- Little-Known Bible Verses: The Holy Kiss
The Library • August 31, 2011
Fred Clark of Slacktivist has been on a tear lately, posting some outstanding articles about the theological roots of dominionism and its influence in American politics. And today, he wrote another post that inspired me.
This post was about a new book by the sociologist Christian Smith, The Bible Made Impossible, which deplores a group whom [...]
- Goodbye Religion? How Godlessness Is Increasing With Each New Generation
The Garden • August 29, 2011
This essay was originally published on AlterNet.
Something strange is happening to American teenagers. If you believe popular wisdom, young people are apathetic, cynical and jaded; or, they're supposed to be conformists whose overriding desire is to fit in and be popular. But if you've been paying close attention over the past decade, you might have [...]
- Weekly Link Roundup
The Foyer • August 28, 2011
The storm may rage and the winds may howl, but I'm still here! (So far.) Here's a couple of interesting stories I didn't have time to write more about this week:
• Following Rick Perry's urgent prayers for rain in his drought-stricken state, Tropical Storm Don formed in the Gulf, headed toward Texas, and then dissipated [...]
- Batten Down the Hatches
The Foyer • August 27, 2011
As I've mentioned before on this blog, I'm a born-and-bred New York City native. And as you may have heard, there's a bit of rough weather headed our way this weekend. In fact, it seems like freak events are becoming the new normal: first, the absurdly huge blizzards we got this winter, then the earthquake [...]
- Tax Breaks for Ignorance
The Observatory • August 26, 2011
As you doubtless already know, America is suffering through an unprecedented economic disaster. With millions of people jobless and millions of homeowners underwater, the economy is stagnant and its prospects are dim. Which is why, in these hard times, nothing is more important than shoveling more taxpayer dollars into the gaping maw of the fundamentalist [...]
- New on AlterNet: Morality Doesn't Need Religion
The Garden • August 24, 2011
My latest article has been posted on AlterNet, We Don't Need Religion to Have Morality. In it, I argue that morality is real, objective, and not dependent on theistic belief, and I explore the basis for this view and imagine what effect it could have on society if it were more widely adopted. To those [...]
- The Biblical Cruelty of Child Beating
The Rotunda • August 24, 2011
In 1877, the great freethinker Robert Green Ingersoll wrote these words about the then-common practice of corporal punishment:
I tell you the children have the same rights that we have, and we ought to treat them as though they were human beings. They should be reared with love, with kindness, with tenderness, and not with brutality. [...]
- Be Careful What You Wish For (Why I Hate Hate Crimes Legislation, But I Love Hate Speech)
The Library • August 22, 2011
By Sarah Jane Braasch-Joy
In loving memory of my baby brother, Jacob Michael Braasch (01/28/86 - 02/02/10)
I saw a woman in niqab on the UC Berkeley campus the other week. I was shocked. I didn't approach her. I didn't speak to her. She was with two other women in hijab, on the opposite side of a [...]
- Rick Perry's Prayer Follies
The Rotunda • August 19, 2011
Whether you're an atheist or not, you should be alarmed by the sight of elected officials making a big public show of praying during a crisis. It's not that prayer itself does anything one way or the other - it's that their beseeching the gods for help is a good hint, not just that they [...]
- Find Me in Freethought Today
The Foyer • August 18, 2011
If you want to know more about the mysterious person behind Daylight Atheism, I was the interview subject of FFRF's "Meet a Member" column in the June-July issue of Freethought Today.
- Walking Away from the Watchtower
The Garden • August 17, 2011
Last week, I posted a link to my review of Millions Now Living Will Never Die, the Watchtower's 1920 apocalyptic misfire, on Facebook. It got a comment from Vanessa Sampson, an ex-Jehovah's Witness who said that her own discovery of the Watchtower's fallibility was a major factor in her ultimately deciding to leave that religion [...]
- Sex and Taboos in Orthodox Judaism
The Library • August 15, 2011
In the past, I've poked fun at the Catholic church for the logical contortions it goes through to get around the problems it creates for itself with its nonsensical decrees about sex. But the Catholics are far from the only sect that has laughably ridiculous rules about sex, nor are they the only sect that [...]
- Help the Filipino Freethinkers
The Foyer • August 14, 2011
I'm no PZ Myers, but I've been known to crash a poll now and then. And today, you can do it for a good cause: helping the Filipino Freethinkers win the Globe Tatt Award, which recognizes innovative use of social media and comes with a cash prize. Here's the e-mail I got from FF member [...]
