7.30.2011

Understanding Terrorism Will Be Harder if We Ignore Christians

Understanding Terrorism

It seems that there is more than enough Christian hate to go around. It is no surprise that some Christians act on their hateful and sometimes violent impulses. After reminding us about some of the prior acts of Christian terrorism, William Hamby (Secular News Daily) notes:

In total, there have been 17 attempted murders, 383 death threats, 153 incidents of assault or battery, and 3 kidnappings in America committed by Christian terrorists over the issue of abortion alone.

7.29.2011

More Christian Email: Hell is Waiting For You

FlamesSharing Christian hate mail I receive is still rather new for me. It isn't that I haven't been receiving it for some time; I just wasn't sure it would be interesting since I figured everyone else was getting it too. I'm glad I decided to start sharing it. After all, much of it really is too good to waste.

I'm not sure if the author of this particular one thinks that this is a team blog or is trying to address all atheists, but I believe it is probably the latter. That is good news because that means you can consider this directed at you too. Here it is in all its unedited glory:
Subject: Hell is waiting for you!

You fools are as crazy as anything I have ever seen. We have the damn right to include Christianity, as you do not to. You only want it one way - your way. Your rights end when it steps on my rights you stupid demon garbage. Your kind of people is what's wrong in America. Decaying the very fabric of our society. The time is quickly coming for us to take back America from people like you, the ACLU, the queers, lesbians, pedophiles and illegals. You all are grouped together for elimination from our society soon. It's coming....and we will be coming for fools like you....you demon crap.
My favorite part? I think that would have to be that this clown actually seems to believe in demons. The odd bit about "the damn right to include Christianity" might be good if I had any idea what it was referring to. But taken just as gibberish, I've seen better.

7.27.2011

Churches Perform Vital Functions in Many Communities

Baptist Church

Most atheists seem to agree that we would all be better off if religion were to gradually become obsolete. And yet, there are services currently being provided by churches in some communities that would be difficult to accomplish without them. In this post, I'd like to address the subject of religious people doing good works in the context of religious organizations. If we really want to see the demise of religion, we are going to need to figure out creative ways to do some of what they are currently doing.

Positive Aspects of My Childhood Religion

As a child, I was indoctrinated in a mainstream Protestant denomination of the Christian religion. One of the most positive things I can say about this experience is that we were encouraged to think about helping our neighbors and giving back to our communities in some way. I found this appealing, and I still do.

7.26.2011

Atheists Do Not Choose to Be Atheists

choice

Most atheists will eventually be told by a religious believer that we are choosing not to believe in their preferred god(s) and are somehow to blame for doing so. It is almost as if they think we could simply flip a switch and have god-belief like they do. Never mind that this is not how belief works.

I have written previously about whether atheism is a choice and why I think this is important for atheists to address. It is good to see other atheist bloggers I respect asking the same question.

7.24.2011

Before You Dismiss Breivik as Crazy...

Anders Behring Breivik

I would like to caution my fellow atheist bloggers against jumping to the conclusion that Anders Behring Breivik, who has now confessed to the mass-murder in Norway, must be mentally ill. I was disappointed to see some prominent atheist bloggers making this mistake. As I will explain here, there are at least four good reasons to avoid making such claims at this point in time.

First, we do not yet know enough about Breivik, his history, or his mental state at the time of his terrorist act to draw conclusions about his mental health. Seeing people who hold themselves up as rational scientists already making up their mind that Breivik is "delusional and insane" is disappointing to say the least.

7.22.2011

Apathetic Atheism

Bill MaherThe most prominent example of a self-identified "apatheist" (i.e., apathetic atheist) appears to be Bill Maher. He clearly identifies himself as an atheist, and that's certainly nice to see. I'm not completely convinced, however, by his claim of being apathetic on the subject of religion. He spends far more time talking about religion than I would expect for someone who does not care about it at all.

If "apatheist" means an atheist who does not think much about religion, as CNN says, then I'm not sure the term is even worth using. Defined this way, it does not convey much of import.

7.21.2011

How Many Christians Have Read Their Bible?

BibleI cannot help wondering what percentage of self-identified Christians in the United States have read their bible from cover to cover. I suspect that if more had read it, there would be fewer Christians. Once one realizes what the book contains, it becomes considerably more difficult to insist that it is "holy." No, this isn't a post about religious literacy, although that is certainly relevant. And it is not a post about how most Christians do not appear to believe much of what their bible says. Instead, I am suggesting that most of what many Christians think they know of their bible comes from sources other than reading it for themselves.

7.17.2011

Defending the Original Pledge By Removing Any Mention of Gods

Some evangelical fundamentalist Christians and many conservative politicians are fond of talking about how they want to return us to an overly idealized version of the past, a version that never actually happened. Many seem to focus on the 1950s (prior to the Civil Rights movement). Others want to go back much further (e.g., teabaggers wrapping themselves in revisionist history involving American independence). The fascinating thing for observers in the reality-based community is how much distortion is involved in these efforts. I'm not sure anything illustrates that better than the Pledge of Allegiance.

7.14.2011

Dealing With Bigotry

Hate

I received a thought-provoking email from a reader in the Southern U.S. about her struggle around coming out as an atheist/agnostic and her understandable fears about how others will respond. I do not have any easy answers for her, but I want to share portions of her struggle and offer what little I can. I'll call her Rachel to help conceal her identity.

