Image via WikipediaThe "no atheists in foxholes" myth is not only alive and well, but it is being applied to all sorts of other stressful situations. Take, for example, this commentary from The Buffalo News. The author, Lisa Earle McLeod, begins with the foxhole claim and then takes it a step further, "I would also say there aren’t too many atheists during an economic collapse or when your kid g
Image via WikipediaIn a recent post, I wrote, "There are many excellent pro-religion blogs out there, but this is not one of them." Since I have had a couple of readers contact me to ask about where they could find good pro-religion blogs, I thought I'd address that here. I'd also like to ask what I hope will be a thought-provoking question: Should readers of atheist blogs make a habit of visiting
I fully support this lawsuit. Religion should have NOTHING to do with Politics. It should not be present at the Inauguration, in the Pledge of Allegiance or on any money bills (legal tender).
Kudos to Minnesota Atheists! Positive Atheism in Action!
Keep religion out of politics, church out of state
“Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s”
News Release:
Minnesota Atheists [...]
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Some interpret the [[Qur'an]] as calling for the execution of [[Apostates]], or people who reject Islam.
Some interpret the [[Qur'an]] as calling for the execution of [[Apostates]], or people wh
Image by bobster1985 via FlickrWhy aren't more atheists vocal about their feelings on religion? Why aren't more atheists willing to take a stand against anti-atheist bigotry and demand equality? In a word, fear. We fear losing friends, alienating family, getting fired from our jobs, or even being physically assaulted by religious extremists. These concerns are understandable, but true equality for
Dear Atheists,
Hi, I am a Zombie and I enjoy drinking blood and eating flesh. Yes you heard me right! But you may have misunderstood me. I am not actually a Zombie and I don’t like to drink...
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If you have a blog you are probably like me and are trying to find the secret to generating traffic to your site. This site gets anywhere from 30 to 120 hits a day. If I got 120 everyday I probably wouldn’t complain to much but it seems no matter what I try I cannot [...]
If you have a blog you are probably like me and are trying to find the secret to generating traffic to your site. This site gets anywhere from 30 to 120 hits a day. If I got 120 everyday I probably wouldn’t complain to much but it seems no matter what I try I cannot [...]
Has anybody tried Atheist Passions? I'd never heard of them until seeing them mentioned in a newspaper article somewhere. They advertise themselves as focusing on "atheist dating & social networking." Sounds like it might be worth a look. Or are there others out there you prefer? Subscribe to Atheist RevolutionTags: Atheist Passions, online dating, social networking, atheist, atheists Copyrig
When I was in high school, a friend and I took a trip from our home in the Pacific Northwest to Southern California. Neither of us had any money, so we traveled via bus (Greyhound). In retrospect, I'm really not sure what my parents were thinking. Not only was I not particularly responsible, but the cast of characters we encountered along the way were not exactly tame. Among the many memorable exp
Today's web spotlight and shout out goes to the Gay & Lesbian Atheists & Humanists (GALAH). There is much misunderstanding and hate directed at both gays and atheists/agnostics, this organization serves as a double minority seeking to create awareness. The organization offers a voice for LGBT people who are atheists, agnostics, humanists and/or skeptics. They have meetings in San Francisco, Los
To put it mildly, I am over the moon that Barack Obama will be our next president and Joseph Biden our next vice-president, not only because their progressive positions defeated that angry old man McCain and his looney-tunes running mate Palin, but in doing so Obama has also placed the rabid Republicans in disarray—at least for the time being.
Moreover, Obama's win as a black man represents a
British atheists have raised a pile of cash to tell Londoners there’s probably no God and to get on with life.
The nation’s first atheist advertising campaign has beaten its funding target in less than 24 hours, raising nearly nine times the amount it needed to posts its ads on public buses in London.
Organisers hope to [...]
Image via WikipediaBy presenting case after case of the most vile examples of Christian extremism, atheists are ignoring the greater good religion brings to most people. This is the claim of psychology professor David G. Myers. According to Dr. Myers, focusing on anecdotes while neglecting large scale data from the social sciences obscures the picture and deepens America's cultural divide. I think
WE MET THROUGH CRAIGSLIST
Oh do I love the internet. Someone send Al Gore a thank you card. What we did before Google and YouTube I don’t even know. How did we look up information? The library? That sounds painfully awful. The only bad thing about the internet is it gives uneducated and naive people with [...]
