Daylight Atheism » Religious Morality

Theocracy Causes Famine

Ebonmuse — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 10:55:43 +0000

Recently, I got an e-mail from the Foundation Beyond Belief, which is working with USAID to raise awareness of the continuing drought and famine in the Horn of Africa. The toll in lives is already appalling, including over 29,000 deaths from starvation and outbreaks of measles and cholera, and hundreds more dying every day. The crisis has ... [visit site to read more]

The Ordinary and Universal Magisterium

Ebonmuse — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 10:55:10 +0000

Although many sects of Christianity consider their own beliefs to be infallible, Catholicism has a formal, bureaucratic process for adding new inerrant teachings to its canon. When the pope speaks "ex cathedra", officially defining a new dogma, it's becomes something that all Catholics are required to profess. (I like to think he has a special ... [visit site to read more]

More Filth-Based Initiatives

Ebonmuse — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 10:54:49 +0000

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 in the 9/11 Memorial Museum. (Appearing on Fox is a surefire way to bring the angry ... [visit site to read more]

Pro-Family Christians Support Child Kidnapping, Continued

Ebonmuse — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 10:43:25 +0000

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 born to unwed mothers in ... [visit site to read more]

Ireland Versus the Vatican, Continued

Ebonmuse — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 11:00:59 +0000

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 today there's another big update.

In 1996, in response to public outcry, a ... [visit site to read more]

The Harm Psychics Do, Continued

Ebonmuse — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 15:05:34 +0000

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 little heavier instead.

I wrote a post in ... [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]

Book Review: Losing My Religion

Ebonmuse — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 11:32:19 +0000

Summary: A hard-hitting and emotionally moving story of a religion reporter's deconversion, despite a few lingering blind spots.

Losing My Religion is the autobiography of William Lobdell, the religion reporter turned atheist whom I wrote about in 2007. I briefly mentioned the outline of his story in my previous post, but this book is a much more in-depth account of how he found, and then ... [visit site to read more]

The Value of Autonomy

Ebonmuse — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 10:39:26 +0000

I've been following this debate between Ross Douthat and Kevin Drum about the morality of assisted suicide. In his latest post, Douthat made a telling, though apparently unintentional, statement:

The slippery slope that I discussed in the column doesn't amount to much if you don't disapprove at all of people deciding to ... [visit site to read more]

Justice for the Victims of Faith Healing

Ebonmuse — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 11:00:56 +0000

I'm still working through a backlog of interesting stories that accumulated during my vacation, so here's the first of them.

As freethinkers know too well, claiming that your religion requires you to do or not do something is an almost all-purpose excuse for immoral behavior. It's frustratingly rare for believers to be punished for wrongdoing when they invoke their faith as a shield. That's why I'm so unexpectedly pleased to see that rationality is getting a foothold in Oregon, where visit site to read more]

The Logic of Genocide

Ebonmuse — Wed, 18 May 2011 17:44:08 +0000

Last month, I wrote about the hideous spectacle of ordinary religious people defending genocide because it's commanded in the Bible - with some of them professing to not even understand why nonbelievers would have a problem with this. Greta Christina also highlighted this horrific mindset in the writing of visit site to read more]

Weekly Link Roundup

Ebonmuse — Wed, 18 May 2011 01:11:33 +0000

I noticed a few stories this week that I haven't had time to write more about, but wanted to mention briefly:

• So-called "psychics" defraud their gullible customers out of thousands of dollars, usually through laughably obvious ploys in which they claim the client's money needs to be "cleansed". Can we please visit site to read more]