Leonard Pitts, a syndicated columnist for the Miami Herald, wrote a decent article about how Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana has frequently opposed big government but is now backtracking because of the BP disaster:
[Jindal] is singing a new song, starkly at odds with what he said last year in a speech before the Republican faithful. [...]
A couple of weeks ago I suggested we stop using the word ’spiritual’ when describing feelings of awe, wonder, connectedness etc. and use ‘sublime‘ instead. The main thrusts behind my argument were that:
Spiritual is defined and understood by most people to have religious connotations.
Attempting to re-cast ’spiritual’ in a less religious light is, in my mind, a pointless, [...]
If fear has held you back from thinking god might not exist, I encourage you to press on - the rewards are truly immense. A mind-opening, perhaps even (dare I say it?) spiritual experience awaits you.
There’s no question that one of the challenges we atheists face is to show that life is not empty and meaningless without God. For some odd reason, believers have a hard time believing that – without God – we’re not here merely to survive, but to really live and affirm the awesomeness of existing.
You don’t have [...]
I’m amazed at the ability of the Godfull to miss the point and make false statements and generalizations about how atheists become atheists.
The thought is on my mind because a theology student recently asked me to answer some survey questions (he’d been assigned an “interview an atheist” project). I’m not sure if the questions were [...]
As many atheists will attest, fierce anger is one of the emotions we experience (sometimes for extended time periods) when we break free from belief.
Godless Girl recently wrote about how she gets past the anger, which inspired vjack from Atheist Revolution to begin a series of posts on getting past anger.
I enjoyed Godless Girl’s post [...]
If you haven’t already done so, it might be a good idea to read part I of this series before reading this article. There, I set out some important ideas that will help you understand the frame of reference I have for describing an awesomely godless existence.
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God Has Far Too Much Time On His Hands
From [...]
Part of the interview an atheist survey I recently completed asked why I think living as an atheist is better than living a life under God.
In retrospect, my response wasn’t nearly as good as it might have been. For starters, I wrote it right before bed time. And that led me to only partially answer [...]
You’ve decided to comment on everything I post. Normally, I welcome anyone who adds to the discussion. However, in your case, all I am seeing in incoherant babble. Let me make this clear; You have never said a word that makes any sense. Please seek some medical help.
Your comments are now banned – everything you post [...]
This is a great presentation which needs wider coverage. In it Professor John Abraham from the School of Engineering (University of St Thomas, Minnesota) does an excellent job of dissecting Lord Christopher Monckton’s deceit on climate change. Not a single one of Monckton’s claims stand up to scrutiny (see Abraham presentation or click on image). [...]
What if, against all odds, there really is this omnipotent, omnibenevolent, omniscient, and all-loving God the Christians claim and I were to meet it on a Judgment Day? The YouTuber “Theoretical Bullshit” expresses, and even advances a bit, own thoughts on the matter: Thanks to Mary and Shay for the find. Your Thoughts? Filed under: [...]
Image by Stefan Tell via Flickr
What’s the harm in religious belief?
It’s puts insane thoughts like this into your head.
A US cage fighter ripped out the heart of his training partner while he was still alive after becoming convinced he was possessed by the devil.
Jarrod Wyatt also cut out his friend’s tongue and ripped off most [...]
: toomanytribbles the candle flame gutters . its little pool of light trembles . darkness gathers . the demons begin to stir . carl sagan home photography videos favorite posts Monday , May 31, 2010 pz myers on patriotism this is by no means an american issue , as i see it in greece as well , where there is , unfortunately , no separation of church and state , where one often hears the motto , πατρίς θρησκεία οικογένεια translating to country , religion , family here's pz i usually complain about religion here , but today i have to add another target : patriotism . it's the same thing , opening a door to unthinking authoritarianism , and it always leads to oppression . quite contrary to the claims of fanatical christians , the heart of a thriving democracy has to be constant questioning of
The Humanist Symposium is a blog carnival created to celebrate and showcase the internet's best writing on atheism, on positive humanism, on morality from a rational perspective, and on the bright side of a life free from religion. We're always looking for new entrants, so if this is the kind of thing you write, send [...]After writing about the Boot Protest against nomad campus preacher Brother Jed, reader JT from Missouri State University let me know how his campus handled Jed when he stopped by for a visit.
They used the opportunity to raise money for Heifer International. Brother Jed even played along, which was pretty decent of him…
If [...]
Well it must be for citizens of Louisiana and the surrounding US states on the Gulf of Mexico. There are nearly 4,000 active oil and gas platforms in the area! Obviously an accident just waiting to happen. Well actually we might expect several accidents. As PZ Myer points out (A constructive suggestion for retribution against [...]A couple months ago, Rev. Roger Butts of the High Plains Unitarian Universalist Church wrote a wonderful defense of atheists doing good works in the Colorado Springs Gazette.
