Aardvarchaeology

Dear Cultists, welcome to the Temple of Godlessness that is Aardvarchaeology. I will be your High Priest this evening, introducing the latest and greatest blog writing on the subject of Above Us Only Sky. Sisters and brothers, let us pray.

• Austin Atheist sets the spotlight on an atheistic writer in an Austin newspaper who, having recovered from religion, found that "nonreligious life is rich with morality". Not to mention rich with hedonistic pleasures, one might add.
  
• Shalini at Scientia Natura refutes the arguments of a Mr Kook regarding whether the Bible is scientifically accurate.
  
• Jake at Churchianity Today prophecies and speaks in tongues about AD 2106, when belief in God is declared a "mental illness" by the American Psychological Association.
  
• Alonzo at Atheist Ethicist looks at the chances of a reconciliation between faith and science at Faith Hospital. He ain't optimistic.
  
• GrrlScientist at Living the Scientific Life reviews Bruce Smith's 2006 book The Path of Reason. Favourably.
  
• Saint Gasoline meta-reviews Terry Eagleton's negative review of The God Delusion and takes it apart.
  
• Martin at No Double Standards takes a hard look at ten myths about theism, e.g. that "Theists hold that life is meaningful". Just to keep the reader from feeling too safe, he actually finds a number of these "myths" to be true.
  
• Ironwolf takes on the old question, "Good without God-- how?".
  
• Doug at The Populist Party of America explains why he thinks Christian fundamentalists are the most evil people in the world.
  
• Wally at Skeptic News draws lessons from the PEER age-of-the-Grand-Canyon fiasco. He also points out that Medieval dogma didn't actually hold that the Earth was flat.
  
• Wad's Place deliver's a second ironic instalment on why atheists always lose.
  
• Jeff at Minds, Meaning and Morals digs into a theological argument by C.S. Lewis about the nature of Aslan, uh, sorry: Jesus.
  
• Coffee House Poetry debunks a number of standard creationist arguments.
  
• Lord J-Bar For Democracy, Not Theocracy discusses the PR strengths of "Intelligent Design".
  
• Satirical web zine Avant News reports: "Surprise Rapture Disrupts Bush's 2007 State of the Union Address". "Once he realized he wasn't going to get raptured, and that he'd just lost 150,000 of his most loyal supporters, I think the wind just kind of went out of him".
  
• Hell's Handmaiden delivers a message from The American Center for Law and Paranoia.
  
• Mike at Klaas Acts discusses the value of a bit of Dawkinesque uncivility to get people talking about the theism issue.
  
• Evil Bender reports on a new low for "Intelligent Design" argument.
  
• Hemant at Friendly Atheist responds to some comments made by an appallingly ignorant church-goer to a talk he gave.
  
• Amy Alkon, the Advice Goddess, relays the story of Carol A. Fiore who lost her husband under circumstances reminding us that Theodicy just outright kills any rational belief in a benevolent and mighty deity.
  
• Free Mind Joe muses about the relationship between freedom and happiness.
  
• No more Mr. Nice Guy! directs our attention towards an ongoing backlash against "fundamentalist atheists".
  
• Akusai at Action Skeptics tackles yet another claim of the website Christian Answers. This time it's the creationist idea that the Biblical deluge is somehow compatible with palaeontology.

The next Carnival of the Godless will open at Manifold Fates on 18 February. Until then: Om Mani Padme Hum, y'all!