Atheist Revolution

Yes, There Are Atheist Republicans and Libertarians

2009-10-05T05:30:00.000-05:00

I'd like to be very clear about two things. First, I acknowledge the existence of atheist Republicans and Libertarians. Second, I am neither a Republican nor a Libertarian. You see, I've been taking some heat lately from a handful of readers who are evidently disgruntled with my progressive political bent and the fact that I express it from time to time here. The criticism does not bother me, but I do find it somewhat puzzling.

I have never made any secret of my progressive political orientation. In fact, I mention it in the About section prominently featured underneath the banner at the top of this page. It is part of who I am, and I am uninterested in hiding it.

What I find puzzling about this sort of criticism is that it almost appears as if the critics think I should be politically neutral. But I make no pretense of being neutral about what I do. This is not some sort of objective news site; it is a blog. In fact, it is an atheist blog dedicated to breaking free from irrational belief and opposing Christian extremism in America. The fact that the modern Republican Party has thoroughly embraced willful stupidity and Christian extremism places me in direct opposition to them (at least to those of them who embrace the current leadership).

Libertarians, Independents, and rational Republicans who are as disgusted as I am over what the GOP has become, you are always welcome here. Just realize that while I do focus on atheism, I will not ignore politics. I am a political progressive who is sad to no longer be able to think of myself as a Democrat, and I am not ashamed to write about what I believe.

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Comment Policy

2009-07-03T09:53:00.000-05:00

The presence of Christian trolls on this blog prompted me to develop the first draft of this comment policy in May of 2007. What you are reading now is the July 2009 revision.

Introduction

First and foremost, please understand that this is an atheist blog. I am an atheist, and the intended audience is made up of atheists, secular humanists, and other freethinkers. In fact, 88% of those who read this blog are atheists.

I welcome believers in various gods who are genuinely interested in learning something about atheism. However, those interested primarily in argument, antagonism, or proselytizing should go elsewhere. Blogs are not intended as places for readers to debate each other. If this is what you are seeking, check out this list of great forums. You'll see that some have entire areas devoted to debate.

What is a Troll?

There are several forms of blog trolls, ranging from those who engage in "drive-by link sharing" as a form of self-promotion to those who camp out and hurl insults, make threats, or otherwise try to disrupt the blog. Many trolls do not seem to understand how blogs work; others are bent on converting atheists to their particular brand of superstition. However, nearly all trolls share a common feature: They are not here to learn but to argue, and the nature of their argument is irrational.

The best way for rational readers to deal with blog trolls is to ignore them. This deprives them of what they want most - argument. But since many readers cannot resist engaging them, the following policy represents an alternative to full comment moderation.

Comment Policy

The following comment policy was adapted from Lifehacker, Making Light, and God is for Suckers!, with modification to increase applicability to this blog.

Stay on topic (i.e., the post topic).
Contribute new information to the discussion.
Don't comment just for the sake of commenting.
Know when to comment vs. when to e-mail the author. Use e-mail when what you want to say doesn't contribute to the public conversation.
Be respectful and remember that nobody likes a know-it-all.
Own your comment (i.e., anonymous commenting is discouraged and will probably not be allowed much longer).
Remember that brief comments are more likely to be read.
Be courteous and avoid personal insults.
Avoid Christianspeak. It makes you look stupid and contributes nothing of value.
Absolutely no religious proselytizing will be permitted here.
Do not feed the trolls. They thrive on argument (the less rational, the better) and will keep returning as long as they find folks willing to debate them. If you find yourself tempted to argue with a Christian troll, please read this first.

Minor violations may result in selective moderation of the violator, but more serious violations will result in deletion of offending posts. Repeat offenders may be banned if deemed necessary.

