Atheist Revolution

Words of Wisdom: Polish Atheists

2009-10-10T11:28:00.002-05:00

On the subject of atheists "coming out"...

In a situation when a minority is not visible, it is easy to discriminate against it, to exclude its interests and rights, especially in the crucial area of legislation.

- MAiA Website, Poland

H/T to Friendly Atheist

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Words of Wisdom: Victor Stenger

2009-09-12T10:25:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I'm a day late with this one. Just consider it to be directed to Glenn Beck's lunatic faction celebrating 9/12 today.

Science flies you to the moon. Religion flies you into buildings.

- Victor Stenger

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Words of Wisdom: Ed Brayton

2009-08-23T10:33:00.001-05:00

Yes, even we lowly bloggers can be worth quoting from time to time. In discussing Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank's recent smackdown of a birther during one of his town hall meetings, Ed Brayton of Dispatches From the Culture Wars writes:

Ridicule may lawfully be employed where reason has no hope of success.

Absolutely! In cases like this, ridicule is imperative. And if you've been living under a rock and haven't seen the clip of Frank doing what all Democrats confronted by idiocy at their town halls should be doing, enjoy:

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Words of Wisdom: Emma Goldman

2009-07-06T13:47:00.001-05:00

God today, no longer represents the same forces as in the beginning of His existence; neither does He direct human destiny with the same iron hand as of yore. Rather does the God idea express a sort of spiritualistic stimulus to satisfy the fads and fancies of every shade of human weakness, In the course of human development the God idea has been forced to adapt itself to every phase of human affairs, which is perfectly consistent with the origin of the idea itself.

- Emma Goldman, The Philosophy of Atheism

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Words of Wisdom: Thomas Paine

2009-05-18T14:51:00.000-05:00

The study of theology, as it stands in the Christian churches, is the study of nothing; it is founded on nothing; it rests on no principles; it proceeds by no authority; it has no data; it can demonstrate nothing; and it admits of no conclusion.

--Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason

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Words of Wisdom: George W. Bush

2009-04-29T16:29:00.001-05:00

Image by KayVee.INC via Flickr

Evidently taking a break from idiocy during an interview on al Arabiya following the Abu Ghraib scandal, W had the following to say:

It's important for people to understand that in a democracy, there will be a full investigation. In other words, we want to know the truth. In our country, when there's an allegation of abuse ... there will be a full investigation, and justice will be delivered. ... It's very important for people and your listeners to understand that in our country, when an issue is brought to our attention on this magnitude, we act.

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Words of Wisdom: Obama

2009-04-26T07:35:00.000-05:00

During a speech in Turkey on April 6, 2009, President Obama said:

I've said before that one of the great strengths of the United States is, although as I mentioned we have a very large Christian population, we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values.

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Words of Wisdom: Sam Harris

2009-04-10T07:27:00.000-05:00

Religion raises the stakes of human conflict much higher than tribalism, racism, or politics ever can, as it is the only form of in-group/out-group thinking that casts the differences between people in terms of eternal rewards and punishments.

Sam Harris, Letter to a Christian Nation (Vintage)

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Words of Wisdom: Stephen Jay Gould

2009-02-28T04:52:00.000-06:00

Skepticism is the agent of reason against organized irrationalism and is therefore one of the keys to human social and civic decency.

- Stephen Jay Gould in the foreword to Michael Shermer's Why People Believe Weird Things.

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Words of Wisdom: Barney Frank

2008-12-22T09:22:00.000-06:00

Image via Wikipedia

Mr. Warren compared same-sex couples to incest. I found that deeply offensive and unfair.

If he was inviting the Rev. Warren to participate in a forum and to make a speech, that would be a good thing. But being singled out to give the prayer at the inauguration is a high honor. It has traditionally given as a mark of great respect. And, yes, I think it was wrong to single him out for this mark of respect.

-- Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass)

H/T to Truthdig

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Words of Wisdom: Joe Biden

2008-06-22T15:24:00.000-05:00

Sen. Joe Biden to Sen. Lindsey Graham on this morning's Meet the Press:

You’re entitled to your own opinion, not your own facts.

