I always read Andrew Sullivan’s blog, The Daily Dish. Anyone who reads it knows that Andrew has continuously called out Sarah Palin on her bullshit ever since John McCain picked her last year, one of only a handful of journalists to do so. (Incidentally, Andrew, a theist, and Sam Harris had a public conversation about the nature of God a couple years ago.) After reading his posts regarding Palin, I noticed a few things. Andrew is constantly astounded that anyone… Read more
Last time we heard of the Atheist Bus Campaign in Halifax, Nova Scotia, atheists had their ad rejected for being too controversial. The ad in question read: You can be good without God After a recent Supreme Court decision, Metro Transit is now revising their policies. Here’s Chris Hammond of the Canadian Atheist Bus Campaign: This is great news for free speech but also great news for our atheist ad. Metro transit informed us months ago that they would revise… Read more
I’m not generally a country music fan, but if all songs were like this, maybe I could get used to it… The song is “God Isn’t Real” by Robbie Fulks and the video was made by SecularAstronomer: An excerpt of the lyrics: A world filled with wonder, a cold, fathomless sky A man’s life so meager, he can but wonder why He cries out to Heaven its truth to reveal The answer: only silence, for God isn’t real. … Go… Read more
For those of you not currently in Vegas, you can watch a live streaming of The Amazing Meeting 7! Read more
Quick question: Who are America’s top two atheists? . . . The correct answer is… Rob Sherman and Michael Newdow. You know how I know that? Because Rob Sherman said so. (Modest one, no? 🙂 ) The two guys are suing over the Capitol Visitor Center fiasco (they’re engraving “In God We Trust” and the Pledge of Allegiance with “Under God” into the CVC). While they’re right in theory, this lawsuit won’t work for the same reason “In God We… Read more
Hi Richard, This column is a great idea. Thanks for taking it on. The question is: am I missing something here? Am I ignoring some blind spot of my own? The problem: I am both an atheist and a practicing Zen Buddhist. While it is true that some forms of Buddhism assert the existence of gods, demons and so forth—and no form of Buddhism explicitly denies the existence of any such—these woo-woo characteristics spring from the cultures in which those… Read more
Here’s a collection of good-natured (SFW) religious/atheist humor, via the Coexist Comedy tour: (Thanks to Ashley for the link!) Read more
Well, shit. Ireland passed the blasphemy law. What does this mean for Irish citizens? It means you can be convicted for trashing someone’s beliefs if you cause “outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion.” (Again, what is a “substantial number”? Who knows.) Paliban Daily offers up some frightening consequences, given that “blasphemy” isn’t very well-defined: Atheists can be prosecuted for saying that God is imaginary. That causes outrage. Pagans can be prosecuted for saying they left… Read more
This post is by Jesse Galef, who works for the Secular Coalition for America. He also blogs at Rant & Reason … Like Hemant, I’ve been watching the imminent appointment of Francis Collins to head the NIH. Unlike Hemant, I’ve been very… apprehensive. For one thing, I worry that he will bring religion into everything, partly in an official capacity. On the first three pages of his book, he writes about how he “felt compelled to invoke a connection with… Read more
After writing my own thoughts on Francis Collins and his appointment to head the National Institutes of Health, I read this piece by Chris Wilson at Slate. Two excerpts stood out to me, addressing the concerns of many atheists: This formula [between the “unsolved” and the “unsolvable”] offers a convenient litmus test for where Collins falls on a variety of questions: If a given problem appears to be merely unsolved, then he’ll leave it to the realm of science; if,… Read more
