I'm a lifelong atheist and a molecular biologist with a passion for science and a passionate opposition to its enemies.
This year’s election saw the emergence of top-tier candidates, like Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock, who were willing to be open about the logical consequences of the increasingly standard pro-life position that a fertilized egg is equal to a baby. If a fertilized egg is a baby, then an abortion is murder, full stop. This includes the abortion given to an 11-year-old girl raped by her father. Most people, even those who claim to be “very pro-life,” usually support rape and incest exceptions to their position, because the idea of forcing a violated woman or girl to give birth against her will is too awful to contemplate. The inherent contradiction is ripe for questioning, though, and pro-life politicians have come under some scrutiny by the press, who want to see how consistent their pro-life positions really are and whether they are willing to look into the camera and throw themselves off the political cliff… as Akin and Mourdock clearly did. However, in a curious turn of events for liberals, pro-choice candidates are rarely questioned on their position. Read more
If you spend any amount of time around the atheist community — on blogs, on videos, at in-person meet-ups, reading books, etc. — you quickly find that the arguments given in favor of the existence of a god tend to repeat themselves. I’m sure you’ve heard most of the following: There is a god because… Nothing can’t give rise to something. We have moral laws, so we must have a moral law giver. The eye/flagella are irreducibly complex, so something… Read more
A judge in Edmonton (Alberta) has decided against saving the life of a two-year-old girl, over the objections of the parents. It sounds like the decree of a wicked judge, but there’s more nuance to this story. The girl’s parents stand accused of severely abusing both her and her twin sister. The extent of the abuse is horrific: … paramedics arrived at the family’s Edmonton home and found young twin girls emaciated. One was in cardiac arrest. That twin had… Read more
When you take an extreme position to its logical conclusion, very strange things can happen. Nowhere is this more evident than on the extreme end of the pro-life movement. We start with a premise: A fertilized egg is fundamentally equal to an infant. If you accept this premise fully, truly without reservations or cognitive dissonance, then where does it take you? Exceptions to abortion bans in the cases of rape and incest becomes nonsensical. (After all, you wouldn’t murder the… Read more
