old man, I don't think that I will live long enough to see its dire consequences.&nbsp; However,&nbsp; before you dismiss me as an unfeeling geezer, there's more to the story. From the time https://4enlightenment.blogspot.com/2019/10/why-is-this-major-source-of-global.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Secular Guy)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004436662131906365.post-2921967766494605722Tue, 27 Aug 2019 03:58:00 +00002019-08-27T11:58:14.040+08:00The following is a sligthtly revised version of my response to the "Atheist Revolution" blog post "Why Can't You Keep Your Atheism to Yourself?" Aug. 27 marks my 14th year of living as a retired American expat in the Philippines which is probably the most devout Roman Catholic country in the world. Yet I'm still more comfortable as an openly Jewish atheist here than I was while living in https://4enlightenment.blogspot.com/2019/08/a-special-anniversary.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Secular Guy)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004436662131906365.post-1065284475597799113Sun, 04 Aug 2019 07:18:00 +00002019-08-06T14:15:26.770+08:00 A few nights ago, my wife Lydia and I went out to dinner at a restaurant down the street from&nbsp; our residence.&nbsp; About halfway through the meal Lydia got a small piece of shrimp shell stuck in her throat. She wasn't&nbsp; choking, but it was painful and hard for her to swallow&nbsp; The nearby clinics that could have taken care of her were&nbsp; already closr the evening, so that https://4enlightenment.blogspot.com/2019/08/a-ruthless-religionist.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Secular Guy)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004436662131906365.post-7043541739798434372Tue, 16 Jul 2019 06:22:00 +00002019-07-16T15:01:26.857+08:00 The following originally appeared as a response to a post in "Atheist Revolution" on a different subject but I slightly revised it to discuss the following related issue.. In theory, atheists and god-believers should be able to&nbsp; work together for a cause in which they both have a stake, such as promoting&nbsp; a political candidate who equally recognizes both groups. Such was&nbsp; the https://4enlightenment.blogspot.com/2019/07/can-atheists-work-together-with-god.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Secular Guy)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004436662131906365.post-1663209402250663908Tue, 15 Jan 2019 07:57:00 +00002019-01-15T16:13:10.322+08:00As is likely the case with many other seniors, I often consider (but don't dwell on) my mortality.&nbsp; I know that there's a chance that I could live into my 90's as did my maternal grandfather. But the odds that will happen are slim, and of course there's the matter of possible / probable deterioration in the quality of life itself, as my physical and mental health may fail even if I https://4enlightenment.blogspot.com/2019/01/an-atheists-perspective-on-accepting.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Secular Guy)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004436662131906365.post-4650822297629520257Fri, 16 Nov 2018 06:07:00 +00002018-11-16T16:16:51.882+08:00 A friend of mine commented that if the space object Oumuamua now whizzing through our solar system were proven to be a probe from a civilization in another star system as had at one point been speculated, that discovery could be the impetus for humanity&nbsp; to unite in world peace-- "Or else" (sic). I don't think that such unity would happen even if the object had been proven to be sent from https://4enlightenment.blogspot.com/2018/11/would-discovery-of-extraterrestrial.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Secular Guy)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004436662131906365.post-7326719321534898286Wed, 29 Aug 2018 07:05:00 +00002020-10-23T16:19:41.964+08:00An argument for the existence of God is that life on Earth--and matter itself--could not possibly have come into being unless the universe were structured&nbsp; just right.This belief is based on the "Goldilocks'' or fine-tuned universe proposition. In addition, Earth had to be just the right distance from the sun which itself had to have certain properties, as does the solar system itself as a https://4enlightenment.blogspot.com/2018/08/why-god-is-irrelevant-to-our.