- FFRF at the Supreme Court
The Rotunda • February 27, 2007
Tomorrow, February 28, will be a date of tremendous importance for all friends of church-state separation in the United States of America. For tomorrow, Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor of the Freedom from Religion Foundation will be presenting oral arguments before the nine justices of the Supreme Court, in the case of Hein v. [...]
- The Harris-Sullivan Debate: I
The Library • February 25, 2007
Since last month, Beliefnet has been hosting a debate between Sam Harris, atheist author and neuroscientist, and Andrew Sullivan, the conservative commentator and devout Catholic.
This is a wonderful debate, and I strongly encourage my visitors to read it for themselves. Both participants are highly educated, articulate and persuasive, and both do an admirable job [...]
- The Virtues: Be Passionate
The Garden • February 23, 2007
The fifth of the Virtues is passion; in the ancient lists of cardinal virtues, it was sometimes referred to as diligence or zeal. In his famous list of virtues, Benjamin Franklin called it industry. All these terms describe basically the same quality. Passion is the opposite of laziness, apathy, and nihilism: it implies placing value [...]
- Theocracy Watch IX: A Religious Police State
The Rotunda • February 21, 2007
I have written in the past about the paranoid, twisted obsession that most religious fundamentalists have with sex. Rather than viewing it as a natural, healthy part of human life, and a source of pleasure and emotional connection when engaged in responsibly, excessive religious devotion leads some believers to view sex as a menacing and [...]
- Advice to a Christian
The Rotunda • February 20, 2007
Via Feministe, I've come across a post called A request for advice, on a blog titled Contraception and Christianity. The author, Contraskeptic, is an evangelical Christian wrestling with the issue of whether it is a sin to use birth control.
As Contraskeptic explains, his wife has been through three difficult, stressful pregnancies, all three of which [...]
- A Daylight Atheism Consumer Warning
The Observatory • February 19, 2007
Consumers, be advised! When you want to know the future or ward off bad fortune through the invocation of magical power, don't trust just any fake dime-store psychic. Be sure to choose only the best fake psychics for all your supernatural needs.
Such is the message of a bulletin issued recently by the United Kingdom's official [...]
- The Blasphemy Challenge
The Rotunda • February 17, 2007
Inspired by a post on Debunking Christianity, I'd like to chime in on the "Blasphemy Challenge" conceived of by an atheist group called the Rational Response Squad. This challenge encourages people to film themselves denying the existence of the Holy Spirit, the one unforgivable sin according to certain interpretations of the Bible, and post it [...]
- The Virtues: Be Truthful
The Garden • February 15, 2007
The fourth of the Virtues is truthfulness, a quality that is in short supply for all that it has been extolled through the ages. The proliferation of new media of communication in our society, from cable news to the internet, has resulted in a wonderful diversity of previously overlooked viewpoints; but it has also created [...]
- Footprints
The Loft • February 13, 2007
One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord.
"Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us: thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied. Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through."
—Lamentations 3:43-44
Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For [...]
- Some Thoughts on Evolution Sunday
The Observatory • February 12, 2007
Yesterday, February 11, was Evolution Sunday, a nationwide project in which hundreds of Christian pastors and denominations voice their belief that the theory of evolution, and science in general, is compatible with their religious principles.
My standpoint on this matter is not as combative as some people's. While I, too, would like to see all religious [...]
- Free Speech Under Siege at the United Nations
The Rotunda • February 11, 2007
The United Nations, which was founded after World War II with the noble goal of preventing further violence and conflict between nation-states, is losing its way.
The U.N. has historically been a great supporter of human rights, including the most important of them all, the right of free speech. Consider Articles 18 and 19 of [...]
- A Milestone Is Reached
The Foyer • February 10, 2007
On the American East Coast where I live, midnight is officially past, and that means the date is now February 10, 2007. This is a date of great significance to me, because it was on February 10, 2006 that I officially launched this blog with its inaugural post, "Welcome to Daylight Atheism". Much to my [...]
- Falwell's Feeble Prognostications
The Rotunda • February 9, 2007
A recent article by Reuters presents an interview with Jerry Falwell, the aging but still influential figure of the theocratic religious right, and his views on the 2008 American presidential election and other issues of concern. I found some of Falwell's remarks worth commenting on.
The article does not shy away from mentioning some of Falwell's [...]
- Faith-Based Fraud
The Rotunda • February 7, 2007
Atheist Revolution calls our attention to a recent story out of Columbus, Ohio, in which the Rev. David Thompson of World of Pentecost Church, along with several other church officials, have been named in a lawsuit filed by members of the congregation that accuses them of stealing almost $1 million in church money. According to [...]
- Sylvia Browne: Enemy of Free Speech
The Observatory • February 5, 2007
I have written previously about the "psychics" so popular in our culture, whose pretense of being able to speak to the dead and otherwise gain knowledge through supernatural powers wins them wealth and accolades from a credulous public and a shallow, sensationalist media, despite the total lack of convincing evidence to date that any of [...]
- The Virtues: Be Rational
The Garden • February 3, 2007
The third of the Virtues is rationality, a crucially important but often overlooked element of the virtuous life. I do not mean to say that being a good person requires being an atheist or a skeptic - for obviously, someone can believe in all manner of pseudoscience and superstition and still be a generous, benevolent [...]
- Movie Review: Jesus Camp
The Library • February 1, 2007
I missed seeing the documentary Jesus Camp when it first came out in theaters last September. However, I've finally had the chance to view it, and I think this review is better late than never. In any case, so much relevant to the film has happened since then - the 2006 elections, the downfall of [...]
