Atheism
gregladen | November 26, 2010Americans and citizens of some of the most Islamic countries tend to agree that it is a force acting on the side of good. Many Europeans say the opposite. There is a rough correlation between the religiosity of a country and how much religion is revered (duh) as a primarily good thing.
This poll was conducted in connection with the upcoming debate between Christopher Hitchens and Tony Blaire. The overall results, combining answers across countries, indicates that a slim majority of humans are rather suspicious of religion's value as an ethical or moral compass.
sa smith | October 25, 2010One of the many reasons why I love being a science blogger, is it lets normal people peek into the lives of scientists and our culture. I joked at a recent OKC Atheists meeting that no one would ever make a reality TV show about my lab work-- while it is conceptually awesome, its just not fun to sit and watch (someone needs to do a montage of a Western Blot to the 'Rocky' theme). But I can do little blog posts about the scientific culture, like this one.
If there is one word I would use to summarize being a scientist, its 'trust'.
Yes, we are highly critical of one anothers work. But we…
sa smith | October 22, 2010Jen, over at BlagHag, has recently started graduate school in Seattle. Apparently, despite being in a hippie liberal city, Seattles atheist meet-up has a lot of the same problems as other atheist groups-- small, few female members, and too many of the people who do show up are assholes.
Ive dealt with small groups before (theyre fine, its just most groups always want more members) and low female numbers ("HI! IM THE TOKEN GIRL!") too, as well as being the only member under 40, and the victim of 'atheist politics'. The incident with 'atheist politics' put me off of doing anything for any…
sa smith | October 11, 2010The word of the day is AWESOME.
Friday night, before I drove down to Dallas, I got to see Muse in concert. I think its funny that several years ago, when I went to see David Bowie, they wouldnt even let us have disposable cameras in the theater. Now that cell phones with cameras are ubiquitous, everyone records the concert and uploads it onto YouTube. All I gotta say is, if you have an opportunity to see Muse in concert, DO IT. DO IIIIIIIIIT! THEY WERE SO AWESOME AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!
After the show, I drove down to Dallas for the Texas Freethought Convention. I cruised in about 3 am.…
gregladen | September 30, 2010It was Blasphemy that led me to Atheism by a somewhat circuitous yet in the end well marked path. This is the story of my first step on that path.
It was the lies they kept telling me.
You can do whatever you want, god will forgive you if you ask for it. That did not seem logical or fair.
If you watched a Jewish ceremony at the temple you would turn into a skeleton. The nuns actually told me that.
If you even go near a Jewish Temple you will be cursed. One of our favorite places to play (because we pretended the star in the window meant it was the Marshall's office like in Gun Smoke)…
gregladen | September 30, 2010Except Atheists and Jews. They know stuff. Watch Penn Jillette take a quiz on religion:
I love this quote: "I gave my daughter a bible. That's how you make atheists."
sa smith | September 7, 2010HAHAHA!
Sweet.
Nick Singer is the current president of OKC Atheists. Hes ushered us through an absolutely massive growth spurt. Like, a so large it is actually kind of obnoxious growth spurt. We do at least a dozen activities a month, from parents and kids hanging out at the zoo or a museum to the grown ups partying at a bar to movie nights to volunteer days to podcasts... and like, the activities are packed. The last pizza party I went to, we basically took over the entire resturant (there used to be a Church group that came the same night. we ran them off with our massiveness). Men,…
pronald | September 7, 2010 in 2007 Yonah opted out of a Bar Mitzvah. His alternative rite of passage was riding a bike from San Francisco to Washington DC with the rest of the family in tow.
His Dad, Matt, is a mediocre selling author whose most recent royalty check for his "breakthrough book" was only four figures. (Two of the figures standing to the right of the decimal point.) Undaunted, he has recently finished a memoir of their epic journey.
Read the first chapter here.
sa smith | September 4, 2010Well, I think its pretty obvious to ERV readers that I had nothing to do with this :P
OKC Coaltion of Reason
Leave your bets in the comments for if/how long it takes for the billboard to be vandalized. REMEMBER: Abbie wants to vandalize this board hardcore to get rid of that archaic fleck of spit between the 'n' and 't' in 'dont'.
gregladen | August 24, 2010Is PZ Myers over the top? Is Phil Plait too nice? Is Chris Mooney right about framing? If I meet a Creationist, should I throw a fossil over his head?
A while back, I did a radio show with a skeptic who happened to be a musician. One of the main topics was whether or not being mean to people who did not agree with you was OK. I was on the side that it was often OK, certainly not the only way to do it, but that the entire conversation about being mean vs. nice had become too uni-dimensional and counter productive, that there were times and places for being stern and firm, and times and…
gregladen | August 12, 2010... can be found here, in this talk by William Phillips speaking at the AAAS:
at 1:08. The implication is that we will only see grief if we don't give religious people the origin of life and the origin of the universe. Presumably we fire the scientists working on these issues.
I found this in a post on related topics: Tact not entirely decided upon at Thinkers' Podium.
gregladen | August 9, 2010Yeah, I used to go to the Town Hall a lot, when I worked a couple of blocks away. I still stop there for lunch now and then when I've got something to do on the West Bank campus of The U or nearby downtown. But no longer. Recently, an atheist-linked event was scheduled there, and the owners of the brewery/restaurant canceled it because "they don't want you're kind 'round here."
Or so it seems. Details here.
I've booked events at the Town Hall, and on other occasions, the Town Hall was on my short list. Not any more. And I understand Ben's point about going back to the Town Hall (see…
sa smith | July 31, 2010If you are sick of reading us SciBlings bitch about PepsiBlog, and want something else to read on a scorching hot Saturday-- Blag Hag is holding a blogathon today to help raise funds for the Secular Student Alliance!
New post every 30 minutes!
Also... **COUGH-COUGH**
grrlscientist | July 17, 2010tags: Brother Sam Singleton Atheist Evangelist, Atheists at Prayer, prayer, atheism, agnosticism, humor, funny, comedy, fucking hilarious, satire, streaming video
This video features the colorful language and thoughts of my new boyfriend, Sam Singleton Atheist Evangelist as he discusses prayer-time etiquette for atheists.
gregladen | July 13, 2010Speaking of Accommodationism and New Atheism and stuff, check out this 10 year old discussion:
gregladen | July 1, 2010According to a Social Analysis who has studied the issue. Gillard is the new Prime Minister of Oz.
In a Canberra Times report, David Chalke said: "No more than they are fussed about her not being married and living with a hairdresser. That's the way the world is."
"In fact, Julia Gillard is more typical of modern Australia than are the religious-married-with-kids previous prime minister and Opposition Leader. They are actually in the minority now. Households with parents married to each other with children is less than about 20 percent of households now."
Ms Gillard has spoken about being…
grrlscientist | June 13, 2010tags: Atheists Don't Have No Songs, Steve Martin With The Steep Canyon Rangers, atheism, 2010 New Orleans Jazzfest, comedy, satire, humor, funny, offbeat, streaming video
This video was filmed at the recent 2010 New Orleans Jazzfest. It features a silly song, "Atheists Don't Have No Songs," performed by Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers. I think atheists need to fix this little problem (not having any songs) don't you?
grrlscientist | June 12, 2010tags: Atheism: In Your Own Words, The Thinking Atheist, atheism, humanism, rationalism, religion, cults, self delusion, fantasy life, wishful thinking, streaming video
Realizing that you are an atheist is a profound, personal experience. This video records the stories (in their own words) of some people who came to the realization that they are atheists.