Posted on January 7th, 2011 by Staks
It seems that many religious people are offended every time an atheist makes his or her lack of belief known. This is why organized atheism offends them so much lately. Why are they so offended by our mere existence? In George Orwell’s book 1984, there is a very interesting and often overlooked conversation. In this […]
Filed under: 1984, Alternative Worldview, Authority, Blasphemy, culture war, deathbed conversion, Offensiveness, Religion, Religious Manipulation, science | 4 Comments »
Posted on December 17th, 2010 by Staks
One of the most common attacks that Creationsists make is that “Evolutionists” are responsible for Hitler’s Eugenics program. This is of course ridiculous and in reality is no different than claiming that Gravitiests are responsible for the crimes of murderers dropping people out a window. First, I take issue with the term “Evolutionist.” Evolution is […]
Filed under: anti-intellectualism, Creationism, culture war, evolution, morality, Religious Manipulation, science | 1 Comment »
Posted on December 16th, 2010 by Staks
My friend and aspiritual leader, Jake recently wrote a post on his blog, AfterFaith.com, that reminded me about an issue I’ve been wanting to write about for some time. Lately, I have been getting a lot of e-mails from recent de-converts from religion and I wanted to talk about the betrayal many of them feel. […]
Filed under: atheism, conversation, de-conversion, Decline of Religion, Religion, Religious Manipulation, Self-Help | 3 Comments »
Posted on December 9th, 2010 by Staks
Last week, I was having a conversation with another atheist who isn’t as vocal as I am. She asked how Christians can believe this stuff and commented that they must be stupid. I found myself in the odd position of defending Christians. It is not that Christians are stupid, but rather that the system that […]
Filed under: anti-intellectualism, conversation, de-conversion, discussion, ignorance, Religion, Religious Manipulation | 14 Comments »
Posted on December 1st, 2010 by Staks
As a critical thinker, I criticize a lot of ridiculous ideas. 9/11 Truthers, grand conspiracy theorists, ghosts, aliens, psychic powers, etc. are all things which I am critical of even though I actually believe in some of them to some degree. But when it comes to religion everyone gets offended. Let’s start with Christianity. I […]
Filed under: atheism, conversation, culture war, ignorance, islam, jews, Mainstream Christians, Religion, Religious Manipulation, Skepticism | 8 Comments »
Posted on November 23rd, 2010 by Staks
Thanksgiving is a few days away and that means for many atheists an uncomfortable long weekend with religious family members. The question is always the same, how vocal should an atheist be during Thanksgiving? I’m pretty lucky in that my family pretty much knows where I stand and expects me to be vocal. Most of […]
Filed under: conversation, Offensiveness, Personal, Religious Manipulation | 1 Comment »
Posted on October 7th, 2010 by Staks
I never really understood the idea of a Church… at least not from a theological point of view. If God is supposed to be everywhere, then what is the point of having a house of God? Now of course there are other reasons for have Christians to build Churches. From a historical stand point, it […]
Filed under: anti-intellectualism, Church, Glory to God, Religious Manipulation | 4 Comments »
Posted on October 5th, 2010 by Staks
The other day, I got an e-mail from Liberty University. It was actually more of a spam mail. It seems that the Jerry Falwell School of Brainwashing has started an online degree program. I feel sorry for online colleges like Phoenix University that already struggles to be taken seriously and not they are put in […]
Filed under: Alternative Worldview, anti-intellectualism, Biblical Scholarship, culture war, education, ignorance, Religion, Religious Manipulation | 1 Comment »
Posted on September 21st, 2010 by Staks
For most atheists, when we get into conversations with the religious, we tend to discuss facts and evidence. When we argue, we use logic, reason, and point out fallacies. But when the religious argue, they use personal connection. Religious people will try to get to know you. They don’t really care about the details of […]
Filed under: anti-intellectualism, conversation, culture war, de-conversion, Personal, Religious Manipulation | 3 Comments »
Posted on September 20th, 2010 by Staks
Whenever someone makes a life and death decision, there will be a theist around to claim that someone is “playing God.” The thing is that when it is a life or death decision, we aren’t playing. Unlike theists, atheists view this life as the only life we have. We don’t view life as a game […]
