- A Dialogue with Quixote, Part II
The Library • April 30, 2009
[Editor's Note: Yesterday, I posted the first in a series of letters exchanged between myself and Quixote, as part of a discussion of the most important reasons why people become theists or atheists. This is Quixote's first reply.]
Most analytic varieties of atheism seem committed to experience, science, and reason as foundations of rational belief. Consider [...]
- A Dialogue with Quixote
The Library • April 29, 2009
Since its inception, Daylight Atheism has been first and foremost a platform for atheist thought. We've had plenty of theist commenters, but never an entire post written by a theist - until now.
Some of you may recognize Quixote, who's been a commenter here for some time. There have been many theists commenting on Daylight Atheism [...]
- Hate-Crime Laws and Loving the Sinner
The Rotunda • April 28, 2009
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One of the benefits of a Democratic President and a Democratic Congress is that we can expect action on good, progressive legislation. One such bill is H.R. 1913, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, which was recently approved by [...]
- The Secular Case for Vegetarianism
The Library • April 26, 2009
Guest Post by Rob Schneider
[Editor's Note: In my third anniversary post, I mentioned that I wanted to have more guest essays on Daylight Atheism, as well as more posts exploring issues where atheists don't all agree. This post accomplishes both those aims. Please welcome Rob Schneider (not that Rob Schneider) and his first appearance on [...]
- The Case for a Creator: Atheistic Meteorology
The Observatory • April 24, 2009
The Case for a Creator, Chapter 2
In the second chapter of Case, Lee Strobel worries whether evolutionary theory, by its undirected nature, rules out the possibility of a creative and purposeful deity. He admits that some prominent evolutionary scientists, like Christian de Duve or Kenneth Miller, do believe in God, but sweeps them under the [...]
- More on the Rapture
The Loft • April 22, 2009
After writing "Life Goes On", I had some extra material that had been left on the cutting room floor. Since it was too good to pass up, I just had to write another post. How could I pass up the opportunity to share a belly laugh like this?
Because the tribulation will be hell on earth, [...]
- Dreams of a Better World
The Loft • April 20, 2009
As I've written in the past, I'm an optimist when it comes to human progress: I'm confident that we can overcome the problems that beset us. This isn't to say that I think our triumph is inevitable, or even that optimism is the only possible position for a rational person to take. There are plenty [...]
- Poetry Sunday: A.E. Housman
The Foyer • April 19, 2009
Today's Poetry Sunday introduces another renowned, classic author who was also an atheist: the English poet and scholar A.E. Housman.
Housman was born in Worcestershire in 1859. His personal life was marked by tragedy: his mother died while he was young, as did four of his six siblings, and his father squandered much of the family [...]
- Take Action: Tell Obama to Prosecute Bush's Torturers
The Rotunda • April 18, 2009
Under pressure from the ACLU, the Obama administration has finally released a set of four Bush-era memos from the White House Office of Legal Counsel. Written by assistant attorney general Jay Bybee and acting assistant attorney general Steven Bradbury, these memos detailed the torture techniques which the Bush administration believed could be used on captured [...]
- The Case for a Creator: Paging Dr. Provine
The Observatory • April 17, 2009
The Case for a Creator, Chapter 1
At the close of the first chapter, Lee Strobel scales to an incredible height of lunacy:
I knew intuitively what prominent evolutionary biologist and historian William Provine of Cornell University would spell out explicitly in a debate years later. If Darwinism is true, he said, then there are five inescapable [...]
- Taxation Is Not Theft
The Loft • April 15, 2009
In last August's post "Spread the Wealth", I talked about the justifications for redistributive taxation. I felt that some of the issues raised in the comments deserved to be revisited - and since it's tax time here in the U.S., it's worth a reminder of why we pay them and what we get out of [...]
- Thoughtful Iconoclasts: A Response to Madeleine Bunting
The Rotunda • April 13, 2009
I last mentioned Guardian columnist and Templeton Foundation fellow Madeleine Bunting in 2007, in "On Being Uncontroversial". She's recently written another column attacking atheism, alleging that the New Atheists are drowning out, in her words, "real debates" about religion and faith.
Personally, I don't see the basis of her complaint. I think we've been provoking some [...]
- Bus Ads and Atheist Visibility
The Garden • April 11, 2009
If you're an American freethinker who's envious of the success of the atheist bus campaign in Europe, this is your chance. The Freedom from Religion Foundation is launching its own campaign to put pro-atheist messages on buses and trains in America, with six ads already designed that feature quotes from famous freethinkers both historical and [...]
- The Case for a Creator: Facts About VD
The Observatory • April 10, 2009
The Case for a Creator, Chapter 1
We pick up where we left off, with self-proclaimed former skeptic Lee Strobel interviewing a rural Appalachian community whose inhabitants were violently resisting the teaching of evolution. As we'll see, Strobel believes a person can be fully justified in advocating creationism. Yet it seems improbable that these isolated, deeply [...]
- The Twisted Moral of Passover
The Library • April 8, 2009
This week is the holiday of Passover, one of Judaism's high holy days which commemorates the ancient Israelites' deliverance from slavery in Egypt. Although the archaeological evidence for captivity and exodus is lacking, this story has become a fundamental part of Jewish cultural consciousness, as well as a symbol and an inspiration to others. In [...]
- Congratulations, Iowa!
The Rotunda • April 6, 2009
Last week, friends of equality had some very welcome news: the Supreme Court of Iowa has unanimously struck down a ban on gay marriage in that state. No blue state this, no liberal haven like California or Massachusetts that is so often demonized by conservatives and religious right bigots: Iowa is part of the mythologized [...]
- Sunday Open Thread: Tell Your Deconversion Story
The Foyer • April 5, 2009
Of all the essays I've written for Ebon Musings, one of my favorites is "Into the Clear Air": a chronicle of the stages of deconversion, as told by people who were going through them.
What shines through from these testimonies again and again is the pure relief, the freedom experienced by people who left behind [...]
- The Case for a Creator: Angry Hillbillies
The Observatory • April 3, 2009
The Case for a Creator, Chapter 1
The first chapter of Case opens with an anecdote from Strobel's days as a journalist for the Chicago Tribune, a story from the 1970s when he went to West Virginia to cover a story of rural communities rioting over evolutionary content in their schools' textbooks. In some cases that [...]
- Rebutting The Case for a Creator
The Foyer • April 2, 2009
In my third anniversary post, I discussed some of the directions I'd like to take Daylight Atheism in during this year. I mentioned that I've always admired Fred Clark (a.k.a. Slacktivist) for his methodical, page-by-page deconstruction of the Left Behind series from a progressive Christian viewpoint. It's a very cool idea, and a successful idea, [...]
- Life Goes On
The Garden • April 1, 2009
"If the Devil's Time were above a thousand years ago, pronounced short, what may we suppose it now in our Time? Surely we are not a thousand years distant from those happy thousand years of rest and peace and (which is better) Holiness reserved for the People of God in the latter days; and if [...]
