I spent the weekend at The Amaz!ng Meeting 5 in Las Vegas. While there is a lot to discuss, today you get the random minutia: Quotations. For actual descriptions of what happened, visit Phil Plait’s Bad Astronomy blog (Parts 1 and 2 are currently up). So, here you go. Things I heard that enlightened or amused me. Don’t quote me on the quotations. There’s only so much you can do with a pen, a notecard, and my memory when people… Read more
Dina Haines Appleby of DelawareOnline wrote an article on how atheists share values with everyone else. It’s a good, quick read. Her numbers stating that atheists are 1-3% of the population are rather low, but otherwise, she makes good points. Appleby’s conclusion needs to be restated. It’s wonderful. All of which brings me back to the question of whether you know any atheists. It’s much easier to hate or distrust an abstract group of “others” than to hate or distrust… Read more
Radio host Terrence McNally recently interviewed Richard Dawkins. The transcript can be found here. Most of it is a rehashing of words Dawkins has said many times before, but this particular response bugged me: TM: In other words, if [a religion was] just a philosophical belief that had no impact on the world, fine. RD: Exactly. I don’t think you’ll find many people criticizing any gentle religion, like Jainism. Sam Harris echoed that thought in The End of Faith. Do… Read more
Back from Vegas. Curse you, Google spambot. I think I’ve removed all 238821 messages you left for me… More on The Amaz!ng Meeting 5 coming soon. In the meantime, here’s a fun, anticlimactic quotation from Jason Waggoner, a man who talks about how his life changed after a rough divorce: “I was an atheist five months ago,” he said. “My life didn’t have any hope. I turned my attention to God after a divorce caused my pain and I used… Read more
