Greta Christina explains 11 myths and truths about atheism (with a bit of riffing off of Sam Harris’ original list of 10). She explains each of these in depth, but here’s her overall list: 1: Atheism are 100% convinced that there is no God, as blindly faithful as religious fundamentalists. 2: Atheists are immoral: without religion, there’s no basis for morality. 3: Atheists are angry and unhappy, with no meaning to their lives, and no hope. 4: Atheists are disrespectful,… Read more
Melbourne Catholic Church is now going to be “testing” priests to make sure they don’t have The Gay: Under the guidelines, potential priests who “appear” to be gay must be banned. … Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby spokeswoman Hayley Conway said the church was sending a ‘‘dangerous and offensive’’ message about sexuality. … ‘‘If the plan is to root out pedophilia or child molestation, targeting people with homosexual tendencies isn’t the way to go about it.’’ This will end… Read more
Last night, I gave a talk for the Secular Alliance of Indiana University (Bloomington). The reviews are in! David Ernst had very kind things to say: So, I went. And I liked it. So much of what you hear from atheists is harsh, negative, religion-bashing, often mocking, scornful, and generally hateful. I’ve been seeking a way to express pride in what I consider my religious beliefs in a way that doesn’t sound offensive to people, but rather just inspires their… Read more
It’s hard enough meeting someone who understands and appreciates your atheism. Now, we have the relationship “experts” working against us? Steve Harvey appeared on The Tyra Banks Show the other day to promote his new book Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man: What Men Really Think About Love, Relationships, Intimacy, and Commitment. He was discussing a section of his book in which he tells women to find out certain things about the man they’re interested in before pursuing… Read more
You’ve heard this already, I presume, but the James Randi Educational Foundation YouTube account was suspended yesterday. Usually, these types of situations get resolved in a day’s time… but just in case: To complain to YouTube, follow this link. Scroll to the very bottom and click on “new issue.” Select “suspended account” from the options and express your opinion (the account in question is JamesRandiFoundation). For good measure, whoever is behind this got to the Rational Response Squad, too. Read more
I’m not feeling very sympathetic toward any religion at the moment. Here’s an awful story for you: Members of One Mind Ministries… denied a 16-month-old boy food and water because he did not say “Amen” at mealtimes. After he died, they prayed over his body for days, expecting a resurrection, then packed it into a suitcase with mothballs. They left it in a shed in Philadelphia, where it remained for a year before detectives found it last spring. The boy’s… Read more
I’ve mentioned the notion of de-baptisms before — renouncing your childhood faith at a later age. De-baptism certificates took off in Italy last year and they’ve spread to London: More than 100,000 people have recently downloaded “certificates of de-baptism” from the Internet to renounce their Christian faith. The initiative launched by a group called the National Secular Society (NSS) follows atheist campaigns here and elsewhere, including a controversial advert displayed on London buses which declared: “There’s probably no God.” “We… Read more
In case you missed Family Guy last night (like I did because Jim Gaffigan’s stand-up special was on Comedy Central and that man is awesome), Brian officially came out as an atheist. Incidentally, Seth MacFarlane, the creator of the show, is also an atheist. The show is available on Hulu (sorry, non-Americans!) and the best bits are timestamped below. Kirk Cameron makes an appearance and converts Meg (sadly, there was no Ray Comfort banana parody): Brian tells his family he’s… Read more
Writer Ellis J. Biderson makes the argument that we need to fix our rules of capitalization when it comes to religion: … why provide God with the same artifactual honor as Parcheesi, the Pillsbury Doughboy, the Civil War, minor-league hockey teams, Santa Claus, and, for that matter, the word Flatulence when it begins a sentence? Not even evangelists are clear in their use of a holy capital: the way Jerry Falwell talked about “my God,” it was as if he… Read more
This is Rep. John Shimkus from Illinois. He represents much of the south half of the state (more rural and more Christian). Here’s Shimkus at a hearing of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Energy and Environment earlier in the week. Money quote: The Earth will end only when God declares it’s time to be over. Man will not destroy this Earth. This Earth will not be destroyed by a flood… God’s word is infallible, unchanging, perfect. On the up side…… Read more
