- Photo Sunday: Valencia
The Foyer • July 31, 2011
We saw a lot of churches and cathedrals in Spain, but the Cathedral of Valencia could claim one mark of distinction that some of the much larger and more impressive ones couldn't. Namely, it's the final resting place of that most precious Christian relic, the Holy Grail itself. To see that and more, click to [...]
- New Translation on Ebon Musings
The Foyer • July 30, 2011
I forgot to post this one along with the other translations that went up recently, but I'm happy to add that Ebon Musings now has a Portuguese translation of "All Possible Worlds". Thanks to Petrucio for the effort (and the pictures).
- Pro-Family Christians Support Child Kidnapping, Continued
The Rotunda • July 29, 2011
I never thought I'd say this, but I think the Catholic church is actually relieved to be dealing with a scandal that, for once, doesn't involve priests raping children with the protection of their higher-ups. How else to explain their abject contrition over the discovery that, in Australia, they abducted tens of thousands of children [...]
- They Have No Answer
The Library • July 28, 2011
The other day, I came across an essay titled "Staining the Silence" on Vox Nova, a Catholic group blog. The author, Mark Gordon, writes about how his son was deployed to combat in Iraq in 2007, how he feared for his safety as any parent would, and how at first he prayed every day for [...]
- A Not At All Relevant to Elevatorgate Post
The Loft • July 27, 2011
I first saw this on Google+ and, given the flame wars that have roiled atheism lately, I thought it was worth sharing. Who knows but that it may help some people to see these issues presented in a different context.
You may have heard of Wil Wheaton (and if you don't, and you consider yourself a [...]
- An Atheist's Confession
The Loft • July 26, 2011
By Sarah Jane Braasch-Joy
In loving memory of my baby brother, Jacob Michael Braasch (01/28/86 – 02/02/10)
My beloved baby brother, Jacob, hung himself last year in my parents' basement. I wouldn't wish my pain on my worst enemy. It's been a year and a half, and, sometimes, I still can't get out of bed or stop [...]
- Dispatches from Future America: Government Increases Budget for Christiancare Program
The Loft • July 25, 2011
[Editor's Note: After the two strange messages I received earlier this year, I thought the wormhole, or whatever it was, had closed forever. Evidently not. This past week, as fighting over the debt limit reached a fever pitch, I found a new e-mail from the future in my inbox. Elaborate hoax? Frightening warning of what [...]
- My Notes on the Ideological Turing Test
The Library • July 23, 2011
Following up my post analyzing the results of Unequally Yoked's ideological Turing test, this one lists how I voted on each of the atheist candidates. I took notes as I was going through them, trying to flag what stood out to me as evidence of genuineness or fakery. As you can see, some of my [...]
- Thoughts on the Ideological Turing Test
The Library • July 22, 2011
The ideological Turing test that was running at Unequally Yoked has concluded, and if you're like me, you couldn't wait to find out how we did. Well, the results are in: here's the answer key (some real surprises there!), and here's how the voting shook out for the atheist round and for the Christian round. [...]
- Support the SSA Through Sleep Deprivation
The Foyer • July 21, 2011
I've often made mention of the Secular Student Alliance, an outstanding organization that supports atheist student groups on high school and college campuses throughout the country. Not only does the SSA offer literature, monetary grants and hands-on assistance in organizing, they also stand up for atheist students' rights when bigoted school administrators try to stop [...]
- Ireland Versus the Vatican, Continued
The Rotunda • July 20, 2011
I've mentioned in the past that Ireland, which gave the Catholic church more privileges and greater deference than almost any other country in Europe, was rewarded for its devotion with one of the highest per-capita rates of child rape by priests than any other nation else in the world. That scandal continues to unspool, and [...]
- Request for Technical Help
The Foyer • July 19, 2011
So, I feel a bit embarrassed about this, since I'm a computer guy in my day job and all. But my home machine is experiencing a very annoying problem that's got me stumped, and I was hoping that the Internet, being the source of all human knowledge, can offer me some advice. I know I [...]
- Paving the Way for Equality
The Rotunda • July 18, 2011
Wedding bells will soon be ringing in New York, thanks to the legislature's historic passage of marriage equality which goes into effect on July 24. And the echoes of that victory are still being heard. Soon after the passage of the NY bill, Rhode Island legalized civil unions, joining the several other states that have [...]
- Photo Sunday: Granada
The Foyer • July 17, 2011
To see the pictures, click on the link to continue:
- New Translations on Ebon Musings
The Foyer • July 15, 2011
I'm happy to announce that new translations have been posted for several of my articles on Ebon Musings, representing not one, not two, but three languages. My devious plan for world conquest is proceeding exactly on schedule!
First up, a Greek translation of "Unmoved Mover", complementing the previously posted translation of "A Ghost in the [...]
