Just like all cults, fundamentalist Christianity seems to have its own vocabulary. There are certain terms that seem to have pretty standard meanings, but when used in the fundamentalist Christian context they tend to mean almost the exact opposite. The most overused term I hear is “Truth” with a capital “T.” To most people, something […]
Filed under: 1984, conversation, discussion, Religion | 3 Comments »
Many theists complain to me that I shouldn’t criticize religion because it makes them happy. They accuse me of “trying to take away their happiness.” I find this accusation to be a sad attempt at a conversation stopper. For starters, I don’t think I am trying to take anyone’s happiness away any more than drug […]
Filed under: atheism, de-conversion, Evils of Christianity, god, morality, Religion, the bible | 7 Comments »
I get asked a lot by both Christians and atheists alike, what is the book that I would most recommend to people in order to de-convert them away from god-belief. The answer I always give surprises a lot of people. While some people would expect me to say, Richard Dawkin’s book, The God Delusion, I […]
Filed under: atheism, conversation, de-conversion, Religion, the bible | 7 Comments »
When theists talk about Biblical scholarship, I can’t help but laugh. I can study the books of the Harry Potter series for years and years, but that doesn’t make the belief that Hogwarts is a real place filled with magic any less fictional. It seems to me that the entire basis for the field (if […]
Filed under: Biblical Scholarship, Religion, the bible | 8 Comments »
If someone owed you a hundred dollars and handed you 10 cents insisting that it was a hundred dollars, what would you do? Would it be considered proselytizing to inform them of reality? Would you claim that they are entitled to their belief? What if someone told you that they sincerely believed Elvis was still […]
Filed under: atheism, Atheism NOT Religion, delusion, Religion | 20 Comments »
James Dobson and Chris Hedges have very little in common, but when it comes to the non-believers, they are on the same page. In fact, they constantly play off each other. Dobson talks fire and brimstone and Hedges talks of peace on Earth. Yet we never see the two of them debate each other or […]
Filed under: atheism, Atheism NOT Religion, People of Reason, Religion | 24 Comments »
In George Orwell’s book 1984, there is a very interesting and often overlooked conversation. In this conversation, O’Brian informs Winston that he (O’Brian) can float on a bubble. O’Brian then contends that if Winston and he both believe this to be true and no one is around to disagree than it is in fact true […]
Filed under: 1984, delusion, Evils of Christianity, missionaries, Preaching, Religion | 6 Comments »
Yesterday was Blasphemy Day and some atheists have been critical of the holiday. I don’t really have a problem with that. Not all atheists have to agree on this or anything else for that matter except of course the lack of belief in deities. But I would like to address some of the criticisms. One […]
Filed under: atheism, Blasphemy, free speech, People of Reason, Religion | 3 Comments »
Fuck Mohammad with a Crucifix, today is Blasphemy Day! For those who aren’t aware, this is the anniversary of publishing of a handful of Danish cartoons which caused mass rioting from the Muslim community. Incidentally, none of the major US publishers published those cartoons at the time out of fear. In fact, the executives at […]
Filed under: atheism, Blasphemy, Religion | 7 Comments »
I’m a little disappointed in the greater atheist community. Atheists are notorious for not uniting together and for not supporting fellow atheists. We really need to fix this problem. While not all atheists agree with each other on anything necessarily except for the lack of belief in a god or gods that is no excuse. […]
Filed under: atheism, culture war, People of Reason, Political Activism, Religion, Tree of Knowledge | 13 Comments »
Last year, the Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia put up a winter display outside the Chester County Courthouse in West Chester, PA. As a member of that organization, I was part of the effort. While we were putting up our Tree of Knowledge, a film maker named Greg Walsh took some video that he was […]
Filed under: atheism, People of Reason, Religion, Tree of Knowledge | 2 Comments »
We live in a world that is dominated by religious belief. Often times, well meaning people insert their religious belief into casual conversation. This is socially acceptable behavior in our society. When this happens, an atheist is put in an awkward position. We don’t want to send the message that it is acceptable for religious […]
Filed under: conversation, discussion, Preaching, Religion | 11 Comments »
During the Bush years I heard a lot of people telling me that America was getting so bad under religiously wacko Republican rule that they were seriously considering leaving the country. Even today, I hear some of my more progressive friends tell me that with Health Care the way it is and the Religious Right […]
Filed under: culture war, Most Dangerous Religion, People of Reason, Religion | 9 Comments »
Today, President Barack Obama went to the United Nations to give one of his signature speeches. This time, his speech was on the Global Climate Change problem. As always, the President was articulate and inspiring. He talked about the great threat that the world faces and even quoted John F. Kennedy. Dealing with the Global […]
Filed under: culture war, Current Events, End of Days, global climate change, Obama, Politics, Religion | 8 Comments »