The Nurse proposes a sensible, fulfilling, fun spiritual framework for atheists and sceptics
Atheist? You can still enjoy a spiritual life. The Nurse has been an atheist since early childhood. But she’s invented a positive, exciting spiritual framework. It provides her with an unpretentious but creative structure within which to live a responsible life.
It’s just a [...]
What began as a press release has become a major point in Elizabeth Dole’s campaign for reelection in North Carolina. Dole has now sent a flyer to voters in North Carolina attacking Kay Hagan’s character and values for daring to associate with atheists.
According to Dole’s campaign we are the “most vile, radical liberals in America”. [...]
“The Freedom from Religion Foundation filed a claim last week that President Bush in conjunction with the Evangelical based Focus on the Family group who runs the National Day of Prayer Task Force is breaking the nation’s First Amendment.” The Examiner
The article’s author, Laura Jean Kerr, wrote that ;
“Another area of contention is that [...]
Here is a snippet of Papal fear:"There are those that, having decided that 'God is dead,' declare themselves 'god,' believing themselves to be the only creator of their own fate, the absolute owner of the world," the Nazi German-born pope said.Um, declaring god is dead pretty much eliminates the possibility that we, ourselves, are god, unless we too are dead. Asshole! Read it here, or you know w
Image via WikipediaI have been rather sharp in my criticism of American Atheists for seeming to do far less than the Freedom From Religion Foundation or Americans United for Separation of Church and State. One mention in the news is certainly not going to change my opinion, but it is nice to see them raising questions about the tax exempt status of American churches. In order to maintain their exe
Conservative Christians have done an impressive job of labeling themselves "values voters" and getting this label to stick. The American media has been fully complicit, going along for the ride without stopping to question what gives any group exclusive claim to have values. In fact, the media does not seem particularly interested in understanding the values which allegedly guide these voters. Ins
................................Atheists and theists sometimes have surprisingly similar views about the origins of the universe. What really gets me is that Christians and other theists feel superior because they think their theory makes so much more sense. They'll say, "Something can't come from nothing. Nothing comes from nothing! You silly atheists!" but they think that putting God into th
I am a member of American Atheists. I joined close to a year ago because I wanted to find out whether the organization would be a worthwhile one to support via membership. I have been fairly disappointed and do not plan to renew my membership when it expires. I have been much happier with the Freedom From Religion Foundation and Americans United for Separation of Church and State. These organizati
Fiction Friday - Pick a book of fiction you’d never read (e.g., if you read sci-fi, pick a romance). Open to a random page and read the last couple paragraphs of the page. DO NOT TURN THE PAGE. Now continue writing the story. Feel free to change the genre as you write. The Book: The Good Book ". . .But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king between the sections of his armor. The king t
- Various Atheist Symbols/Signs found on the web.
I take no credit for any of these.
I am writing this because I recently heard a story, of a man who refused to be baptized. The wife, the children, were all baptized, but he refused to do so. The reason? You’re going to love this. The reason is because he thinks that it is absurd to be ‘donating’ 20% of his salary to the church. Oh yes, the
I wish my Jewish friends and acquiantance with the peace from G*d as in, "Avinu shalom aleikem". To Moslems when I identify them, I wish same as in "Salaam akelum" and I praise our common Father with "Allah Agbar!" (God is great.). To the Hindus I acknowledge the spark of the Divine in them with "Namaste". The best man in my wedding is from China and my godfather is a Freemason. ( Not everyone kno
I have made no secret of opposing the DNC's decision to include the first ever interfaith religious service at the convention in Denver tomorrow or to place it in the hands of a Pentecostal. I find it appalling that the progressive party would set aside the framer's clearly secular intent and embrace superstition and religious delusion. I am not at all swayed by the argument that the Democrats are
The 2000 presidential contest between George W. Bush and Al Gore thrust a new phrase into the consciousness of the American public: culture war. The media ran with this story, using maps filled with red and blue to promote the idea that our country was increasingly divided along cultural lines. Some argued that the differences were mostly urban vs. rural, and others cited differences such as educa
Sent in by JackieA couple of days ago, in the middle of the thread about integrity of the Christian community, somebody posted an interesting question that I couldn't wait to jump all over. He asked "Atheists... do you have a purpose?"I must have hit cancel instead of publish because my comment never went on the thread. So, I figured it would make a better discussion topic instead.My response to t
Melissa Kite, the Real Life columnist for the British “Spectator” as well as deputy political editor of the Sunday Telegraph, was surprised when people took offense at a recent Neil Diamond concert in which the man who sang “Holly Holy” proclaimed himself a man of God. A fallen-away Catholic, she understands why people don’t go [...]
