Author: Bill Flavell
Four responses to Biblical slavery
You know slavery is profoundly wrong and you believe God is the only source of objective morality. You discover that God in the Bible permits holding slaves. He permits you to buy and sell slaves, to capture them, to brand them and beat them. Because slaves are your property, you can even beat them so brutally that they die, and you can pass them on to your children when you die. God thinks all th...
Debating believers—a masterclass in under 900 words
If you’re an atheist, there’s a very good chance you have spent time debating believers. Here are my top tips to make these discussions more productive. The basics Start by remembering believers are not stupid—they are just wrong. After thousands of years, no one has developed a successful argument for the existence of ANY god, despite many smart people trying hard to do so. But believ...
Do you have to be stupid to believe in God?
When I hear atheists saying people have to be stupid to believe in God, I am reminded of Christians who say you can’t have morals without God. Both statements are crass because the evidence is abundant. There are plenty of atheists with high moral values and plenty of smart people who believe in God. But there is no evidence that God exists and almost all versions of God mandate belief in a ...
Where have all the women gone?
Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun’s race to freedom, coming so soon after a Saudi hit squad was dispatched to Istanbul to kill Jamal Khashoggi at the Kingdom’s Embassy, could not have been better timed. And Rahaf’s determined use of social media sealed the deal. No agency or country was willing to give Saudi Arabia the benefit of the doubt and no one wanted to be seen in the full glare of w...
Why heaven could be hell
If there is eternal life and you sign up for it, you’ve signed a contract with no termination clause. No matter what happens to you, there is no way out. You can’t change your mind. Your contract is forever. And this contract has no specifics—just vague promises. You’ve signed the ultimate blank check. Employment For example, will you have to work in heaven? Can you do any job yo...
Say goodbye to Christianity in 2019
If you are a Christian, there is a lot that you have to take on faith; was Jesus born of a virgin? Did Jesus die and resurrect? Did Jesus ascend to heaven? Is Jesus alive today? You have no way of knowing if these things, and many other things, are true but if you set your threshold for belief low enough, you can believe them on faith. However, there are two facts, (one from the Old Testament and ...
AAI Atheist Calendar 2019
There are plenty of calendars on sale featuring kittens or mountains but calendars with atheist aphorisms and memes are as rare as hen’s teeth. Not anymore! AAI has produced an atheist calendar for 2019 and it’s free to download right here. Download it for your PC or phone or, better still, print it onto nice paper and proudly display it on your office wall (ahem, if this is allowed wh...
How myths undermine God
It is uncontroversial that the Sumerians invented their pantheon of gods and their elegant myth explaining the creation of the world. They believed the goddess Nammu gave birth to her husband Anki. They had a son, Enlil, who then made the world from his own parents. It is uncontroversial that the Aztecs invented their pantheon of gods and their bellicose creation myth. In their myth, the god Omete...
The true horror of indoctrination
You want your kids to grow up sensible, right? You’re educated and have experience of the world, and this has led you to choose the best political party. You know better than your five-year-old daughter, of course you do. But when she grows up she might be deceived, led astray or mistaken, so what can you do to make sure she stays loyal to the only party that makes sense? Here are a few sugg...
How a clown-god fails Christians
Let’s be honest, God is not a star when it comes to the brains department. Apparently, within days of creation, he was outwitted by a crafty snake. Soon everything went pear-shaped and he regretted making humans. So he decided to try again and drowned almost every living thing. That meant unnecessarily killing millions of innocent creatures but worse than that, he kept eight of the original ...
Is slavery wrong?
Recently a Muslim asked me, “Why is it bad to own slaves?” It’s a good question and it needs an answer. What religions tell us Both Christians and Muslims can answer this question from their holy scriptures, and both would find similar answers. The Bible, in the Old and New Testaments, permits slavery. Islam also permits holding slaves, especially those won as “booty”...
Six awkward questions on Biblical morality
Religious people tell me atheists have no basis for morality–all we have are opinions and no one’s opinion is more valid than anyone else’s. Instead, they point me to a book they say was inspired by our creator. They insist God is the only true moral authority. God can give us perfect moral laws for eternity. So I read the Bible but I came away with questions I couldn’t ans...