- An Opportunity Suggests Itself
The Observatory • May 31, 2010
On the flight back from my honeymoon, I noticed an ad on my airplane promoting this sweepstakes - and my attention was drawn to the grand prize:
Win a one-on-one meeting with the renowned author and mind-body expert, Deepak Chopra, M.D. and rejuvenate your spirit with his Seduction of Spirit Retreat at the Chopra Center. Dr. [...]
- The Case for a Creator: Science by Armchair
The Observatory • May 28, 2010
The Case for a Creator, Chapter 10
Science is hard work. Normally, to make any significant contribution to human knowledge, a scientist really has to get their hands dirty - experiments in the lab, research in the field, long days and longer nights, and the meticulous testing of hypotheses. But J.P. Moreland must be an especially [...]
- I Have Returned
The Foyer • May 28, 2010
Hi everyone,
As of today, I'm back from my honeymoon and ready to take the reins once again. My special thanks to Ritchie, SuperHappyJen, Teleprompter and Thumpalumpacus for taking over administrative duties while I was away. It looks as if Daylight Atheism has been thriving without me, so much so that I didn't even feel the [...]
- Surprise Me With A Fact
The Observatory • May 26, 2010
By Richard Hollis (aka Ritchie)
I thought I'd do a something a little different in this post.
Sometimes, when I read a science book explaining something new, I get a feeling when a piece of fascinating trivia just 'clicks' into place. I'm not sure I can better describe it, though I'm sure I'm not doing a good [...]
- Militant Atheism?
The Garden • May 24, 2010
By Jennifer Filipowicz (aka Super Happy Jen)
I posted this a while ago on my blog. This morning it occurred to me that it belongs here.
The other day I was at dinner with my family when my mother refered to me as a militant atheist. It bothered me. One because she waited until I was out [...]
- A Life More Magical
The Garden • May 23, 2010
By Richard Hollis (aka Ritchie)
The most magical Christmas I can remember happened when I was, maybe, 12 or 13.
It had certainly been many years since I had believed in Santa, and in all honesty I don't actually remember ever sincerely believing in him at all. Maybe it was something to do with not [...]
- Spread the Good News
The Rotunda • May 21, 2010
By Richard Hollis (aka Ritchie)
Two rather interesting and welcome stories have hit the headlines in as many days that I thought I'd bring up here.
The first bit of news is that from next week, for the first time, an abortion advisory service is to screen an advert on TV in Britain. Centred around the slogan [...]
- What I Will Teach My Children
The Garden • May 19, 2010
By Jennifer Filipowicz (aka Super Happy Jen)
“What will you teach your children?” This was a question posed to me when I recently wore an atheist t-shirt to a child’s birthday party. What a broad question, thought I, and not knowing quite how to answer, it stuck with me.
Today my three-and-a-half-year-old found a fly buzzing around [...]
- God Kills A Baby
The Library • May 18, 2010
By Richard Hollis (aka Ritchie)
I'm sure that this title is neither new information nor in the slightest bit shocking to those familiar with the atrocities found within the so-called Good Book (of which, Ebonmuse, this site's author, has amply documented). After all, this is the God who cheerfully devastates armies, obliterates nations and once even [...]
- Find Me in Free Inquiry
The Foyer • May 16, 2010
By Ebonmuse
Before my flight leaves, I'm just dropping by to post a quick note: the newest (June/July 2010) issue of Free Inquiry magazine contains an original article by me, "Diplomats and Rabble-Rousers". The article discusses my views on the New Atheist movement and those who criticize it, pointing out that our accommodationist opponents are overlooking [...]
- Could Creationism Be Rational After All?
The Library • May 16, 2010
By Richard Hollis (aka Ritchie)
I thought I'd kick off the guest posts with a little philosophical thought experiment (hark, is that the sound of you all clapping your hands in glee?). When I wrote the following, I mean it fairly light-heartedly, but with an eye to the fact that we should perhaps remember we have [...]