Real quick I thought I should let you know that at this time Simply Ecclesia is not taking questions nor will the two contributors debate about apologetics. We are currently looking for another contributor who is more gifted and knowledgeable in this area who is able to talk to atheists or people who have [...]
If you are an American atheist with a job and you have more than a handful of co-workers with whom you interact regularly, chances are pretty good that you have experience dealing with Christians in the workplace. Some of these Christians would never dream of wearing their religion on a chain around their necks, decorating their cubicles with bible quotes, or repeatedly inviting you to attend thei
In addition to writing on atheism, I tend to devote some space on this blog to important political topics. While some of my politically-oriented posts address areas where politics overlaps with atheism, many do not. The common thread is that I write from a progressive position. This leads some readers to periodically remind me that not all atheists are on the progressive end of the political spect
Yes, I must admit, this did get me a bit hot under the coller this morning. I have re-posted the entire article for you to read and go over with other parents, homeschool family's and SILK'S (single income lots of kids). These type of articles seem to diappear when the 'trouble clouds' begin to form. So...That's why it's re-posted here with permission. Please read and please do as the article asks
With many high-profile school shootings occurring throughout the United States and many other countries, considerable attention has been focused on bullying. Research from psychology, criminal justice, and other fields has demonstrated that bullying is a complex behavior with myriad causes. Just how are we to assign blame in cases of school bullying, and what implications does this have for educat
Many Christians seem so hung up on the idea of worship that they cannot comprehend how anyone could not worship something. We atheists are routinely accused of worshiping Darwin, science, humanity, and even ourselves. Nothing could be further from the truth. We do not worship anything, and it baffles me why this is so difficult for some Christians to understand.Worshiping makes no sense to me, and
Here’s a nice cherry video to close out the weekend…
Feel better now?
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I've got some great yet simple advice for evangelical Christians wanting to "witness" to atheists. For all my regular heathen readers, "witnessing" is Christianspeak for sharing the "good news" with non-Christians. They want to convert you, and they think that dangling salvation in front of you will do the trick. But this post isn't for you; it is for them. I want to let them in on our secret and
I often blog about atheism, but for this post I'd like to address a different and much broader set of beliefs that I (and others) refer to as Atheism - capital A Atheism. This is the sort of Atheism championed by American Atheists. It would be misleading to speak of Atheism as the atheist worldview. After all, there many atheistic worldviews. However, I suspect that Atheism, as used by American
A new Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey reveals that 23% of Canadians report that they do not believe in any sort of god. This obviously differs from U.S. numbers which tend to be in the range of 8-12%. Way to go, Canada!Tags: atheism, atheist, atheists, Canada, Canadian
We Americans often pride ourselves in being a fairly tolerant bunch. However, the often cited University of Minnesota study of Americans' attitudes toward various religious groups casts serious doubt on the accuracy of our common self-perception. Even in 2008, being an atheist in America is no picnic. This should give every American cause to examine his or her own tolerance.Equality gaps certainly
We Americans often pride ourselves in being a fairly tolerant bunch. However, the often cited University of Minnesota study of Americans' attitudes toward various religious groups casts serious doubt on the accuracy of our common self-perception. Even in 2008, being an atheist in America is no picnic. This should give every American cause to examine his or her own tolerance.Equality gaps certainly
Mitt Romney spoke about the relationship between religion and politics again last week, continuing and clarifying the argument he made in December while still a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. The occasion for his recent remarks was his receipt of the prestigious Canterbury Medal awarded by The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. The award [...]
