David Hayward is a Christian blogger who has an interesting post on this site about how he has an “inner atheist” — That is to say, he has thoughts that might be more in line with how an atheist would think than a Christian. A few examples: 2. fundamentalism, in any form, annoys me … 5. although the church can be good, too many Christians are blind to the difference between the community and the corruption and corruptive power of… Read more
by Jesse Galef – Is there a better way to end a workweek than with a video of a Ricky Gervais stand-up routine on religion? (No, no there is not.) Since going to the Creation Museum, these jokes strike a different chord for me. They’re even funnier reflecting on how silly the stories are, but I’m also reminded that there are people who take Genesis as literal truth. I only did a cursory search and don’t think Hemant has put… Read more
Note to readers: The letter writer did not sign a name. To facilitate comments about her, I have given her the name Alice. It means truthful and noble. Just call her Alice without quotation marks. The name fits. Dear Richard, I’m a female high school senior living with my parents. Earlier this year I became an Atheist. At the time I had a very Christian boyfriend and I held off telling him out of selfishness, I didn’t want to lose… Read more
After seven years of not being invited to Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s annual interfaith breakfast, the New York City Atheists were finally invited this year. “I also want to welcome, for the first time, those who don’t profess a faith but who do love our city,” the mayor said. Jane Everhart, director of communications for New York City Atheists and a guest, was enthusiastic about the warm reception. She said that when Mr. Bloomberg first mentioned “the new people who aren’t… Read more
by Jesse Galef – Every now and then it’s worth refreshing our memory about how absurd it is to call the God in the Judeo-Christian bible compassionate. Daniel Florien at Unreasonable Faith just released part five of his series called “An Evil God?” focusing on the story of Noah. Remember that this is the unchanging, ever-loving God many people claim to worship. After referring to this little episode as “the Tantrum of All Tantrums,” Dan describes the situation: So everyone… Read more
My friend Todd Stiefel read Karen Armstrong’s piece about religion as well as Sam Harris’ reply and Armstrong’s response to that. He has a response of his own that I’d like to share. The last paragraph, especially, is well worth reading: Karen Armstrong’s reply highlights an important issue for the freethought movement. Do we come across as absolutists, and if so, what are the consequences? The answer to the first part is clear: Armstrong apparently views many nontheists as touting… Read more
There’s been a lot of talk lately about how the G-spot “doesn’t appear to exist” in women, but one line in this BBC article about the recent study seems to be referring to something else… … [researcher] Andrea Burri was concerned that women who feared they lacked a G-spot might feel inadequate, which she says is unnecessary. “It is rather irresponsible to claim the existence of an entity that has never been proven and pressurise women and men too.” Hmm…… Read more
Here’s a disturbing way to start your day. Recently, in Pakistan, a suicide bomber training facility was discovered. Inside, children ages 12 to 18 were trained to become martyrs for the Islamic faith. This picture, which was on one of the walls of the facility, shows a river full of milk and honey as well as the virgins the children will receive in heaven. I repeat: they’re telling 12-year-olds about the virgins waiting for them in heaven. What the hell…. Read more
***Update***: Lucy Gubbins, the president of the Alliance of Happy Atheists, had a response to Richards’ article published in the same newspaper today: Wading through such journalistic gems as “idiots” and “dipshits” (in reference to atheists), I was unimpressed and bored by this “flamebait” of an article, which served no purpose but to present the author’s obvious and unabashed hate for the non-religious community. It gave the reader no argument, no information, no nothing; it was simply an uninteresting, uneducated… Read more
If you’re a member of the Secular Student Alliance, you’re eligible for a $100 travel grant for our upcoming NorCal Regional Leadership Summit on the campus of Stanford University. All the details are here, but act soon because the deadline is next week! Read more