- The Watchtower's Apocalyptic Pratfalls
The Loft • August 12, 2011
Since we all had a hearty laugh at the antics of Harold Camping earlier this summer, I thought you might appreciate a little more light comedy. Presented here for your approval are some excerpts from Millions Now Living Will Never Die, a famous the-end-is-near book published in 1920. You can download the entire book in [...]
- Daylight Atheism Chicago Meetup
The Foyer • August 11, 2011
So, do I have any readers in the Windy City?
I'm going to be in Chicago over Labor Day weekend, September 2-4, for sightseeing and to visit some friends. If you live in the area and are interested in attending a meetup, leave a comment or send me an e-mail and let me know what time [...]
- New on AlterNet: The Rise of Young Atheists
The Garden • August 11, 2011
My latest article has been posted on AlterNet, Goodbye Religion? How Godlessness Is Increasing With Each New Generation. It surveys the demographic transformation that's been taking place in American society, with rates of godlessness steadily increasing in each generation since World War II, highlights the work of some outstanding young activists who are part of [...]
- Take Action: Tell Montreal Police to Investigate Threats Against Atheists
The Foyer • August 10, 2011
If you've been around the atheist blogosphere for very long, you're probably acquainted with Dennis Markuze, a notorious net kook who's been spamming atheist blogs, forums, bulletin boards, wikis, social networking sites, and every other website he finds out about with insane, nonsensical rants about Nostradamus, 9/11 and his various other obsessions. He's been at [...]
- The Real Meaning of Islamophobia
The Rotunda • August 10, 2011
I don't usually say these sorts of things about Republicans, but good for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie:
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is defending his pick of a Muslim for a state judgeship, saying critics of a lawyer who represented suspects after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks are "ignorant" and "crazies".
..."This Shariah law business [...]
- Dispatches from Future America: Nation Ratifies Reproductive Rights Amendment
The Loft • August 8, 2011
[Editor's Note: The last dispatch I received in this ongoing series was particularly bleak. As if on cue, I got another message the other day, this one apparently originating from a very different, and much rosier, future. I get the strong impression that these two possible worlds are, in some manner, competing against each other.]
JACKSON, [...]
- Photo Sunday: Barcelona
The Foyer • August 7, 2011
To see the pictures, click to continue:
- Creationist Target Practice
The Observatory • August 6, 2011
Yesterday, someone calling himself Rev. Skeens posted the following comment. I rejected it since it had no perceptible connection to the post it was submitted under, but then I had second thoughts. Granted that this is beginner-level stuff and hardly challenging, but it's been a while since we honed our debating skills on an actual [...]
- Weekly Link Roundup
The Foyer • August 6, 2011
Some scattered thoughts to contemplate on a Saturday morning:
• Earlier this year, my post on urban agriculture drew some spirited disagreement. Now there's a study from Ohio State University which concludes that Cleveland could supply all its own produce, poultry and honey if the many vacant lots in the shrinking, post-industrial city were converted into [...]
- More Filth-Based Initiatives
The Rotunda • August 5, 2011
One of my earliest posts on Daylight Atheism was about the torrent of angry, obscene, hateful messages that inevitably greets any atheist who speaks out in public. We're seeing this happen again, this time aimed at Blair Scott of American Atheists, who recently appeared on Fox News to discuss that group's lawsuit against a cross [...]
- The Natural Law Argument Against Procreation
The Loft • August 3, 2011
"Nobody has the right to harm others. Yet, homosexuality is a harmful behavior. It is obviously harmful to its practitioners — the clinical evidence for all manner of psychological and physical problems created by acting on homosexual impulses is well established. Homosexuality is destructive to self because it uses the human body in ways that [...]
- Religious Gas-Lighting
The Rotunda • August 2, 2011
By Sarah Jane Braasch-Joy
In loving memory of my baby brother, Jacob Michael Braasch (01/28/86 – 02/02/10)
Religionists are those who wish to make religious law the law of the land and impose their personal interpretations of religious law upon others. They come in many flavors, be they Christianists, Islamists, or what have you. The [...]
- 6 Ways Atheists Can Band Together to Fight Religious Fundamentalism
The Rotunda • August 1, 2011
This essay was originally published on AlterNet.
If atheists were as politically organized as the religious right, we could accomplish a world of good in combating theocracy and standing up for human rights and secularism. But whenever an atheist political alliance is proposed, the objection is inevitably raised that "atheists don't all agree," and that this [...]