The quote in the headline is from Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, Britain's biggest Catholic. How he is determined to be Britain's biggest Catholic is a mystery? Do they hold a competition for this where you're scored on how much you condemn and judge others and how little you look at your own personal failings.According to O'Connor, respect is to be paid to agnostics and atheists all the way up
There may be growing discontent among some evangelical Christians over the politicization of their faith, but the Christian extremist base remains determined to fuse religious delusion and political power. Do atheists have a role in supporting those evangelicals who wish to withdraw from the culture wars and reclaim the religious roots of evangelism from the politicians? This is a controversial question, almost certain to split atheists. And yet, it just might be something of an opportunity too.The pending "Evangelical Manifesto" is something with which many atheists may have some interest. After all, it has been described as "starkly self-critical.""That way faith loses its independence, Christians become 'useful idiots' for one political party or another, and the Christian faith becomes
There may be growing discontent among some evangelical Christians over the politicization of their faith, but the Christian extremist base remains determined to fuse religious delusion and political power. Do atheists have a role in supporting those evangelicals who wish to withdraw from the culture wars and reclaim the religious roots of evangelism from the politicians? This is a controversial qu
President Bush certainly rolled out the red carpet for the Pope, raising troubling questions about preferential treatment for Christian leaders. The mainstream media coverage I saw was extremely positive, and although I can't say I went out of my way to look for coverage of this story, I certainly did not encounter anything about those protesting the Pope's visit. Finding this story about the NYC Atheists and their protest in New York University's student newspaper was an unexpected treat.According to Kate Ray, NYC Atheists were protesting "the politics of the Catholic Church and recent anti-atheist comments made by the pope." Good for them. I'm glad somebody was calling attention to these issues of which the mainstream media has been woefully inadequate.It is not that big media paid no at
Equality was a core principle of the Civil Rights movement, a movement with which most Americans would comfortably express agreement or even admiration. America's oldest Civil Rights organization has accepted atheism as a Civil Rights issue, however, many Americans remain unwilling to do so. Equality remains an unfortunately elusive goal for atheists in America.Stellar1 at de-conversion recently asked, "What if I behaved toward Christians like they behave towards me?" This is certainly an intriguing question in this context. Some of Stellar1's points:However, I have to say that I am so very tired of having other people’s religious beliefs shoved in my face. I do not behave in that manner about my agnostic view and think it arrogant for Christians to think I care about their belief system
~SonlitThis news won't surprise anyone but I thought I'd share it anyway. SourceAmong Americans who believe their personal finances are getting better, 67%say that faith and religion are Very Important in their lives. A RasmussenReports national telephone survey also found that, among those whose financesare getting worse, 55% consider faith and religion that important. The survey also found that those who are optimistic about their finances are alsomore likely than others to pray, read the Bible, and attend Church. Fifty-onepercent (51%) of those who say their finances are getting better say they attendreligious services at least once a week. Only 31% of those who are pessimisticabout their finances attend so faithfully. Most (56%) of those who are pessimistic about their finances say the
I used to think that services like Digg and Reddit would be very helpful in boosting blog traffic and reaching a wider audience. I continue to utilize them but do so with somewhat less enthusiasm. Frankly, their impact on my traffic and readership has been minimal (primarily because most of what I write gets no love there). Naturally, I was a bit skeptical when I ran across a new service, The Atheist Spot, that seems to be similar to Digg and Reddit but entirely focused on atheism.Now that I have been playing around with The Atheist Spot for a bit, I think it has real potential. Much like Digg and Reddit, users can submit their own content or that of someone else they find particularly inspiring. The community of users can vote up or down each contribution and view the top rated contributi
A lot has been said attacking religious people in the world for causing wars and killing people. Atheists are quick to point out the European wars of religion, the Crusades, Armadas, and other historical conflicts which testify to the evil of religion and that all rational people should divest themselves immediately of maintaining faith in God. All of humanity’s woes, they preach, can be traced back to the offenses of religion.Oh yeah? So we should become rational, 21st century enlightened atheists and ditch religion, because atheism is going to save the world?In the 20th century alone, over 50 million people were slaughtered by atheism.Adolph Hitler, Nazi atheist, murdered six million Jews because of their religion and possibly 3 million more people who were gypsies, minorities, handica
If you liked that one, here’s one on faith, gravity and Jesus. Others can be found here.
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Just ask Representative Monique Davis, a Democrat mind you, who recently went off on Rob Sherman as he was speaking before the House State Government Administration Committee about the governor’s recent grant of $1 million to a Baptist church. Representative Davis had this to say:
…it’s dangerous for our children to even know that your philosophy [...]
Watch "Black Swan" author Nassim Nicolas Talub. This guy makes you think about how the "improbable" regularly happens.
