- Eliminationists on the March
The Rotunda • January 31, 2011
After the horrific Arizona shooting in which six people were killed and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was gravely wounded, we came close to civility in American politics, at least for a few days. Unfortunately, our public discourse is already returning to normal, as you can tell from reading this front-page post on the leading conservative blog [...]
- The Language of God: Clarke's Goalposts
The Library • January 30, 2011
The Language of God, Chapter 5
By B.J. Marshall
At this point, Collins mentions, "godless materialists might be cheering. If humans evolved strictly by mutation and natural selection, who needs God to explain us? To this, I reply: [...]
- Doubting the Bible on a Christian Forum
The Loft • January 29, 2011
A helpful Daylight Atheism reader (thanks, Rowan!) pointed me to this thread on Christian Forums, about a believer who's losing his faith after reading the Bible. From past experience, these threads tend to have the same lifespan as posts on Chinese web forums criticizing the government (and for the same reason), so I advise checking [...]
- The Guardians of Tone
The Rotunda • January 28, 2011
Image via.
I was tipped off to this excellent essay by a reader (thanks, bbk, even if it was unintentional!) and since it got buried in the comments on the other thread, I wanted to call special attention to it. It's about the virtues of anger, specifically with reference to the feminist movement, but it contains [...]
- The Religious Denial of Aid and Charity
The Rotunda • January 26, 2011
I wrote recently about the denial of emergency reproductive health care at Catholic hospitals, and I'm glad to see that this extremely important issue is getting media traction. There are two articles in the Washington Post this week calling attention to these clashes across the country (HT: The Wall of Separation).
As AU says:
The Maryland Health [...]
- New Translation on Ebon Musings
The Foyer • January 25, 2011
Several of the major essays on Ebon Musings have been translated into French and Spanish by much-appreciated volunteers, but I'm really pleased to announce this new one: a Greek translation of "A Ghost in the Machine", contributed by EvanT of On the Way to Ithaca. Thanks, Evan, for your dedication and hard work!
Evan also informs [...]
- Little-Known Bible Verses: Let God Plead His Own Cause
The Library • January 24, 2011
It's indisputable that Christianity is the dominant religion in America, and there are those who'd like to keep it that way. Right-wing legal groups like the Liberty Counsel and the Thomas More Law Center exist solely to maintain Christian superiority, arguing in court that Christian believers should be afforded more rights and privileges than everyone [...]
- The Language of God: Deeper DNA Comparisons
The Observatory • January 23, 2011
The Language of God, Chapter 5
By B.J. Marshall
In the last post, we saw Collins give a foothold to Creationists who want to deny macroevolution. Even granted that he should have never allowed this foothold in the first place, he makes a valiant effort to tear the false micro-v-macro wall down by comparing our genome to [...]
- The Smoking Gun of Catholic Culpability
The Rotunda • January 21, 2011
The steady drip, drip, drip of documents showing the Vatican's complicity in a worldwide child-rape scandal is ongoing. And the most recent drop to fall was a huge one:
By 1996, an advisory committee of Irish bishops had drawn up a new policy that included "mandatory reporting" of suspected abusers to civil authorities. The letter, signed [...]
- The Bottomless Hole of Prayer Requests
The Loft • January 19, 2011
Lately, I've been spending some time reading Unequally Yoked - a blog about a Catholic/atheist interfaith relationship from the atheist perspective, which is a great concept, and tends to attract interesting commenters from both sides of the theological aisle. There was one recent post, Reading and Praying... One of those I can do, which I [...]
- Thanks to San Francisco Readers
The Foyer • January 18, 2011
My thanks to all the Daylight Atheism readers who attended the meetup this past weekend in San Francisco. We had a very sizable crowd show up, much fun was had, and much sangria was consumed - all the hallmarks of a successful get-together, in my opinion. And thanks, of course, to the amazing Greta Christina [...]
