(BTW, this post is by Mike Clawson, the very-infrequent-but-still-here Christian contributor.) I know the answer many atheists would likely give to the question in the title of this post is “nothing”. However, that may not always necessarily be the case. At least, not according to studies done by U. Penn researcher Ram Cnaan (who describes himself as nonreligious), who has somehow found a way to monetarily quantify all the benefits the average urban congregation brings to their community. According to… Read more
Hey friends, Mike Clawson here (the delinquent Christian sometimes contributor). I’m posting again because I need your advice. These past two months I have been leading a discussion series at my church (a very artistic, progressive, Austin-y kind of church that actually has a number of atheists and agnostics in attendance and even a few in leadership positions) on world religions, interviewing members from various other faiths. So far we’ve had a Rabbi, a Muslim, a Wiccan, and a Hindu…. Read more
Hey all, Mike Clawson, the (woefully delinquent) Christian contributor here. (But I have a good excuse, honest. My doctoral program is seriously kicking my ass. 🙂 ) Anyhow, I stumbled upon this satirical blog post by Kim Fabricius over at the Faith and Theology blog, entitled “Twelve point guide for ripostes to militant atheists,” and thought that some of you might find it humorous (or at least provocative) as well. Obviously his purpose is not to raise serious conversation on… Read more
Hi Friendly Atheist friends! Mike Clawson here. I know it’s been forever since I’ve posted (that’s the problem with graduate school – it doesn’t leave you much time to write anything not class related), but I recently came across an interesting article on AlterNet.org that I wanted to share with y’all. Titled “Should I Quit My Religion? Some Questions for the New Atheists,” the author, a Unitarian/Universalist, challenges the New Atheist claim that “moderate religion” is just as bad as… Read more
About a month ago I posted here asking for y’all’s help on a research paper I was doing on atheists’ experiences as outsiders here in America. It was for a seminary class on “outsider” religious groups in America, and my hope for the paper was to persuade my professor to include a segment on atheists the next time he taught the course. Well, I finally got the graded paper back from my professor, and I have good news. Not only… Read more