godlessness
pharyngula | June 18, 2009It's been a rough few weeks for the accommodationists — they keep raising the same tired old complaints, poorly, and with little flair or reason or persuasive rhetoric, and they keep getting swatted down by those rascally loud "New Atheists. Excuse me if I'm starting to feel a bit cocky, but I'm still waiting for either an interesting or somewhat persuasive argument against our position. In fact, if you want to know exactly how I feel, here's the video.
(PETA is not happy about this, which tells you just how ridiculous that organization is.)
It's nice to be able to take them out so easily,…
grrlscientist | June 16, 2009
Who: CFI-NYC Executive Director, Michael De Dora, Jr.
What: free public presentation, "CFI and the State of Science and Reason"
Where: Shetler Studios, 244 West 54th Street between Broadway & 8th Avenue, 12th floor, Penthouse 1.
When: 830pm Tuesday, 23 June 2009
What exactly is the Center for Inquiry? What does CFI stand for? How does CFI carry out its mission? What does CFI -- specifically the New York City office -- have to offer to society? And how can you get involved with CFI and the movement? Come hear the new CFI-NYC Executive Director Michael De Dora Jr. address all these…
grrlscientist | June 14, 2009tags: religion, Bible, Ricky Gervais, creation story, humor, funny, parody, streaming video
This streaming video shows Ricky Gervais discussing creation as he reads from the Bible -- wow! This makes so much sense, doesn't it? I am going to give up my godless hedonistic ways right now!! [9:53]
pharyngula | June 13, 2009Sunday morning at 9am Central time, Atheists Talk radio will feature Massimo Pigliucci, talking about atheism, philosophy, and politics. Those are three subjects that ought to get some arguments going!
pharyngula | June 13, 2009August Berkshire, prominent Minnesota atheist, recently awarded Minnesota Humanist of the Year by the Humanists of Minnesota, and long-time leader and organizer of the state's atheist community, is on tour right now through the southwest and midwest. I'm belatedly making his schedule available — he's been cruising for a while, so you've missed some of his talks — but here's list of available events. If you're in Topeka, you've got a half hour to get to the meeting!
June 13, Saturday, 11:30 a.m. - Atheist Community of Topeka in Topeka, KSEVENT: Informal discussion of AAI and local group(s).…
grrlscientist | June 7, 2009tags: disease, god, religion, creationism, humor, funny, satire, Edward Current, streaming video
In a live webcast, Edward Current explains how God created a perfect world and had nothing to do with creating disease. But letting just anyone write in and comment probably wasn't the best idea [3:51]
pharyngula | June 6, 2009Sunday morning at 9am Central time, learn all about Convergence and the skeptic track therein from a real live Skepchick, all on Atheists Talk radio!
pharyngula | June 6, 2009I've been neglecting you, O Readers! It's been a busy couple of days out here in sunny Arizona — they keep telling me it is a surprisingly cool weekend, which I take to mean it is a blazing hellhole most of the time — and I've been having a grand time attending talks and deferring any worries about what I'm going to say tonight. Here are a few of the highlights:
I had a very nice dinner with some weirdos from ASU, and also had a well attended meetup at Rúla Búla. The Trophy Wife and daughter attended for the first time, and they were clearly baffled by all those strange people who wanted…
pharyngula | May 31, 2009Today at 9am Central time (short notice—you've got one hour to get to the internet! Oh, you're already there) the crew at Atheists Talk radio will be discussing the work of Bart Ehrman.
pharyngula | May 30, 2009So you want to be a better person. You're in Chandler, Arizona, and you enter the Barnes & Noble bookstore there, and you head off to the Self Improvement section. What is prominently recommended?
What did you expect, some tripe Oprah liked?
(Thanks to Max & Felipe)
pharyngula | May 30, 2009You too can pinky swear to abide by secular principles. It looks mostly harmless, although the 7th principle isn't entirely right.
7. In all of my actions, and without threat of divine retribution, I will strive to respect the dignity of all people.
I deal with too many creationists, and those are people without much dignity to respect.
grrlscientist | May 30, 2009tags: religion, atheism, godlessness, god is nonexistent, humor, funny, satire, edward current, streaming video
This video talks about how Our Lord goes to extraordinary lengths to create the illusion that he does nothing. Why? Because he can do anything! [4:20]
pharyngula | May 26, 2009I am mired in meetings today (yes, it's summer, I'm on a 9 month appointment, and I'm also on sabbatical…but necessity has roped me in yet again). I'm going to be wrestling with academic obligations almost all day, so you're going to have to entertain yourselves for a bit. Here's an open thread, say what you think!
For a little ferocious inflammatory commentary to prime the pump, here's Pat Condell.
grrlscientist | May 25, 2009tags: religion, prayer in schools, godlessness, atheism, streaming video
This video discusses using religion, particularly school prayer, as a mechanism for alienating children who are different. [6:34]
pharyngula | May 24, 2009Timothy Birdnow is one of those common wingnuts: he worships GW Bush, thinks global warming is a hoax, homosexuality is evil, evolution is a lie, and history is all about the triumphant ascent of Judeo-Christian America. I've laughed at him a few times before; now he's venting his diseased, shriveled spleen at atheism. It's funny stuff.
A lot of it is the usual ahistorical tripe which can be summed up in this cliche:
This prohibition was clearly intended to restrain governmental interference with the right of the individual to believe and worship as he sees fit. The "Wall of Separation" was…
pharyngula | May 24, 2009One of my goals for this coming week is to get the book piles sorted and put away. I'm one of those academics: if you visited my house right now, probably the first thing you'd notice is a few dozen piles of books stacked up on the floor of the living room. Some I've read and just need to shelve properly; some I've glanced over with amusement and will be adding to my growing collection of creationist literature; and some will put ready to hand because they're on my list of books I should get read this summer. One in that last category is Phil Zuckerman's Society without God: What the Least…
grrlscientist | May 24, 2009tags: religion, atheism, godlessness, Science is the Dumbest Religion, humor, funny, satire, edward current, streaming video
This video asks the important question: Have scientists really found the missing link? Or are Darwinianists just blindly worshipping roadkill again? [3:23]
pharyngula | May 23, 2009Tune in to Atheists Talk radio on Sunday at 9am Central to hear an interview with John Loftus. He's one of those ex-Christians, a former minister, who has seen the error of his ways and no longer endorses ludicrous tripe. Learn more about deconversion!
pharyngula | May 22, 2009The LA Times offered me a little space to write a reply to Charlotte Allen in their online edition, so I did. You can read it at the LA Times or below the fold.
I'm already getting lots of unhappy email from people, so I must have done it right.
Charlotte Allen is very, very angry with us atheists -- that's the only conclusion that can be drawn from her furious broadside in The Times on May 17. She can't stand us; we're unpopular; we're a problem. What, exactly, is the greatest crime of modern atheists?
We're boring.
I can't actually argue with that. It's true. We're all just ordinary people…
grrlscientist | May 20, 2009tags: religion, morality, godlessness, atheism, occam's razor, aesop's fables, streaming video
This video is an interesting testament to why one man is an atheist, and what forms the root of human morals. My opinion? Let's just say that I prefer Aesop's fables to the bible [7:06]
Most christians know less about morality than Stephen Hawking knows about ballroom dancing!