Tags: blog, blogging, comment policy, comment, Christian, atheist, troll

The Jealous Atheist

2008-11-25T05:18:00.000-06:00

Image via WikipediaIf you've read the Christian bible, you know that their god is repeatedly described as being a jealous god. I always found the notion of anything godlike being jealous of what humans thought or believed to be the height of absurdity, but this does not seem to bother those who claim to believe in such a god. Maybe being jealous is not so bad after all. In fact, I happen to be seriously jealous at this very moment. In fact, I am coveting someone else's property in the worst way.

Who am I jealous of, and what is the object of my coveting? I am jealous of fellow atheist blogger, Dubito Ergo Sum, for obtaining what has to be one of the coolest pieces of Americana I've seen in a long time.
Yep, a talking Jesus action figure found in the clearance section at Wal-Mart. I know what you're thinking - why would any self-respecting atheist even consider owning one of these, much less paying for it? I don't know what to tell you except to say that it is taking every bit of self-control I have not to get in the car and head for Wal-Mart right now.

Sure, there's the fun that could be had from posing the figure in all sorts of poses and take pictures which could be posted here to entertain you. I'll admit that this is appealing. But I think it is also about the horrified look on the faces of those who know me when they see me with something like this. Could there be a better decoration for my office?

Back in college, I was very open about my atheism to the point where anyone who knew me, even casually, knew my thoughts on religion. During this time, I found some of the ugliest Jesus candles you can possible imagine at a flea market for $1 each. I bought as many as I could carry and littered my apartment with them. My friends thought I was crazy, and the believers who came over were never sure what to make of it.

Yes, I know I have a sickness - some sort of strange addiction to finding the most repugnant Jesus crap out there. Maybe my jealousy of Dubito Ergo Sum is a symptom. Still, I suppose it means that I am more godlike than I previously thought.

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Memed: Becoming An Atheist

2008-10-21T05:27:00.000-05:00

Image by wallyg via FlickrThe Atheist Jew tagged me with a recent blog meme going around: Can You Remember The Day That You Officially Became An Atheist? At first glance, I thought it seemed interesting and decided to play. You can find my responses to the various questions below. Having answered them, I am now of the opinion that this meme probably needs to be put to bed, so I not going to tag anybody else with it. The questions just don't make sense and convey a lack of understanding about what atheism is and how it is experienced.

Can You Remember The Day That You Officially Became An Atheist?

Well, like all other humans throughout the course of history, I was born an atheist. However, like many unfortunates, I was indoctrinated into Christianity and became...(gasp)...deluded. So when did I actually begin to identify as an atheist? I have to assume that this is the question since there is nothing "official" about becoming an atheist.

I cannot recall anything close to the exact date. I believe I would have been approximately 16-17 at the time. I'd been agnostic for a couple years before this point, but reading the Christian bible and Bertrand Russell's Why I am Not a Christian helped me realize that religion was worse than implausible and provided me with a name for what I would slowly begin to embrace.

Do you remember the day you officially became an agnostic?

I did have a period of agnosticism (as the word is often used) in between Christianity and atheism. Obviously, nothing about it was official in any way, shape, or form. It emerged very gradually, starting at about age 14 and turning into atheism a couple years later.

For reasons I have previously articulated, I think that agnosticism is nothing more than a socially acceptable name for atheism based on a misunderstanding of what atheism means. That is, an agnostic is an atheist who does not like the connotations "atheist" has come to carry.

How about the last time you spoke or prayed to God with actual thought that someone was listening?

This is truly a guess, but I'd say no later than age 12-13.

Did anger towards God or religion help cause you to be an atheist or agnostic?

Ah, it looks like a Christian must have started this meme! How can anger toward something that doesn't exist cause one to believe that it doesn't exist? Talk about reductio ad absurdum! Anger toward religion or various fictional entities had nothing to do with it. Not even anger toward believers was initially a factor. This wouldn't be on my radar for at least a few years.

Were you agnostic towards ghosts, even after you became an atheist?

No, I continued to believe in ghosts for roughly a year after I begin to identify as an atheist. Currently, my lack of belief in ghosts has nothing whatsoever to do with atheism. It is about science and about my understanding of the human brain.

Do you want to be wrong?