- The Abolition Spirit Is Undeniably Atheistic
The Library • January 17, 2011
Having written recently about what really caused the Confederacy to secede, I wanted to say some more about the topic. I've previously discussed the religious foundations of the CSA and how they repeatedly appealed to God and Christianity as a defense of the rightness of slavery, and I'd like to add some more evidence on [...]
- The Language of God: Micro vs. Macro
The Observatory • January 16, 2011
The Language of God, Chapter 5
By B.J. Marshall
Before tackling the gritty details using DNA evidence to support human evolution, Collins addresses Darwin, [...]
- Morality Has No Place in the Law
The Library • January 14, 2011
By Sarah Braasch
"Surely if we have learned anything from the history of morals it is that the thing to do with a moral quandary is not to hide it." —H.L.A. Hart
"This lesson is that the distinguishing characteristics of true law must be sought for somewhere else than in the nature of the authority from whence [...]
- Some Atheist Victories of Note
The Rotunda • January 12, 2011
I wrote last month about the Fort Worth atheist bus ads and how the city decided to ban all religious messages in the future, so as not to have to deal with us again. At the time, I observed:
It was only when groups who aren't in the majority want to exercise their equal rights that [...]
- Darkness Gathers Over Pakistan
The Rotunda • January 11, 2011
"When we consider the founders of our nation - Jefferson, Washington, Samuel and John Adams, Madison and Monroe, Benjamin Franklin, Tom Paine and many others - we have before us a list of at least ten and maybe even dozens of great political leaders. They were well-educated. Products of the European Enlightenment, they were students [...]
- Encouraging Diversity in Atheism
The Garden • January 10, 2011
I wrote last month about the importance of making non-white atheists feel welcome. I intend to continue banging that drum, and now I again have occasion to do so, thanks to this article from Religion News Service, "Atheists' Diversity Woes Have No Black-and-White Answers".
This article complements the last one I discussed. Alom Shaha's essay [...]
- Weekly Link Roundup
The Foyer • January 8, 2011
• Witchcraft is now a recognized profession in Romania, subjecting its practitioners to income tax. Witches who are unhappy about this are responding pretty much like you'd expect.
• A female activist in Israel faces prison time for praying at the Wailing Wall. The telling quote:
"The religious world in Israel has become more and more [...]
- Daylight Atheism San Francisco Meetup
The Foyer • January 8, 2011
So, are there any Daylight Atheism readers in that gorgeous, godless city by the bay?
This coming Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, January 14th to 17th, I'm going to be in San Francisco to see friends and do some sightseeing. And since past Daylight Atheism reader meetups in Los Angeles and St. Louis have gone [...]
- Why the Confederate States Seceded
The Library • January 7, 2011
I've written previously about the Confederate States of America and how that short-lived country was a Christian theocracy which invoked religion to justify slavery. But even today, there are still religious conservatives who try to whitewash these historical facts and erase the memory of what really led the South to try to break away from [...]
- Abortion Care at Catholic Hospitals
The Rotunda • January 5, 2011
"When There's a Heartbeat: Miscarriage Management in Catholic-Owned Hospitals." American Journal of Public Health, vol.98, no.10 (October 2008).
While writing my recent post about how the Catholic church ordered a hospital to let a pregnant woman die, I came across this letter from the ACLU about hospitals' legal obligation not to deny life-saving care. And I [...]
- Blogroll Update
The Foyer • January 3, 2011
As you all may know, I try to make my blogroll a list of sites that I personally know, like and recommend, not just the equivalent of a telephone directory. Usually, I don't even consider adding new sites until they're at least a couple of months old, because I like to get a feel for [...]
- On the Uses of Ridicule, Part II
The Garden • January 3, 2011
A few months ago, I wrote a post about the uses of ridicule and the role it played in my own journey to atheism. I want to say some more about this subject, and a Daylight Atheism reader (thanks, Peter!) pointed me to this white paper from the Institute of World Politics that I'll use [...]
- Open Thread: New Year's Resolutions
The Foyer • January 1, 2011
Happy New Year! I don't know about you, but I'm feeling pretty good about 2011 so far.
This is an open thread. Have you made any New Year's resolutions you'd like to tell us about?
