Author: Steve Mendelsohn
Steve Mendelsohn, professional patent attorney and amateur philosopher, is the author of Shallow Draughts: Faith in the Absence of Free Will, which (as suggested by the subtitle) is about faith (we all have it) and free will (none of us have it). Shallow Draughts was written, primarily but not exclusively, for his fellow atheists who have yet to give up the ghost of free will. Steve came to have his belief in the absence of free will via the psychological process of automatic, involuntary, subjective evidence weighing (AISEW, for short), which is just another name for faith. Steve has no choice but to live happily near Philadelphia with his wife, Lynn; kids Lauren and Jack; dog, Lilly; and cat, Leo.
Faith in the Absence of Free Will
I believe that E=mc2. I also believe that God does not exist. I used to believe that God exists, but now I do not. Most of what I believe is based on testimonial evidence, that is, things I heard from others. Very little of what I believe is based on direct evidence, that is, things …
One Jew’s View of the Death of Jesus
As a typical American Jew who was born in the 1950s, most of my knowledge of Christian theology comes from having memorized every song in Jesus Christ Superstar when I was in high school. As I understand it, Christians believe that Jesus, the son of God, was born in Bethlehem in the Roman province of …
This article is available for free to all.Praying in Hebrew
My mother died in April 2020 at theageofninety-six.Since then,I havesaidKaddishonlyahandful of times. Soonafter havinga shivaZoomcallformymom withmyold(and I domeanold)Camp Ramahfriends,onefriend,whoknowsofmycurrent religiousbeliefs,sentmethe followingemailmessage: “So,Mendel,whatdoesadevoutatheistdoaboutKaddish?Askingforafriend,ofcourse.” I responded: “Your ‘friend’ should do like I do: read Kaddish in a language that she/he does not understand so that she/he will not realize how ridiculous it is.” Although Kaddish is recited …
Nihil Is Not Just a River in Egypt
“You accuse me of being a nihilist? Of course, I’m a nihilist. You say that like it’s something bad.” When I think of nihilists, I usually think of Russian anarchists trying to overthrow the Czarist monarchy at the beginning of the twentieth century. According to my ever-handy Google dictionary, an anarchist is a person who …
Thank God
I am a devout atheist. I used to be a theist—perhaps not a devout theist but a theist nonetheless. I became a theist at a very young age as a result of people whom I trusted telling me that God exists and convincing me that the existence of God was necessary to explain the world …