godlessness
pharyngula | September 24, 2008I know I have a few readers from Asia who might be interested in this: a new freethought site established specifically for all the brilliant skeptics in India, Nirmukta. The rest of the world might enjoy it, too.
pharyngula | September 23, 2008It sounds like Christopher Hitchens got to demolish another religious figure yesterday. I guess it's a good thing we've got a bumper crop of these guys, or I'd worry that there wasn't going to be any left for the rest of us.
pharyngula | September 23, 2008You can tell a lot about people from signs. For instance, the atheists at the University of Alberta went to extra effort and expense to make a nice canvas banner that they could reuse at their events — so some helpful Christians decided to decorate it. They're going to have to make a new sign, but I think they should keep the old one, too, to remind everyone of the tolerance of the opposition.
This sign says a great deal about the person who made it, don't you think?
pharyngula | September 21, 2008Well, we've got to start early, you know. When you've got a lot of godless skeptics who love the human celebration of family and tradition that is Christmas, yet are accused of trying to destroy the holiday by refusing to bow our heads to an imaginary sky fairy, you've got to add the job of shouting down the blustering Christianist idiots to the usual tasks of baking cookies and shopping for presents. Happy London is getting a show: well-known atheists will be at the Bloomsbury Theatre on 19 December, presenting Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People. Now that is a Christmas I wish I…
pharyngula | September 21, 2008It's almost time for Atheists Talk radio!
This week, they are going to talk about secular wedding ceremonies. I have a personal interest; my own wedding was not at all secular, but was instead officiated by a full-of-himself Christian priest who felt such an arrogant sense of privilege that he ignored our request to keep it as non-sectarian as possible to instead preach at us a full-blast come-to-Jesus sermon.
It always seemed to me that if you enter a contract in which one of the parties is entirely imaginary, it would weaken the bond. Fortunately, we wrote our own vows that we said to each…
pharyngula | September 20, 2008First they ban Richard Dawkins' website, then they buy out the entire print run of the Turkish translation of The Ancestor's Tale in a day. Clearly, we need to start making smuggling runs, bringing in copies of The God Delusion and printed pages of the daily commentary on richarddawkins.net, so we can make a fabulous profit.
There's a certain romance to the idea of being a grim, scruffy smuggler, braving the rugged Aegean coast in daring midnight runs to bring atheist literature to underground freethinker salons of swarthy, hard-bitten raki-guzzling Turks.
pharyngula | September 14, 2008Deconversion stories are almost always entertaining, so you might enjoy Andy Welfie's. When you read about his Catholic home-school education, you'll be amazed he still has a functioning brain. How would you like to learn history from a book called Christ the King-Lord of History: A Catholic World History from Ancient to Modern Times?
pharyngula | September 14, 2008Literally. Bill Mutranowski of Atheist Cartoons sent me these drawings. Now you know where I get my black sense of humor: every morning I get up to look at that face in the mirror, and a fellow has got to laugh. And they all look exactly like me!
You can check out his collection of cartoons — this one was my favorite.
pharyngula | September 14, 2008Shortly, Atheists Talk radio will be on the air with a conversation with Annie Laurie Gaylor of the Freedom from Religion Foundation. They'll be discussing the upcoming national convention in Chicago.
The show will air at 9 AM Sunday, Minneapolis time. Since all you foreigners always complain about my quaint temporal provincialism, here's a guide to the broadcast time that will help you out.
Nothing will satisfy you guys. All right, I've replaced the original short list with this much longer list:
Honolulu
Sun 4:00 AM
Sao Paulo
Sun 11:00 AM
Addis Ababa
Sun 5:00 PM
Anchorage
Sun 6:…
pharyngula | September 8, 2008Or, at least, future vacation destinations. How could I resist a place that has a Devil's Brewery, Bryggeriet Djævlebryg, and markets a godless beer?
