This was the panel discussion question posed at the American Atheists convention. I was on the panel, and my answer was a resounding “Yes.” Of course it matters. If reason and logic were enough to convince people that atheism makes sense, most of the country would have lost their faith by now. Clearly, that’s not the case. There’s much more to the equation, and I believe the rest of it– the bulk of it– falls in the realm of good… Read more
Blog carnivals are a way for several people to submit their best blog writing from the past couple weeks and have them compiled by one blog in particular (on a rotating basis). It’s a way of spreading the link love. For a couple years now, there has only been one Carnival specifically for atheists: the Carnival of the Godless (CotG). It’s a wonderful showcase and a great way to give exposure to the panoply of atheist blogs out there. (That’s… Read more
The Freedom From Religion Foundation has announced their 2007 essay competitions. The deadlines aren’t for a while, but you know you’re going to procrastinate, so just get started now. College-bound high school seniors and current college students are invited to enter. High school seniors can write on the following topics: “Why I do not need religion to be moral” (where you “talk about the myth that a god or religion is the ‘source’ of morality or ethics”) or “Why religion… Read more
Julia Sweeney once played androgynous Pat on Saturday Night Live. You remember Pat. Pat was hilarious. Now, Julia is touring with her one-woman show called Letting Go of God, a monologue about how she went from being a Catholic to being an atheist. The first part of it can be seen here (from the recent TED conference): I’ve said this during a number of speeches in the past year, but this is one of the best examples of Positive Atheism… Read more
It’ll be better to do a few separate posts on certain topics discussed at the American Atheists convention since there is so much to cover. But for now, a couple quotations (which you’re not allowed to quote me on) and pictures! Ellen Johnson, president of American Atheists, during her introduction speech: … has anyone come out of the closet and had a bad experience? [Many hands go up.] The atheism closet, I mean. After her speech, the emcee introduced the… Read more
My local paper in the Chicagoland south suburbs, the Daily Southtown, did an article on bloggers in our area. Among those blogs mentioned are one that “features pieces about knitting,” one that “details the cooking exploits of… [a] stay-at-home father of two,” and this other one…: Hemant Mehta, a 23-year-old Sandburg High School graduate known as the “eBay atheist,” wrote a blog (and a book) about spending a year of Sundays in churches after selling his soul on eBay. The… Read more
Well, besides the whole “not believing in God” thing, anyway? We all have a massive crush on Micki Krimmel: Ok, at least I do. Damn you, submitter at Fark, for exposing her to everyone else. [tags]Mickipedia, atheist, atheism[/tags] Read more
It’s Easter. So by some stretch of the imagination, this is relevant. And pretty amusing 🙂 (via ExChristian.net) [tags]Adam, Eve, Bible, dating[/tags] Read more
The Center For Inquiry is hosting their Student Leadership Conference this summer from June 15-17 at CFI’s headquarters in Amherst, NY (near Buffalo). If you’re a secular college student, a leader in a secular organization, or would like to start a group up on your campus, you are encouraged to attend. Registration, food, and lodging all come included in the $35 fee! Still concerned about the price of the plane ticket to Amherst? (Or, perhaps even worse, the soaring gas… Read more
It was a good run for Darwin & Co. Alas, all good things must come to an end… (via Boing Boing) [tags]atheist, atheism, Intelligent Design, Charles Darwin, evolution[/tags] Read more
