Randi essay / statement about being an atheist?

[Fasto]

Hi,
I feel a bit silly opening a new thread about this, but I absolutely cannot find the link that I'm looking for...
I remember reading a short essay (or statement) by James Randi about why he is an atheist. I'd like to find a link to this piece, but obviously can't (I guess not remembering the title doesn't help).
Does anyone know what I'm talking about, and where I may find it?
Thanks guys!

 

[rjh01]

How about this

This made a lot of sense to me. I am a “tea pot” agnostic or atheist depending on how deep of a discussion we’re having. I don’t believe that there is a god, in fact, I can’t even define the term in a meaningful way. I do believe that there could be some divine creating force that I’m unaware of, but what I am aware of leads me to believe that there isn’t. As such, I often have a hard time in the company of hard-core atheists, as they seem unwilling to reconsider their opinions. I agree with their conclusions by and large, but not their position. They have reached the hard and firm conclusion that there is no god, and that if you think there is, you’re dead wrong. This strikes me as a very similar argument to those proposed by fundamentalist religious groups. And the reason is… they’re both authoritarian.

Ref http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/514-one-thought-from-cfis-world-congress.html

 

[Fredrik]

The article you linked to isn't even written by Randi. I think Fasto is talking about an old Swift piece, from before they changed the format of Swift and the layout of the web page. Randi usually talked about a variety of different subjects in those, but in this one he only talked about his views on religion. I just spent a few minutes trying to find it, but I was unsuccessful too.

 

[rjh01]

You are right. I forgot that even in those days Jeff wrote many swift articles.

It could be that Fasto has his sources mixed up like I did.

 

[Georg]

Maybe that´s it?

snip

I’ve said it before: there are two sorts of atheists. One sort claims that there is no deity, the other claims that there is no evidence that proves the existence of a deity; I belong to the latter group, because if I were to claim that no god exists, I would have to produce evidence to establish that claim, and I cannot. Religious persons have by far the easier position; they say they believe in a deity because that’s their preference, and they’ve read it in a book. That’s their right.

snip

found here.

 

[Fredrik]

That's not the one I had in mind. As I recall there was a Swift with only one item in it, in which Randi described his views on religion in detail.

 

[Winter]

As I recall there was a Swift with only one item in it, in which Randi described his views on religion in detail.

Perhaps?

 

[James in New York]

A few of my favorites by Randi:

I suggest that we might want to depose this incumbent God and start dealing with The Real World. He's proven — time and again — to be cruel, capricious, and vindictive. He drowns, crushes, burns, and starves millions of us every day. He created cancer, viruses, and germs to invade and destroy our bodies as He sees fit, and uses them very effectively. In His wisdom, He directed those in charge to impede stem cell research so that such a powerful approach would not be available to us and He wouldn't have to strain the Divine Intellect to disarm that defense. We amuse Him as we flail about vainly trying to appease Him. I vote that we dump Him.

and

To make sure that my blasphemy is thoroughly expressed, I hereby state my opinion that the notion of a god is a basic superstition, that there is no evidence for the existence of any god(s), that devils, demons, angels and saints are myths, that there is no life after death, heaven nor hell, that the Pope is a dangerous, bigoted, medieval dinosaur, and that the Holy Ghost is a comic-book character worthy of laughter and derision. I accuse the Christian god of murder by allowing the Holocaust to take place -- not to mention the "ethnic cleansing" presently being performed by Christians in our world -- and I condemn and vilify this mythical deity for encouraging racial prejudice and commanding the degradation of women.