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: 0 0 0 8599

Articles from Atheist Revolution

Another Falwell 2007-09-26 20:38:00 Just when you thought that the death of Christian extremist Jerry Falwell might bring some temporary relief, we have news out of Virginia that there is another Falwell at the ready to take up Jerry's legacy. According to this editorial by Elizabeth Strother in The Roanoke Times, Falwell's son, Jonathan, has taken over his father's Thomas Road Baptist Church and is now hoping to mobilize voters around "family values."Jonathan Falwell does not seem ready for nationwide efforts just yet, but there appears to be little question about his aspirations to do so eventually.So far, son Jonathan's sights are set more modestly, on Virginia, where every seat in the General Assembly is up for election in November. But, like his father, he'd like to make his family values your family values -- by law. And, like religious leaders on both the political left and right, he has to try to do it without risking the tax-exempt status of his church.Strother has an excellent suggestion for those of us wh ...

Atheism Does Not Require Faith 2007-09-26 06:11:00 I fire up my trusty RSS reader (FeedDemon) at least once a week to catch up with the atheist blogosphere. Every time I do, I can count on finding at least a few stories in either the mainstream media or various theist-generated sources claiming that atheism is a religion or that atheism requires as much faith as any religion. While easily dismissed, the frequency of such claims is starting to irritate me.Magic in the GardenI am about to tell you something I have never told anyone. My next door neighbor has a small garden gnome of the sort you've probably seen before. The thing is, my neighbor's gnome comes to life for one evening a month, always on the twelfth day of the month, between 8:00 and 11:00 pm. The gnome explores the yard and has even climbed the fence to come into my yard. I know this not because my neighbor told me but because I have personally experienced it. I asked my neighbor about it once, and he looked at me like I was crazy. How rude! I've scene the gnome spring t ...

Canada Infected With Theism Too 2007-09-25 05:35:00 Thanks to the neocons currently running the American government and the constant stream of idiocy from their Christian extremist base, it is easy to understand how the international community views America. And yet, we are far from alone in the degree to which ancient religions exert an unwanted influence on modern politics. I'm looking at you, Canada.In a recent column in HumanistNetworkNews, Doug Thomas suggests that Elections Canada, the governmental agency which oversees elections in Canada, is "'infected' with Theism." Thomas' column discusses how religious groups influence elections in Canada, drawing on the recent example of a decision not to require Muslim women to remove their veils when voting for the purpose of voter identification.Was the exemption made in response to protests from the Muslim community? Apparently not.Some Muslim leaders have pointed out that women who chose to keep their faces covered would have no objection to showing their face to a female election o ...

Army Violates Religious Freedom 2007-09-24 06:18:00 Even though they may know little else about history, science, or law, most Americans can tell you that religious freedom had something to do with the founding of America. The critical truth that they often fail to realize is that freedom of religion requires freedom from religion. How sad it is then to see the American military violating the religious freedom of our young men and women in uniform.According to John Milburn (AP), Spec. Jeremy Hall, an American soldier stationed in Iraq, has filed suit against the Defense Department alleging that his commanding officer infringed on his religious freedom by preventing him from meeting with other non-Christian soldiers. The suit "alleges a pattern of practices that discriminate against non-Christians in the military."After receiving permission to distribute fliers promoting a meeting of atheist and non-Christian soldiers, Spec. Hall was prevented from actually convening any such meeting. His superior threatened him with military charges and ...

Christians Vandalize Atheist's Home in Chicago 2007-09-23 08:14:00 The Friendly Atheist brings us a troubling story of a Christian hate crime in the Chicago suburbs. Rob Sherman, atheist activist and father of a high school student who successfully campaigned to remove "God Bless America" from the list of songs to be played at her Homecoming Dance (yeah, that's a great one for dancing), is the victim.Sherman's home was vandalized with a thorough egging of both the house and the family's automobiles. But why in the world would I allege a Christian hate crime when this could have been the work of those always pesky teenagers? Because crosses and religious words were written in chalk on the driveway, and a church bulletin was stuck in the front door.The police are convinced that angry teens are the culprits rather than some local Christian terrorist organization. Their evidence? The vandalism closely followed the incident at Sherman's daughter's school, and "Jesus" was misspelled. They may have a point about the proximity of the vandalism to the sch ...

Suck It, Jesus! 2007-09-23 07:40:00 Nearly 5,000 people to date have signed an online petition opposing the censoring of Kathy Griffin's remarks for the 2007 Emmy Awards. Obviously, it is too late to change the censorship, but it is still a great way to show support for Griffin. I think I'd get one of these stickers, but I'd hate to have to remove my f@$% the skull of Jesus sign to make room.H/T to The Happy New AtheistTags: Kathy Griffin, censorship, petition, Jesus ...

Humanist Symposium #8 2007-09-23 07:39:00 The 8th Humanist Symposium is now up at Elliptica, and it is a good one. My recent post on the need for a secular community, which I wrote for the Humanist Symposium, is included.Tags: blog carnival, Humanist Symposium, secular humanism, atheism, secular community ...

Baptists Descend On My Neighborhood 2007-09-22 15:55:00 A van full of Baptists just descended on my neighborhood. Evidently, their church must be having a hard time getting people to show up and grovel to their logically incoherent god. My patience with these folks and their delusion is starting to slip. It is so easy to think of what I should have said after they leave, but I think I was more than sufficiently rude this time around.I was typing a post for this very blog when I saw a large red van drive by out of the corner of my eye. I didn't notice the Baptist church logo on the van's side, as I was intent on finishing my sentence. Not two seconds later, the doorbell rang and my dog started going crazy.I scooped the dog up and answered the door, figuring it was some soliciting idiot and fully prepared to tell him to go to hell. The door opened to reveal a well-dressed woman in her 40's with a young girl by her side. Oh crap! I had been prepared to yell something rude and slam the door, but now I was stopped in my tracks. If I yelled at ...

