Daylight Atheism » History

Photo Sunday: Valencia

Ebonmuse — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 19:32:56 +0000

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 continue...

... [visit site to read more]

Photo Sunday: Seville

Ebonmuse — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 19:24:05 +0000

To see the pictures, click the link to continue:

... [visit site to read more]

Photo Sunday: Córdoba

Ebonmuse — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 17:34:48 +0000

To see the pictures, follow the link to continue:

... [visit site to read more]

Photo Sunday: Toledo

Ebonmuse — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 19:37:50 +0000

More pictures from my Spanish trip. Click the link below to see:

... [visit site to read more]

Strange But True: The Misnumbered Pope

Ebonmuse — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 10:40:21 +0000

I've been reading Bob Curran's book Unholy Popes, an extremely amusing chronicle of papal misbehavior over the centuries and the more infamous scandals and shenanigans attributed to the various men who've held the seat. There have been periods of decades when Rome was rife with corruption, nepotism, bribery, and at times, open warfare and murder over the papal succession. There have been times when no one was pope and times ... [visit site to read more]

Darwin's Long Regret

Ebonmuse — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 10:59:44 +0000

Since we've been reading a lot lately about scientists pandering to religion, it's worth remembering that there's nothing new under the sun. As long as there's been science, there have been believers who fought fiercely to prevent their god of choice from being dislodged from a gap, and there have been scientists who felt obliged to placate them. Even some of humanity's greatest scientists felt this pressure, and bowed to ... [visit site to read more]

Words Worth Reading: The Mother's Day Proclamation

Ebonmuse — Sun, 08 May 2011 18:39:45 +0000

As you probably already know, today is Mother's Day. But I learned something very interesting about the holiday from a sermon today at the Unitarian Universalist church my wife and I attend, and I'd like to share it with you.

Given how rampantly commercial Mother's Day has become, you might be forgiven for assuming, as I did, that it was dreamed up by the jewelry and greeting-card companies. But that couldn't be further from the truth. Although the holiday did become commercialized soon ... [visit site to read more]

Movie Review: Agora

Ebonmuse — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 10:41:03 +0000

When I wrote my review of Creation last year, a commenter suggested I see Agora, the 2009 film by Alejandro Amenábar about Hypatia of Alexandria. It took me a long time to get around to doing that, but I've finally seen it, and it was worth the wait. It only had a very limited theatrical release in ... [visit site to read more]

The Language of God: Questions for Atheists

Ebonmuse — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 15:58:06 +0000

The Language of God, Chapter 7

By B.J. Marshall

The next part of Chapter 7 shows Collins' poor understanding of atheism. He starts by differentiating between "strong" and "weak" atheism, but then he makes the baseless claim that for the majority of atheists, strong atheism is "generally the assumed position" (p.161). He makes this distinction so that he has a group he can refute. He asks three questions, and I'd like to address them similarly to those visit site to read more]

The Abolition Spirit Is Undeniably Atheistic

Ebonmuse — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 16:21:29 +0000

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 ... [visit site to read more]

Why the Confederate States Seceded

Ebonmuse — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 11:48:05 +0000

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 the Union. This post is for them.

South Carolina was the ... [visit site to read more]

Weekly Link Roundup

Ebonmuse — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 18:51:25 +0000

If blogging was my full-time job, I'd probably have written a post about each of these stories! As it is, I leave you with some food for thought - and there's a virtual banquet this week:

• In the U.K., more and more decaying churches are being converted into homes - a fitting use for these still-beautiful buildings, in my opinion.

• According to a study in the journal Pediatrics, visit site to read more]