Oh boy… David Mills, the author of Atheist Universe, is going into outer space.
In a press release on his website, he writes:
… a new-generation atheist author will, in his own words, “float like an angel in heaven” on Sunday, December 9, 2007 to draw attention to his unholy cause. David Mills, author of the divisive yet briskly-selling book Atheist Universe, is scheduled to become history’s first avowed atheist author to fly into zero gravity.
Did he just refer to himself as an “avowed atheist”…? Don’t atheists not like that sort of thing?
Mills is self-financing the trip aboard G-Force One. (Total cost: $3,675.00)
What does Mills hope to achieve?
“Religious believers think they’re going to float like an angel in heaven after they die. Atheists, by contrast, believe that the only life we’re ever going to experience is right here and right now. So I’m floating like an angel on December 9th.
…
I hope this flight boosts public visibility of the atheist movement for non-believers and believers alike and underscores that, together, we must work now on earth to resolve our conflicts, rather than storing our treasures in a nonexistent heaven.”
If Mills put out the press release himself, I’m curious why he included this quotation from an anonymous Baptist minister:
“This is yet another sorry illustration of Mills’ juvenile behavior and immature intellect. He uses cheap stunts and theatrics as a substitute for intellectual substance in his writings. Even if he were the first man on Mars, it wouldn’t prove that one word of his book was true. We already knew that Mills’ brain was weightless, so now the rest of him will be weightless too. This proves only that he’s a lightweight. But the Word of God will stand forever on a solid foundation.”
How did he get that quotation, anyway…?
He might get the PZ Myers vote of approval, though, in case of his demise:
“To me, Zero G means zero gods. In the highly unlikely event that the aircraft disintegrates before landing safely back at Kennedy, I’ll be at peace. I know in my heart where I’m going . . . to the bottom of the ocean to be pilfered by squid.”
For those who don’t remember Mills’ Blasphemy Challenge video, I’m not a huge fan of it…
That said, here’s to a safe flight on the “Vomit Comet.”
[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]
