Religious believers often accuse atheists of being angry, but if you ever read comment on any article dealing with atheism, it really seems like it is the theists who are the angry ones. Why is that? Last weekend, atheists rallied to protest our exclusion from the “Free Speech Zone” in West Chester, PA. The local […]
Filed under: culture war, Religion, truth | 5 Comments »
As an atheist, I have no problem informing people that their imaginary friend is… well, imaginary. But it seems that many of my fellow atheists get all bent out of shape when the imaginary friend happens to be Santa Claus. Yesterday, I published an Examiner article about a news anchor who told the obvious truth […]
Filed under: atheism, censorship, Media, Parenting, Religion | 12 Comments »
Many times when I criticize a particular heinous verse of the Bible, religious believers will criticize me for taking the Bible too literally. They will claim that the verse is merely a metaphor. Sometimes they are correct, but not usually. It seems that religious believers will bend over backwards to find an interpretation that isn’t […]
Filed under: anti-intellectualism, blood sacrifice, Religion, Religious Manipulation, the bible | No Comments »
We are all familiar with Epicurus’s Problem of Evil but for the Christian there is a bigger Problem of Evil too. I’ll call it the Problem of the Cruelty Asshole. Epicurus has put his problem this way: “Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is impotent. Is he able, but not […]
Filed under: conversation, Evils of Christianity, god, God Fearing, hell, Judge God, Religion | 1 Comment »
I recently watched Greta Christina’s presentation at Skepticon IV about why atheists are angry. It is well worth the watching. In it, she mentioned that Christians often give atheists advice on how we should run our movement. This particularly caught my attention because I hear this all the time and even heard it shortly before […]
Filed under: atheism, billboards, culture war, humanism, People of Reason, Religion | No Comments »
Fundamentalist Christians are upset because apparently President Obama didn’t mention God in his Thanksgiving Day address. Personally, I don’t know why the President has to even have a Thanksgiving Day address. But the Right Wing has been complaining all weekend that Obama “omitted” God from the address. The Amazing Atheist did a great video on […]
Filed under: church/state, culture war, Obama, Offensiveness, Religion, thanksgiving | No Comments »
After I really get into it with a Creationist, they will often admit that they agree with “micro-evolution” but reject the “belief” in “macro-evolution.” So what is macro-evolution? The truth is that there is no such thing as macro-evolution. Creations made it up. There is only one kind of evolution and that is evolution via […]
Filed under: Creationism, evolution, science | 1 Comment »
Back in my college days, there weren’t a lot of atheist t-shirts out there. I had a shirt that I got from Hot Topic that said, “i am god” in all lowercase letters. There is an interesting story with this shirt and what happened when I wore it to my Christian friend’s Creationism program. My […]
Filed under: Alternative Worldview, atheism, conversation, Creationism, de-conversion, god, Personal, Religion | No Comments »
Often times when I get into a discussion about religion with a Christian they will abruptly stop the discussion and ask me a particular question. Sometimes they even ask this question after I have shown the ridiculousness of the story pointing out plot hole after plot hole. “What if it is true?” Sure I can […]
Filed under: Alternative Worldview, Belief, conversation, delusion, hell, humanism, morality, Religion | 1 Comment »
Yea, that’s right the end of Harold Camping’s trek to doomsday is nigh… or near… or something. For me, this has been a long journey. When I was in college back in 1993, I started listening to Camping with my friend Greg. Greg was a believer and a follower of Camping. I interviewed him about […]
Filed under: Biblical Scholarship, End of Days, End of the World, Evils of Christianity, prophecies | 3 Comments »
Over the weekend, one of my college friends died. He was a young guy and would occasionally comment on my facebook wall when I was discussing politics. While he might have denied it, I claim him as the first person I deconverted away from Christianity. What I realized however is that much of the words […]
Filed under: Alternative Worldview, death, People of Reason, Personal, Religious Manipulation | 2 Comments »
Some Christians believe that the Bible has answers to every question and I suppose that if to read into it enough that is true. However, if you read into it enough you can find contradictory answers to every question too. Since we are in an economic crisis, I thought I would consult the Bible about […]
Filed under: Alternative Worldview, culture war, Politics, Religion, Self-Help, the bible | No Comments »
I really do hate when religious believers tell me that they don’t judge people and then proceed to call those who don’t believe in their ridiculous beliefs evil sinners. When I call them out on it, they inform me that they aren’t calling me an evil sinner, God is through the Bible. Well shit, that’s […]
Filed under: Glory to God, image of god, Judge God, Projection, Religion, sin, the bible | 1 Comment »
One of the big selling points for God is that he is alleged to be unchanging. One Christian I recently talked to put it this way, “God is the same today as he was yesterday.” The implication is that God’s views are consistent and unchanging. In one sense, this makes sense. If God knows everything, […]
Filed under: god, image of god, Religious Manipulation | 1 Comment »
I hate when people go out of their way to appear honest. This usually means that they really aren’t honest and are just trying to put up a false front. However, sometimes actually being honest isn’t enough. For atheists we not only have to be honest, but since we are often under a microscope by […]
Filed under: atheism, morality, People of Reason | 1 Comment »
