Christopher Hitchens quickly dispenses with those annoying remarks about “miracles” happening during the coverage of Tim Russert’s death: John McCain and Barack Obama sitting next to each other, Bruce Springsteen playing a song in memory of Russert, and the freakin’ rainbow that appeared after the funeral. … I think this media myth-making, however tongue-in-cheek some of it may be, helps our understanding of why people are theists. After all, just remember why we mourners of that day were gathered in… Read more
You know how you’ve been wondering for months now what sex-scandalized former pastor Ted Haggard has been up to? No? Just me? Mkay. Well. He’s back in Colorado Springs after voluntarily exiling himself and his family in Phoenix for the past year where he spent time in a “spiritual restoration” program. He says he finished his “restoration” early… perhaps he thinks he’s finally straightened himself out. (Literally.) Under a severance deal that Ted Haggard reached with the church in 2006,… Read more
There’s a goldmine of information here. The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life just released the second set of findings from a study conducted last year — the first set was released in February. The news reports are going to cover a couple major highlights, the big one being the following: Although a majority of Americans say religion is very important to them, nearly three-quarters of them say they believe that many faiths besides their own can lead to… Read more
This weekend, I’ll be heading to Toronto to give a lecture on all things friendly and atheistic. For those who live in the region, it’d be great to see some of you! There will be public gatherings at the places listed below. Feel free to come by, talk, give hugs, bring presents, do an atheist dance for me, or just say hello 🙂 Friday: 6:00-9:00 p.m. is the actual talk. It is taking place at the University of Toronto: Multi-Faith… Read more
The brilliant comedian George Carlin died of heart failure Sunday night in Los Angeles. He was admitted into a hospital earlier in the afternoon for chest pains. In the past few decades, there was no one who even came close to being as incisive and edgy about taboo topics as Carlin. His monologues are timeless and you’ll be seeing them replayed over and over in the next week. These two bits are probably my favorites: There was no one else… Read more
Not atheist related. But it made me smile 🙂 Now back to studying for my grad school Abstract Algebra midterm… (via Cynical-C Blog) Read more
I’ve heard this (paraphrased) argument used by atheists before: There are plenty of examples of science proving a religious claim wrong. There are no examples of religion proving a scientific claim wrong. Are there any responses a theist can give to it? Are there any examples of religion proving science wrong? [tags]atheist, atheism[/tags] Read more
The new Carnival of the Godless is at Earthman’s Notebook. Go check it out! The next CotG is at The Atheist Blogger in two weeks. Submit your entries here! … The Humanist Symposium can be found this week at Greta Christina’s Blog. Go read it! The next HS is at faith in honest doubt in three weeks. Submit your entries here! [tags]atheist, atheism[/tags] Read more
These just amused me…: Anything missing? (via Cognitive Dissident and Groupthink) [tags]atheist, atheism, Barack Obama, John McCain[/tags] Read more
