I hit a new high today (or, perhaps with the graphics, a new low). No, I haven’t discovered a better personal pharmaceutical, at least not the artificial kind. This one is natural. Today, this blog received over 1000 views. One thousand nine to be exact. That beat my old record from last spring of 822 in one 24 hour period. So I’m on a real high today. To think, over 1000 people like me, they really like me!
At least for today.
OK. Who am I fooling. In looking at my blog stats, I see that the last post on Hitler and Stalin, with its ruminations on the obvious ties to Christianity’s darkest 6 centuries, and especially the 
Inquisition, seems to have helped me exceed my personal best. Of those 1009 views, 583 alone were of my last post. That’s at least twice my average on any given day. It just shows to go you that atheism, while interesting, is nowhere near as interesting as megalomaniacal dictators who kill millions of people, regardless of their religious beliefs. Hitler and Stalin seem to really capture the public attention, even 60 years after their historical zenith. My previous post on the subject, Atheism and Stalin is the 7th most viewed post I’ve written, and the latest is actually in 14th place (out of 218) after only a week on the charts (so to speak). Of course, neither of them come close to matching the over 10,000 views of the #1 post, Sax and Violins.
Which only proves, once again, that sex sells better than Hitler.
SPANISH INQUISITOR 
Science and Atheism
Science is different from religion. It does not pretend that it knows everything. There are even now deep questions about the origins of the universe that we don’t have answers to now though it is possible we may be able to answer some of them in the future.
But the inability of science to provide answers to these questions does not prove that religious faith, tradition, or an ancient holy text has the ability to answer them. Science cannot prove that God does not exist, but this in no way establishes that God exists. There are millions of things whose lack of existence cannot be established.
The philosopher Bertrand Russel had an analogy. Imagine that there is a teapot in orbit around the sun. It is impossible to prove that the teapot does not exist because it is too small to be detected by our telescopes. Nobody but a crazy person would say “Well, I’m prepared to believe in the teapot because I cannot establish that it doesn’t exist.” This means that maybe we have to be technically agnostics, but really we are all atheists about teapots with orbits around the sun.
But now let us suppose that everybody in our society including our teachers and the sages of our tribes all had faith in a teapot that orbits the sun. Let us also suppose that stories of the teapot have come down to us for many generations as one of the traditions of our own society and there are ancient holy texts about the teapot. In this case people would say that a person who did not believe in the teapot is eccentric or mad.
There are infinite numbers of things like celestial teapots whose lack of existence we are unable to establish. There are fairies, for example, and there are unicorns and goblins. We cannot prove that any of these creatures of the imagination do not exist in reality. But we don’t believe they exist, just as we don’t believe that the gods of the Scandinavians, for example, have any true existence.
We are all atheists about almost all of the gods created by societies in the past. Some of us, however, take the ultimate step of believing that the god of the Jews and the Christians, like the gods of the Greeks and the Egyptians, also do not exist.
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Now here’s a version of this text in Interlingua. (For more information about Interlingua, use a search enging to search on the title “Interlingua in interlingua” or go to http://www.interlingua.com.
Le scientia es differente del religion. Illo non pretende que illo sape toto. Il ha etiam nunc questiones profunde sur le origines del universe al quales nos nunc non ha responsas ben que il es possible que nos potera responder a alicunes de illos in le futuro.
Ma le incapacitate del scientia de provider responsas a iste questiones non proba que le fide religiose, le tradition, o un texto sancte e ancian pote responder a illos. Le scientia non pote probar que Deo non existe, ma isto non establi de ulle maniera que Deo existe. Il ha milliones de cosas cuje existentia non pote esser establite.
Le philosopho Bertrand Russell habeva un analogia. Imagina que il ha un theiera in orbita circum le sol. Il es impossibile probar que le theiera non existe proque illo es troppo parve pro esser detegite per nostre telescopios. Nemo excepte un folle dicerea, “Multo ben, io es preparate a creder in le theiera proque io non pote establir que illo non existe.” Isto significa que forsan nos debe esser technicamente agnosticos, ma vermente nos es omnes atheistas sur theieras con orbitas circum le sol.
Ma que nos nunc suppone que omnes in nostre societate includente nostre professores e le sagios de nostre tribos habeva fide in un theiera que orbita le sol. Que nos anque suppone que historias del theiera ha venite usque nos trans multe generationes como un del traditiones de nostre proprie societate e que il ha textos sancte ancian sur le theiera. In iste caso le gente dicerea que un persona qui non credeva in le theiera es eccentric o folle.
Il ha numeros infinite de cosas como theieras celestial cuje manco de existentia nos non pote establir. Il ha fees, pro exemplo, e il ha unicornios e gnomos. Nos non pote probar que iste creaturas del imagination non existe in le realitate. Ma nos non crede que illos existe exactamente como nos non crede que le deos del Scandinavos, pro exemplo, ha ulle existential ver.
Nos es omnes atheistas sur quasi omne le deos create per societates in le passato. Alicunes de nos tamen prende le ultime passo de creder que le deo del judaeos e del christianos, como le deos del grecos e le egyptianos, anque non existe.
Sex sells better than anything, even better than God though the godful just hide their sex sales the way “Hitler” is hiding his mouth. Good choice on the top pic. 🙂
Congrats, SI. Great pictures!
So Hitler and sex in a post is like the peanutbutter cup of blog posts (the two great tastes…)?
Congrats on the new high, I remember when I hit that milestone. One thing I have noticed though is that most of the posts I get tons of hits on are the ones that leave me scratching my head, wondering “why do so many people want to read this?” I mean, my highest-viewed post ever is on atheist bumper stickers. WHY?!?!?!?!? What is it about that post that made more than 20k people want to look at it?
I just don’t get people sometimes.
Good thing I din’t read this at work 🙂
From Stalin/Hitler to sex in one bound – that’s quite a feat. And lots of views, to boot. I think you’ve found your niche.
I always thought Hitler’s mustach was smaller…
Beh, I topped 580 views in one day when I wrote a post about the Acre Yom Kippur riots (and that shit was dugg, stumbledupon, and pharyngulated!!) – so boo-hoo someplace else, mifter. (Yes, mifter).