- Meet a Foundation Beyond Belief Member
The Garden • May 16, 2010
Editor's Note: Back in March, I wrote an essay encouraging atheists to join the Foundation Beyond Belief, a new charitable group doing good for human beings and the world in the name of freethought. I also offered to write a front-page post interviewing anyone who agreed to join the Foundation as a result of hearing [...]
- Meet Your Guest Admins
The Foyer • May 14, 2010
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm getting married tomorrow and will be away on my honeymoon for the following two weeks. I have a few posts written which I'll schedule for publication, and I may check in from time to time, but it's likely I'll be absent most days.
However, Daylight Atheism won't be [...]
- Standing on Air
The Garden • May 14, 2010
Despite endless reiterations of how atheists find justification for morality, we all routinely hear from apologists who claim that without believing in God, we can have no basis for ethical behavior. That's one thing, but today I want to discuss a far stranger and more disturbing variant of this argument.
Regardless of whether we agree [...]
- Yes, That's Me in the Burqa
The Rotunda • May 12, 2010
By Sarah Braasch
In loving memory of my baby brother, Jacob Michael Braasch (01/28/86 – 02/02/10)
I am an incipient First Amendment lawyer and a staunch church-state separatist. I surpass even my most progressive friends and colleagues in my unflinching and unwavering support of the freedom of speech and expression, including religious expression. I am pretty [...]
- The Jewish Prophecy of Exile
The Library • May 10, 2010
In a previous post, "An Unserious Response to the Theist's Guide", I poked fun at a religious apologist - apparently a Jewish rabbi - who made a set of obviously insincere demands for what evidence he would require to become an atheist. So much for that. But our friend the rabbi also thinks that he [...]
- Meet a Foundation Beyond Belief Member
The Garden • May 9, 2010
Editor's Note: Back in March, I wrote an essay encouraging atheists to join the Foundation Beyond Belief, a new charitable group doing good for human beings and the world in the name of freethought. I also offered to write a front-page post interviewing anyone who agreed to join the Foundation as a result of hearing [...]
- The Case for a Creator: Why We Lost the Vietnam War
The Observatory • May 7, 2010
The Case for a Creator, Chapter 10
In this section, J.P. Moreland (with the help of softball questions obligingly lobbed by Lee Strobel) continues to pour scorn on the idea that the brain could produce consciousness. As in the last installment, his rhetorical strategy is to attack only the weakest and most simplistic hypothesis of how [...]
- Magister Ludi Magisteria
The Loft • May 5, 2010
By Sarah Braasch
In loving memory of my baby brother, Jacob Michael Braasch (1/28/86 – 02/02/10)
Masters of the shell game have been swindling and duping the overconfident and the ignorant for millennia. The game operator places a "pea" beneath one of three "shells". The operator then shuffles the shells in front of the player before [...]
- Meet a Foundation Beyond Belief Member
The Garden • May 4, 2010
Editor's Note: Back in March, I wrote an essay encouraging atheists to join the Foundation Beyond Belief, a new charitable group doing good for human beings and the world in the name of freethought. I also offered to write a front-page post interviewing anyone who agreed to join the Foundation as a result of hearing [...]
- The Catholic Church Embraces Reform?
The Rotunda • May 3, 2010
Since I've written a fair amount lately about the child-rape scandal engulfing the Catholic church, it would be unfair of me to overlook any steps they've taken toward reform. Well, you all know I'm nothing if not fair, so I have to report on this tiny, hesitant step:
Last week, the Vatican for the first time [...]
- A Personal Note, Plus Weekend Miscellany
The Foyer • May 1, 2010
Hi folks,
I know I've been a little spotty lately when it comes to posting and answering e-mails. Well, I have a good excuse: I'm getting married two weeks from today.
If you had asked me when I announced I was engaged, back in 2008, I'd have thought that nearly two years was an incredibly long engagement. [...]
