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Ireland Criminalizes Blasphemy
An anonymous reader writes "Another European country clamps down on free speech. From the article: 'It does seem bizarre that, in 2009, a modern European nation would seek to shield religious belief from criticism — yet that is what is happening in Ireland right now. In repealing the 1961 Defamation Act, the Irish government sought to expunge the worst excesses of Ireland's draconian laws restricting free speech, but in the process it has ended up making offending religious belief a criminal offence. Aside from a 25,000 fine (reduced from the 100,000 originally sought by the government), the new Defamation Act gives the authorities the power to stage raids on publishers: the courts may now issue a warrant authorising the police to enter, using "reasonable force," premises where they have grounds for believing there are copies of "blasphemous statements."'"
Nobody knows whether there is a god ... I believe that there are no gods.
Zealots, of any sort, can't tell the difference between "knowing" and "believing". That's what you have to take into consideration.
As for myself, I'm an agnostic. I believe there's no way we can actually say whether there is or is not a god, but I feel there is none. People say that stance lacks conviction, but I feel I'm being more realistic on the matter.
Does it make you happy you're so strange?
Before Newton, if you wondered why the planets didn't crash into the sun, you have to say "I don't know." After Newton, you'd say "gravity." That period of time between question and answer is not a free-zone for introducing supernatural beings simply because we haven't figured out all the answers yet. In a million years, assuming science has failed to find the answers to the ultimate questions (Where did we come from? Why are we here? Where are we going?) it may be time to think seriously about a Creator as the last option, but let's give it some time first.
"I improvise. It's my greatest talent. I prefer situations to plans..." --Wintermute, William Gibson's "Neuromancer"
This puts the Atheist in the same boat as the theist: with a belief that lacks any evidence.
ahem.
a- = without
theism = belief in a deity
atheism = without belief in a deity
Agnosticism and atheism aren't mutually exclusive. You can be an agnostic atheist (i.e. you don't believe in any god and you claim there is no way to know this for fact) or you can be a gnostic atheist (i.e. you don't believe any god and you claim to know this as fact). Most atheists are agnostic atheists.