Wrong about what exactly? Do I wish that something like the god described in the Christian bible existed? Absolutely not! What a vile creature these early Christians conjured up to scare their children!

I'd like to be wrong about ghosts. I wish that ghosts existed. How cool would it be to be able to haunt people in some sort of afterlife? But no, I do not seriously entertain thoughts of wanting to be wrong about any of this supernatural nonsense.

Since I don't find this particular meme worth propagating, I'm not going to tag anybody. If you want to answer these questions for yourself, feel free to do so.

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About Atheist Revolution

2008-08-23T06:41:00.003-05:00

Welcome to Atheist Revolution - a blog dedicated to breaking free from irrational belief and opposing Christian extremism in America.

I use the handle vjack, and I write this blog as a hobby. It reflects my interest in atheism and my commitment to improving the position of atheists in a world dominated by religious belief. If you would like to learn more about my personal journey to atheism, you can read my Journey of an Atheist series.

Origins

I started Atheist Revolution in early 2005 in response to what I perceived as a rising tide of anti-intellectualism and Christian extremism in America. I knew next to nothing about blogging but hoped that writing in such a forum might help me to organize my thoughts and eventually reach out to others. I decided to focus primarily on the intersection of religion and politics (e.g., separation of church and state, political manipulation via religion, etc.).

I soon realized that I was contributing to something I didn't even know existed. Again and again, I heard from a growing base of readers that they found Atheist Revolution to be a valuable source of information relevant to atheists. They directed me toward the handful of other bloggers active in the niche at the time. I began reading every atheist blog I could find. Suddenly I was not alone. The reality-based community had a dynamic presence on the Internet.

By 2006, I realized that I was part of something important - a growing atheist community tired of remaining silent. Perhaps I could even help to make a difference.

Atheism and Progressive Politics

After some initial struggle over goals and priorities, I settled on a mission for Atheist Revolution. The blog would be devoted to overcoming irrational belief and opposing Christian extremism. Atheism would be the primary focus, and atheist activism would be a big part of this. I recognized that I had two primary reasons for being an atheist and that they were often reflected in my writing. The precursors of atheism (e.g., reason, secular education, critical thinking, etc.) deserved promotion every bit as much as religious belief warranted criticism.

However, I also recognized that I would not be satisfied writing about atheism all of the time. My political convictions were too deep to be ignored. I couldn't be honest with the readers unless I gave voice to my progressive values in some way. After all, they derived from the same sources as my atheism. I would focus on atheism but would not avoid political topics which interested me.

Why "Atheist Revolution?"

America is currently caught in the grasp of widespread religious delusion and Christian privilege. Secular education, and science education in particular, suffer from the promotion of superstition and myth. Social norms discourage even mild criticism of religious belief, and nonbelievers are demonized. Anti-atheist bigotry is common and rarely brings rebuke.

We need a revolution of the mind, a new era of Enlightenment when the shackles of faith are thrown off and reason is once again valued. For me, it is not about eradicating religious belief but about showing people that it is unnecessary, irrational, and destructive.

You can read more from an interview I did for The Atheist Spot Blog's Get to Know an Atheist Blogger series: vjack of Atheist Revolution.

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I typically post daily, and I have found that RSS is one of the best ways for keeping track of frequently updated material. I encourage you to subscribe via RSS.

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Further Reading

For those wanting to learn more about atheism, I've assembled some information on an About Atheism page via Squidoo.

Comments on posts at Atheist Revolution are encouraged and highly valued. New visitors may find it helpful to review the Comment Policy, and those wanting to reproduce material elsewhere should be aware of the Copyright Policy.

Interviewed By Atheist Spot

2008-08-16T05:50:00.000-05:00

The Atheist Spot Blog is doing a series of interviews with assorted atheist bloggers. This gives us the opportunity to learn more about the authors we read. Craig A. James of The Religion Virus was first, and they just posted the interview they did with me. I thought they asked some good questions, and it will be neat to follow the series and see how others respond to similar questions.

