This is pretty cool. Powell’s Books, an independent bookstore much smaller than any Barnes & Noble or Borders, has quite the impressive section on atheism — at least at this store in Portland: There are books there I’ve never even heard of… A Second Anthology of Atheism and Rationalism on the bottom shelf?! Who knew there was a first…? Anyone else know of a mainstream bookstore that has an atheism section that could rival this one? One potential downside: I’ve… Read more
A while back, I taped an interview for The Brights’ Net. That interview became part of a set of videos explaining the Brights movement. Those videos are finally up and my company in them includes Daniel Dennett and Margaret Downey! The purpose of the videos is to explain our notions of a naturalistic (as opposed to supernatural) worldview and why the term “Bright” is an appealing one. Both of those videos can be seen here. Read more
I don’t think that all forms of parents teaching their children about their faith should be considered brainwashing. But watch this video and then try saying that religion is harmless: What she’s doing isn’t too bad in and of itself. I doubt she knows what she’s talking about; rather, she’s just repeating what she’s been told. What I’m more worried about is what will happen to that girl in ten or twenty years. Will she ever learn that there are… Read more
Looks like there’s a happy resolution to atheist Jennifer’s situation in which she felt she was duped into speaking on a religion panel with no preparation, while the religious people on the panel seemed well-prepared and polished. Read more
I’ll say this about Evolved Rationalist: She can definitely put together a presentation that will keep the audience entertained. This one is on the Quiverfull movement. I don’t remember any of my college professors ever using the phrase “epic lulz” in their powerpoints… ditto with the acronyms “ZOMG” and “STFU.” (via Evolved and Rat/i/onal) Read more
Last night, I gave a talk for the Society of Non-Theists at Purdue University. What did we learn? I cause fangirls to repress squealing, I need to put porn ads on my site to make money, and when atheists get together, God cries and causes minor flooding. Wednesday, I head to UC Berkeley! Yay for warm weather! (Right?) Read more
Man! I knew we shouldn’t have announced this on April Fools’ Day. Now nobody’s going to believe it… Scientology and Atheism unite, ‘sexy’ worldwide demonstrations scheduled In an historic move, the surging Global Atheist Movement has officially joined forces with the controversial Church of Scientology to form a new organisation, 1Truth, capable of taking on the world’s major religions. … Although rumours of an amalgamation with the Church of Scientology have been circulating for some time, they had previously been… Read more
I posted about the capitalization of God yesterday. This comment from James stood out from the bunch and made me laugh. I never thought of it that way…: A friend of mine… has for some time now been capitalizing not the “g” but the “o” in the word gOd to emphasize the nothingness in the center of the concept. Read more
Reba Boyd Wooden, the director of Center for Inquiry Indiana, was recently on a panel discussion called “Faces of Faith” at a local healthcare center. She tried to explain how some atheists may feel in a hospital: Imagine this scene: You are in a hospital. You are very ill and may be dying. Someone comes in to talk with you. They tell you that your religion is based on myth and superstition. There is no heaven or hell. You have… Read more
