I've discovered that some of my non virtual friends in the real world believe I'm being sarcastic when I refer to my "atheist friends", but that isn't always true. I am being quite sincere when I say that there are people who call themselves atheists that I honestly consider to be my friends, even though we may have never met in person. My friend David is a humanist. He and I have respectfully disagreed about many topics of mutual interest, but if I ever visit New Zealand or he ever comes to the U.S. I fully expect to shake his hand, buy him a beer, and for us to finally have a face-to-face conversation after several years of pleasant long-distance correspondence. Philosophy professor and atheist author George H. Smith likewise has graciously accepted my friendship on Facebook. I'm also sure that he and I could have a friendly conversation over a beer, a single malt scotch, or even a glass of water, should we ever met in person. Although Professor Smith and I do not appear to agree very often when the topic of conversation is religion, we agree most enthusiastically about the philosophy of Libertarianism. My favorite book written by an atheist remains An Atheist Defends Religion by Bruce Sherman. It would be difficult to claim another book has supplanted it as my all-time favorite book written by an atheist, because so much of Sheiman's philosophy echoed my own. Basically, Sheiman made the same overall point about probability that was hammered home so well that I quoted him in my own book, Counterargument for God, after he wrote: The propensity for matter … [Read more...]