They’re organizing the Fundamentalist Christian Olympics for this coming summer. The Gay Bashing semi-finals are already under way across the nation, and the TV Evangelist Healing Decathlon is just now about to start the preliminaries of the Bible Forehead Slam event. Shortly before Christmas, the Roadside Aborted Fetus Poster Flashing event will begin, with the Planned Parenthood Clinic Sidewalk Blocking Drill Team along for morale. Continue reading “Short Stack #6”
Scientists in Church? Ack. Thptpth.
I confess I’m not completely on board with the “let the children decide for themselves what to believe” thing.
Yeah, I get it that you have to let kids develop the ability to evaluate the nature of the world on their own.
But on matters of fact? Things which are KNOWN, and which you sort of have to accept as part of the real world? Is that about “belief?” And, considering the broader package of stuff — Eternal Torment! The Evilness of Gays! Mistrust of Liberals! Altarboy Diddling! — that can come along with it, is it okay that actual scientists are willing to expose their kids to it? Continue reading “Scientists in Church? Ack. Thptpth.”
Human roots, goddy bark
Back when I was about 30, a friend had his dog put down. We worked at a ranch and the Boss didn’t like the fact that this guy, who lived in the bunkhouse with me and one other cowboy, had two big dogs, one of which had been accused more than once of harassing the horses.
So Farfel had to go. Tom took him in to the vet, coming back in about half an hour, the deed done. He was quieter than normal, but we barely noticed. None of us had anything in our lives to guide us in how to treat someone who lost a loved one in such a way, so we went on as usual with our workday, talking and joking. Continue reading “Human roots, goddy bark”
Don’t Touch That Cucumber, Harlot
Remember when you were in junior high, and there was that totally clueless guy who occasionally spouted things that were so embarrassing everybody turned away in disgust?
His name was Mike, as I recall.
Well, Mike is now a Muslim cleric, and he’s in the news for his latest embarrassing pronouncement. Continue reading “Don’t Touch That Cucumber, Harlot”
Jesus Kicked Out of School
Bad news. Those poor, poor discriminated-against Christians, with nowhere else to hold services, may be forced out into the cold streets of New York.
Supreme Court nixes use of NYC public schools for services; 60 churches could be homeless by Feb. 12
The case, Bronx Household of Faith v. Board of Education of the City of New York, has been churning through the courts for 16 years.
“We’re extremely disappointed,” said Jack Roberts, co-pastor of Bronx Household of Faith, an evangelical church which has been meeting at Public School 15 for the past nine years.
“I see it as having a chilling effect on religious freedom in our country.”
Exactly. A chilling effect. Literally. Nice Christians will be begging for crumbs on the sidewalks, rubbing their hands together over makeshift fires burning in oil drums, sleeping in cardboard boxes set up on ventilator grates.
I just don’t know what they’ll do. Unless it’s meet in the “approximately 2000 churches and 4000 informal places of worship such as community halls and homes,” or possibly the world’s largest world’s largest cathedral, the Episcopal Church of St. John the Divine.
For comparison, one unverified datum suggests there are only 174 Starbucks coffee shops in the entire city.
But still.
How sad.
Killing Atheists and Jews … Oh, Wait
This is really a cautionary tale for bloggers and blog readers, about checking your sources, starting with the dates.
I came across a link to a story on ParentDish, about a Left Behind video game, based on the Rapture novels of Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. ParentDish reported the game involved Christian militia that slaughtered Jews and atheists on the streets of New York. Continue reading “Killing Atheists and Jews … Oh, Wait”
Short Stack #5
We live in a lesser age. My proof for this is the fact that you can no longer see sword-fights in public like you once could. I long for that bygone era when you could swing on a chandelier into the center of a group of royalist thugs, fight your way clear with a nimble blade while making joking comments about your opponents’ foppish dress and churlish table manners, and then leap onto a black horse and gallop away. Man, those were the days. Continue reading “Short Stack #5”
Two Perfect Xmas Gifts, or I Promise I Don’t Own Stock
Not really all that atheism-related, here’s an idea I thought I’d toss at you:
We’re coming up on Krismas (named after that fictional character Kris Kringle, you understand), and I know some of us will be banging around in our heads trying to figure out what to get certain people on our lists.
I say there are two perfect gifts. Perfect in the sense that they’re always appreciated, no matter who the recipient is. Continue reading “Two Perfect Xmas Gifts, or I Promise I Don’t Own Stock”
Reader Request 2: Why is Atheism Better … for US?
Much of this post is duplicated in the adjacent one, because I wanted to separate out the responses.
Thinking about writing a book about how I’m handling the death of my Dad, I realized I was going to have to answer the question “Why is atheism better?”
After all, if the title of your (might-be) book is “Saying Goodbye to Dan: An Atheist Deals With Death,” you’re pretty much obligated to attempt to differentiate yourself, and your named-in-the-title philosophy, from the traditional method of dealing with death — the religious one.
I have a lot of my own ideas about how to answer the question, but I’d like to ask YOU about your own answers.
Because we wouldn’t BE atheists — would we? — if we didn’t have SOME idea that it was better.
Unlike most religious thinkers, who would always assume we’re atheists because we’re bad, the real reason we’re atheists is because we’re GOOD. Or at least trying to be. Trying to be better, righter, more accurate, more oriented toward real-world facts and truth.
So the two questions are:
1) Why is atheism better for you as an individual?
2) Why is atheism better for society?
This specific post asks that second question:
Why is atheism better for US?
Reader Request 1: Why is Atheism Better … for YOU?
Much of this post is duplicated in the adjacent one, because I wanted to separate out the responses.
Thinking about writing a book about how I’m handling the death of my Dad, I realized I was going to have to answer the question “Why is atheism better?”
After all, if the title of your (might-be) book is “Saying Goodbye to Dan: An Atheist Deals With Death,” you’re pretty much obligated to attempt to differentiate yourself, and your named-in-the-title philosophy, from the traditional method of dealing with death — the religious one.
I have a lot of my own ideas about how to answer the question, but I’d like to ask YOU about your own answers.
Because we wouldn’t BE atheists — would we? — if we didn’t have SOME idea that it was better.
Unlike most religious thinkers, who would always assume we’re atheists because we’re bad, the real reason we’re atheists is because we’re GOOD. Or at least trying to be. Trying to be better, righter, more accurate, more oriented toward real-world facts and truth.
So the two questions are:
1) Why is atheism better for you as an individual?
2) Why is atheism better for society?
This specific post asks that first question:
Why is atheism better for YOU?