We all have our reasons for not being religious. Hell, most of us just have one: It is unreasonable to think a god exists. Greta Christina has compiled her personal list of 10 reasons she doesn’t believe in God. While she goes into more depth for each of them, here’s a brief rundown of her list: The consistent replacement of supernatural explanations of the world with natural ones. The inconsistency of world religions. The weakness of religious arguments, explanations, and… Read more
It’s an argument made by Sam Harris and others: The religious fundamentalists, crazy as they are, are the most dedicated to following their faith the way in which it was always intended. It is the religious moderates who shape and mold their faith to fit their way of life. (And if you’re going to do that, why claim to be religious at all?) Jamie Whyte, author of Bad Thoughts: A Guide to Clear Thinking, makes a similar claim in an… Read more
At the University of Alberta, graduates are handed a diploma during a ceremony where the chancellor says the following: “I charge you to use [the powers, rights, and privileges of University degrees] for the glory of God.” It’s commonly understood that the big-G “God” here is some variant of the monotheistic God (or the one Jews, Christians, and Muslims live in fear of). Ian Bushfield, an atheist, attends that university and has the gall to want his beliefs to be… Read more
Author David Foster Wallace died last Friday by apparent suicide. The author of Infinite Jest and other works is being remembered by his fans everywhere… This tribute may piss you off, though: Wallace had three planets in the sign of Pisces, his Sun, Chiron and Venus, and four planets in the eccentric zodiac sign of Aquarius, and his moon either in the sign of Virgo or Libra. As an energetic, the Sun in Pisces is difficult energy for men in… Read more
I enjoy Christian attempts at religious satire. This one from LarkNews pokes fun at author Lee Strobel, author of The Case for Christ, The Case for Faith, and other similarly-themed books: Lee Strobel, the one-time atheist and junior reporter who has made a career of applying journalistic techniques to biblical questions, has penned his 40th book with the word "Case" in the title. I felt that after all these years I needed to make the case why my Case books… Read more
There aren’t many shows on TV where the lead character is an out atheist. Gregory House, not surprisingly, breaks that rule. In anticipation of tonight’s season premiere of House M.D., here is a compilation of dialogue from previous seasons that bring up the subject of God and religion. Season 1, Ep. 5: Sister Mary Augustine: Why is it so difficult for you to believe in God? Gregory House: What I have difficulty with is the whole concept of belief. Faith… Read more
Yesterday morning, one of my students came up to me before class and said, “Mr. Mehta, we saw your name in the paper today!” Oh crap, I thought. What did I do? Turned out an Indian girl who shared my last name was featured in the Chicago Tribune. Eva Mehta is a Jain (the religion in which I was raised) who happens to attend the same temple I went to as a child. She was in the paper because she… Read more
Applications are now available for men and women who want to pose for the 2010 Skepchick and Skepdude calendars! Be warned: One of you men may replace me as Mr. July. This will be an impossible act to follow. It may be a blow to your ego when compared to my yummy brown self. I wish you the best of luck, though. Read more
For those of you who would like to see all the Jesus-and-God-related clips from Family Guy, here you go! (via Holy Freak) Read more
In case ou have 90 minutes to spare, you might want to check out Born Again, a documentary by filmmaker Markie Hancock about her evangelical Christian life and her decades-long attempt to leave it. I have not yet seen the entire film, so I’ll reserve judgment on it. That website, SnagFilms, also seems like a good place to check out other documentaries if you want to support independent media. (Thanks to Richard for the link!) Read more