The other day, a Christian wrote to me and told me that he didn’t think that even if incontrovertible evidence was shown for God, that I would accept it. One of his arguments was that Jesus did lots of miracles and there were still people in his day who didn’t believe even though they saw […]
Filed under: miracles, Religion | 8 Comments »
A few months ago, I saw the Academy Award nominated film, Milk about gay activist, politician, Harvey Milk. One of the things that I noticed about as I saw the movie was that the main character was able to gain political power because he formed a strong gay community to elect him. I remember wondering […]
Filed under: atheism, People of Reason, Religion | 14 Comments »
Many times when I am in a discussion with religious and/or atheistic moderates, they tell me that, “some people need religion.” They also often tell me that, “you can’t reason with a fundamentalist.” These are interesting opinions and many of my readers may even agree with them. I however do not. I think people are […]
Filed under: atheism, conversation, de-conversion, Religion | 5 Comments »
There was a time in American history when our society reached for the future. People were excited to explore space, to see what the latest technology was coming out, and what technology companies were working on for the future. People were curious about what a positive future for humanity might look like. In the 1960s, […]
Filed under: anti-intellectualism, culture war, Religion, The Future | 26 Comments »
While intelligence is no guarantee that someone knows what they are talking about, the fact is that statistics show that the more educated someone is the less likely they are to 1. Vote Republican and 2. Believe in a personified deity. Conversely, the less educated someone is the more likely they are to vote Republican […]
Filed under: anti-intellectualism, education, palin, Politics, Religion | 12 Comments »
This seems to come up a lot and in many different forms. Often times, Christians or some other believer in the Abrahamic God will accuse atheists of being the very thing that they themselves are. For example, it is not uncommon for a Christian to claim that the atheist position (that no credible evidence has […]
Filed under: atheism, Atheism NOT Religion, faith, Projection, Religion | 16 Comments »
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 »
A recent conversation I had reminded me of one of my favorite YouTube videos by God Is Imaginary. But before I post that video, I want to talk about these bubbles a little bit. I find that most Christians think that they have the only correct answer to the religion question. Not only do most […]
Filed under: delusion, Real Christians, Religion | 11 Comments »
Recently I have gotten into conversations with multiple Christians who claim to be liberal and progressive. These are the Christians who mistakenly think that Jesus was this peace and love hippy. These are the Christian who are always telling me that the fundamentalists are not real Christians, but are “misusing” the Bible (despite no solid […]
Filed under: conversation, culture war, discussion, Religion | 13 Comments »
I was having a discussion yesterday with a gay Christian. He assured me that he was a liberal, progressive, person and that he too opposes the “misuse” of Christianity by politicians. The problem is that politicians aren’t “misusing” Christianity any more than he is. Here again we have liberal Christians who claim the monopoly on […]
Filed under: Gay Issues, Real Christians, Religion, the bible | 19 Comments »
I was talking with an atheist friend of mine last week and he asked a fantasy question. What I mean by a fantasy question is that the questioner is reasonably certain that the question will never come up in reality. It is like asking who you would pick for your all star football team or […]
Filed under: atheism, conversation, discussion, god, god the father, Religion | 24 Comments »
The other day, a Christian sent me a two part video series that he made about how his 4 month study of Cosmology proves that God exists. Like most fundamentalist Christians and many mainstream religious believers, he starts off with his dogmatic conclusion that God exists and then works his way into finding evidence to […]
Filed under: First Cause Argument, god of the gaps, Religion, science | 21 Comments »
Why is it that so many Christians assume incorrectly that Christianity has the monopoly on family values? We live in a pluralistic society, and as such, people’s values will clash. Fundamental Christianity in particular has to learn that they cannot censor someone else’s values or culture because those values offend the rigid fundamentalist Christian value […]
Filed under: atheism, discussion, education, morality, Parenting, People of Reason, Religion | 48 Comments »
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 »
After failing to be allowed to teach Creationism in public classrooms across America, Creationists moved to the idea of Intelligent Design. Now that watered down version of Creationism has also been thrown out of public schools for being a ridiculously poor attempt to indoctrinate children about Creationism. But Creationists aren’t giving up. They have now […]
Filed under: anti-intellectualism, church/state, Current Events, education, Politics, Religion | 12 Comments »
When we hear about Islamic suicide bombers, the first thing we generally think of is the promise of 72 virgins. While most Americans laugh at this and think to themselves about how ridiculous it is that some people believe that God will give them 72 virgins if they die correctly, I look at this and […]
Filed under: death, morality, Religion | 7 Comments »