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Atheist Revolution's Blogroll

2008-07-29T08:31:00.006-05:00

In an effort to simplify the main page and improve load times, I decided it was finally time to move my blogroll to its own page. This should give me the opportunity to expand it without worrying quite so much about formatting implications. As always, I will regularly prune it to remove inactive blogs or those I am no longer following.

Without further ado, these are the atheist-related blogs you should be reading:

I Value Truth

2007-12-21T15:39:00.000-06:00

When I say that I value the truth, I don't use the capital "T" that many Christians would prefer. Instead, what I'm talking about is the value I place upon natural reality as opposed to fantasy or to the supernatural entities of myth. I've already stated that I believe in an awe-inspiring natural world, but this post is about something different. Simply put, I value the use of reason, evidence, and science to evaluate the veracity of claims.

An extremely popular myth which pervades right-wing political and Christian extremist groups involves a once great American nation which has fallen into moral decline. Reasons for this decline vary. Sometimes homosexuality or government regulations are emphasized. Other times, increased incivility and media crassness are the culprits. But the underlying cause is nearly always the same: the creeping threat of secularism. This is a useful myth for energizing the conservative base, but it is nevertheless a myth.

As Steven Conn, a professor of history at Ohio State University, writes for the History News Service,

The details of this declension are always vague -- notice the unnamed "they" of Romney's speech -- but the cause is always some hazy conspiracy of people who have stripped religion out of public life. And the antidote is the same: more religion, preferably more of that "old time" religion. In our private lives and in our politics.

In tracing the history of church-state separation in America, Conn draws upon actual (as opposed to manufactured) history. He describes how Penn founded Philadelphia without an official religion, even though he was a deeply religious Quaker, because he recognized the dangers of merging religion and government.

Conn notes that America's founders would later be inspired by Penn's model and by Enlightenment philosophy which emphasized reason and liberty. Contrary to Romney's assertions that religion is required for freedom, our founders established an America without a state religion. When Connecticut Baptists called for an infusion of their religion into our nation, Jefferson responded with his "wall of separation."

But my point here is not to summarize Conn's excellent article as much as it is to hold Conn up as an example of what I mean when I refer to using reason and evidence to evaluate the truth of various claims. The right-wing myth of a morally degraded America can be evaluated and is found lacking. It is a myth to be discarded and replaced by the truth - what actually happened rather than political spin.

Tags: truth, America, history, politics, reason, evidence, science, secularism, secular, Christian extremism, morality, religion, myth, church and state, government

Atheist Revolution Hits 1,000 Posts

2007-12-01T07:51:00.000-06:00

When I started Atheist Revolution in February of 2005, it never occurred to me that I might still be at it more than two years later or that I would ever even come close to celebrating this milestone, the 1,000th post. Now that I'm here, my commitment to continuing this blog has never been stronger. In fact, I expect I'll manage another thousand posts.

If there was ever a good time to be an atheist in America, that time is now. Despite some of my past grumbles about how few of the ideas being expressed under the "new atheism" banner are truly new, it is undeniable that there is something new in the air. The resurgence of interest in atheism is being accompanied by an invigorating sort of energy that is different from anything I've experienced previously.

Nonbelievers are becoming more vocal and less willing to overlook Christian privilege. We are learning more about the philosophical underpinnings of atheism and the unacceptably high cost of religion on our modern world. We are beginning to think seriously about organizing to gain political power and even starting to discuss options for doing so.

Growing numbers of believers are being exposed to atheism, passively through the media and actively by seeking out atheist-oriented material on their own. Some of this is undoubtedly simple curiosity or even a desire to better know the enemy, but believers are also becoming increasingly dissatisfied with religion.

This is as good a time to be an atheist as we've had yet. I have not come close to running out of material in the last 1,000 posts, and I don't see it happening in the next 1,000. The atheist revolution is just beginning, and I'm just getting started.

