Atheism

"Dick Shake" I want to start out by restating (or stating more plainly) that the Tokenskeptic podcast should be on your listening list, and that it influenced my own thinking about Boob Quake. Previously, I had been mainly interacting with people with a positive or neutral view of the Boob Quake, and in observing their relationship to the broader community of skeptics, feminists and atheists, noted that they were getting increasingly crapped upon for their involvement in it by subsets of those communities. The cleavage between pro and anti Boob Quake grew as quakes often do, along pre-…
Religious right to judge: "Shut Up."
I recently posted an appeal for help for Minnesota's Camp Quest, and one commenter noted that atheists should not have summer camps. Others have chimed in with reasons why that commenter was wrong. Here, I'd like to tell a simple story of one girl's experience and why it may have been better for her to attend an atheist summer camp than the camp she did actually attend. This story was told to me by a good friend who's name I've slightly altered. ~~~ I'll call her Diane. When Diane was about 11 years old, she went off to summer camp for the first time. On the first day of camp, when…
Why Liberals and Atheists Are More Intelligent: The origin of values and preferences is an unresolved theoretical question in behavioral and social sciences. The Savanna-IQ Interaction Hypothesis, derived from the Savanna Principle and a theory of the evolution of general intelligence, suggests that more intelligent individuals may be more likely to acquire and espouse evolutionarily novel values and preferences (such as liberalism and atheism and, for men, sexual exclusivity) than less intelligent individuals, but that general intelligence may have no effect on the acquisition and espousal…
Via PZ Myers I find Bruce M Hood's story of how Jonathan Leake misrepresented Hood's work: Well, what did I expect? A fair representation in the press and a balanced view from commentators? Come off it. ... First, most of the articles in the press are based on the original article in The Sunday Times by Jonathan Leake and Andrew Sniderman. Jonathan did have the courtesy to phone me on Friday afternoon to talk about the piece. He had not read the book but had a copy of SuperSense sent to him. I thought I made my position relatively clear as we discussed the evidence and studies that indicate…
Perhaps not what you'd think. This is not about appeasement. It is about not being a racist slob. Imagine a firing squad run by a relatively benevolent government (that happens to have not yet gotten rid of the death penalty). The squad consist of a dozen soldiers assigned to the duty. While most soldiers accept the assignment to the firing squad out of a sense of duty and a general cultural belief that it is appropriate, it is possible but unusual to object and get out of it. So there is a modicum of personal reflection involved. A soldier asked to join the firing squad considers the…
You probably don't know that I went to Harvard, because I rarely mention it, but I did, and when I was there I literally worked and studied around the Divinity school. The lab I worked in was on one side of the Div School, and the Peabody Museum (home of the Anthro Dept) was on the other side of the Div School, which was, in turn, half surrounded, like a morsel of food about to be eaten by a voracious amoeba, by the Biology Building. And, I was amused to learn that the Harvard Div School was a hotbed of atheism. Or so I was told. But I did not pay much attention. Well, I'm reminded of all…
There is an interesting conversation developing on The Intersection (What Should Science Organizations Say About Religion? Answer: A Lot) to which this is my response: The conversation you have modeled here (people talking past each other ... see the original post) is very close to what actually happens in an NCSE like conversation, except that someone following the NCSE approach (as I usually do in this context) also mentions that for most religions this is not an issue, etc. etc. (I usually throw in a few quotes from this or that pope). And, noting that many religious people have no…
Social Media and Atheism .... an Atheist Talk Conversation with Mike Haubrich, Stephanie Zvan and Greg Laden. We talk about trolls too. The rug really ties the conversation together. Click Here to see or download the MP4. Embedded version may or may not be below the fold: Here is the first part of the show embedded. (This is experimental. If it works I'll add the other three parts eventually.) Part 2: Part 3: Part 4:
.. because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homepage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear. - Thomas Jefferson Homepage of reason? Did he really say that? Perhaps he was referring to this.
tags: bible, religion, comedy, humor, fucking hilarious, Ricky Gervais, streaming video This funny video is from atheist comedian Ricky Gervais's live stand-up show, Fame. In this clip, he discusses the Bible and religion.
Go Vote for somebody in this poll: Who was the most influential female atheist of 2009? ...here's a poll focusing just on the female voices of atheism. Who do you think was the most influential female atheist of 2009? ... HERE I'm having a very hard time as this list includes some friends, some colleagues, some of my blog readers, and others what I think deserve to be voted on. Greta Christina has a great blog and is a frequent commenter here. I think she's actually winning. There are some big institutional names like Annie Laurie Gaylor and my long time friend Genie Scott. Rebecca…
tags: Holidays, christmas, Atheist Holiday Traditions, big fat whale, cartoon, comedy, humor, satire, fucking hilarious Image: Big Fat Whale [larger view].
If a publisher offered me a contract to write a book under a title that would be something like "Unscientific America", how would I go about it? I would definitely be SUCH a scientist! But, being such a scientist does not mean indulging in Sesquipedalian Obscurantism. Being such a scientist means being dilligent, thorough and systematic in one's reasearch. And then being excited about presenting the findings, while being honest about the degree of confidence one can have in each piece of information. I was not offered a book contract, and I do not have the resources and nine or twelve months…
tags: Atheists Can't Think For Themselves!, humor, funny, satire, religion, christianity, islam, Edward Current, streaming video This astonishing video sets out to prove that being a Christian requires constant thinking, while being an atheist sheep does not. This explains why atheists are the dumbest people God ever created!
tags: religion, fundamentalism, christianity, SPAM, MysteryBox, streaming video A hardcore atheist finds God when he wasn't even looking for God. It's a touching story with a happy ending. Although the star is having a bit of fun in this video, the point that the video star making is serious. The world is full of people making exactly the sort of logical mistake he's making in the video. As a result the world is filled with people thinking they have had a personal experience of their version of god yet all these people believe conflicting notions and have no real evidence for their beliefs.
There are six or seven states where you must believe in god (well, swear on the bible that you believe in god) in order to hold public office. I may have to boycott the Science Online 2010 conference, because it is in one of those states! Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
This is the problem with Christians. They think they have a special pass to do whatever they want as long as it done in the name of their god. Now don't get me wrong here. The average Christian does not think he or she is above the law on a day to day basis. But it is part of Christian religion and culture, and I'm telling you this from personal experience, to ignore the law when one feels that their god or their religion demands it. So, when Ray Comfort produced his bogused-up version of Darwin's Origin of Species, the idea of doing it LEGALLY did not seem too important, apparently. So…
tags: debate, catholics, religion, atheism, Zeinab Badawi, Stephen Fry, Christopher Hitchens, John Onaiyekan, Ann Widdecombe, BBC News, streaming video This debate centers on the statement: The Catholic Church is a force for good. Presenting this debate is Zeinab Badawi and BBC News. Arguing for this statement is Archbishop John Onaiyekan, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Abuja and the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, and Ann Widdecombe MP, a Member of Parliament for 20 years. Arguing against the statement is Christopher Hitchens, an English-American author and journalist,…
When my baby nurses from his mom, he can see her face and bond with her because he was designed to do so by god. Like how a banana is designed by god to fit comfortably in the hand for eating, or maybe just carrying around. What am I talking about? Imagine the following two alternative scenarios. Alternative Universe One The Scene: Visiting Nurses Inc. VNI contracts with health care providers to send trained visiting nurses around to check in on newly minted babies and their parents. This is standard procedure in many health care plans, and of course, VNI wants to develop and maintain…