Here he describes the book title:
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In a rather asinine study that somehow claims to measure true happiness, the conclusion reached by Professor Andrew Clark and Dr. Orsolya Leikes in Britain was that people who believe in God are happier than agnostics or atheists.According to them, religious people were better able to cope with disappointments such as unemployment or divorce. Nothing in this study suggests that these people may be using religion as a crutch as a means to avoid dealing with reality that atheists and agnostics choose to deal with on a daily basis.There is also nothing in this study that, perhaps, agnostics or atheists would be a little happier if they didn't have to put up with the inanities of organized religion being forced down their throat day after day.The authors of the study are quoted as saying "Reli
There is reason to believe that surveys conducted to identify the number of American atheists provide low estimates, but let's assume for a minute that we can trust these data as reasonably accurate. A commonly reported number is that 1.6% of Americans identify themselves as atheists. If the U.S. population is approximately 303.5 million, this means that there are at least 4,856,000 atheists in America who identify as such. That is a lot of atheists!Given that the number of Americans reporting no religious affiliation is 16.1%, we can assume that there are at least some out there who are atheists but who do not want to identify as such for a variety of reasons. As a quick example, combining the number who identify as either atheist or agnostic gets us to 4% (roughly 12,140,000 people).But
Yesterday I read about the news that the world’s biggest monetary award given to any individual by a philanthropist organisation was won by Professor Michael Heller,72, a cosmologist and philosopher who has spent his life researching about questions such as “Does the universe need a cause?”
Professor Heller won the prestigious award of $1.6million given by Templeton Foundation, and is to be
Anyone who understands the definition of atheism must acknowledge that all children are born atheists, including those born to Christian parents. Atheism is nothing more than the lack of acceptance of the theistic belief claim (i.e., some god or gods exist). A theist is one who believes that god(s) exist; an atheist is one who does not share this belief. The newborn child cannot even entertain such possibilities and thus lacks theistic belief. Atheism is the default position, and this is where we all begin.In order for Christians to argue against the reality that all children are born atheists, they must distort the meaning of atheism. They must convince themselves and their audience that atheism is a religion, a philosophy, or a worldview. They claim that atheism is an explicit repudiatio
It has been quiet around here today because I've been focused on getting the word out about the new Mississippi Atheists blog I'm working on. Since it will be a team blog, I don't expect it to take away from what I'm doing here. Of course, I do need to get a few more authors lined up because I'd like to have atheist voices from across the state represented. I'm also pleased to discover that there are more atheist groups in the state than I realized. Hopefully, I can help my fellow atheists in Mississippi by making them a bit easier to find. I figured it was time for me to do something about fostering community among atheists rather than just talking about it.Tags: Mississippi atheists, Mississippi, atheism, atheist, blog
Mississippi is a difficult place for atheists. Evangelical Christianity is a way of life here, and I encounter it every day. Anti-atheist bigotry is widespread, and the potential for discrimination seems high although I've not personally been a victim. I would imagine that most Mississippi atheists are rather careful about disclosing their lack of belief. Moreover, there seem to be very few atheist, humanist, or freethought groups in the state.If you are an atheist in Mississippi, even if you are not able to be particularly open about it, I'd really like to hear from you. Maybe we could start a team blog focused on our experiences in the state. Maybe we could get a Google group listserv going to stay connected, share information, and support each other. At the very least, I'd like to be ab
Self-professed atheists think they have come to the conclusion that there is no god through a process of critical thinking and logical reasoning. They either make the positive intellectually-certain claim “there is no god” or what many believe to be the more “balanced”, “less radical” position of “I have absolutely no reason to believe [...]
One of the most common criticisms lobbed at the newly-vocal atheist community is, "Why do you have to be so angry?" So I want to talk about: 1. Why atheists are angry;2. Why our anger is valid, valuable, and necessary;And 3. Why it's completely fucked-up to try to take our anger away from us.Read more, it's a bloody excellent blog:Greta Christina's Blog
I had the pleasure of reading The God of Atheists over the holiday break. As you all know, I’m a big fan of anything that Stefan Molyneux writes but I was not sure what to expect in regards to his fiction writing, since I am only familiar with his non-fiction writing. I know that Stefan has a creative mind but I had no idea that he could write such a complicated story in such a fluid, entertaining and enlightening way. At first I was shocked by the number of characters that were introduced. I have admittedly had problems following characters in other fiction, so I was intimidated by how many names I had to remember. I was afraid that there was no possible way I could follow all of the characters and their complicated stories. Fortunately Stefan weaved three or four subplots, wi
