My name is Bud Uzoras. I am a Bible college graduate, a former minister, an ex-Christian, an agnostic, an atheist, a philosopher, a freethinker and a truth seeker. Dead-Logic serves as a means for me to tell the story of my exodus from religion and speak out as an advocate of critical thinking. For a more detailed description of Dead-Logic.com's mission statement, click here: Killing the Buddha.
The long story of my struggle with faith that eventually led to my atheism is here: My Three Crises of Faith. The short story goes something like this: I became a Christian when I was still a child, before I knew anything about critical thinking, skepticism, or why any of that matters. As I grew older, I started wrestling with questions about my faith. Eventually, after finding no answers to my questions and nothing to alleviate my doubts, I came to the conclusion that my faith - my religion, which served as the foundation for my way of life - could not be supported rationally. I realized I have no good reason to believe the truth claims of Christianity or any other religion any more than I have to believe in unicorns, goblins or faeries.
After many years of struggling both intellectually and emotionally, I finally accepted the label of atheist. My atheism doesn't mean I am anti-god; on the contrary, I would love to discover that there is a loving god, a joyful afterlife, and everything that goes with it. My atheism doesn't mean I deny that there is or could be a god. I don't know whether such a being exists that could rightly be called "god." Atheism simply means "without god" (a - theos), and that's as far as it goes for me. I can't believe in something if I don't have good reason to warrant belief. I refuse to believe something out of irrational fear or blind faith. I won't assume I know more than I do, or make up unjustified answers to my questions to try to make myself feel better.
Put another way, atheism is a "lack of belief in god(s)." Think of it like this: imagine that I told you there are two men named Bill and Ray standing in an elevator in the Empire State Building. With no evidence to support that claim, you would have no reason to believe it. You also have no need to reject the claim as false either. Certainly there could be two men named Bill and Ray in an elevator in the Empire State Building right now. You simply do not know; appropriately, you should have a lack of belief concerning my truth claim. Many atheists - including myself - have a similar lack of belief concerning a god or gods.
I am anti-dogma. I am anti-anything that gets in the way of seeking truth and thinking objectively. By implication, I often find myself writing from an anti-religion perspective, because nothing in human history has hindered rationality and understanding quite like religion.
That said, I try to promote tolerance and respect for others, regardless of one's religious predilections. Participating on this blog means you will adhere to the Rules of Engagement, and you will also show respect to others who participate on this blog.
The goal is to provoke thought and hopefully dialogue with readers who will likewise challenge me to think.
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