Why do I do this? How did this site come about?

When Demon Internet gave all of its subscribers plenty of web space, I wanted to make good use of it. My site started off with a programming tutorial, a page of elephant jokes and some silly theories on science.

Then, as now, I was spending a lot of time on the alt.atheism newsgroup, and one day received an email from a theist who tried to convince me that God exists, using Noah's Flood as his proof. I had a strong enough understanding of general science to spot the gaping flaws in his argument, and I systematically pointed them out to him. The results of this can be seen on my Noah's Ark page. That was the start of the Wasteland Atheism dept.

I looked on it, and saw that it was Good.

It seemed a bit lonely, so I began to write a few more articles to make the site more interesting (these were often based around debates I had previously had with theists on the internet). As I got into more Usenet and email debates with theists, ideas for other articles arose. Some articles are my own interpretation of (and addition to) other peoples' ideas, or an expansion on some particular aspect of the theism/atheism debate.

It also became an interesting intellectual challenge. I spend a lot of time commuting, and I tend to let my mind wander as I drive home from work. I think about things I've read in the papers, heard on the news, or read on the internet. That's when I form the basic ideas for a new atheism article. The absurdities of religion are quite inspiring! Many of my articles were created in response to emails I receive from theists - they say "Okay, so you've dealt with subjects W and X, but what about Y and Z?". So I respond to their questions and usually expand that response into a new article for the page (partly to pre-empt other people asking the same thing).

As an aside - sometimes I get emails asking why I spend so much time on a webpage about something I don't believe in. It doesn't actually take that much effort to create a site like this, and it has grown slowly over a number of years - it's not as if I spend several hours every day polishing it up. Sometimes months can go by without any changes at all. Also, it should be pointed out that many of the articles here came about as a direct result of theists (mainly Christians) emailing me about some argument for God that I had overlooked. It's a bit of a vicious circle - on the one hand, I get emails saying "Why do you bother talking about something you don't even believe in?", and on the other I get emails saying "Ah, but you haven't thought about *this* yet, have you?", so I have to go and write another article dealing with the new argument, which in turn generates more "Why do you bother" questions. It's a larf, innit? =)

I do not mean that I wanted to try to disprove god/religion as an intellectual exercise. As an atheist, you are often challenged to support your position. You cannot just say "Because religion is a load of nonsense!" (it is, but that's not a very convincing argument). You must be able to rationally justify your beliefs (to yourself and to others) and respond to questions in a reasoned and logical manner, backing up your argument with facts. Simply telling people that they are stupid for believing in god X is going to immediately put them on the defensive, and things will only go downhill from there.

This quote from The Mining Co. sums it up quite well:

The page has changed over time. The opening statements were originally a lot more scathing of theism and probably put many readers off. This is not my intention, as I want to encourage the open-minded theists to examine my articles (closed-minded theists will just decide I'm an agent of Satan, and not want to pollute their minds with such trash). I don't want to break anyone's faith, but if I can help to steer them away from credulous belief towards a more critical way of thinking, instill in them a sense of the awe I feel at this Godless universe, the sheer pleasure of simply being alive, and give them reason to question their beliefs then that can only be for the good.

To that end, I have tried to present my arguments in a fairly reasonable and open style (with a touch of humour). I want theists to read them and think about them. I have tried to think about the counter-arguments and tackle them also. I did have one page of outrageous blasphemy, but I didn't leave it there for long. It didn't really fit in with the rest, and probably put some people off reading the more serious stuff.

Science, by it's nature, is passive. Theism is active - it encourages evangelism. [1] That is, religion encourages it's followers to press their beliefs on others. To teach their beliefs to children, at home, in church, but preferably in schools. In the USA religious activists try to get positions on school boards and in local governments to further the religious agenda - to have creationism taught alongside, or instead of, other sciences (or should I say real sciences). To have religion X taught as The Truth, and religions Y and Z taught as some foreign fairy-tale mythology. Children should be taught about religion, but they should not be indoctrinated into a particular one. Do you follow the same faith as your parents? Coincidence?

Scientists don't really work like this. They get on with their research and keep their heads down. Scientists don't preach on the streets, knock on your doors, hand out leaflets or organise to alter the subjects that schools teach. When a scientific theory is refuted by scientists, the community accepts that and tries to find another, better theory. When religious hypotheses are refuted by scientists, the theists will go on believing anyway. Some people even seem to think that this is a good thing - you need a very strong faith to believe in something that is demonstrably false.

That is why websites like this and all the other science/atheism/humanism websites out there are important.

We have to take a stand.

We have to discourage willful ignorance and encourage people to learn and think critically. By highlighting the problems with theism, people can decide for themselves. Education is the solution, not legislation. If rational people properly question the beliefs that they acquired from their parents and community, they will usually see that those beliefs do not stand up to much scrutiny.

"God did it" will answer any question, but the real answers are much more difficult, and much more satisfying.

This website is my own personal candle in the dark.