Religious believers seem to think that if life is finite, then life is meaningless. As an atheist, I think the opposite is true. The very fact that life is finite is the very thing that makes life meaningful. If we had eternal life, then what would be the point of it? We strive and work […]
Filed under: death, responsibility | 2 Comments »
I always find it interesting when Christians tell me right from the start that they will never be convinced that they are wrong. But what is really interesting is that they then project that stone wall mentality onto me. They tell me that they will never be convinced or that neither of us will be […]
Filed under: anti-intellectualism, Certainty, de-conversion, Religion | 4 Comments »
In the western religious traditions, it is believed that we are not only children of the same God of Abraham, but that we were created in His image. However, people come in many shapes, sizes, and colors so questions arise. If we are all created in the image of God, what does God look like? […]
Filed under: anti-intellectualism, Argument by Design, Creationism, image of god | 1 Comment »
Fundamentalist religious believers love to ignore and attack science. Some will claim that there are other sources of knowledge. It is not unusual to hear some religious believer talk about spiritual knowledge or to claim that they can know God through faith. I maintain that without science there is no knowledge. I guess I am […]
Filed under: Alternative Worldview, anti-intellectualism, science | 1 Comment »
Last week, I was listening to a talk radio show in which the host commented about how the title, “Patriot Day” commercializes and trivializes the tragedy of that day. He imagined commercials advertising for Patriot Day clearance sales. But after the events of 9/11, I think America did sell out. I remember the days after […]
Filed under: culture war, Patriot Day, Personal | 1 Comment »
Christians have created a little trap for people of reason. It is a way they can attack us for whatever answer we give. It is an interesting new rhetoric that I am starting to hear them use more and more. I will call it “The Certainty Trap.” First they start out with the whole, “it […]
Filed under: Alternative Worldview, anti-intellectualism, Certainty, conversation, Preaching | 4 Comments »
There seems to be this disconnect for many Christians. I have come across it multiple times. When asked why God doesn’t present evidence for his existence, I often hear Christians tell me that God gave us Free Will. I don’t really see how that addresses the problem but it seems that many Christians equate evidence […]
Filed under: Alternative Worldview, anti-intellectualism, conversation, faith, free will, ignorance, Religious Manipulation | 1 Comment »
Often times Christians will ask people if they have heard the “Good News.” They will ask if you have ever heard of Jesus Christ. Once when I was in college, I thought I would try a little experiment and answer the question in a way most Christians wouldn’t expect. I said, “No, never heard of […]
Filed under: Alternative Worldview, conversation, discussion, ignorance, Personal, Religion | 3 Comments »
Often times when I demand that religious believers present evidence for their claims they try to find some way to avoid doing so. One of their most common tactics is to claim or insinuate that I am not worthy of the evidence. If only I already believed then they could present me with the evidence […]
Filed under: anti-intellectualism, discussion, ignorance, Religious Manipulation | No Comments »
It seems that many religious believers can’t understand a life without authority figures. When arguing with a Christian recently, he told me that Richard Dawkins believes in Intelligent Design therefore I ought to accept it too. What he did was he took a clip from the ridiculously edited film Expelled in which Dawkins says that […]
Filed under: anti-intellectualism, Authority, People of Reason, Religious Manipulation, science | No Comments »
According to the Bible, one cannot serve two masters. So my question to politicians is, “Are you a public servant or a servant of God?” I think it is time for the greater community of reason to start throwing our weight around in politics. We need to start making it clear to politicians that we […]
Filed under: culture war, Election, People of Reason, Political Activism, Politics | 7 Comments »
It started with some punk Christian asserting that without God there can be no moral grounding. We have all heard that one before and so I responded with my Atheism 101 article on the subject (which is now out of date, but still useful). Then the Christian responded with this: “As far as your argument […]
Filed under: anti-intellectualism, conversation, debate, discussion, humanism, morality | 7 Comments »
As the 2012 Presidential election come near, it is important to know where candidates stand on “the most important questions of life.” How did we get here? Where did we come from? As a candidate for President of the United States of America will you sign the following pledge? 1. I swear to God, Jesus […]
Filed under: Creationism, Politics | 4 Comments »
Religious believers love to try to lower science to the level of faith. They love to talk about how science requires faith and some will even say that it requires more faith than… actual faith. Faith is dogmatic by nature and so religious believers like to claim that science is equally as dogmatic. It isn’t! […]
Filed under: Alternative Worldview, anti-intellectualism, culture war, Religious Manipulation, science | 2 Comments »
Yesterday I posted an article on Examiner about an upcoming debate between Dave Silverman of American Atheists and Ann Coulter’s ex-fiancée, Dinesh D’souza. While some atheists feel comfortable writing off D’Souza as a hack, the fact is that he is a very intelligent and skilled hack. So I thought I would help Dave prepare. D’souza […]
Filed under: Alternative Worldview, culture war, debate, Dinesh D'Souza, Evils of Christianity, free will, morality, Religious Manipulation | 1 Comment »
