- On the Morality of: Recreational Drug Use
The Library • February 29, 2008
Today's post on atheist morality concerns the use of natural and artificial pharmaceuticals for pleasure. This practice may be nearly as old as humanity - three-thousand-year-old Andean mummies have been found to contain traces of coca, and the brewing of beer may date back to the Stone Age. Today, the legality of such substances varies [...]
- Book Review: The Mind of the Market
The Library • February 27, 2008
(Author's Note: The following review was solicited and is written in accordance with this site's policy for such reviews.)
Summary: A libertarian political tract disguised as a work of science.
Michael Shermer's The Mind of the Market concerns "evolutionary economics" - the way that evolutionary forces have shaped human instincts about trading, value and exchange, and how [...]
- New Post on Dangerous Intersection
The Foyer • February 26, 2008
I've put up a new post on Dangerous Intersection, "Barack Obama gets it right".
- We Need Nothing More
The Garden • February 25, 2008
I recently received an e-mail from an atheist asking for advice:
I've always been afraid of death, and usually I tell myself that it's pointless. But lately, I've started thinking about my existence and ultimately, my death. I was, and still am to some extent, horribly afraid of losing myself forever, which is quite irrational I [...]
- An Open Letter to Ellen Johnson
The Rotunda • February 23, 2008
I was away last weekend and came back to an astonishing story: Ellen Johnson, Madalyn Murray O'Hair's successor as president of American Atheists, has proudly announced that she didn't vote in the recent presidential primaries. Even more jaw-dropping, she's urged atheists not to vote in the general election either. Here's the video, which is still [...]
- How to Think Critically VI: Bayes' Rule
The Observatory • February 22, 2008
You've just been to the doctor, and she has some bad news. There's a deadly new disease sweeping the population - one which strikes 1 out of 100 people and invariably kills everyone who catches it. Medical science has developed a test that is 95% accurate during the incubation period: that is, when given to [...]
- February 2008 Science Updates
The Observatory • February 21, 2008
There's been so much important news pouring in this month that it's hard to keep up with it. But despite the flood of information, there've been a few especially significant discoveries that I think shouldn't be overlooked. There are three that I thought deserve special notice:
• On February 13, astronomers announced the discovery of a [...]
- The Aura of Infallibility
The Loft • February 20, 2008
Religious beliefs, as a general rule, aren't based on evidence.
I have little doubt that my fellow nonbelievers will agree without reservation, and equally little doubt that religious believers will call me arrogant and uninformed for so sweepingly dismissing the basis of their beliefs. But that's not what I'm trying to say. By this statement, I'm [...]
- Conflicting Miracles
The Observatory • February 18, 2008
"Saint Jnanadeva is revered for his Bhagavad Gita translation and commentary in the Maharastrian language. Among several miracles that established this 13th-century saint's reputation, the most famous involved a water buffalo. Challenged by the arrogant brahmins of Paithan that he was not qualified to recite the Vedas, Jnanadeva replied, 'Anyone can recite the Vedas.' He [...]
- Poetry Sunday: Lot's Wife
The Foyer • February 17, 2008
Today's Poetry Sunday features Anna Akhmatova, one of the most famous and critically praised Russian poets of the twentieth century. Anna Ahkmatova was born Anna Andreyevna Gorenko in 1889; she started writing early in life, and took the surname of her grandmother after her father forbade her to sully his respectable name by publishing "decadent" [...]
- Living the Humanist Life
The Garden • February 15, 2008
In the past, I've written much about the philosophy of humanism and how it offers a transcendent, spiritual view of life's purpose that is at least as appealing as anything offered by religion (and in fact, is superior - at least in my opinion).
Well and good, but I've been thinking lately that what we need [...]
- The Stained-Glass Ceiling
The Rotunda • February 14, 2008
Back in November, U.S. senator John Kerry made some probably accurate, if rather unfortunate, remarks about the probability of an atheist being elected to national office:
"The vast majority of Americans say they believe in God," Kerry said, responding to a question about the likelihood of an atheist or agnostic winning the presidency. "The vast majority [...]
- Strange and Curious Sects: John Frum
The Library • February 13, 2008
Today I'm inaugurating a new series on Daylight Atheism, Strange and Curious Sects. The follies and fallacies of larger, mainstream religions are well known; this series will examine some of the smaller and lesser-known splinter groups, cults, and sects, both past and present, that are part of the vast diversity of religions imagined by human [...]
- The Religion of Humanity
The Garden • February 11, 2008
He was a worshiper of liberty, a friend of the oppressed. A thousand times I have heard him quote these words: "For Justice all place a temple, and all season, summer." He believed that happiness is the only good, reason the only torch, justice the only worship, humanity the only religion, and love the only [...]
- Daylight Atheism: Anniversary #2
The Foyer • February 10, 2008
You know what time it is. :)
Today marks the second anniversary of Daylight Atheism's first post, which was on February 10, 2006. After two years, we're still going strong! My list of topics for future posts remains as long as ever. In fact, I've found in the past several months that the number of posts [...]
- The Catholic Church: An Immoral Organization
The Rotunda • February 8, 2008
The Roman Catholic church is the oldest and largest Christian denomination on the planet. Although its influence in the Western world is declining, it still exercises great power over the lives of millions of people every day. All too often, that power is used in the service of superstition, of perpetuating irrational and dogmatic beliefs [...]
- Light and Dark
The Loft • February 6, 2008
Greta Christina recently wrote a wonderful review of the book Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me), an analysis of the unconscious defense mechanisms people use to rationalize their bad decisions. She's absolutely right that this is a book everyone ought to read (I need to find a copy myself), and her review makes some [...]
- On the Possibility of Perfect Humanity
The Library • February 4, 2008
Last month, in "An Impoverished Infinity", I wrote about the strange limitations that many Christian believers impose on God. These theists believe that God was not wise or powerful enough to create a world with intelligent beings that did not also include earthquakes, diseases and other disasters - as if the infinite space of possible [...]
- A Response to the Theist's Guide
The Foyer • February 3, 2008
I first posted "The Theist's Guide to Converting Atheists" on Ebon Musings in June 2001. At that time, I promised that I would cite any theist who prepared an equivalent list and posted it on the internet. In the six and a half years since, I've had a total of two responses to that offer. [...]
- Is Sex for Procreation?
The Observatory • February 2, 2008
"Contraception is wrong because it's a deliberate violation of the design God built into the human race, often referred to as 'natural law.' The natural law purpose of sex is procreation.
...sexual pleasure within marriage becomes unnatural, and even harmful to the spouses, when it is used in a way that deliberately excludes the basic purpose [...]
