Category / Atheism
President-elect Obama and Secular America
One of the many reasons I voted for President-elect Obama (I love saying that). I wanted a president that understands secularism and its importance in American government.
President-elect Obama’s full ‘Call to Renewal’ speech.
You F*cking GO GIRL!
*Swoon*
Oh, Hellzzz Yeah!
So, now that you have some proper motivation. Go! Post a blog entry, comment on one (or more), make a video or whatever you can. Make your voice heard. Stand up for your secular American rights.
How many churches do you need?
I’ve always been amazed at just how many churches there are in my little city of less than 20,000 residents. I used to joke that there was a different church on just about every street corner. I recently did a Google Maps search for “church” in Tullahoma, TN and nearly dropped my jaw.
Here’s the map. (scroll down the listings on the left side and start clicking ‘Next’)
With 10 churches listed on each page, I made it to page 8 before the results started to get into neighboring cities and towns.
Now, some of these churches are small, single building establishments with a small congregation and many of them disappear after a couple years of service only to be replaced by another funny named worship center a few months later. A few, however, dwarf entire subdivisions where people are struggling to feed their families. Take the newly erected Church of Christ at Cedar Lane. The size of this 15-acre complex-o-worship is gargantuan compared to the government-run Tullahoma Housing Authority subdivision right across the street and is as large as about half the apartment complex right next door. (Here’s a Google Maps image - the complex was still in construction when this image was taken, but you can still make size comparisons. THA subdivision is to the left, apartment complex is above.)
According to city-data.com, in 1999, 17.2% of Tullahoma residents live below the poverty level and 7.3% live below 50% of the poverty level. The median household income in 2007 was $36,500. So, when I think about all the money spent building, running and maintaining these houses of prayer, I’m never quite sure whether to laugh or cry. Imagine if just a fraction of that money had been spent on things that actually advance this small city and its residents (like our city’s school system and our fantastic Hands-On Science Center) instead of being spent on first century stupidity.
Honestly! How many churches do you need?
A little bit of logic…
… is all you need.
Personally, I still wouldn’t count Jesus as a friend simply because I never knew him. Maybe I’m strange, but I tend to reserve the designation of ‘friend’ to people I’ve actually met.
Via: The Friendly Atheist & Pablo Moroe
Mythbusting the God hypothesis
If you don’t read “Least I Could Do“, you’re missing out on a daily dose of high-quality humor.
RAYNE FOR JESUS ‘08
The future is in our hands
Darwin made manifest in Dayton, TN
You gotta love The Onion. A fantastic hit on creationist’s use of the word “Darwinism” to describe people’s acceptance of evolution as a religious belief system.
DAYTON, TN—A steady stream of devoted evolutionists continued to gather in this small Tennessee town today to witness what many believe is an image of Charles Darwin—author of The Origin Of Species and founder of the modern evolutionary movement—made manifest on a concrete wall in downtown Dayton.
The article has some hilarious satirical quotes to go along.
I brought my baby to touch the wall, so that the power of Darwin can purify her genetic makeup of undesirable inherited traits,” said Darlene Freiberg, one among a growing crowd assembled here to see the mysterious stain, which appeared last Monday on one side of the Rhea County Courthouse. The building was also the location of the famed “Scopes Monkey Trial” and is widely considered one of Darwinism’s holiest sites. “Forgive me, O Charles, for ever doubting your Divine Evolution. After seeing this miracle of limestone pigmentation with my own eyes, my faith in empirical reasoning will never again be tested.”
Dayton’s not that far away. I may make the pilgrimage to this holy site.
Via: The Onion
In da beginnin…
At least this theory has some level of photographic proof. I’m skeptical, but its still more than most creat-design proponent-ists can show.
This religion has caused an error and will be closed
Via: FailBlog
Lori Lipman Brown on The Colbert Report
Don’t miss Lori Lipman Brown, director of the Secular Coalition for America, an alliance that includes the American Humanist Association on tonight’s Colbert Report.
From her office at AHA headquarters in Washington DC, Lori has worked tirelessly to defend the rights of nontheists and the separation of church and state. Now her message, and ours, will reach millions of mainstream Americans, particularly young people.
The show air at 11:30pm / 10:30c, but check your local listings just to be sure.
UPDATE: The Friendly Atheist reports that Lori Lipman Brown’s interview has sadly been postponed until tomorrow night for a first-ever Friday Night broadcast of The Colbert Report. Who knows why… Maybe the Report is planning something special for our nontheist crusader.
Via: American Humanist Association
Update Via: The Friendly Atheist
Christian Science Textbook
The sad part is, its not all that far from the truth. Clicky Image for full comic.