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Secular Guy)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004436662131906365.post-1269017657786518491Mon, 16 Jul 2018 06:04:00 +00002018-07-16T14:17:39.990+08:00As per the title of this blog site, my posts are usually oriented towards matters regarding the U.S.and Judaism. However, I'm taking a side trip here to review an opinion column from&nbsp; a newspaper in the Philippines, as&nbsp; the topic is a problem that Americans face as well . As a supporter of gender equality , I find it disturbing when feminists hijack issues that affect both women and https://4enlightenment.blogspot.com/2018/07/her-bias-is-showing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Secular Guy)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004436662131906365.post-3465175469519357230Thu, 29 Mar 2018 08:35:00 +00002018-03-29T16:35:54.431+08:00 There's a false impression among many (most?) god-believers that atheists can't feel the emotion of gratitude because we don't consider&nbsp; a supreme being as a source for the ''gift of life'', ''blessings'', and the favorable outcomes that we experience. However, as I see it, it's&nbsp; not an imaginary deity who gave me life. My parents did that. But no matter how I--or any of us&nbsp;https://4enlightenment.blogspot.com/2018/03/atheism-and-gratitude.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Secular Guy)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004436662131906365.post-8811077094151011360Wed, 16 Aug 2017 05:54:00 +00002017-08-20T15:57:00.832+08:00It&nbsp; should come as no surprise that President Trump had to be dragged into finally criticizing the white nationalist violence that broke out at the Aug. 12 Charlottesville rally. But he then muddied the waters&nbsp; with his retweeting a message from a right wing conspiracy theorist and then with his assertion that both sides in the melee were at fault.. However, what's almost certain is&https://4enlightenment.blogspot.com/2017/08/jewish-alt-right-sympathizers-trump-and.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Secular Guy)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004436662131906365.post-8932126552585404081Thu, 06 Apr 2017 06:48:00 +00002017-09-10T19:24:11.639+08:00Whether you reside overseas or in the U.S. if you have a traditional IRA or a 401(k) account, upon reaching age 70 1/2 you may have to start taking required minimum distributions from your account on an annual basis for which, if you're an American citizen,&nbsp; you will&nbsp; receive&nbsp; from your account administrator a 1099-R form at the end of the year to include with your tax filing&nbsp;https://4enlightenment.blogspot.com/2017/04/mess-mutual.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Secular Guy)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004436662131906365.post-3381257279927363984Tue, 10 Jan 2017 05:27:00 +00002017-08-16T19:28:49.583+08:00Like Many other atheists, I'm been told by theists that in a crisis, I will turn to God&nbsp; (or in my case ''return'' as I was also once a God-believer) and beg him for help. This&nbsp; assertion reminds me of the adage that ''there are no atheists in foxholes'', because in the extreme danger of combat, all soldiers fear for their lives and supposedly pray to&nbsp; God for deliverance. That https://4enlightenment.blogspot.com/2017/01/when-ill-fortune-befalls-atheist.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Secular Guy)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004436662131906365.post-7624487645046730069Wed, 03 Aug 2016 06:53:00 +00002016-08-03T14:53:11.211+08:00I recently read a post on Facebook written by a Jewish fan of Donald Trump who believes that he is a "great friend of Israel"(!) and that it is therefore disrespectful to criticize him, as I and other Jews have done in FB and elsewhere. Followers&nbsp; of Trump who support him just because they think he's a friend of Israel need to be reminded&nbsp; that Trump is running for&nbsp; President of https://4enlightenment.blogspot.com/2016/08/donald-trump-israel-and-single-issue.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Secular Guy)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004436662131906365.post-1805296758527896335Sun, 10 Jul 2016 08:51:00 +00002016-07-13T15:47:42.910+08:00Every so often, I see posts on Facebook commemorating the&nbsp; birthday of a deceased loved one or friend that begins ''Happy Birthday in Heaven to (name of decedent)''. This sentiment reflects at best a childish yet typical faith-based misunderstanding on the part of many (most?) theists about death and a refusal to face the fact that there is no scientific evidence for an afterlife and that https://4enlightenment.blogspot.com/2016/07/heaven-eternal-myth.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Secular Guy)2