There is some evidence that religious believers are somewhat underrepresented in America's armed forces relative to their numbers in the general population, but it appears that Christian extremist groups are seeking to infiltrate the military to spread their mind virus. Now the Military Religious Freedom Foundation and Spc. Jeremy Hall and are suing Maj. Freddy Welborn and SECDEF Gates for violating religious freedom.According to the Associated Press, the atheists are "alleging widespread violations of religious freedom" and indicating that they plan to offer "evidence showing soldiers are under pressure to adopt fundamentalist Christian beliefs."We are not talking about a general pressure to believe in any sort of higher power or a general "god and country" sort of philosophy, but fundamentalist Christianity and all it entails. The military police battalion where Hall is stationed bears the following Ann Coulter quote: "We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and conver
Big news for all secular Americans came out yesterday. The Secular Coalition for America has joined the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), the oldest and most respected civil rights organization in America. This marks the first time atheists will be represented in the civil rights movement. According to Secular Coalition Director, Lori Lipman Brown, it also says a great deal about the LCCR that they are willing to include us.You can find the full press release issued by the Secular Coalition for America here. This is a historic moment and one which I hope will someday mark the beginning of the end of anti-atheist bigotry in America.Recognition that the nontheistic minority must be included in the struggle for civil rights marks a milestone. There are several religious groups within LCCR's coalition, but the Secular Coalition for America is the first nontheist (atheists, humanists, and other Americans without a god belief) advocacy group to be included. Both organizations a
When I first heard about Congress passing H. Res. 847 for the purpose of "Recognizing the Importance of Christmas and the Christian Faith," I nearly crapped myself. Yes, I admit it. My initial impulse was to fly off the handle and begin ranting about this as being one more step toward theocracy. Instead, I took the time to learn something about the context in which this resolution occurred and discovered that it does not actually change anything. I am still upset, but I'm not going to the mattresses over this one.You can read the full text of H. Res. 847 here, and I will be the first to admit that it sounds pretty awful. It refers to Christianity as "great," lends credence to the idea that America was somehow rooted in Christianity, and fosters the myth of widespread persecution of Christians (in the United States of all places).But, it is important to realize that this is merely one of hundreds of similar resolutions the House approves every year, largely for ceremonial purposes. Ex
Most Christians know that we atheists are incarnations of the devil who just hang out waiting to ensnare their naive little souls, so it probably came as some surprise that one of us would take the time to tell them how they can best avoid most of us:
She could join an organization that does not admit atheists, e.g., the Ku Klux Klan, the Mafia, Christian militia groups. She could join a God-fearing terrorist group that blows up abortion clinics and high-rise buildings (Oklahoma City, World Trade Center); or she could restrict her friends to those spewing venomous hate upon individuals the Bible says should be put to death, e.g., non-believers and homosexuals.
To be on the safe side, there are havens of atheism that she should avoid: Ivy League universities; the Nobel laureate laden National Academy of Sciences; organizations concerned with the environment or civil rights; and Scandinavia, where the percentage of atheists is at least three times that of the United States.
She should
I’ve never been an enthusiastic supporter of organized religion, of any creed. That’s not to say I don’t believe in something…but it’s not something that I can define or contextualize. It is there, perhaps belief at its most primitive.
2006 and 2007 have been the worst two years of my life.
in April ‘06 I [...]
The church shootings in Colorado were a tragedy no atheist I've known would wish on anyone. And yet, Christian extremist Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council believes that "the secular media" is at least partially responsible. Not to exaggerate my own importance or anything, but I figure I'm part of the closest thing there is to any sort of secular media in America, an atheist blogger. Thus, I hope you'll grant me my right to feel more than a little aggravated over this.First things first, what exactly did Perkins say?It is hard not to draw a line between the hostility that is being fomented in our culture from some in the secular media toward Christians and evangelicals in particular and the acts of violence that took place in Colorado yesterday. But I will say no more for now other than that our friends at New Life Church and YWAM are in our thoughts and prayers.Forget that the shooter was a Christian, aggressing against his own church. Forget that he was known to be unstab
McLaren suggests at TPM Cafe:
On the one hand, our religions can fan the flames of holy-war narratives –whether expressed in terms of terrorism or counter-terrorism, jihad or crusade. On the other, our religions can inspire us with framing stories of reconciliation and peace. On the one hand, our religions can foment stories of scapegoating and vilification, but on the other, they can inspire us toward compassion and understanding through stories of reconciliation and grace.
Instead of baptizing greed and self-interest, our faith communities can teach us stories which promote the common good, inspiring us to creatively pursue sustainability both environmentally and socially. Instead of sanctifying the consumerism that reduces everything to a financial “resource,” our faith communities can teach us stories that inspire true reverence for the planet and all it contains – opening our eyes to the signature of God in the hawk soaring among the mountains, the school of minnows flashi
In Philadelphia, accompanying a menorah and a nativity, is a unique display called the ‘Tree of Knowledge,’ a celebration of human thought and endeavor, constructed by the Free Thought Society of Greater Philadelphia.
