- The Roots of Morality I: Refuting Relativism
The Library • August 31, 2006
Back in March of this year, soon after the founding of Daylight Atheism, I wrote a series of posts under the collected title "On Free Will". In that series, I argued that appeals to the supernatural are neither necessary nor helpful in explaining the origins of human behavior, and that a rational, physical account of [...]
- On Pushing Back
The Observatory • August 29, 2006
The recent violence in Lebanon, as well as the worsening sectarian bloodshed in Iraq, that have dominated the headlines in recent weeks remind us of the sheer unending vindictiveness of religious warfare. Indeed, of all the worst trouble spots in the world either currently or in recent memory - Yugoslavia, Northern Ireland, India and Pakistan, [...]
- A Call for Truth in Advertising Laws
The Observatory • August 25, 2006
I was in New York City the other week, near Penn Station, when I was accosted by a well-dressed man in a business suit attempting to hand out fliers to passers-by. I did not take one, but inside the train station, I noticed one cast aside and lying on the ground. Out of curiosity, this [...]
- No Miracles
The Loft • August 22, 2006
The previous essays in this series have explored various ways in which human beings appeal to the supernatural to solve our problems. We seek out oracles to tell us the truth without doing the hard work of seeking it out through study and experiment; we dream up heavens to provide us with a perfect world [...]
- No Messiahs
The Rotunda • August 20, 2006
To judge by the narratives of our culture, an observer might well come to the conclusion that Homo sapiens was a race of fearless, free-spirited revolutionaries. History and mythology both religious and secular is filled with stories of the mavericks, the dissenters, the nonconformists who rebelled against an unjust and senseless system and "did it [...]
- No Heavens
The Garden • August 18, 2006
Since time immemorial, believers in a loving and just god have looked around at the world we live in, filled with toil, strife and suffering, and have pondered how to reconcile their belief with the facts at hand. The solution which most religions have adopted is to assert the existence of another world, beyond this [...]
- No Commandments
The Library • August 16, 2006
"That most of the [kosher] laws are divine ordinances without reason given is 100 per cent the point. It is very easy not to murder people. Very easy. It is a little bit harder not to steal because one is tempted occasionally. So that is no great proof that I believe in God or am [...]
- No Oracles
The Observatory • August 14, 2006
One of the major purposes of religion is and has always been as a way for human beings to seek knowledge about the world they could not otherwise attain. The ancient Greek oracle of Delphi, for example, is said to have foreseen the answers to supplicants' questions while in an ecstatic trance from breathing the [...]
- Putting Away Childish Things
The Foyer • August 13, 2006
This month, I will be posting a new essay series that is somewhat different from the ones I have written before. Rather than a series of numbered sequels, each one following the previous in a linear fashion, this new series will be more like a branching bush, with different essays all growing out of the [...]
- Happy Ingersoll's Birthday!
The Garden • August 11, 2006
As far as most people are concerned, the 11th of August has no special significance. But atheists, freethinkers and skeptics everywhere should recognize it as a very special and significant date indeed. For on this day, we commemorate the birth of the most famous freethinker that most Americans have never heard of, the most fearless [...]
- Vote Now: Daylight Atheism's Greatest Hits
The Foyer • August 10, 2006
I'm proud to announce that today marks Daylight Atheism's six-month anniversary - it's hard to believe I've been writing for this site so long - and I couldn't be happier with the way things are going so far. This blog has experienced steady growth in readership every month it's been in existence, and is now [...]
- Still Think Hitler Was an Atheist?
The Rotunda • August 9, 2006
Ever since the liberation of Germany by the Allied powers in World War II and the discovery of the horrific crimes committed by the Nazi regime, Adolf Hitler and his followers have become synonyms for evil in the annals of human history. As such, it is not surprising that some religious apologists have attempted to [...]
- Better than the Bible
The Rotunda • August 8, 2006
Time magazine recently ran an article titled "10 Questions for Katharine Jefferts Schori", an interview with the presiding bishop-elect of the American Episcopal Church. The article contains several questions about issues of social justice and compassion, and though I do not agree with Schori's theology, I have no disagreement with the ethical philosophy she advocates. [...]
- A Good Riddance
The Rotunda • August 5, 2006
Almost lost in the crush of recent religion-related news, there was one important story I'd be remiss if I didn't discuss: Larry Darby, the atheist, white supremacist and Holocaust denier who ran for attorney general in Alabama and lost, announced soon thereafter that he was converting to Christianity and closing down his Atheist Law Center. [...]
- The 40th Skeptics' Circle
The Observatory • August 3, 2006
The doors of the Observatory are closed, and an eager crowd has gathered before them, milling about anxiously to await the unveiling of the newest Skeptics' Circle. Your host, Ebonmuse, steps up to a podium beside the doors and addresses the crowd thusly:
"Step right up, folks, to the Daylight Atheism Museum of Superstition and Pseudoscience! [...]
- The Gospel of Division
The Rotunda • August 1, 2006
"Like most pastors who lead thriving evangelical megachurches, the Rev. Gregory A. Boyd was asked frequently to give his blessing — and the church's — to conservative political candidates and causes...
After refusing each time, Mr. Boyd finally became fed up, he said. Before the last presidential election, he preached six sermons called 'The Cross and [...]