Tags: atheism, atheist, blog, blogging, media, America, new atheism, Christian privilege, religion, revolution

What It Would Take For Me To Believe

2007-10-29T05:36:00.000-05:00

Christians are fond of asking atheists what it would take for them to believe in a god of some variety. Some are simply curious; others are convinced that asking this question will highlight the atheist's close-minded nature. Unfortunately, many atheists step in a trap of some variety as they try to answer this question without thinking it through ahead of time. I offer my response to this question below to satisfy Christian curiosity and help atheists avoid some of the common traps.

When a Christian asks, "What would it take for you to believe," he or she is really asking, "What would it take for you to believe in the particular god in which I believe?" Many atheists miss this, failing to require the Christian to define what it is that they want to know my requirements for believing. By skipping this vital step, the atheist guarantees that misunderstanding will later result. Do not assume that you know what the Christian is asking about. In fact, it is unlikely that they know what they are asking about. Thus, the first requirement that must be met for me to believe can be stated as follows:

1. I require a clear, unambiguous statement of precisely what the Christian is asking me to believe.

If the Christian wants to know what it would take for me to believe in god, make this part of the question and give me a precise definition of this god. Which god are you asking about? It is not enough to simple say "the Christian god" or "the god of the bible." Images of the Christian god range from a loving entity which is personally involved in the affairs of humankind to a wrathful, jealous god who kills regularly over minor offenses, and there are many versions of the Christian bible. Are we talking about the New Testament god exclusively and pretending the Old Testament god is irrelevant? After all, if you really want to know what it would take for me to believe, you have to make sure we both agree on exactly what it is I am being asked about believing. What attributes does this god have? Is this god omniscient, evil, powerful, what? In short, your question is unanswerable unless you define this god clearly enough that we are talking about the same thing.

Some Christians will protest that it is not possible to define their god or that their god is unknowable. Such responses render the question moot. When encountering such a Christian, the atheist is advised to point out the absurdity of asking someone what it would take for them to believe in something unknowable and without definition. A Christian who claims to believe in something without definition is claiming to believe in a meaningless nothingness, and I see little that would compel me to join them in such a belief.

Assuming we get through the first requirement, and this is unlikely considering that many Christians seem to know fairly little about what they claim to believe, we come to the second requirement:

2. The god articulated above must be logically coherent.

If the Christian has met the first requirement, we have a clear statement of what god is and is not. We have a list of god's essential properties. Now we can move to the task of making sure that these properties do not contradict one another. The god in which we are being asked about cannot be a logical impossibility like a square circle. If our god is supposed to be omniscient, how is this reconciled with free will? If our god is supposed to be both all powerful and perfectly good, we consider the problem of evil. Only after eliminating the possibility of logical contradiction can we move forward.

Part of what we're doing here is figuring out the scope of the theistic burden of proof. If I am being asked what it would take for me to believe in a god named Norman who lives in Nashville, TN, and earns a living by repairing golf carts, the Christian's burden of proof will be fairly small. A trip to Nashville might end up being all that is necessary. On the other hand, asking me to believe in a supernatural entity who exists outside of time and space but somehow continues to meddle in human affairs, killed his son (who was somehow a part of him), etc. will have a massive proof burden. Like Carl Sagan famously said, extraordinary claims do require extraordinary evidence.

3. I require evidence to support the belief claim, proportional to the extraordinary nature of the claim.

Many atheists like to jump directly to this step. Given that the Christian has no evidence for his or her belief and not all atheists are sufficiently familiar with philosophy to grasp the importance of the first two steps, this is understandable. Still, without the first two steps, we typically end up talking about two very different sorts of gods and accomplish little. Only after we've properly clarified the belief claim and made sure it survives rational scrutiny, does it really make sense to consider the evidence.