Filed under: de-conversion, Religious Manipulation, responsibility | 1 Comment »
Posted on September 9th, 2010 by Staks
A lot of times, Christians will insist that their belief was not a product of brainwashing, indoctrination, or some other form of emotional trickery. They will insist that there are logical and reasonable reasons for their belief. Okay, what are they? They will give you a million different arguments for God and Christianity but which […]
Filed under: anti-intellectualism, conversation, Religion, Religious Manipulation | 1 Comment »
Posted on September 1st, 2010 by Staks
It seems that no matter how jolly I am when it comes out that I don’t believe in a deity; Christians always assume that I must be bitter and angry just because I don’t believe in their deity of choice. While I can be critical of their God and their whole religion for that matter, […]
Filed under: culture war, discussion, Religious Manipulation | 1 Comment »
Posted on August 30th, 2010 by Staks
Image via Wikipedia A number of years ago, I met a young Christian who was telling me his story about how he used to be addicted to drugs, alcohol, and sex. He told me that his life was spiraling out of control and no one he could do could save him. Then along came Jesus […]
Filed under: delusion, Hope, humanism, Religion, Religious Manipulation, responsibility, sin, wwjd | 1 Comment »
Posted on August 27th, 2010 by Staks
I always have to laugh when some Christian cries about the horrible persecution they suffer because they aren’t allowed to discriminate against gays or force their religion and values down everyone the throats of others like they used to. Woe it is to be a Christian today, lol. Yesterday, I blogged about how the Catholic […]
Filed under: culture war, discrimination, Offensiveness, Religion, Religious Manipulation | 2 Comments »
Posted on August 13th, 2010 by Staks
I know the Anne Rice thing is getting old. The story has been around for a few weeks now and I just can’t let it go. Like I did with Stephen Baldwin, I have written an open letter to Anne Rice. I am confident she will read it since she has been so accessible in […]
Filed under: conversation, de-conversion, faith, Religious Manipulation | 1 Comment »
Posted on June 30th, 2010 by Staks
I have a 16 month old child and the other day we were at his library program and they were singing a song about bedtime routines. Part of the routine in the song was to say your prayers. As someone who grew up in a moderately Jewish home, I am curious, how early do Christians […]
Filed under: Catholics, culture war, Mainstream Christians, prayer, Religious Manipulation, sin | 2 Comments »
Posted on June 15th, 2010 by Staks
A popular Christian strategy for winning converts is basically to see how any arguments they can bombard you with in as little time as possible. The idea is to carpet bomb their mark with lots of arguments with the hope that at least one of them will resonate with their mark. On the off chance […]
Filed under: Argument by Design, atheism, conversation, culture war, discussion, First Cause Argument, god of the gaps, ignorance, Ontological Argument, prophecies, Religion, Religious Manipulation | 2 Comments »
Posted on June 9th, 2010 by Staks
Yesterday, I spent my blogging time writing up my Examiner article (because they pay the bills… well, not really… so contribute bitches). In any case, the article was about Helen Thomas’s remarks and the misunderstanding that followed. I am not going to defend Helen Thomas here; I leave that to the Examiner article. But I […]
Filed under: culture war, ignorance, jews, journalism, language, Orthodox Judaism, Religion, Religious Manipulation | 4 Comments »
Posted on June 3rd, 2010 by Staks
It is my view that the Christian belief system is a corrupting force to society to individual humanity. This is not a criticism of people who are Christian necessarily, but it is a criticism of the system of belief that such people subscribe to. This system of belief has taken on a life of its […]
Filed under: Car Bomb Argument, culture war, Evils of Christianity, god of the gaps, good cop-bad cop, Most Dangerous Religion, Religion, Religious Manipulation | 1 Comment »
Posted on June 2nd, 2010 by Staks
I am a pretty outspoken atheist and I criticize religion often and in some cases extremely harshly. I generally argue against particular religious ideas and lines of “reasoning” rather than arguing behavior (although I do argue against some behavior of particular religious people or groups of people from time to time). Often when I present […]
Filed under: church/state, conversation, culture war, People of Reason, Personal, Religion, Religious Manipulation | 4 Comments »