Rachel identifies herself as Hispanic and says that she was raised in one of those traditional Catholic families where questioning faith is simply not done. She describes herself as agnostic, but like most people who claim to be agnostic, I suspect that she is actually an agnostic atheist (see Understanding Atheism and Agnosticism).

7.12.2011

Liars for Jesus: Exposing David Barton and Other Revisionists

liars for Jesus

Even though we may not agree on how best to improve the quality of public education, I suspect that most atheists would agree that reality-based education is preferable to that based on myth, superstition, or political ideology. One of the biggest challenges we face in this regard is the revisionist history being pushed by Christian extremists and right-wing politicians to support the outlandish claim that America was designed to be a Christian theocracy. I believe that it is vital for us to inform ourselves about the nature of this revisionist history and the truth it hides. Fortunately, there are resources like Liars For Jesus: The Religious Right's Alternate Version of American History to assist us.

In Liars for Jesus, Chris Rodda tackles many of the most popular revisionist myths concerning early American history. Drawing on an exhaustive collection of original source material, Rodda demonstrates how authors like David Barton and D. James Kennedy operate. By quoting at length from the books written by these men and others with their agenda and then comparing what they have written with the source material, Rodda shows that there is far more than sloppy scholarship at work here. Again and again, outright lies are exposed. Quotes are taken out of context, intentionally altered, or in some cases, made up. In case after case, the revisionist historians do not even look at the source material, citing each other instead.

7.11.2011

All Religions Are Silly Except Mine

silly Christians

I found this cartoon on Tumblr. I do not know its source, but I have decided that it is too perfect not to share. Wouldn't it be great on a t-shirt? No caption is necessary; it speaks for itself.

I am sure some Christians would decide to be offended by it, but what it depicts is firmly rooted in reality. Early Christians did seek to replace native religions with their own (often violently) and were largely successful in doing so. Many modern Christians continue to mock other religions are being more primitive, silly, or cult-like than their own. They might not recognize the hypocrisy, but we atheists certainly do.

Update: A reader has suggested that the source of the cartoon is Maurice Sinet.

7.08.2011

The Price of Hero Worship in the Atheist Movement

rantI haven't had a good rant in a long time. Hell, I can't even remember the last one. Brace yourselves because I may end up insulting almost everyone before I'm done with this one.

I am getting extremely tired of atheist celebrities. I'm not talking about celebrities who happen to be atheists; I am referring to people who seem to have gained an inexplicable sort of celebrity simply for being outspoken atheists. And it isn't even their fault! It is the rest of us who are so damned determined to turn them into celebrities.

7.07.2011

Is Online Dating for Atheists a Good Idea?

Online datingDating is a daunting process, especially for those of us who do not have the luxury of being in a setting designed to facilitate it (e.g., high school, college, etc.). The appeal of short cuts is understandable. Wouldn't it be great to have an efficient way of sifting through eligible partners to maximize one's chances of finding a good match? This is why online dating sites are constantly promoting their personality questionnaires, compatibility algorithms, and the like. This is also why some online dating services have decided to specialize by catering only to a particular niche market. In fact, this practice is becoming so common that it no longer seems controversial. I'm not sure that's a good thing.

7.05.2011

Mormons Reminded About Separation of Church and State

Mormon magic underwearI know that several of you know far more about Mormonism than I do. Some of you are ex-Mormons, and you probably have much that you could teach the rest of us about this strange religion. I will defer to you to make sense out of this for those of us with less information about Mormonism, but I found it interesting to read that the Mormon church recently reminded its leaders not to endorse political candidates.

7.04.2011

American and Atheist

One Nation Indivisible

I wrote a post last July in which I speculated about the possible merits of atheists launching our own "take back America" movement.

What if atheists started our own "take back America" movement, focusing on restoring America to the secular democracy envisioned by our founders and reflected in our Constitution? Obviously, many of us are already working toward such a goal. Look at the efforts of organizations like Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom From Religion Foundation. I suppose what I'm talking about here is more of a marketing approach than anything else.

I was not advocating such an approach as much as I was thinking aloud about it. Reader reactions were mixed, as they should have been.

Now here we are one year later, and it appears that American Atheists had a similar idea, one which they decided to put into practice today. In the 26 states that agreed to allow it, the group is hiring planes to display trailing banners with messages like "God-LESS America" and "Atheism is Patriotic."

7.03.2011

How to Tell Whether You are a Real Christian

What is a real Christian? Who deserves to be called a real Christian, and who does not? These can be difficult questions, and sometimes I don't envy the plight of Christians at all. It seems like almost no matter what you do, someone is going to claim that you are not a real Christian. And yet, if you are doing what your god tells you to do (like many of the protagonists in your bible did), how can you not be a real Christian?

First things first, your god does talk to you, right? We need to clear that up right away. If your god has not been talking to you, we may have a problem. You might not be a real Christian. I'm no longer a Christian, but I'm familiar enough with your bible to know that your god communicates with people. So, I am going to assume that it has been talking with you too.

7.02.2011

I Support Marriage Equality: Here's Why

Marriage EqualityI support marriage equality. Two consenting adults should have the right to marry if they so choose. Nothing about this has ever struck me as being particularly controversial, even though I have known quite a few people during the course of my life who seemed to have a problem with it. When asked if I support same-sex marriage, my response is usually something like, "Of course! Why wouldn't I?" I thought it might be interesting to see if I can articulate why.