At this stage, most Christians will attempt to frame the question by asking what sort of evidence I would require to believe in the sort of god we have now defined. I would respond that I require two levels of evidence. First, I want the Christian to provide me with some unambiguous evidence that supports the existence of the god we've been discussing - not just some random god but the one we've defined thus far. I set this burden fairly low for my goal at this stage is simply to provide the Christian with the opportunity to provide some clear evidence that supports the existence of their particular god. I do not expect them to be able to do this, for I have encountered no evidence whatsoever to support a god even remotely resembling the Christian god.

Should this somehow be accomplished, we can entertain the second level. At this point, I require clear evidence in proportion to the belief claim. Given the extraordinary nature of the typical theistic claim, this is likely to require unambiguous miracles witnessed by multiple persons without credible scientific explanations.

Summary

What would it take for me to believe in your god? Simple. I'd need a clear definition of your particular god and its essential properties. I'd need to verify that these properties were not in any way logically impossible or contradictory. Finally, I'd need unambiguous evidence in proportion to your claims.

Tags: religion, Christianity, Christian, theism, theist, atheist, atheism, belief, god, philosophy

Ode To Tony Strikes Nerve: New Daily Traffic Record

2007-10-06T06:47:00.000-05:00

In the two years I've been doing Atheist Revolution, I've had a few days where I've had daily hits above the 2,000 mark. Since my average daily hits tends to be about half this number, reaching 2,000 is certainly cause for celebration. Most of the time, it has been rather easy to trace these traffic peaks to a mention on Pharyngula. But now I have a new milestone to announce. On Oct. 4, I hit 4,482 page loads and 3,797 unique visitors. Hot damn! Little did I realize that even this new record would fall within 24 hours. On Friday, I hit 5,233 page loads and 4,237 unique visitors. A new record for Atheist Revolution.

The traffic spike came in response to my recent post, An Ode to Tony. In fact, this post is easily the most popular one I've ever done. It looks like I hit a nerve with this one.

Not surprisingly, a mention from PZ Myers at Pharyngula was a critical force driving the Thursday traffic surge. And yet, Thursday's numbers set a new record for traffic to this blog, exceeding even those posts with previous mentions on Pharyngula. It turns out that Thursday's traffic was also stimulated by links from blogs such as Daily BBG and Tales of An Ordinary Girl. In addition, it was posted to Reddit and Digg by readers.

But what happened on Friday? How could a new traffic record be set that would eclipse Thursday's record? Crooks and Liars linked to the post in Mike's Blog Round Up. Since Crooks and Liars has long been one of my favorite political blogs, this was a real honor. This link brought in so much traffic in such a short amount of time that I actually sat at my computer watching it pour in. In the span of 45 minutes, I had around 700 unique visits, and this continued throughout the day. In fact, it continues even now!

Tags: Pharyngula, Crooks and Liars, blogs, blogging, blog traffic

Getting On My Blogroll

2007-03-27T05:32:00.000-05:00

Atheism is increasing gradually here in the U.S., but interest in atheism is experiencing explosive growth at the moment. This is reflected in increased traffic to many of the established atheist blogs and in the emergence of many new ones. Keeping up with the many atheist blogs worth reading is becoming more of a challenge. Not surprisingly, I have been receiving at least a few e-mails a week asking me to add an atheist blog to my blogroll. In this post, I will clarify how my blogroll works and provide some tips for those of you looking to increase your blog traffic.

Please recognize that bloggers use their blogrolls in different ways. Some use them almost exclusively for reciprocal links (i.e., I'll add you if you add me) and will add anyone who reciprocates. Others are highly selective, adding only a handful of blogs which they regularly read. Still others attempt to catalog every single atheist-oriented blog, regardless of merit or reciprocation.

So how do I use my blogroll? I use it to list those blogs which I read myself (at least periodically), find useful, and believe that others interested in atheism would find useful. That is, these are blogs which I recommend to my readers. I make no attempt to include every atheist blog in existence. I want inclusion on my blogroll to reflect quality and not simply quantity or reciprocal link agreements. Thus, my criteria for including a blog on my blogroll are as follows:

The blog must be primarily focused on atheism, freethought, or similar topics. A limited number of exceptions may be made for truly outstanding blogs in peripheral areas.
In order for my recommendation to mean anything, the blog must be one that I read fairly regularly and recommend to others interested in atheist-oriented material.
The blog must have at least 10 posts.
Blogs must be active, posting at least twice a month.
A reciprocal link to Atheist Revolution is appreciated but not required.