This short but powerful statement should be made to all Bush Republicans and a great many Christians. As I've said here before and will undoubtedly say again, believing something does not make it true. Really really wanting something to be true also does not make it true. So simple, but so widely misunderstood.

Words of Wisdom: Katha Pollitt

2008-03-21T07:51:00.000-05:00

The following is from a speech by Katha Pollitt at the Freedom From Religion Foundation's 2007 annual convention:

Ultimately, the United States has to make its way in the modern world. That's the only world there is. Our modern global economy runs on knowledge, on science, on innovation, and competition. We cannot be top country if we let science and education be run by people who think the dinosaurs drowned in Noah's flood. We can't be in the forefront of biotechnology, an enormous industry, and medicine, if the federal government bans funding stem-cell research to please a religious minority in order to win votes on election day - which is really all it's about. Other countries will do that research. They will find the cures, they will get the patents, they will generate the jobs and the profits.

Tags: Freedom From Religion Foundation, Katha Pollitt, United States, global economy, religion, science, education, stem-cell research

Words of Wisdom: Susan B. Anthony

2008-02-24T08:19:00.000-06:00

I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.

-Susan B. Anthony (1896 address to the National-American Woman Suffrage Association)

Tags: Susan B. Anthony, religion

Words of Wisdom: Aristotle

2007-11-23T15:28:00.000-06:00

A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider God-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, wrongly believing that he has the Gods on his side.

–Aristotle, Politica bk v (ca. 340 BCE)

H/T to Harper's

Tags: Aristotle, religion, politics

Words of Wisdom: Richard Dawkins

2007-11-01T05:45:00.000-05:00

Christianity, just as much as Islam, teaches children that unquestioned faith is a virtue. You don't have to make the case for what you believe. If somebody announces that it is part of his faith, the rest of society, whether of the same faith, or another, or of none, is obliged, by ingrained custom, to "respect" it without question; respect it until the day it manifests itself in a horrible massacre like the destruction of the World Trade Center, or the London or Madrid bombings. Then there is a great chorus of disownings, as clerics and "community leaders" (who elected them, by the way?) line up to explain that this extremism is a perversion of the "true" faith. But how can there be a perversion of faith, if faith, lacking objective justification, doesn't have any demonstrable standard to pervert?

Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion

Tags: Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, faith, Christianity, Islam

Words of Wisdom: Bertrand Russell

2007-08-02T06:31:00.000-05:00

Cited in Atheist Universe: The Thinking Person's Answer to Christian Fundamentalism by David Mills:

The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence that it is not utterly absurd; indeed,, in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible.

-- Bertrand Russell

Tags: Bertrand Russell, belief

Words of Wisdom: Richard Dawkins

2007-07-07T15:07:00.000-05:00

From The God Delusion,

As long as we accept the principle that religious faith must be respected simply because it is religious faith, it is hard to withhold respect from the faith of Osama bin Laden and the suicide bombers. The alternative, one so transparent that is should need no urging, is to abandon the principle of automatic respect for religious faith.

There are many quotable passages in this book, but this has to be one of my favorites for its sheer simplicity.

Tags: Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, religion, faith

Words of Wisdom: John Adams

2007-04-26T05:46:00.000-05:00

As I understand the Christian religion, it was, and is, a revelation. But how has it happened that millions of fables, tales, legends, have been blended with both Jewish and Christian revelation that have made them the most bloody religion that ever existed?

John Adams, letter to F.A. Van der Kamp, 1816

Words of Wisdom: Thomas Jefferson

2007-04-10T05:26:00.000-05:00

To talk of immaterial existences is to talk of nothings. To say that the human soul, angels, god, are immaterial, is to say they are nothings, or that there is no god, no angels, no soul. I cannot reason otherwise...without plunging into the fathomless abyss of dreams and phantasms. I am satisfied, and sufficiently occupied with the things which are, without tormenting or troubling myself about those which may indeed be, but of which I have no evidence.

--Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Adams, August 15, 1820