


Argument: The universe exists, therefore God exists.








Next time: The effectiveness of prayer.

Bad Argument For God: The Popularity of the Bible

This is the first in a series refuting some of the bad...yet still common...arguments in support of a personal god.

Argument: The Bible is the most popular book in history, therefore it must be true.

This isn't an argument for truth, but rather an argument for popularity. The most common number I have seen is that there have been around 5-6 billion bibles printed [ref] [ref]. This would, easily, make it the most reproduced book of all time. One thought that immediately comes to mind is "How do they know that?" Well, the truth is they don't know that with any real precision. There was never any formal census of publishers to get an accurate count of such a thing. Still; I am willing to go with that oft-repeated estimate. Christianity is the most popular religion and some version (more on that later) of the Bible is pretty much standard issue for Christians since the advent of broad literacy and movable type...6,000,000,000 it is then.

It should be obvious to the casual observer (but obviously isn't) that mere popularity does not infer any higher truth. The number two book in history is Mao Tse-tung's Red Book (aka Quotations from the Works of Mao Tse-tung). Like Christianity; Mao had an obedient captive audience that made ownership of his musings on communist ideology required. Does the popularity of The Red Book mean that communism is a truer form of governance? Is the Toyota Corolla a divine form of automobile? Is a McDonald's hamburger a more inspired form of sandwich? Of course the answer to those examples is a resounding "No!"...and I shan't bore you with saying why the answer is "no". If it needs explaining, then you need a serious intellectual intervention...and you can't get it on a blog post.

Moreover; there are many versions of the bible and they do not all differ merely from translation biases [ref]. Even the Ten Commandments...something ostensibly chiseled in stone by God himself...varies in content [ref] in important ways. Most importantly; the interpretations of those bibles is all over the map...even when using the same version. It would seem to me that, if a book were genuinely divine, then there would be only one consistent interpretation regardless of how it were translated.

But maybe the bible isn't the most popular book....

Think about all the basic mathematics textbooks that have every been printed. Effectively; every person in the world getting a formal education from the 1500's to present made use of a math textbook. [of course early on not every student had their own textbook, but populations were small and wouldn't skew the number too badly]. Let us consider the printing of myriad versions of math texts analogous to the printing of the various derivations of the bible. I would estimate that there have been 7,000,000,000 algebra texts printed ... because I can invoke my own unsourced number to compete with the unsourced 6,000,000,000 of the bible.

Even if I pulled my number from an orifice on my lower torso [I did], it is not insignificant that, while there are far more versions of math texts, there is only one interpretation of their content. If we are looking for a yardstick for determining truth; I would submit that there is far more truth in any math textbook than there is in any version of the Bible.

Next time: "Why is there something instead of nothing?"

Bad Arguments For God

For the last few years, I have been relatively active in discussing/debating the existence of a god or gods [myself arguing on the "not existing" side]. By mere virtue of living in the United States, this generally means a focus on the biblical god of Abraham...but I am an equal opportunity disbeliever in any god that interacts with our world...that is to say...a theistic god. My motivation is not to demean any given god-believer, but rather to demean and ridicule bad arguments. If the god-believer can be shown that their argumentative position is unsupportable yet they remain married to that argument, then the god-believer brings that ridicule upon themselves. I strongly believe that there is no such thing as a thought crime and an individual is free to believe what they will...though it does trouble me that children are inculcated with mythology-as-fact before they are able to reason for themselves.

So...In my years of discussing belief, it quickly became apparent that there is a very limited arsenal of arguments for the existence of God. Here I wish to present a list of common arguments for the existence of a theistic god and show how they fail. To my mind, the arguments cited below should simply be taken off the table if the god-believer wishes to have any intellectual credibility.

Over the coming weeks/months/years, I will provide provide a brief dissertation on how each of these arguments fail. Feel free to suggest other arguments if you feel I have missed some important ones. Remember...I am only refuting arguments cited for the existence of a personal, involved, theistic god and, for this exercise, am unconcerned with arguments for the "some higher power" deistic god.

  • 1) The bible is the most popular book in the world
  • 2) Why is there something instead of nothing?
  • 3) Effectiveness of prayer
  • 4) Personal experience
  • 5) My holy book says so
  • 6) The miracles of my deity
  • 7) Prophecies
  • 8) Irreducible complexity
  • 9) The morality of humankind
  • 10) The argument from consequence
  • 11) The uniqueness of Christianity
  • 12) All societal benefits of religion
  • 13) The inerrancy of my holy book

Secular Parenting






Catholic Church: I DEFECT!

I finally got around to it. I just sent off my official request for defection from the Catholic Church. I have been a lapsed Catholic since about puberty, but it has gotten to the point that the mere thought of my name on their rosters seemed offensive to me. Given their actions on child sexual abuse, their positions on contraception, women, gays, etc. etc. etc, I felt the need to put as much distance as I could be me and the Pope.

There is a formal process for defecting and you can read about it here. I just filled out a form and sent it via certified mail to Cardinal George in Chicago. I included the following letter (some personal information changed for posting here)

21 May 2010
To: Cardinal Francis George
From: Mike Burns
Subject: Defection from the Catholic Church

Mr. George,

I write to you today request that my name be formally removed from the official roll of the Roman Catholic Church (RCC). I do this with a clear head and with the full understanding of its implications (as perceived by the RCC).

What motivates me to this action is the final and full recognition that the RCC, at its highest levels, is more concerned with the power structure it maintains than the congregants that it purports to serve. Most recently, the Irish abuse revelations, the Wisconsin abuse revelations, the RCC’s position on contraception in Africa, the demand of clergy celibacy, the status of women, and the status of homosexuals (to name but a few) make it clear that I cannot allow myself to be, even informally, associated with the RCC.

The Wisconsin abuse revelation brings involvement to the very highest level of your organization. The teachings that condoms make the AIDS epidemic worse can only be described as primitive, dangerous, ignorant and evil.

I have been a lapsed Catholic for over thirty years now and recognize that there is no compelling reason to believe in any supernatural actor (creator) at work in our universe. I further believe that religion is an abysmal basis for a moral/ethical framework. I actively educate interested parties to the facts of science and the history of religion in a conscious effort to dissuade others from adopting a theistic worldview.

I have informed my family that I no longer wish to be associated with the RCC at any level.

I have enclosed a self-addressed, stamped envelope which I request be returned to me with documentation/acknowledgement that my formal defection has been affected and that I no longer appear on the RCC register. Pertinent information for the request is:

Full Name: Michael Burns
DOB: ~~~~~~~~~
Diocese of Baptism: Chicago
Parish of Baptism: Mount Carmel, Melrose Park, Illinois
Date of Baptism: Unknown

It should be noted that I will be documenting these communications and efforts publicly on my blog site. Staff may contact me at or [phone number] if necessary.

I also included a document to be returned to me in a self-addressed, stamped envelope. It read:


This document is for the purpose of documenting the formal defection of Michael Burns. It may be substituted with a document of your choosing as long as the substituted document contains at least the same information below.

I (printed name) _______________________________ can verify that Michael Burns, baptized in Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Melrose Park, Illinois has been formally removed from the registers of the Roman Catholic Church.



_____________________________________________________ Title/Position/Role within the Roman Catholic Church:

Can their be a greatest quote of all time?

My nomination for the Freethinker's best quote of all time:

"Ignorance is preferable to error, and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing than he who believes what is wrong." --Thomas Jefferson: Notes on Virginia Q.VI, 1782.

Honorable mention goes to:
