I seem to be on the verge of having a serious discussion with Pastor Benjamin J. Short. I’m moving the discussion here so we can break free from the 140 character limit.

BJ has made several points and I would like to collect my responses to them here. Then we can continue the discussion in the comments of this post.

BJ_Short: @almightygod just visited your webpage. I’m very curious how an atheist REALLY believes we came into existance. And what happens after death

almightygod: @BJ_Short We come from our mothers. After death we rot and are gone.

BJ_Short: @almightygod where did our mothers and their mothers come from? And where does our conscience come from?

BJ_Short: @almightygod How can biological matter spontaneously develop conscience?

almightygod: @BJ_Short How do you define conscience?

BJ_Short: @almightygod our God-given knowledge of His existance and our responsibilty to keep His law. As Psalm 40:8 says “thy law is within my heart”

almightygod: @BJ_Short Well, if you define it that way then there’s no such thing.

BJ_Short: @almightygod Interesting! What about emotions? Where does love and hate, joy and sorrow come from?Even the ability to believe or not?

almightygod: @BJ_Short We don’t need magic to explain emotions. They come from our brain which evolved.

BJ_Short: @almightygod from what?

almightygod: @BJ_Short Human brains evolved from simpler brains. And you can see simpler forms of emotion and morality in animals.

BJ_Short: @almightygod I’m asking about the beginning. Where’d love come from? Where did “simpler” brains come from? Why are we even here?

BJ_Short: @almightygod Who decides what’s right and wrong?

almightygod: @BJ_Short Does a mother dog show love when she cares for and defends her puppies?

almightygod: @BJ_Short People (voters, legislators, juries, communities) decide what’s right and wrong.

almightygod: @BJ_Short Do you really think people (and animals) wouldn’t cooperate unless someone magicked it into them?

BJ_Short: @almightygod do you really think it rained on the rocks for millions of years and now magically we exist and can see and speak and even love

BJ_Short: @almightygod do you really think nothing exploded and became everything?

almightygod: @BJ_Short Are we going to discuss the moral argument? Or the cosmological? I get dizzy when you switch back and forth.

Let’s begin with the cosmological argument. Reality-based humans are willing to admit that we don’t know exactly how the universe began. It is an area of ongoing study. The cosmological argument seeks to replace that admission of ignorance and dedication to discovery with an assertion that is backed up by no evidence and does nothing to help us discover the truth. Essentially, you look at a gap in our current knowledge and say “God did it.” There’s no evidence for this. It’s more useful to say “I don’t know, let’s try to find out.” That’s my response to the cosmological argument. If you want to pick up the moral argument, then please address the responses that I’ve already made.

I look forward to our continuing discussion.

Someone has asked if I ever believed in god. Yes, I did.

I was a Christian for over 15 years. I was involved in ministry and took a great interest in apologetics. Because I still have a lot of friends and family who are Christians, I use this Twitter account rather than expressing all of my thoughts about religion under my own name. I am out as an atheist and I’m not afraid to talk about it in real life, but people get tired of it.

@almightygod is a way to express my thoughts about religion without hurting friendships, but it’s also a way to plumb the depths of the absurd ideas people believe. Many of my tweets are direct quotes from scripture or paraphrases. These seem to bother Christians the most. I guess they’d rather not think about some things their holy book teaches. Other tweets express an idea that people believe about god (e.g., god likes to be praised) in a more personal context (“I love it when people tell me how awesome I am.”) Expressing some ideas about god in the first person makes him look like a bit of an ass.

I’ve been at this project for over a year now and it’s therapeutic and enjoyable for me. I hope you enjoy it, too.

I’m thinking about doing some out of character posts on this site. Anyone interested in that? Do you have any questions about @almightygod?

As it has been foretold, I have brought forth a blog and now present it to you, my beloved humans, as an enduring communication from Heaven to Earth. No longer must you ponder my silence and fear that I’m only in your imagination. You can read my actual words right here. There’s no need for religious disputes in areas that I didn’t make entirely clear in the Bible. I can answer all of your questions so you can live at peace with your fellow Christian.

Some of my brilliant ideas can’t be contained in Twitter’s 140 character limit. This webpage will set me free from that restriction (not that I couldn’t miraculously make tweets longer than 140 characters). I’ll still use Twitter as my main mode of communication, but I’ll link to this blog when I have something more to say.

Welcome one and all. Please add this site to your bookmarks, subscribe to the RSS feed, make it your home page, tell your friends, print it off and hang it on your fridge. This webspace is holy. You are welcome to leave comments telling me how awesome I am. It’s one of my favorite topics.

Here’s an instant messaging conversation I had with a Christian:

Almightygod: if god told you to kill a baby, would you do it?
Christian: god wouldnt tell us to kil anything
Christian: thats a sin
Almightygod: he did tell people to kill babies in the Bible
Almightygod: you should really read it
Christian: no he didnt.. stfu
Almightygod: I’ll get the link for you, hang on
Christian: youre lying
Christian: no
Christian: i know there isnt any killing on gods hands in the bible
Almightygod: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel%2015:3&version=31
Christian: oh, there was an exception there
Almightygod: lol
Christian: god was trying to wipe out everyone and start over from hypocrites like you
Christian: but it didnt work
Almightygod: whatever the situation, god asked someone to kill babies
Almightygod: so, if he asked you, would you do it?
Christian: you’re taking it the wrong way
Almightygod: you can call me names if you want, but that doesn’t help your case
Almightygod: what’s the right way to take it
Almightygod: that’s not even the only time it happened in the Bible
Christian: god was trying to start over is the right way
Almightygod: start over?
Almightygod: no, the Israelis were just seizing land from their neighbors
Christian: *slits your throat* jeez
Christian: you say youve read the bible
Almightygod: calm down. No need to threaten violence
Almightygod: I’m just telling you about your own holy book, since you apparently haven’t read it.
Almightygod: do you want me to show you some more passages?
Christian: YOU ARE GOING TO HELL