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. As it turns out, I was wrong. We've gotten most of the important things settled, but there's still so much to do! (Part of this is the fault of the wedding-industrial complex and its relentless commercialization of everything related to a wedding - but throwing a nice party for a hundred and fifty or so of your family members and close friends does take a lot of planning.)
We'll be ready in time, but Daylight Atheism has been unavoidably neglected somewhat. For that I apologize, and I hope to resume a normal posting schedule after our honeymoon. There are a few news items I've wanted to write about, but haven't had the time, so here's a quick link roundup:
• In an interview with D.J. Grothe, James Randi comes out of the closet as a gay man at the age of 81. He doesn't expect this to make any real difference in the way his fellow skeptics view him and his work, and he's right.
• Antony Flew has died. You may remember him as the once-prominent atheist philosopher who, late in life and suffering from cognitive decline, was sadly taken advantage of by some ghoulish Christian apologists who insinuated themselves into his life, ghost-wrote a book and persuaded him to put his name on it. I'm sorrowful for his death, but also glad that Flew is at peace and this sordid story is finally over.
• A religious cult called Share International insists that American journalist Raj Patel is their messiah. The only person who seems to have a problem with this is Raj Patel, who wrote a fantastic op-ed for the Guardian explaining why humanity doesn't need gods or messiahs to solve its problems, just a greater sense of morality and devotion to democracy.
• On the topic of cults, two former Scientologists and members of the church's elite "Sea Org" have sued for $1 million in back pay, which they claim they were denied while working under conditions scarcely distinguishable from slavery.
• And finally, Indonesia's highest court has upheld a law banning blasphemy, as well as limiting the number of officially permitted religions for Indonesians to six. I guess that's one more place we can cross off our travel list...
And lastly, I want to put out a call for volunteers. Two weeks from today is the big day, and after that, I'll be away for another two weeks on my honeymoon. I may be able to check in from time to time, but it would be nice to have someone minding the store - approving comments, writing guest posts so the site doesn't get too quiet, and so on. Any regular readers interested? This is a job that can be shared by more than one person.
Quibble: Flew is not at peace. He's dead. He no longer exists, whether in a peaceful state or any other.
Comment #1 by: David Dvorkin | May 1, 2010, 9:06 am