GudeløsType: Imperial stout
Data: 8.9% alc/vol, OG app. 1.090, IBU app. 65
What? Bryggeriet Djævlebryg and the Danish Atheist Society have entered into an unholy alliance and the result is "Godless": This first batch is a somehow accessible imperial stout with its 8.9% abv. It offers burnt notes from the malt mingled with sweet nuances and a warming depth from the alcohol. This brew is primarly aimed at members of the Atheist Society, but it…
pharyngula | September 6, 2008At 9am Sunday on Atheists Talk radio, it's me! I'll be telling you all about My Summer Vacation, my trip to the Galápagos. Tune in and call in!
Afterwards, at 11, we'll be meeting for brunch at Q. Cumbers — stop by if you're in the area and say hello.
pharyngula | September 6, 2008If any of you are going to be in the neighborhood of CalTech around the 4th of October, you might want to sign up for the big Origins conference — it definitely has some great speakers. Sean Carroll, Leonard Susskind, Paul Davies, (wait…what's with all the physicists?), Donald Prothero and Christof Koch (OK, that's better) will be presenting there. The late afternoon will feature the comedy stylings of Hugh Ross, crazy creationist, getting spanked by Victor Stenger. The evening will be topped off by a visit from Mr. Deity — how can you miss that?
One disappointment in the schedule to me is…
pharyngula | September 4, 2008As part of an exercise in shredding Steve Fuller, AC Grayling makes several felicitous comments. Fuller makes the "tired argument that modern science is the kindly gift of 16th-century religion," and claims that "atheism has done precious little for science". He's got a few good answers to that one.
And what has atheism done for science? Well, let's see: it removed the risk of scientists being burned at the stake for controverting the divinely revealed truth that "the lord hath laid the foundations of the earth so that it shall not be moved for ever" (Psalm 102, beloved of Bellarmine in his…
pharyngula | August 30, 2008Once again, Atheists Talk radio will be broadcast from the Minnesota State Fair at 9am Sunday. This week, they're going to explain what humanism is.
pharyngula | August 30, 2008You can watch it here. She did as well as she could, but whoa…this is a perfect example of how Stephen Colbert will tromp all over an interview for comic effect.
pharyngula | August 28, 2008Every time I see the disregard the Democratic party shows for secular values — which is painfully frequent — I wonder why the heck I'm even voting for these addled con artists. But then the Republicans remind me by showing up and being even worse. The latest is from the Elizabeth Dole campaign in North Carolina, which has decided to vilify her opponent, Kay Hagan, because she dares to actually meet with atheists. How horrid! Hagan has probably got godless cooties now. Here's what a Dole press release says, expressing disgust that Hagan is actually going to meet with the Secular Coalition for…
pharyngula | August 28, 2008I was interviewed by a rather baffled radio announcer about the destruction of crackers (I know! Who would have thought such a silly event would be the focus of so much attention?) on BBC Radio Ulster. Reader DaleP tells me that it will be available online only until Saturday, so if you want to hear another flat-voiced nasal American talking to the lovely lilting voice of an Irishman, here's your chance.
pharyngula | August 27, 2008It's a very nice letter to Nature. I especially like the last line.
We were perplexed by your Editorial on the work of the Templeton Foundation ('Templeton's legacy' Nature 454, 253-254; 2008). Surely science is about finding material explanations of the world -- explanations that can inspire those spooky feelings of awe, wonder and reverence in the hyper-evolved human brain.
Religion, on the other hand, is about humans thinking that awe, wonder and reverence are the clue to understanding a God-built Universe. (The same is true of religion's poor cousin, 'spirituality', which you slip into…
pharyngula | August 26, 2008
Bless their sacrilegious little hearts, the students are trickling back onto campuses everywhere, and doing their part to stir up freethinking mischief. Skatje and Collin are going to be recruiting for the UMM Freethinkers tonight, offering the incoming freshman cookies for their souls and handing out pamphlets. They're going to have to work harder to top the latest godless scandal at Lorain County Community College in Ohio, where students put up a provocative poster. People were very upset, for some reason, and the poster has since been taken down.
There are lots of comments from students…