The good news is that Stars have a new album The North coming out in early September. The bad news is that the first song “The Theory of Relativity” is not exactly hooking me so far. But there is reason to hope. Stars are a phenomenal band and their album Set Yourself on Fire is one of the [...]...
Ah, gotta love the Census ! The ABC reports that according to 2011 Census data, a grand total of 2,163 Australians still called themselves Scientologists. It’s probably fair to say that more people use the toilets at Southern Cross train … ...
Yeah, maybe I’m a little partisan, but watching the right wing hysterics over the limited acceptance of the Affordable Care Act is the most entertaining thing I got going on right now. This particular tweet sets a record for over reaction: Buzzfeed is collecting images: Via Joe.My.God.: According to HuffPo, Rush Limbaugh is threatening to [...]
In his talk at the Global Atheist Convention in Melbourne, Richard Dawkins gave a talk called “Now Praise Intelligent Design“:As always, if there are any bits we should pay special attention to, just leave the timestamp and a summary in the...Kimberly Winston of the Religion News Service just released her article on the rise of high school atheists. I’ve been doing research on the subject for the past month for my book and this only confirms what I’ve been finding: There were about a dozen such [high school atheist] clubs at the beginning of the [...]It’s always a relief and a joy when someone says what you’re thinking so you don’t have to. And it’s especially great when it’s the inimitable Cristina Rad who does it, in her fantastic style: Have I publicly geeked out lately about having Cristina as a colleague on Freethought Blogs? If not, consider me geeking [...]...Well this plank of the official platform of Texas’s GOP (via Talking Points Memo) makes the faith-based religious community’s hostility towards reason and fear of unfettered critical thinking explicit: We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on [...]...Is that so wrong? Harris responded to the video on Twitter Brutal, but well-deserved…RT @HDerpity:bit.ly/N4UnGy — Sam Harris (@SamHarrisOrg) June 28, 2012
"Belief in hell keeps down criminal activity, but belief in heaven actually boosts it, according to a pair of researchers at the universities of Oregon and Kansas.Azim Shariff and Mijke Rhemtulla scoured 30 years of international values-based surveys a...I tout the value of the atheist Facebook community a lot, particularly when spreading the word about “‘A’ Week”, the annual week in the spring when many atheists on Facebook set their profile status to the atheist “A” as a gesture of visibility and solidarity. It was through “‘A’ Week” in 2010 that I met so [...]...
This week, it’s a mailbag episode, and I’m proud to announce my Kickstarter Campaign for ‘Bible Stories’ is up now! So while you enjoy hearing us answering your questions, why not go and contribute to the campaign?Ok folks, it’s come down to this: my Kickstarter campaign for “Bible Stories”. We’ve set the goal at 10,000. So it’s time to get behind this project, and let’s make the book happen together!
: Home About Comment Policy Disclosure Privacy Advertising Contact skip to main skip to sidebar June 27, 2012 How to Understand Atheists : A Guide for Christians Labels : Atheism How to Understand Atheists : A Guide for Christians 2012-06-27T06:30:00-05:00 vjack Atheism| Comments Tweet What is atheism Are there really people out there who don't believe in any gods at all What do they want , and what do they think of Christians Hi there . I'm an atheist , and I write the blog Atheist Revolution I use the handle vjack because I live in an area dominated by fundamentalist Christians where my words could cost me my job , my friends , or even my personal safety . I'd like to provide you with a brief guide for understanding . atheists What is Atheism You'd be surprised to learn how often this is
This week, my special guest is Guy P. Harrison, author of the new book: 50 Popular Beliefs People Think are True, as well as the author of Race and Reality, and 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a god. Be sure to tune in and and get your fix!
First off, never trust a man who gives you a false name. His name is not Joe, he has never been a plumber, and because he said things stupid conservative people like, he’s been allowed to keep this ludicrous moniker. Like any quasi-celebrity looking for attention, he believes his limited understanding of everything gives him [...]
Home About Comment Policy Disclosure Privacy Advertising Contact skip to main skip to sidebar June 21, 2012 The Mark of a Freethinker Labels : Atheist Movement The Mark of a Freethinker 2012-06-21T05:22:00-05:00 vjack Atheist Movement| Comments Tweet When you hear the term freethinker what image comes to mind For me , it is an image of someone who bucks conventional wisdom , goes his or her own way , and questions authority . But I don't think any of this completely captures the mark of a true freethinker , at least not how I think of it . The mark of a true freethinker is that the person is every bit as likely to question the position of his or her allies as his or her . enemies I know full well that many in the atheist community simply use freethinker as somewhat more socially acceptableI’ve been getting quite a few requests to have another mailbag episode, so I’ve decided to let you guys dictate the pace of the show this week. So, if you have questions, leave them in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter. The first 20 questions will be answered, so get your’s in ASAP.
