Atheist Revolution Religious belief is a destructive force that causes far more harm than good. Atheist Revolution is a blog dedicated to breaking free from irrational belief and opposing Christian extremism in America. Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 1 0 46 8645

Articles from Atheist Revolution

Christian Politicans in Iowa Object to Opening Prayer 2008-02-02 07:18:00 Iowa legislators are up in arms over the prayer that opened their session. Could it be that they are finally coming around to the realization that such prayers have no place in government and are an embarrassing relic of ancient superstition? Not quite. Instead, they are upset because the opening prayer was delivered by a Muslim Imam instead of a Christian.According to the Storm Lake Pilot Tribune, it sounds like the prayer was extremely inappropriate regardless of its source, calling for "victory over those who disbelieve." And yet it sounds like the objections, mostly coming from evangelicals (go figure), focus on the fact that the prayer came from a Muslim.Pastor Steve Smith of the Evangelical Free Church admits not knowing much of anything about Islam but is nevertheless concerned that "victory over those who disbelieve" is "a request in the Iowa Legislature for God to grant the Muslims victory over every non-muslim (sic). Not a request for salvation." Yeah, don't confuse his con ...

My Conflict Over Religious Bigotry, Part 1 2008-02-01 05:40:00 I begin most of the posts I write for this blog with a clear message I want to impart to the reader and a fairly clear idea of where the post will end up when I am finished. However, there are times when I write more for myself, beginning in a somewhat muddled state and hoping for clarity to emerge through the writing process. This is just such a post. In fact, I intend this to be the first in what will probably turn into a multi-part series (perhaps that reflects the depth of my ambiguity on this topic). The general topic will be that of religious discrimination and bigotry.I begin this topic with no clear idea of where I will arrive and in full recognition that I am deeply conflicted over much of what I will say. For the reader to appreciate why this is a difficult topic for me and to understand the source of my conflict, I will start by attempting to describe the scope of the problem and then attempt to probe the heart of my confusion.Religious Discrimination and BigotryIn a genera ...

Know Them By Their Deeds: Former Pastor Stole From Children's Food Program 2008-01-31 05:40:00 It would seem that only the most callous sort of person would take food from hungry children (although many Republicans would like to end programs to aid such children). According to the Associated Press, a former pastor in Texas is about to be sentenced for stealing $586,347 from a summer program to feed needy children.James Cornell Clark, formerly a former pastor at Mount Vernon United Methodist Church, has already been convicted of importing a Kenyan prostitute and forcing her to have sex with him and is soon to be sentenced on 41 counts of fraud for misrepresenting his church as the sponsor of a Department of Agriculture program to provide meals to needy children over the summer.Clark was laundering the money through bogus corporations, such as the Mt. Vernon Faith-in-Action Outreach Project and Trinity Christian Outreach Ministries, and putting it to personal use.Tags: hypocrisy, Texas, pastor, fraud, criminal, religion ... Children

Empathy For Christians 2008-01-30 05:39:00 Many atheists will acknowledge that they sometimes feel sorry for their Christian neighbors. But this pity is not the same thing as empathy. How many atheists experience feelings of empathy for the believers surrounding them? Are such feelings beneficial, possibly contributing to effective dialogue, or do they get in our way?Pity vs. EmpathyPity amounts to feeling sorry for someone and often carries a condescending aspect. For example, one may pity Christians for their inability to live free from the delusion that nonbelievers have escaped. Nobody particularly wants to be pitied, as most are aware of the subtle insult it contains.In contrast, empathy refers to a capacity to relate to another in a nonjudgmental, emotionally relevant manner. When we talk of walking in the shoes of another or seeing the world through someone else's eyes, we are close to empathy. However, empathy carries a vital emotional component in that the empathic persons is able to relate on an emotional level and n ...