- From the Mailbag: Shedding the Burden of Suffering
The Foyer • July 15, 2011
Earlier this week, I got a lengthy letter whose author gave me permission to share it with you:
Dear Ebonmusings:
I gave a glimpse to your musing about the carrot and the stick - I didn't expect it to talk about morality, mainly because I realized that the latest part of my life as a christian was [...]
- The Harm Psychics Do, Continued
The Loft • July 14, 2011
You know, I was going to write about the Pastafarian who won the right to wear a metal colander on his head for his driver's license photo - but by the time I got home from work yesterday, half a dozen other atheist bloggers had already posted about it, so never mind. Here's something a [...]
- Find Me on Google Plus
The Foyer • July 14, 2011
Well, a kindly person (thanks, Jayson!) sent me an invite to Google Plus, so I've signed up. I don't really know what this is going to be useful for just yet, but if you're also there and want to send me a friend request (or whatever the heck it's called), go right ahead.
- New on AlterNet: What Atheists Actually Agree About
The Rotunda • July 13, 2011
I'm pleased to announce that my second column for AlterNet, 6 Ways Atheists Can Band Together to Fight Religious Fundamentalism, has now been posted. My first column, asking why nonbelievers haven't become a political force, drew rejoinders from a lot of people saying that it's impossible for atheists to organize because we don't agree about [...]
- Strange and Curious Sects: David Koresh
The Library • July 13, 2011
In a 2008 post on the apocalyptic Millerite sect, I mentioned how several modern Christian denominations were formed from the Millerites' ruin, and how the infamous Branch Davidians originated as a splinter group from one of these. That story, I think, is already well-known: the way a charismatic preacher born as Vernon Wayne Howell changed [...]
- 200,000 Earths
The Observatory • July 11, 2011
[Think we're all ready to talk about something else for a while? —Ebonmuse]
In May 1987, astronomers witnessed a once-in-a-lifetime event: a supernova, the explosive death of a supergiant star, in the Large Magellanic Cloud approximately 170,000 light-years from Earth. SN 1987A, as it was named, was the first supernova to be studied using the instruments [...]
- Photo Sunday: Seville
The Foyer • July 10, 2011
To see the pictures, click the link to continue:
- Cast Your Ballots Now!
The Foyer • July 8, 2011
I wrote last month about the ideological Turing test going on at Unequally Yoked, and the first round of voting is now beginning. Leah has posted 15 sets of answers to a standard set of questions, some of them written by genuine atheists, some written by Christians pretending to be atheists.
Do you think you can [...]
- Islamic Sexism and the Sense of Entitlement
The Rotunda • July 8, 2011
Does this remind anyone of anything?
On Jan. 16, Warda was nearly raped. It happened in early afternoon, in the heart of central Cairo, in an elevator.
A man with short black hair entered, Warda recalled. "We didn't really look at each other; I was reading some messages on my phone," she said. The elevator, big [...]
- On the Morality of: Circumcision
The Library • July 6, 2011
"And the Lord said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go. And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is [...]
- The Contributions of Freethinkers: Asa Philip Randolph
The Library • July 4, 2011
The civil rights movement in America is often identified with Christianity. In large part this is because of the influence of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was a Baptist minister and worked the language and cadence of sermons into his most famous speeches - especially the famous paraphrase of the Book of Amos, "We [...]
- The Last Thing I'll Ever Say About Elevatorgate
The Loft • July 4, 2011
Or rather, the last thing I'll quote, because there were two comments on Friendly Atheist that sum up the matter perfectly:
First:
Misogyny shows not because of a guy being unaware that the circumstances in which he is asking people out are creepy. But the misogyny shows when people quickly jump into trying to make it look [...]
- Photo Sunday: The Beard Experiment
The Foyer • July 3, 2011
Regular readers may remember that last month, I let myself get talked into growing a beard as the result of a fundraising contest for Camp Quest. Well, I'm not about to suffer through an entire scorching summer with this extra insulation - but I've let it grow freely for a month now, and I think [...]
- Atheists, Don't Be That Guy
The Garden • July 2, 2011
When it comes to demolishing irrational beliefs, the atheist community has done a brilliant job. But when it comes to rooting out sexism in our own ranks, we have a long way left to go.
Witness the blowup that took place at a conference in Dublin last month, where Rebecca Watson of Skepchick gave a talk [...]
- There Are 10 Times as Many Atheists as Mormons: When Will Non-Believers Become a Political Force?
The Garden • July 1, 2011
This essay was originally published on AlterNet.
The propagandists of the religious right shout it aloud as their battle cry: "America is a Christian nation!" And in the trivial sense that ours is a nation populated mostly by Christians, this is true. But in the sense that they mean it, that Christianity was intended to occupy [...]