Continue to notify me about your blog if you think it might make a suitable addition but understand that I owe it to my readers to be selective. For other ways to jump-start your traffic, I recommend you check out Mojoey's Atheist Blogroll, Planet Atheism, AtheismOnline, and Atheist Blogs Aggregated. These can get you on the map quickly. Also, start commenting regularly on posts at other atheist blogs. This helps you establish a reputation as someone with something to contribute. Finally, and I can't stress this enough, reference posts from other blogs on your blog. With trackback, bloggers and their readers will learn about you and start visiting your blog.

Tags: blog, blogging, blogroll, atheist, atheism

"Then What Do You Believe?"

2007-02-10T11:19:00.001-06:00

Christians often have many questions when encountering an atheist. Many reflect a lack of scientific knowledge (e.g., "Then how did we get here?"), a lack of moral development (e.g., "If there is no god, why should we be good?"), or just a lack of imagination (e.g., "Then what do you worship?"). However, there is at least one valid question to which more of us should be prepared to provide meaningful answers.

A Christian who recognizes that atheism refers only to the lack of theistic belief and not to some broad agenda, philosophy, or alternative religion, sometimes asks an excellent question. "I understand that you do not accept the existence of any gods, but I'm curious about what you do believe." Many atheists are too quick to dismiss this question as irrelevant or even provoking, but it is not necessarily either of these things. It may represent a genuine attempt to understand the worldview of the particular atheist being questioned.

As we consider this question, one critical disclaimer must be offered at the outset. Because atheism has no doctrine, set of core values, or even shared vision of the world, no honest atheist will have much to say about how his/her fellow atheists think. Since atheism implies nothing besides a lack of theistic belief, one must expect tremendous diversity among atheists. I have met atheists who believe in ghosts and others who do not. All they necessarily share is that they do not believe in gods. This may be difficult for some Christians to grasp because they do have at least some shared doctrine.

To understand the importance of the question we are considering, imagine that you encounter someone who informs you that he does not believe in fairies. Regardless of what you think about fairies, this man has told you very little. You know that he does not believe in fairies, but you know absolutely nothing about what else he may or may not believe. Such is the case with atheists. Those of us who think it is important to provide believers with an alternative worldview are going to need to offer something beyond atheism.

To do my part, I am going to use this post as a springboard to periodically address what I do believe in and the values which inform my worldview. I will link this post to the "common reader questions answered" section on the right column and continue to update it with links to relevant posts. That way, anyone wanting to know what besides atheism composes my worldview will find it here. I think this will be a useful exercise because it will force me to clarify my values and because it will demonstrate incompleteness of atheism.

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Tags: atheism, belief, religion, Christian, Christianity, god, worldview

Celebrating 1 Year of the Revolution

2006-02-20T06:00:00.000-06:00

Atheist Revolution began exactly 1 year ago today. You can see my first post here. It is hard to believe that I've already been at this for a year. It is also surprising that I have remained true to the plan for this blog that I outlined in that first post.

There have been several times in the past year when I have considered abandoning this blog. Work is often hectic, and blogging takes considerable effort (as my fellow atheist bloggers know quite well). So, I've often wondered if this was really a decent use of my time. There have been other times in the past year when I have seriously considered taking this blog in a new direction (e.g., increasingly political) or even spinning-off a new blog. Such considerations peaked during Hurricane Katrina, as I started to wonder whether there were more important issues to address. My regular readers made all the difference here because they gave me the leeway I needed to temporarily broaden the scope of this blog.