Posted on May 24th, 2010 by Staks
Usually I discuss religion with Christians since Christianity is the majority religion in America however from time to time I get drawn into a conversation/debate with someone from one of the other Abrahamic religions. Interestingly enough, the arguments aren’t any different. Last year for example, I got into a pretty lengthy religious conversation with my […]
Filed under: conversation, discussion, islam, Religion, Religious Manipulation | 1 Comment »
Posted on April 16th, 2010 by Staks
When I was in grad school, I was already a vocal atheist and was pretty knowledgeable about the greater atheist community. One day a fundamentalist Christian friend of mine was excited to tell me that the most famous atheist in the world had just converted to Christianity. Antony Flew was so famous that I had […]
Filed under: Anthony Flew, conversation, de-conversion, death, deathbed conversion, Evils of Christianity, Religion, Religious Manipulation, Vague Higher Power | 33 Comments »
Posted on March 12th, 2010 by Staks
Society has been so dominated by Judeo-Christian beliefs that even people who don’t believe in a god are still brainwashed into using God language. How many times have you said, “God bless you” after someone sneezes? “God Bless you” is just one example and many non-religious people have started to use other phrases instead of […]
Filed under: atheism, culture war, language, People of Reason, Religious Manipulation | 14 Comments »
Posted on February 5th, 2010 by Staks
I want to once again stress that I am not trying to defend Scientology, but I do think that Scientology performs a valuable service to our society for the moment. Right now, it serves as a comparison to show the dangers of Christianity. In a previous blog, I talked about why I think that Christianity […]
Filed under: culture war, Evils of Christianity, Most Dangerous Religion, Religion, Religious Manipulation, scientology | 11 Comments »
Posted on February 3rd, 2010 by Staks
Ever since I was in college I have had evangelical Christians coming to my door to “witness” to me. Many of these evangelicals like to tell me about how they became “saved,” “Born again,” or whatever other cult-term they come up with. I like when they tell me about their story. It is a perfect […]
Filed under: conversation, de-conversion, delusion, discussion, missionaries, Preaching, Religion, Religious Manipulation | 2 Comments »
Posted on January 4th, 2010 by Staks
Over the break, I got a lot of e-mails asking me about my de-conversion story. To be honest, my story isn’t that interesting. I was never a fundamentalist nor did I have a lot of family pressure to stay religious. But it’s a new year, so I guess I’ll tell the story. First, it is […]
Filed under: atheism, conversation, de-conversion, Religion, Religious Manipulation | 6 Comments »
Posted on November 13th, 2009 by Staks
Christian evangelist Ray Comfort is known for his use of fear as a tool to gain converts. While he is not the only one by a long shot who uses this tool, he is one of the more notable culprits. Comfort and his completely straight heterosexual partner Kirk Cameron (aka Mike Seaver from Growing Pains) […]
Filed under: Judge God, Preaching, ray comfort, Religion, Religious Manipulation, ten commandments | 6 Comments »
Posted on October 16th, 2009 by Staks
During the first week of my freshman year at college, I noticed a newspaper of campus called “The Rampage.” My university’s mascot was the Ram, so I figured that it must be the campus newspaper. It certainly looked like the campus newspaper. The front page had a typical story which one would expect to find […]
Filed under: discussion, Preaching, Religion, Religious Manipulation | 10 Comments »
Posted on September 1st, 2009 by Staks
Recently I watched a video on YouTube where a girl was talking about how she was involved in a “service” project aimed at helping missionaries give food, water, and medical supplies to a third world country. I have to say that this type of thing makes me sick to my stomach. While I am all […]
Filed under: Evils of Christianity, missionaries, Religion, Religious Manipulation | 31 Comments »
Posted on August 19th, 2009 by Staks
Are religious believers stupid? I get this question all the time ironically enough I get it the most from religious believers. My answer to this question is almost always the same. “Smart people can believe stupid things.” There is no doubt that the belief in the all-powerful god as described in the Torah/Bible/Koran based off […]
Filed under: atheism, de-conversion, god of the gaps, Religion, Religious Manipulation | 28 Comments »
