Steven Pinker (author of The Blank Slate) and Rebecca Goldstein (author of The Mind-Body Problem) were interviewed on Salon.com today. Here’s what the intellectual powerhouse of a couple had to say on religion: Do both of you consider yourselves atheists? [pause] GOLDSTEIN: Yes. PINKER: Yes. GOLDSTEIN: Proud atheists. PINKER: There, we said it. [Laughs.] So you have to hesitate for a moment before you use that dirty word? PINKER: Atheists are the most reviled minority in the United States, so… Read more
It just makes you feel all warm and gooey inside… But not in a good way. See the 90-second video here. (via Boing Boing) [tags]atheist, atheism, religion, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, faith, God[/tags] Read more
The Bible taught you not to take an fruit from a serpent. Will these people never learn…? By the way, I want that costume for Halloween. (via heathen.tv) [tags]atheist, atheism, Christian, Jesus, religion, snake, Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve[/tags] Read more
The Chicago Tribune ran an article today about the now-mandatory moment of silence in public schools across the state. “I think it’s ridiculous,” said Mark Merklin, a sophomore at South Elgin High. “What’s the punishment if you talk all through the moment of silence? Is there a fine or what?” … Neil Codell, superintendent of Niles Township High School District 219, said in a prepared statement that legislators “have moved to new heights of buffoonery and uselessness” by not tackling… Read more
The TED conference is described as a “group of remarkable people that gather to exchange ideas of incalculable value.” Simply put: Brilliant people saying incredible things… and the talks are relatively short, too. The TED blog compiled a list of all 150 talks that have been uploaded to their site, along with descriptions. It’s hard to pick out just a couple favorites since they’re all so good ( Read more
From ABC: [Seven-year-old] Samuel [Boutwell] is a Baptist preacher at a church in his home town of Brookhaven, a small town in southwestern Mississippi. He also preaches outside in front of the local Wal-Mart, and has preached on the road in Virginia, Louisiana, Tennessee, Washington D.C., and the streets of New York City. Like many, Samuel said he became a preacher after he was “saved” by Jesus — he just happened to be 3 years old at the time. “After… Read more
Next Monday, the “anti-theist” author of God is Not Great will verbally duke it out with the conservative author of What’s So Great about Christianity in New York. The King’s College will sponsor a debate between cultural critics Dinesh D’Souza and Christopher Hitchens at the New York Society for Ethical Culture, 64th Street and Central Park West at 7:30 PM. The debate will address the question, “Is Christianity the problem?” The event is free and open to the public! (Thanks… Read more
Here’s a letter-to-the-editor that gets it completely wrong: The current interest in atheism reminds me of a story of a century and more ago. The distinguished speaker Robert Ingersoll was in Chicago to present the case for atheism. Walking in the loop district, Ingersoll paused to listen to a gospel message by Christian evangelist Dwight L. Moody, who was preaching on the street. After the message, Ingersoll challenged Moody to a debate on the existence of God. Moody agreed. Moody… Read more
The new Carnival of the Godless is at The Skeptical Alchemist. Go check it out! The next CotG is at Greta Christina’s Blog in two weeks. Submit your entries here! … The Humanist Symposium can be found this week at (is there an echo in here?) Greta Christina’s Blog. Go read it! The next HS is at Letters from a Broad in three weeks. Submit your entries here! [tags]atheist, atheism[/tags] Read more
chooseDoubt clicked on the “random article” link on Wikipedia’s left-hand sidebar… lo and behold, he got directed to an article for a garden located right next to where he used to live! With approximately 5,300,000 Wikified articles, what are the odds of that?! It has to be an *amazing* coincidence, right? Wrong. chooseDoubt explains: I would have been surprised if the article had been about someone that shared the same name as me, or even if it was about a… Read more