Now, he’ll be leading free classes on religious humanism:
Beginning Wednesday at High Plains, Butts will teach a free four-week course on religious humanism and its place in [...]Here is Glenn Beck at Liberty University from May 15: Your Thoughts? Filed under: Fundamentalism, Politics, Religious Extremism, Religulous, Right Wing Politics, Theocracy, Theocrats, Unintentional Comedy Tagged: Glenn Beck, Liberty University
: toomanytribbles the candle flame gutters . its little pool of light trembles . darkness gathers . the demons begin to stir . carl sagan home photography videos favorite posts Sunday , May 30, 2010 hot spot athens is a hot spot , by any . definition like it click it i went to pendeli mountain a day earlier to stake out a position for new year's eve 2009 and i couldn't resist shooting a similar shot to the one . below athens circle , athens square i wasn't as happy with this shot compared to the previous one . it needs a different angle . i can see that i'll have to try this . again 2010 toomanytribbles on Sunday , May 30, 2010 more on : greece photography photography by me 0 pearls of wisdom : Post a Comment Newer Post Older Post Home Subscribe to : Post Comments Atom my latest photosPassive aggressive condemnation does not come much rawer than this: Your Thoughts? Filed under: Pop Culture, Religion, TV Tagged: Trading Spouses
Home About Comment Policy Blogroll Store Mobile Disclosure Contact Me skip to main skip to sidebar 2010-05-30 Drawing Mohammed and Denying the Holocaust Labels : Media Drawing Mohammed and Denying the Holocaust 2010-05-30T07:59:00-05:00 vjack Media| Comments Don't you just love it when the news media runs one of those sensationalistic headlines containing an obviously false statement with a question mark at the end to absolve themselves of responsibility Here's an example from CNN's new blog on religious belief : Does Draw Mohammed Day Holocaust denial Um , no . But with the question mark , CNN gets to claim that they were only reporting what someone else thinks and not passing any sort of judgment on . it From what I have seen , the undisputed king of this sort of journalism would have to
NEWS has just come to light that a teacher at a Catholic school in Fort Dodge, Iowa, has been fired after saying in a Facebook survey she did not believe in God.
Administrators of St Edmond Catholic School fired Abby Nurre, 27, late last year, just months after she was hired as an eighth-grade math teacher.
The [...]
Home About Comment Policy Blogroll Store Mobile Disclosure Contact Me skip to main skip to sidebar 2010-05-28 Do Ordinary Religious People Share Responsibility for Religious Extremism Labels : Islam Religion Do Ordinary Religious People Share Responsibility for Religious Extremism 2010-05-28T07:18:00-05:00 vjack Islam|Religion| Comments When PZ Myers Pharyngula recently described Islam as the religion of ignorance and hate , I found myself having mixed feelings . Obvious ly , he's making the point that those who claim that Islam is a religion of peace are denying the behavior of so many Muslims . I do not disagree with this at all . You have undoubtedly heard that the creators of South Park have received death threats from Muslims enraged over their depiction of Mohammed . Peaceful people
Home About Comment Policy Blogroll Store Mobile Disclosure Contact Me skip to main skip to sidebar 2010-05-27 Atheists Who Believe in Ghosts Labels : Atheism Atheists Who Believe in Ghosts 2010-05-27T06:19:00-05:00 vjack Atheism| Comments As strange as it may initially seem , there are atheists who believe in ghosts . Since atheism refers to one's lack of belief in gods there is nothing about the definition of atheism that makes this problematic . While most atheists do seem to be materialists in the sense that they do not believe in anything outside of nature i.e . anything supernatural atheism does not require this sort of materialism . So yes , someone can be an atheist and still believe in ghosts , spirits , and the like . But for those of us who arrived at atheism via skepticism
: Home About Comment Policy Blogroll Store Mobile Disclosure Contact Me skip to main skip to sidebar 2010-05-23 Answering Reader Mail : The Mojave Cross Labels : Church and State Answering Reader Mail : The Mojave Cross 2010-05-23T07:43:00-05:00 vjack Church and State| Comments A Christian reader recently emailed me to see what I thought about the theft of the Mojave cross . I hadn't posted about this yet and was happy to have an excuse to do so . The cross in question involves the Mojave Desert War Memorial , opposed by the ACLU , then saved by the U.S . Supreme Court stolen and then replaced with a replica In answer to the primary question this reader asked , I do not support the theft of the cross . While I believe that the Court erred in their decision to allow it to remain on public
Home About Comment Policy Blogroll Store Mobile Disclosure Contact Me skip to main skip to sidebar 2010-05-21 How Do You Make Someone Believe in God Labels : Atheist-Theist Dialogue How Do You Make Someone Believe in God 2010-05-21T06:44:00-05:00 vjack Atheist-Theist Dialogue| Comments While examining some HitTail results recently , I noticed that one of the search terms bringing people to this blog was the question I have used in the title of this post : How do you make someone believe in god My answer : You can't . But more importantly , you shouldn't . People can be perfectly happy , well adjusted , and valuable members of society without your god . There are millions of atheists right here in the United States . We are your friends , your neighbors , your children's teachers . We are
I saw this picture of a guy wearing a t-shirt that said "There's a picture of the prophet Muhammad on the back of my t-shirt." on the front, and on the back, "Just kidding. Praise Allah".
So I thought, what if...
So... you get into a discussion with some Christians, assert that the Bible is full of contradictions and get asked for evidence. What do you do?