Pete Stark (D-CA): Humanist of the Year 2007-09-22 07:47:00 California Congressman and atheist, Pete Stark, was honored on Thursday with the annual Humanist of the Year award from Harvard's humanist chaplaincy. Although I found it odd that he downplayed the bigotry atheist face from believers, I applaud his candid admission that expressions of religiosity by politicians tends to be about politics rather than superstition.According to The Boston Globe, Stark responded to a question about atheists being demonized by saying, "I have no evidence that they [nonbelievers] are 'demonized.' I think there may be a certain arrogance of certainty among some people . . . but I've never run across those who have been nasty about it." It sounds like he has been fortunate. Maybe Congressmen have it better than the rest of us.Stark expressed optimism that the influence of religion is waning. "I think as we mature . . . you're going to find people taking a less strident or literal position on religion."When asked about 21 other US representatives who ident ...

Secular Blogs 2007-09-22 06:48:00 Looking for secular blogs? Your search is over. Mojoey's Atheist Blogroll is over 400 strong and features the best in secular blogging. For information on how to add your blog, see here. To view the complete blogroll, simply click "read more" below. Tags: secular blogs, atheist blogs, blogging, blog roll ...

Racism: First Jena 6, Now This 2007-09-21 11:04:00 Contrary to the absurd claims of Tony Snow, racism is alive and well in the United States. As if the reputation of the Southern states couldn't get any worse, we have another incident involving nooses in Louisiana. Unfortunately, the Jena 6 case did not receive anywhere near the attention it deserved until more than a year later. One wonders if this latest example will be similarly ignored by the media.According to CNN, two suspects, at least one of whom told police he and his family are Klan members, were arrested in Alexandria, LA, after nooses were observed hanging from the back of their pickup.Alexandria is less than an hour away from Jena, Louisiana, and was a staging area Thursday for protesters who went to the smaller town to demonstrate against the treatment of six black teens known as the "Jena 6" in racially charged incidents.Maybe it is time we finally have that discussion about race in America that we were supposed to have after the Don Imus fiasco. I won't hold my breath ...

We Need a Secular Community 2007-09-21 07:50:00 Most nonbelievers recognize the difficulty of bringing atheists, humanists, and assorted freethinkers together into a meaningful community. Protests along the lines of of "we're not joiners" are so common that they have become a psychological hurdle if not an actual one. And yet, many questions remain unanswered. Is it even desirable to strive for a united secular community? What might such a community look like, and is it even possible to bring people together under the banner of nonbelief? In this multi-part series, I will consider the importance of uniting the secular community, some of the options for bringing nonbelievers together, and offer a recommendations about how to promote a secular community. Part I addresses whether a united secular community is something we should seek.TerminologyI suppose some terminology may be in order at the outset. I think of "secular community" as being an umbrella term describing nonbelievers of all sorts, including those who call themselves athe ...

Christian Extremists To Invade Public Schools 2007-09-20 05:51:00 Our nation's children are in danger. A combination of Christian extremism and government officials afraid to enforce the rule of law threatens their education. This in turn jeopardizes America's future ability to compete in a global economy. I realize that this is probably not anything new for my regular readers, but even you may be surprised by the latest assault on our public schools.Proclaiming "a revival of faith and grace" at America's public schools, Christian extremist groups are organizing three nationwide efforts to force their ridiculous religion into our schools. In a press release issued by the Scriptures in Schools Project and publicized by Christian Newswire, we can learn about the following events planned for September 23-29:"See You At The Pole" 9/26"Scriptures in Schools Week" 9/23-9/29"Adopt-A-School-for-Christ" Campus Challenge 9/23The organizers expect that, "Millions of Christian students, along with teachers/staff, parents, and clergy, will participate at Publi ...

Mormons Apologize for Massacre 2007-09-19 05:51:00 Mitt Romney's candidacy has thrust the Mormon religion into the spotlight, and many observers are not particularly impressed with what they have learned about the faith. From seer stones in a hat to magic underpants, Mormonism seems more a source of embarrassment than one of pride. At least the church has finally decided to apologize for a terrible "faith-based massacre" (quoted from NoGodBlog).From the Deseret Morning News (UT):The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a long-awaited apology today for the massacre of an immigrant wagon train by local church members 150 years ago in southwestern Utah. Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve read the church's statement on assignment from the church's governing First Presidency during a memorial ceremony at the grave site of some of the massacre victims at Mountain Meadows, about 35 miles northwest of St. George. The statement also places blame for the Sept. 11, 1857, massacre on the local church leaders at the ...

Committee For Ex-Muslims To Ease Renunciation of Islam 2007-09-18 05:37:00 While President Bush asks Americans to wallow in superstition and conservative pundits attack Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) for refusing to perpetuate the 9/11-Iraq connection, young Muslim apostates are honoring the victims of 9/11 by risking their lives in an act of incredible bravery. They are leaving Islam behind to join the reality-based community and making it easier for others to do the same.The Times (UK) describes a new campaign launched by the Committee for Ex-Muslims on 9/11 to help Muslims walk away from superstition by renouncing Islam. Of course, these are not actions to be taken lightly. Those who abandon Islam do so at their own peril, as Islamic extremists believe that apostasy should be punished by death.Mr Jami, 22, who has abandoned his studies as his political career has taken off, denied that the choice of September 11 was deliberately provocative towards the Islamic Establishment. “We chose the date because we want to make a clear statement that we no longer tolerate ...