What Is Christian Extremism? 2008-01-28 07:02:00 The tagline for Atheist Revolution is "Breaking free from irrational belief and opposing Christian extremism in America." Most people are familiar with the concept of "religious extremism," but what exactly is Christian extremism?I trust that you are used to hearing terms such as "religious extremism," "Islamofascist," "Islamic extremist," and the like. If you have been exposed to any of the American media's coverage of Bush's unjust war in Iraq, you have encountered these phrases countless times. They provide us with a useful starting point in defining Christian extremism.In the interest of both brevity and improved understanding, I will place the following discussion in a Christian context, exploring the meanings of Christian fundamentalism, extremism, and terrorism. What do we mean by Christian fundamentalism, and what criteria identify a Christian fundamentalist? Drawing on multiple scholarly sources, we can utilize the following criteria:Biblical Inerrancy/Literalism (at least w ...

Post on Doubting Faith Included In Christian Blog Carnival 2008-01-27 13:39:00 Kudos to Christian blogger, Hopeful Spirit of On the Horizon for including my post, "Doubting Your Faith?" in The Seventh Day blog carnival. Hopeful's rationale for including the post?Why is a post from an atheist included in a blog carnival hosted at a Christian site? Because the philosophy here at On the Horizon is and always will be “radical inclusivity.” Christians are called to love everyone, including — and many would say especially — our atheist and agnostic brothers and sisters. The author included this description when submitting his article to the carnival: “This post asks Christians who are doubting their faith to consider a possibility that may be new to them - the possibility that their doubt is a healthy reflection of their rational mind trying to break free from superstition to experience genuine meaning.” Here’s an opportunity for Christian and nonbelieving readers to engage in a meaningful dialogue!If you are interested in this sort of dialogue, check ou ...

Would You Attend An Atheist Conference? 2008-01-27 09:25:00 Do you have any interest in attending an atheist conference? Would a really big one be more appealing? I suppose I've never seriously considered attending an atheist conference. I think I would probably enjoy it, but it is not high on my list of priorities. There are a variety of professional conferences where my attendance could potentially advance my career, and I seem to make it to relatively few of these. Cost and time are the main reasons, but I also tend see this sort of activity as a lot of effort for a fairly small and uncertain benefit. Then again, I've never been one to enjoy the sort of networking that tends to bring people to professional conferences.Tags: atheist, atheist conference ...

Communicating What's Wrong With Religion 2008-01-27 07:57:00 If you are an atheist who is even occasionally vocal about your atheism, odds are good that you have been asked some variation of the following question: "I know you don't believe, but what is so bad about religion?" There are so many valid answers to this question that it is sometimes hard to know where to begin. I tend to emphasize the irrationality and adverse effects of religion, but it is difficult to find a more articulate and thought-provoking response than this one by An Apostate's Chapel. We would all do well to remember it the next time we hear this question.Tags: atheist, atheism, religion, irrationality ...

Anti-Gay Discrimination "Part of Lord's Plan" 2008-01-26 09:06:00 American businesses cannot discriminate against employees on the basis of sexual orientation, but what about schools? Evidently, religious schools are perfectly free to discriminate in any manner they see fit. A Riverside (CA) Superior Court Judge recently dismissed a discrimination lawsuit alleging that Wildomar Christian school was violating state law by expelling two students suspected of being (gasp!) lesbians. The basis for this decision was that "...there was no legal basis for the claim that the school falls under the California civil-rights law that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in business settings."The school's "religious code of conduct," in question here, "states that students can be removed from school for immoral or scandalous behavior that contradicts Christian values." Good thing anti-gay bigotry is consistent with Christian values! Fred Phelps would be proud.According to the school's attorney, John McKay, the decision was fair because the schoo ...

