***Update: I’ve corrected a few mistakes in the intro, and I’ve attached August’s PDF of the arguments (great for printing out) and added some of his own thoughts. The arguments themselves are unchanged. Sorry for any inconvenience!*** August Berkshire, the public relations representative for Minnesota Atheists and Vice-President of Atheist Alliance International, has put together a simple, concise list of “18 Unconvincing Arguments for God” (PDF). August has said the list was written in order to give Christians (and those… Read more
On July 26, 2006, 8-year-old DreShawna Davis was shot dead in the city of Jacksonville, Florida. The city, in response, wanted “more aggressive measures to reduce the homicide rate.” So mayor John Peyton took action. He held a rally in the local Veterans Memorial Arena, drawing 6,000 people. The rally was called “Day of Faith: Arming our Prayer Warriors.” Because as we all know, violence can only be stopped by prayer. Cops be damned. The rally in itself is disturbing…. Read more
Pictures from The Amaz!ng Meeting 5. Solely designed to invoke jealousy. If you don’t know who is in the picture, just click on it to see the caption. Then again, I’m in the same pose in just about every pic. I need to change that up. From now on, I will only scowl. Two pictures deserve their own special mention. Matt Stone and Trey Parker, creators of South Park, signed my friend Margaret Downey’s Gideon Bible. Click on the images… Read more
I spent the weekend at The Amaz!ng Meeting 5 in Las Vegas. While there is a lot to discuss, today you get the random minutia: Quotations. For actual descriptions of what happened, visit Phil Plait’s Bad Astronomy blog (Parts 1 and 2 are currently up). So, here you go. Things I heard that enlightened or amused me. Don’t quote me on the quotations. There’s only so much you can do with a pen, a notecard, and my memory when people… Read more
Dina Haines Appleby of DelawareOnline wrote an article on how atheists share values with everyone else. It’s a good, quick read. Her numbers stating that atheists are 1-3% of the population are rather low, but otherwise, she makes good points. Appleby’s conclusion needs to be restated. It’s wonderful. All of which brings me back to the question of whether you know any atheists. It’s much easier to hate or distrust an abstract group of “others” than to hate or distrust… Read more
Radio host Terrence McNally recently interviewed Richard Dawkins. The transcript can be found here. Most of it is a rehashing of words Dawkins has said many times before, but this particular response bugged me: TM: In other words, if [a religion was] just a philosophical belief that had no impact on the world, fine. RD: Exactly. I don’t think you’ll find many people criticizing any gentle religion, like Jainism. Sam Harris echoed that thought in The End of Faith. Do… Read more
Back from Vegas. Curse you, Google spambot. I think I’ve removed all 238821 messages you left for me… More on The Amaz!ng Meeting 5 coming soon. In the meantime, here’s a fun, anticlimactic quotation from Jason Waggoner, a man who talks about how his life changed after a rough divorce: “I was an atheist five months ago,” he said. “My life didn’t have any hope. I turned my attention to God after a divorce caused my pain and I used… Read more
I’m off to Las Vegas for The Amaz!ng Meeting 5, a conference hosted by James Randi’s organization. Blogging will resume when I get back next Monday. Be good while I’m gone. Read more
Ladies and gentlemen, your moment of zen: The brand new painting (Morals vs. Ethics) is by atheists’ favorite artist Joel Pelletier, who also painted the incredibly-detailed and much-discussed American Fundamentalists (2004). [tags]Morals vs. Ethics, Joel Pelletier, American Fundamentalists, atheist, atheism[/tags] Read more
I just spent a lot of time writing about how incredible I think Barack Obama is. And then I deleted it. You’ve already heard the hype; why bother restating it. The point of it all was this: I am thrilled that he’s in the race. PZ Myers thinks otherwise, though. He says Obama is “too pious and too unaccomplished.” Too unaccomplished? There are plenty of “accomplished” people that have led the country down the wrong path. Democrats included. Even if… Read more
