So lately the media has been obsessed with the TSA’s body scanners and pat downs. I am pretty sure that the body scanners have been in use for months but have only filtered down to the news media’s attention recently. In any case, we don’t really need either the scanners or the pat down. It […]
Filed under: Authority, culture war, islam, Politics, sex | 1 Comment »
Over the weekend, I attended a family function. It was my Uncle’s 90th surprise birthday party and it was being held at a Knights of Columbus Hall. The Knights of Columbus is like the super Catholic Freemasons. Outside the Hall was a lawn sign which read, “Keep the Christ in Christmas.” So right away I […]
Filed under: Catholics, culture war, Personal, Religion | No Comments »
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 »
Over the weekend, the latest Harry Potter movie came out. While I will hopefully be seeing it later in the week, it did remind me of a conversation I had with a fundamentalist Christian friend. In the conversation, he demanded that I tell him why I don’t believe in Jesus Christ. Before answering his question, […]
Filed under: delusion, god, Harry Potter | 5 Comments »
Yesterday I was watching part of the debate between Christopher Hitchens and Intelligent Design proponent Dr. William Demski of the “Discovery Institute” (which for the record has yet to discover anything). In any case, Demski made a particular claim that many other Christian make, but not as forcefully as Demski did. He stated that “Humans […]
Filed under: Alternative Worldview, atheism, Evils of Christianity, humanism | 11 Comments »
Unlike Christians, atheists have no support network. If an atheist is suffering emotional, financial, or even physical distress, they have no one to turn to. Christians on the other hand can go to any church and get help. We need to start building an atheist support network. Earlier this week, the President of the Freethought […]
Filed under: atheism, humanism, People of Reason, Personal | 1 Comment »
Every year for at least three years now, the Freethought Society (of Greater Philadelphia) has put up a Tree of Knowledge outside the Chester County Courthouse in West Chester, PA. The tree is a large evergreen decorated with the laminated book covers of various atheist, scientific, philosophical, and even religious books. Every year there is […]
Filed under: atheism, censorship, church/state, free speech, People of Reason, Tree of Knowledge | 8 Comments »
So last night I was at the monthly meeting of the Freethought Society and our President Margaret Downey was speaking about how she de-converted and got active in activism. Afterward, she invited others to briefly give their de-conversion tale. So when I was up, I talked about how I came from a mostly secularized Jewish […]
Filed under: atheism, de-conversion, jews, Personal, Religion | 3 Comments »
Over the weekend, I had the interesting opportunity to visit a discount Christian bookstore. Whenever I can, I like to take a look at what Christians are selling and buying. I just find it fascinating. I feel like a anthropologist studying a primitive culture. For starters, I love how the store was open on Saturday […]
Filed under: atheism, culture war | 2 Comments »
Now that election season is over, most of the campaign signs have been taken down. Yet while I was driving the other day, I saw some signs still up at the intersection of a few major roads. Wait a minute, those weren’t campaign signs they were signs promoting the End of the World. The signs […]
Filed under: anti-intellectualism, End of Days, End of the World, God Fearing, Religion, The Rapture | 4 Comments »
Today is the day that everyone thanks all the veterans for their service and if you are a thoughtful person who doesn’t think that every single veteran deserves thanks, you are un-American apparently. Last year I wrote a similar blog and some people didn’t bother to read what I wrote and just labeled me a […]
Filed under: blood sacrifice, Current Events, Personal, Veterans Day | No Comments »
Yesterday the American Humanist Association launched their big multimedia campaign. I think it is a great time to talk briefly about their campaign and about where the focus of these groups should be going. If you haven’t heard about this campaign please check out my Examiner article on it. For starters, I have been critical […]
Filed under: atheism, billboards, culture war, humanism, Media, People of Reason | 1 Comment »
Awhile ago, I wrote about the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel. I really like that blog and I am feeling a little lazy today so I am re-posting it: “And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top [may reach] unto heaven; and let us make […]
Filed under: anti-intellectualism, Babel, Biblical Scholarship, Blasphemy, delusion, Disproving God, language, Religion, the bible | 3 Comments »
Last Tuesday was Election Day and I spent the entire day at the polls as Minority Election Inspector. Toward the end of the day after the polls had closed, I got into a short conversation with a Republican poll watcher who was hanging out waiting for the results. The topic was on the role of […]
Filed under: church/state, culture war, Current Events, Law, Political Activism, Politics | 2 Comments »
Earlier this week, I got an e-mail from a Christian asking me if I would believe in fundamentalist Christianity if every Christian on Earth suddenly disappeared. The reasoning being that they were “obviously” all raptured up to Heaven, so that must be evidence that it is all true, right? I responded with a one word […]
Filed under: Alternative Worldview, Real Christians, The Rapture | 18 Comments »
There is nothing worse than sitting in a firehouse for 13 hours being forced to listen to church gossip. Tuesday, I had to sit in my polling place all day as the Minority Election Inspector and all my coworkers were Catholics. First, I want to say that one was a liberal Catholic and the others […]
Filed under: Catholics, Church, conversation, culture war, Election, Personal | 1 Comment »
I don’t know what was more discouraging yesterday, the Republicans winning in so many places or top progressives like Alan Grayson and Russ Feingold losing. In my state of Pennsylvania, the Republicans really won big. They took the Governor position. Crazy former Constitutional Party wacko Pat Toomey defeated my congressman Joe Sestak for Senate. Bryan […]
Filed under: church/state, Election, Personal, Politics | 3 Comments »
Today I will be performing my duties as an elected official. Last year I won the race for Minority Election Inspector for my local precinct. I won this election by exactly one vote… mine. Let this be a lesson to everyone, if there is no candidate for a local office that you like, don’t be […]
Filed under: church/state, Current Events, Personal, Politics | No Comments »
Over the weekend, Jon Stewart held the Rally to Restore Sanity and tomorrow is Election Day so I thought I would talk about this myth that both political parties are equally extreme. Toward the end of the rally, Stewart gave his closing speech in which he talked about how people from both sides of the […]
Filed under: church/state, conversation, culture war, Current Events, Election, End of Days, People of Reason, Political Activism, Politics | 2 Comments »