Christian Culture 2008-01-25 05:34:00 An intriguing post at ExChristianDotNet recently caught my attention. The author, Layla, mentioned that Christianity was presented to her when she was growing up not as a choice but as a lifestyle. "It just...was." I think this is an important topic to probe. In fact, it occurs to me that this just might be the single most important obstacle to increased tolerance of atheists in modern America.A great many atheists pride themselves in being deep thinkers, scientifically or philosophically inclined sorts, who arrived at atheism after their thorough investigation of religion found it horribly lacking. They look at Christians and think, "If only they had learned how to think critically, they might never have fallen prey to this mass delusion."Of course, we know that most Christians were raised in their religions and enter adulthood never really considering alternatives. As Layla writes,Like many others here I was raised in the way that Christianity wasn't presented to you as a choice; it ...

Kucinich To End 2008 Presidential Bid 2008-01-24 15:49:00 CNN is reporting breaking news that Dennis Kucinich, the Democratic Presidential candidate I had been supporting for 2008, will announce that he is dropping out of the race tomorrow. This is sad news for those of us hoping to see a true progressive in office that would bring meaningful change. I have been following the Democratic debates closely in anticipation that this would probably happen at some point, and I will now throw my support to John Edwards.Tags: politics, election 2008, 2008 election, Dennis Kucinich, John Edwards, news, campaign ...

Bigotry Should Disqualify a Presidential Candidate 2008-01-24 05:58:00 Remember Don Imus? How about George "Macaca" Allen? Try to imagine what would happen if video got out in which one of the Presidential candidates used the dreaded "n-word." That campaign would be over in an instant. Why? Because that type of bigotry would not be tolerated and would be accepted by an overwhelming majority of the American people as grounds for disqualification. Unfortunately, other types of bigotry are not only accepted but are actually an important strategic component of many Republican campaigns. I long for the day when anti-gay and anti-atheist bigotry will disqualify a candidate as quickly as racism.It is no secret that politicians are going to pander to our fears and prejudices. The real story is about how the media covers such pandering, especially when it crosses the line into bigotry, and how this coverage varies based on the target of the bigotry. We can learn a great deal about which prejudices remain socially acceptable and which will bring rapid condemnation ...

No Ghosts, No Gods 2008-01-23 05:53:00 I wanted to try something different in the post, so I have constructed some dialogue between three people discussing the existence of ghosts. What follows is based on actual conversations I have had, however, I have taken some license with it by collapsing multiple conversations along these lines into a single one.A: What about you? How many ghosts have you seen?B: I've seen four ghosts in my lifetime, each at a different time and in a different place.Z: None of us have ever seen a ghost because ghosts don't exist.A: How do you know what we've seen? Were you there?Z: I don't claim to know what you saw. I have no idea what you saw, but I know it wasn't a ghost because ghosts don't exist.A: How do you know they don't exist? You said you've never seen one. We have, and we know what we saw?Z: I can be fairly confident that they do not exist because there has never been a single instance where evidence of a so-called ghost has been confirmed to the degree necessary for such an unusu ...

Carnival of Education 2008-01-23 05:52:00 The 155th edition of the Carnival of Education is up at The Median Sib. In the interest of promoting atheism by showing the broader community that we are among them, I am making an effort to submit relevant posts to blog carnivals that do not have an atheist/humanist focus. I submitted Billy's latest guest post to the Carnival of Education, and it was accepted.Tags: education, blog, blog carnival, blogging, atheism ...

Atheist Spirituality 2008-01-22 05:43:00 Can an atheist be a spiritual person, and if so, in what sense? Is it meaningful to talk of atheist spirituality, or should the term be reserved for religious believers? This post may end up generating more questions than answers, but that seems fitting for a discussion of spirituality.Let me get my bias out of the way at the beginning because it probably colors what I am about to say on the topic. I do not care for the word "spirituality" when referring to atheists. I have trouble getting past the "spirit" part of the word because I do not believe in spirits, souls, ghosts, demons, or anything else that is not part of the natural world. However, I recognize that my naturalism is not entailed by atheism and that other atheists are free to accept the reality of the supernatural.What is spirituality?From what I have read on the psychology of religion, I have learned that experts in this field lack consensus on the meaning of spirituality but generally agree on what it is not. Spiritualit ...