A discussion of this tree, and its display in the context of the religious symbols of the season, is the focus of this interview, with Margaret Downey, president of Atheist Alliance International, and Father Jonathan Morris, Fox News contributor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9f3C7NDbcU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP0JmI-cPOc
Atheists living in America are well aware of the hostile attitudes with which our neighbors regard us. Those of us living in the more conservative regions may be reminded of this on a near daily basis. But our plight pales in comparison to the brave men and women serving in America's armed forces. They face a system which has long been attractive to civilian Christian extremists looking to expand their influence. Moreover, according to what the American public regularly hears from the mainstream media, they belong to a group which does not actually exist: foxhole atheists.The intent of this post is not to rail against anti-atheist discrimination, the success with which Christian extremists have infiltrated the American military, or even to point out that the regular denial of foxhole atheists is a slap in the face to the brave soldiers and marines who are trying to do their part for America. Rather, I simply want to remind everyone about Operation Foxhole Atheists, an effort to suppor
The California chapter of American Atheists, along with other atheist and humanist groups in the area are calling for the removal of religious references in both the pledge of allegiance and on American currency. It baffles me that such battles need to continue because such references were not removed long ago. I am glad to see that defenders of our secular Constitution continue their efforts to remedy the situation.American Atheists CaliforniaRALLY FOR REMOVAL OF RELIGIOUS REFERENCES IN THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE AND ON NATIONAL CURRENCYTuesday, December 4, 2007San Francisco Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals BuildingAmerican Atheists California, in conjunction with Bay Area Atheist and Humanist groups, will rally in front of the San Francisco Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals building on Tuesday, December 4, to support the idea of removing religious references and slogans in the Pledge of Allegiance and on national currency.In 2004, when Michael Newdow argued before the Supreme Court for remo
Tracie Harris is a graphic designer in Austin, TX. Raised in Orlando, FL, she received her BA in Liberal Studies from the University of Central Florida. Her long, slow recovery from a rabid fundamentalist upbringing led her to the creation of Atheist Eve.
Source.
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Now that BlogRush angered many atheist has greatly expanded their categories, adding one for atheists under the broader religion category, is it time to give them a second chance? As you may recall, BlogRush angered many atheist bloggers by dropping most of us from their network. Others dropped in solidarity with those who were booted. Now they've added a category for us. What do you think? Should we give BlogRush another try?The appeal of BlogRush is that it may bring more traffic our way. I realize that this did not work before, but I hold out hope that such a system could work. Under the newly revamped system, it looks as though the traffic would probably be more focused (in the atheism category). It also appears that we would no longer be expected to advertise Christian nonsense in the BlogRush widget. If this is accurate, it might be worth giving the service another try.Tags: BlogRush, atheism, atheist, blogging, blog traffic
Time and time again, it seems to fall on American atheists to defend our Constitution from believers who trample it in the name of their mythical god. The Cherry Creek School District, an extremely wealthy area of Denver, CO, is the site of the latest attempt to push religion in the public schools. Believers just cannot be content with practicing their religion in their homes and churches; they need to push it on their neighbors via the public schools. Fortunately, the Freedom From Religion Foundation is once again defending the Constitution here.According to CBS4 (Denver), the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) and an atheist family have filed a lawsuit to stop the Cherry Creek School District from continuing to promote religion in violation of the Constitution.The program in question, 40 Developmental Assets, is described as promoting "religious community" along with "things like family support, positive peer influence and doing homework." Evidently, the program says that childr
On my recent article Tugging at Loose Threads, Evanescent and Storbakken resumed a debate they had suspended on another blog. It was completely off topic, so I’m starting an open thread for them, and anyone else, to continue it.
Evanescent’s last comment was:
Storbakken said:
It is not my intent to go round and round again. But I will briefly respond to your comment. The point is not that Hitler was an an atheist or a theist, rather that his ideology was based on the notoriously atheistic philosopher Fred Nietzche much more than it was based on the teachings of Christ. Hitler clearly infused religious rhetoric to win the masses and most definitely believed his own rhetoric.
You’re right, the point is not that Hitler was an atheist or a theist. I don’t hold up Hitler as an example of theistic horror, even though he was an affirmed Catholic and his many speeches and sayings reflected one who believed in the Christian god. I don’t care if he did or not believe in god as
I can follow some religious fundamentalists that claim that atheists have no morals. But only with some interpretation, and only some of the way.