Found Via: Incredimazing
Those Vikings may have had a point
Beliefnet has a short but somewhat interesting article on the variety of loony belief systems represented on their site. The article, Five Religions You’ve Never Heard Of, focuses on the core beliefs of and a few choice quotes by some of the self-proclaimed believers in Asatru, Sant Mat, Eckankar, Ahmadiyya, and Maltheism.
While I was reading, a quote by the Asatruar Beliefnet member John_T_Mainer really hit me.
I will face my challenges with a grin, accept nothing less than victory until death, and face my gods and ancestors secure in the knowledge that I made the most of the life they gave to me, and that my children and neighbors will face less danger and strife for my efforts.”
Sure, he believes in Thor and Odin and that they gave him his life but at lease he’s not wasting it. And most of his declaration speaks true to humanists, atheists, and agnostics. Live life to the fullest and make the world a better place for everyone else. Or, as I like to put it: Be excellent to each other and party on, dudes!
You really have to feel for the Maltheists though. They believe God exists. They just think he’s a total ass. Although I’m pretty sure this is just what happens when devout belief is mixed with Bible reading/study. The ones that don’t identify as Maltheists probably spend the rest of their time at church, reaffirming their belief in their wonderful and just misery-maker.
Via: Reddit:Atheism
In the medical world we call it a miracle
Apparently God didn’t want this Israeli baby to be aborted and intervened 5 hours after the infant was placed inside the hospital’s cold storage.
A stillborn Israeli baby pronounced dead at birth by doctors spent at least 5 hours inside one of the hospital’s refrigerated storage units before her parent’s began noticing movement. The infant was pronounced dead after doctors were forced to abort the Mother’s pregnancy in its 23rd week due to internal bleeding.
I was reading this and just waiting for the “Thank you, God” or “Its a miracle from God” pleas spewing forth from the parents. But the most horrific quote comes courtesy of hospital deputy director Moshe Daniel, who surely spoke for the entire modern medical profession when he said,
We don’t know how to explain this, so when we don’t know how to explain things in the medical world we call it a miracle, and this is probably what happened,”
So say we all!
There you have it. In the medical world, when we don’t know how to explain something, the obvious fallback is, “It was a miracle.” At least the article includes a brief moment of reality from an actual doctor.
Motti Ravid, a professor of internal medicine, told Israel’s Channel 10 that the low temperature inside the cooler had slowed down the baby’s metabolism and likely helped her survive.
I’m pretty sure, if this child lives, it will most likely be praised as a miracle from god by all the faithful. However, if the child dies, then it will all turn out to have just been some little bit of science that helped keep her alive.
Via: Reuters
“This Book Doesn’t Work” - An honest review of the Bible
A UK Amazon.com user gives the Bible a fairly tough review.
This book doesn’t work. I’ve tried the “praying” method to get a new Porsche 996 delivered but to no avail. There’s nothing in the instructions about not wanting German sports cars but I tried praying for less ambitious things. I gave up when it didn’t even get me a Big Mac. In the early part there’s a bit about people crossing the desert and being sustained by manna from heaven, so you’d think that it would be able to manage at least a hamburger.
I’m disappointed and will contact the publisher. In the meantime I can’t recommend this book as it is clearly faulty.
Via: Reddit:Atheism
A beauty pageant for Catholic nuns
Rev. Antonio Rungi wants to run a nun beauty pageant to “give them more visibility within the Catholic Church and to fight the stereotype that they are all old and dour.”
The “Miss Sister 2008” contest will start in September on a blog run by the Rev. Antonio Rungi and will give nuns from around the world a chance to showcase their work and their image.
Rungi, a theologian and schoolteacher from the Naples area, said that visitors to his site will have a month to “vote for the nun they consider a model.”
Nuns will fill out a profile including information about their life and vocation as well as a photograph. It will be up to them to choose whether to pose with the traditional veil or with their heads uncovered.
Heads uncovered? Ah, they must be liberal nuns… the nerve. But Rungi makes it clear that this is not your average beauty pageant.
We are not going to parade nuns in bathing suits,” Rungi said by telephone from his town of Mondragone.
Awww, Shucks. I was so looking forward to the evening gown and talent portions.
But being ugly is not a requirement for becoming a nun. External beauty is gift from God, and we mustn’t hide it.”
OK, so God chooses to gift certain people with external beauty. And everyone else gets the gift of ugly? Anyway, so some of those externally beautiful people get called on to sacrifice a large percentage of their lives to meaningless prayer and devotion. Why not let them show off their bods on a blog for a while? A little jolt of ‘normal life’ might do them good.
Via: MSNBC
Image Credit: BrandsOnSale Halloween Costumes