Through it all, I keep this blog alive because I recognize the importance of the topics addressed here and on other atheist blogs. My readers keep me thinking, keep me questioning, keep me returning to this blog. In lamenting the lack of an atheist community, we have become one. Through our respective blogs, we stimulate each other and countless readers. The meme of atheism is alive and well, and we have helped to provide it with a home on the internet.

I can't say what the next year will bring, but I remain committed to speaking out against the destructive impact of religion. I will continue to use this blog to encourage others to break free from irrational belief and oppose religious extremism. Thank you for being a part of the Atheist Revolution!

Tagged as: atheism, atheist

Journey of an Atheist, Part I

2005-05-24T18:41:00.000-05:00

I've really enjoyed reading personal accounts from several atheist bloggers about their journey from religion to atheism (e.g., Steve Wild at Dailyspeech.net), so I figured it was time to share mine. If nothing else, it will be a good excuse for some self reflection around how I came to believe what I do.

I was raised in the Methodist church by parents who were not particularly religious but who thought that it would somehow be good for me to be exposed to religion. They also attended church for the social networking, but the primary reason was that they wanted their child exposed to it.

My earliest memories of religion involved fear. Like our primitive ancestors, I was afraid of the unknown. As a young child, just about everything is unknown. Added to this, I was a bit more neurotic than most. I prayed because I was afraid of what would happen if I didn't. Nobody really threatened me with hellfire and damnation; it was just the idea that if there was this invisible man in the sky with all these amazing powers, I better not disappoint him. My prayers were never about asking for crap I wanted and almost always attempts to prevent bad things from happening.

Entering public school (on the West Coast) exposed me to a couple of new ideas. First, I learned that religion was something that was considered private. One did not generally discuss it or hear about it at school. This was very different from experiences I would have later in Mississippi, and it set me up to believe that everyone would regard religion as a rather personal matter. Second, despite the rather private nature of religion, the children generally assumed that everyone was Christian. This type of Christianity in no way resembled the evangelical freaks I would encounter later, but there was surprise and sometimes ridicule for the children who did not identify as Christian. Subtle as it was, the expectation that everyone would fit in did include religion. I had friends of all different Christian denominations (including Mormons), but religion was almost never discussed.

Church was a formal, stuffy affair where children were expected to behave themselves. At this particular church, young children were dismissed mid-way through the service and before the actual sermon to go to Sunday school in another building. I guess the adults realized that we weren't going to understand the sermon (they were right about this). We were always relieved when it was time to exit the sanctuary and head off to Sunday school. I remember very little about Sunday school except that it involved a lot of singing, was always more focused on the younger children, and that I was happy when it was over.

On to Part II.

Tagged as: atheism

Atheist Revolution

2005-02-20T15:24:00.000-06:00

Atheists are one of the few groups left in American society that it is both socially acceptable and politically required to oppose. Our politicians must proclaim their Christianity to have any hope of being elected. Our President continues to push "faith-based initiatives" and to oppose abortion rights and gay marriage on religious grounds. There can be no question that the Christian right has an agenda.

"We at the Christian Coalition are raising an army who cares. We are training people to be effective -- to be elected to school boards, to city councils, to state legislatures, and to key positions in political parties.... By the end of this decade, if we work and give and organize and train, THE CHRISTIAN COALITION WILL BE THE MOST POWERFUL POLITICAL ORGANIZATION IN AMERICA."
- Pat Robertson, in a fundraising letter, July 4, 1991

The results of the 2000 and 2004 Presidential elections suggest that Robertson was correct. We are now living in a Christian theocracy. George W. Bush's father, former President George H. W. Bush, does not even acknowledge our citizenship!

"No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered as patriots. This is one nation under God."
- Bush, to a AA reporter Robert I. Sherman in August 27,1987.

After 9/11, there are many who regard atheists as terrorists simply because they reject Christian doctrine. I will use this blog to organize my thoughts on religion and politics in American life. I also hope to spark some discussion and critical thinking in others. Our elected officials seem determined to return us to the Dark Ages where science and rationality were subjugated as enemies of religion. This would be a devestating setback and must not be allowed to happen.