Home About Comment Policy Disclosure Privacy Advertising Contact skip to main skip to sidebar June 18, 2012 Atheists in Congress Labels : Politics Atheists in Congress 2012-06-18T05:10:00-05:00 vjack Politics| Comments Tweet According to The Hill Edwina Rogers of the Secular Coalition for America says that 28 of the 525 members of Congress do not believe in any sort of gods . Only one , Rep . Pete Stark D-CA has been willing to say so publicly , but it is encouraging to know there may be others . It is also good to see the Secular Coalition for America and other secular groups getting some attention by The Hill Still , the best quote of the article went to Annie Laurie Gaylor of the Freedom From Religion Foundation for this : gem There’s almost like a religious litmus test for public
This week, Jeff joins me as we pontificate on blogger and ‘therapist’ Josh Weed and his tortured view of gay sex, and we make fun of Animal Planet’s terrible show, “Finding Bigfoot”. Come and get your fix, people!
Home About Comment Policy Disclosure Privacy Advertising Contact skip to main skip to sidebar June 16, 2012 How To Reduce Bigotry Against Atheists Labels : Bigotry Science How To Reduce Bigotry Against Atheists 2012-06-16T07:20:00-05:00 vjack Bigotry|Science| Comments Tweet Surprisingly little psychological research has been conducted with atheists . I know this because I've looked into it . Only a handful of empirical studies have been published however , I am optimistic that this will soon begin to change . There are too many of us to ignore for long , and there is much to gain from studying atheists and how we are perceived by . others Gervais 2011 published a fascinating article in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin in which he addresses one important factor for reducingThis week, Carisa joins me as we discuss the recent obsession with zombies, both in movies and in real life, plus a new designer drug nicknamed “bath salts” that a big part of the focus seems to be on. If it all sounds like a shitty “Tek-War” plot line, then you aren’t too far from [...]
: Home About Comment Policy Disclosure Privacy Advertising Contact skip to main skip to sidebar June 11, 2012 Child Abuse : Are Atheists More Likely to be Victims Labels : Society Child Abuse : Are Atheists More Likely to be Victims 2012-06-11T05:40:00-05:00 vjack Society| Comments Tweet It all started when I was reading a few threads over at Reddit r atheism I know , I'm not supposed to enjoy r atheism because some of folks who are active there are sexist and have posted inappropriate comments on innocent photos of young women . But I've learned that those who do this sort of thing are a small minority and that there are some really good discussions at r atheism . In fact , I've had trouble getting a few of them out of my head for a few days now , and I want to write about one issue they
Home About Comment Policy Disclosure Privacy Advertising Contact skip to main skip to sidebar June 9, 2012 Now You Can Contribute to Scholarship on Atheism Labels : Atheism Now You Can Contribute to Scholarship on Atheism 2012-06-09T14:08:00-05:00 vjack Atheism| Comments Tweet I am posting the following request for participation from a professor interested in advancing the literature on atheism after I heard from one of his doctoral students My name is Jerome Baggett . I’m a sociologist and professor at Santa Clara University working in the graduate school in Theology and Religious Studies who is in the early stages of a study of atheists and other non-religious people in the United States . Essentially , I’m investigating how atheists think about the world around them and go about theThis week, Ryan is back for a special episode focusing on Korea submitting to creationism, a new survey shows that young people are less and less religious, and how authority structures use money to enslave us. Come and get your fix!
Home About Comment Policy Disclosure Advertising Contact skip to main skip to sidebar June 6, 2012 Atheist Answers Questions From a Christian Labels : Atheism Christianity Atheist Answers Questions From a Christian 2012-06-06T07:01:00-05:00 vjack Atheism|Christianity| Comments Tweet A Christian blog , the BitterSweet End has posted ten questions for atheists . Here they are unedited except for the italics along with some quick answers , all of which could be expanded but probably don't need to : be 1. If there is NO God , then their is no Measurement or Standard for morality Then what will define morality Plenty of standards for morality have been developed over the centuries . In fact , there is an entire branch of philosophy dealing with this i.e . ethics Philosophers have produced moral
This week, part two of my “Atheist Appreciation Month” continues as I interview Peter Boghossian, a professor of Philosophy at Portland University, about the need to redefine “Faith”. For those of you looking for links to his videos, or to find out more about him, simply click here, here, and here. Also, for those of [...]