One of the things that really annoys me about fundamentalist Christians is that they often have an ignorance of an entire field of study; sometimes multiple fields of study. But Ethics in particular seems to be a field that many Christians aren’t even aware exists. It is not unusual for me to be in a […]
Filed under: anti-intellectualism, conversation, education, ignorance, morality, Religion | 3 Comments »
Sometimes, I get so wrapped up in debating with religious people that I actually start to take them seriously. I have to remind myself that despite their insistence that they have a legitimate point of view, their religion is ridiculous and has more plot holes than a Michael Bay movie. Seriously? Fundamentalist Christians want to […]
Filed under: anti-intellectualism, Babel, blood sacrifice, culture war, delusion, god of the gaps, Mainstream Christians, Religion | 2 Comments »
There is this philosophy within a small segment of fundamentalist Christianity called the “Quiverfull Movement.” The idea is that people are weapons for God and as such, each Christian within the movement needs to focus on creating more “arrows” for God’s quiver by breeding mass amounts of Christians. By contrast, most atheists I know either […]
Filed under: atheism, culture war, family values, Parenting, Religion | 3 Comments »
The state of the union is shitty… but not for any of the reasons you will hear about on the news. Yes, unemployment is high, the quality of healthcare is low, we are still in two wars, etc. But those are mere symptoms of the real problem. The real problem is that people are stupid. […]
Filed under: healthcare, ignorance, Politics | 1 Comment »
Yesterday, I heard an excerpt from the new Piers Morgan show on CNN in which Christian motivational speaker Joel Osteen commented that he isn’t judging gay people, but God says it’s a sin. He claims that is in the “scriptures.” Joel Osteen doesn’t hate gays, God does. Joel is a really nice guy. He loves […]
Filed under: conversation, culture war, family values, god, Judge God, wwjd | 11 Comments »
Christians sometimes argue that everyone “knows” there is a God. I always find this line of argument comical for so many reasons. First, it is sort of childish. I could just as easily declare that the Christian knows there isn’t a God. It is an assertion which needs no justification. The argument can’t go anyway. […]
Filed under: atheism, conversation, Lord-Liar-Lunatic, Projection | 3 Comments »
My fellow atheists have often stated that you can’t prove a negative. While atheists shouldn’t have to prove a negative, I do think we can actually prove a negative. Today I am going to do exactly that. Just as Anselm tried to use an Ontological argument to prove there is a god, I will use […]
Filed under: atheism, Disproving God, god, Ontological Argument, Religion | 10 Comments »
Something that really annoys me about many religious people is that they are so eager to give credit to their God when humans do all the work. While this is obviously noticeable during football games and other sporting events, it happens in relation to science even more often. For example, science has proven that God […]
Filed under: Alternative Worldview, anti-intellectualism, culture war, People of Reason, Religion, science | 1 Comment »
Over the weekend, I posted a hilarious clip from Fox News in which the host brought on the show an Astronomer and an Astrology to debate the shift in the constellations. Why this is hitting the media now, I have no idea. I learned about this shift 18 years ago in Astronomy class, but that […]
Filed under: ignorance, Religion | 1 Comment »
Lately the American Atheist billboard campaign has gotten a lot of criticism… from atheists. Rebecca Watson from SkepChick and PZ Myers from Pharyngula have both criticized the ad campaign (among others). So it occurred to me that maybe American Atheists might need some help in coming up with their next billboard. What atheist billboard would […]
Filed under: atheism, billboards, culture war | 2 Comments »
Today is the day we celebrate the birth and life of Martin Luther King Jr. To start off, I am a fan, I think Dr. King’s “I had a dream” speech was a great. Aside from the spattering of references to God, which one would expect to find in any political speech, this speech expresses […]
Filed under: church/state, Coexist, culture war, humanism, Martin Luther King Jr., People of Reason | 3 Comments »
Continuing from yesterday’s analysis of my debate on the Bob Enyart radio show (first half-hour now on yesterday’s blog), I wanted to point out a particular trick that Bob used in our debate. Perhaps it is because he believes in authoritative doctrine, that he assumes that science is authoritative too. So his style of attack […]
Filed under: anti-intellectualism, Atheism NOT Religion, Authority, Creationism, culture war, debate, evolution, science | 3 Comments »
Well, I followed the Friendly Atheist on fundamentalist radio’s Bob Enyart Live. The first half hour was live and then we recorded probably a weeks worth of material. I will post digital recordings of the shows when Bob’s producer e-mails them to me. All in all, I thought that the live segment was the worst. […]
Filed under: Creationism, debate, Religious Manipulation | 11 Comments »
Surprisingly, there are many religious believers (some even ardent fundamentalists) who have never actually thought about what they believe and why. Last night, I read an article from one such believer… I think. In any case, I think it is important to reach out to these religious believers and to get them to actually think […]
Filed under: atheism, conversation, culture war, discussion, Personal, Religion | 2 Comments »
In the wake of the Arizona shootings, a facebook page was created called, “Thoughts and Prayers for Rep. Giffords & Other Victims.” I actually don’t have a problem with this particular page even though it calls for prayers it also calls for thoughts. This to me is an acknowledgment that not everyone prays. However, Christians […]
Filed under: culture war, Preaching, Religion, Religious Manipulation | 1 Comment »
Over the weekend, everyone was asking for prayers for those injured and killed in the Arizona shootings. As a person of reason, I cannot give any prayers because I don’t believe there is anyone to answer them. But I do wish to share my thoughts and hopes. As a progressive Democrat, I don’t always agree […]
Filed under: Atheism NOT Religion, Current Events, healthcare, humanism, New World Order, palin, Politics, responsibility | No Comments »
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 »
Recently, news organizations like CNN, Huffington Post, and the Washington Post (among others) have been reporting on a study that appeared in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. The study was called, “Anger Toward God: Social-Cognitive Predictors, Prevalence, and Links With Adjustment to Bereavement and Cancer” and it includes atheists anger toward God. CNN’s […]
Filed under: anti-intellectualism, ignorance, journalism, Media, Personal | 5 Comments »
Let me start off by saying that I am extremely critical of the performances of atheists when they go up against pundits. While Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris usually get B’s, I have only graded one atheist an A+. Most atheists get failing grades. Last night Dave Silverman of American Atheists joined that crowd. There […]
Filed under: atheism, billboards, culture war, Mainstream Christians, Media | 4 Comments »
I sometimes get accused of focusing too much on the religious right and not giving the religious left a fair hearing. While I don’t actually think this is the case, a few years ago I decided to put an end to such accusations. I went to the library and borrowed the book, “God’s Politics” by […]
Filed under: Media, Personal, Progressive Christians, Religion | 1 Comment »
Within the last year, many American Muslims have been using the term “Islamaphobia” to describe the fear people have of the Muslim religion. Being labeled an Islamaphobic is generally considered akin to racism. Last year Bill Donahue of the Catholic League coined the term “Catholic-phobia” and in a recent conversation I had with a Christian […]
Filed under: Alternative Worldview, anti-intellectualism, culture war, delusion, faith, ignorance | 2 Comments »