Most movements, including Christianity, define themselves according to “positive” and “negative” comparisons. A positive definition is when the movement makes statements about who its followers are, what they believe in, and what their opinions are. A negative definition is when the movement makes statements about what it isn’t; for example, Christians will readily state in which areas their religion differs from Islam, and the various Christian groups will gladly explain how they differ from other Christian groups. A positive definition is the religion’s “what we are” statement, and a negative definition is the religion’s “what we are not” statement. Both are valid descriptions helping define the movement, and both are moral statements of what one believes in and what one does
Lee Randolph responded to my comment over at debunkingchristianity.
Here is his response:
Hi thirstyjon,
I am talking about something way beyond experience. I am talking about internal knowing! (Lee is quoting me - ThirstyJon here)
How is your experience different from the schizophrenic who is sure someone is in the room with them, or they [...]
According to an Inside Bay Area article by Julia Scott, the founder of San Francisco Atheists, Jim Heldberg, will be honored tonight with a public dinner in San Francisco. Heldberg is the rare sort of atheist activist who fully embraces atheism and is not afraid to speak out against the importance of keeping religion out of government and politics.Like most American atheists, Heldberg was indoctrinated into Christian superstition. Fortunately, it didn't stick."I couldn't square religion with my goal of being a scientist," says Heldberg, now 66. "How does prayer work? Nobody can explain it. How can there be invisible people in the sky? I wanted it to fit, and it frustrated me that it didn't fit."Although he initially felt alienated, Heldberg was fortunate enough to find fellow freethinkers in the Bay Area. He certainly was not going to find support in the Christian community.Declaring himself as an atheist in public has caused Heldberg to receive harassing phone calls and e-mails fro
Maybe those conservatives are right and CNN really is the network of godless atheist liberals. Obviously on line polls mean very little (and we might argue as to whether atheism should be listed as a religion) but the results of this poll from Larry King Live are interesting. The question is “Which religion do you associate with?” At present, 71% are choosing atheism.
I sometimes get asked whether atheists should be more friendly to those with religious beliefs. I normally provide Hemant from Friendly Atheist as a shining example of a nice atheist.
He recently discussed Michael Shermer’s belief that atheists should be positive. Well I think atheists can be too friendly and I believe that the example below shows the dangers of ‘friendly atheism’.
I have to say Hemant, I think you’re taking this positive atheism lark too far!
atheism, funny, Jesus
The North Alabama Freethought Association and Blair Scott, the Alabama State Director for American Atheists, want you to know about Operation Foxhole Atheists.Atheist soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines need our support in Iraq! Regardless of your views of the war, we all recognize that politicians put us in Iraq, not the soldiers. As long as politicians are keeping our men and women in uniform there, they need our moral support.For more information please go to:http://www.alabamaatheist.org/operationfoxholeatheists.htmTags: North Alabama Freethought Association, Alabama, American Atheists, Operation Foxhole Atheists, atheist, atheism, military
Michael Gerson, in a recent article in the Washington post entitled ‘What atheists can’t answer’ argues that religion offers us the only solution to the dilemma of how we choose between good and bad instincts and that atheism fails in this regard:
“Atheism provides no answer to this dilemma. It cannot reply: “Obey your evolutionary instincts” because those instincts are conflicted. “Respect your brain chemistry” or “follow your mental wiring” don’t seem very compelling either. It would be perfectly rational for someone to respond: “To hell with my wiring and your socialization, I’m going to do whatever I please.”
I wish I could be kinder to him but I cannot. Why is it that all religious apologists, put on their stupid hats the moment they ponders any question with theistic content?
It seems to me that there are two reasons why one might argue that religion offers us moral reasons to be good.
1. Scriptur
According to Chuck Colson, writing a guest column for Christian Post, Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens represent "a new breed of atheist" which Colson refers to as "the anti-theist." Yep, this is yet another article condemning the atheist revival. Colson focuses primarily on Hitchens, but you'll find little more than recycled arguments that don't work here any better than they did the first 30 times you heard them.Colson claims that the contemporary atheist movement is quite different from anything we've seen previously. Why? Because today's atheists "don’t want to just deny the existence of God, they want to wipe religion off the map."Colson's evidence to support this bold assertion? He takes a few of Hitchens' sentences out of context and then draws unwarranted interpretations of them which are not at all evident in Hitchens' book. Never mind what Hitchens actually says - just take Colson's word for it that his bizarre interpretations are supported.Colson says that Hitchens wr
