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 48 8836

Articles from Atheist Revolution

So Many Christians Ignorant About Their Bible 2007-08-28 05:37:00 While catching up on some atheist-related reading last Sunday morning, I was struck by how ignorant many Christians are of their own "inerrant" bibles. I realize this is not a new thought, but I can't resist sharing a couple examples with you.We can start with this great little post by the Educated Eclectic from Pam's House Blend. It is widely known that fundamentalist Christians rely on Leviticus to justify their preexisting hatred of GLBT individuals. Their argument is quite simple:The bible is the inerrant word of some god.The bible condemns homosexuality (in Leviticus).Therefore, homosexuality is wrong.The first claim is accepted uncritically for it is a core tenet of Christian fundamentalism. That the bible condemns homosexuality is clearly evident in Leviticus. So the conclusion is inevitable, at least to the fundamentalist Christian.The Educated Eclectic invites us to apply exactly the same argument to another part of Leviticus.Leviticus 19:19 says:.. neither shall a garment m ...

American Youth Walk Away From Church 2007-08-27 05:03:00 I do hope that humanity will eventually perceive religion for what it is (i.e., irrational belief that causes great harm), but I am not naive enough to think I'll live to see this happen. Instead, I expect the influence of religion to gradually decline. This decline will be far from linear, as periodic religious revivals are to be anticipated. Still, I cannot help celebrating each indicator of such a decline.A recent survey by LifeWay Research, a branch of the Southern Baptist Convention, shows that Protestant churches in America are losing increasing numbers of young adult congregants. According to USA Today,Seven in 10 Protestants ages 18 to 30 — both evangelical and mainline — who went to church regularly in high school said they quit attending by age 23, according to the survey by LifeWay Research. And 34% of those said they had not returned, even sporadically, by age 30. That means about one in four Protestant young people have left the church.What makes this particular surve ...

HSM's Zac Efron is Agnostic 2007-08-26 08:55:00 Zac Efron, the star of High School Musical 2, said that he was raised agnostic in an interview with Rolling Stone, and The Jewish Daily Forward reports that Efron remains agnostic. Perhaps this news will prompt some fans to think about the role of religious belief in their lives and realize that it is not necessary.H/T to The Friendly AtheistTags: High School Musical 2, Zac Efron, agnostic ...

World Animal Day 2007-08-26 08:22:00 World Animal Day is October 4, and with the recent media interest in dogfighting, this may be a particularly good year to spread the word. Some Christian groups are already involved, and I'd like to see more atheists active in promoting awareness. As Abraham Lincoln said, "I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it."Tags: World Animal Day, dogfighting, atheist, activism, animal ...

Any Australian Readers? 2007-08-25 07:44:00 I'm not sure if I have any Australian readers here, but if you are an atheist living in Australia, the Secular Party of Australia needs your help. They want their party to be listed on the ballot for the upcoming election, and they need additional members to make this happen. Membership is free, and you would be helping to bring attention to secularism in Australia.H/T to The Friendly AtheistTags: Australia, Secular Party of Australia, politics, election ...

Founder of San Francisco Atheists Honored 2007-08-25 07:19:00 According to an Inside Bay Area article by Julia Scott, the founder of San Francisco Atheists, Jim Heldberg, will be honored tonight with a public dinner in San Francisco. Heldberg is the rare sort of atheist activist who fully embraces atheism and is not afraid to speak out against the importance of keeping religion out of government and politics.Like most American atheists, Heldberg was indoctrinated into Christian superstition. Fortunately, it didn't stick."I couldn't square religion with my goal of being a scientist," says Heldberg, now 66. "How does prayer work? Nobody can explain it. How can there be invisible people in the sky? I wanted it to fit, and it frustrated me that it didn't fit."Although he initially felt alienated, Heldberg was fortunate enough to find fellow freethinkers in the Bay Area. He certainly was not going to find support in the Christian community.Declaring himself as an atheist in public has caused Heldberg to receive harassing phone calls and e-mails fro ...

Mother Teresa An Atheist? 2007-08-24 10:36:00 Was Mother Teresa an atheist? Andrew Brown at Comment is Free asks this intriguing question in light of recently released writings which show that Mother Teresa had serious questions about her faith. Brown writes, "...even as she was receiving the Nobel prize, she asked her confessor to pray for her because she could feel nothing when she prayed herself and no longer had any experience of God."The implications are certainly interesting to ponder, although I would be shocked if this new information changed any minds. Christians desperately need her to remain a symbol of Christianity, and so she will remain one.Tags: Mother Teresa, atheist ...

Intercessory Prayer and the Nature of Belief 2007-08-24 07:33:00 Intercessory prayer, not to be confused with imprecatory prayer, refers to Christians praying on behalf of others. For example, such prayers might be offered for the benefit of an ill member of one's congregation. They seem innocent enough, perhaps even admirable in some cases, and yet they raise important questions about what Christians believe and the degree to which they truly hold the beliefs which they commonly espouse.If we imagine a 6 year-old boy praying that his older sister will survive her surgery, we are hard pressed to see a problem. Science tells us that intercessory prayer does not work, so the worst we could say about the boy is that his prayers are futile. But it isn't like his prayers are distracting him from helping in some other way (he's only 6). In all likelihood, he finds his prayers a source of comfort because they provide him with feelings of control over something uncontrollable. Illusory to be sure, but not entirely without temporary benefit.When the perso ...

CNN's God's Warriors 2007-08-24 07:30:00 CNN is airing a 3-part special on religious extremism that is well worth checking out. Judaism, Islam, and Christianity each have their own 2-hour show. It is so nice to finally have some mainstream media attention to the problem of religion.I have not had the chance to watch any of them yet, but I've been recording them for when I might have time. I did watch Larry King's interview with Christiane Amanpour and others. I thought Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State presented himself very well.Tags: CNN, religion, religious extremism, Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Barry Lynn, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, television ...

Get Your Camouflaged Bibles 2007-08-23 05:36:00 Christian Outdoorsman is now selling camouflaged bibles. Yep, you read that right. I think this is a great idea! Now hunters who are so hopelessly Christian that they can't stand to be without their bibles for a few hours can take it with them.H/Ts to No More Mister Nice Blog and The Carpetbagger Report ...

Belief Does Not Equal Truth! 2007-08-22 05:45:00 While catching up on what is happening around the atheist blogosphere, I ran across a post at Religion *is* a Problem that absolutely requires a rant. In fact, I think I may have just identified my #1 pet peeve (at least for today) about religious believers.The story, originally posted by Ocellated, concerns Bill Nye being booed by Christians for highlighting an incompatibility between reality and their bible. As quoted by Ocellated:The Emmy-winning scientist angered a few audience members when he criticized literal interpretation of the biblical verse Genesis 1:16, which reads: “God made two great lights — the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.”He pointed out that the sun, the “greater light,” is but one of countless stars and that the “lesser light” is the moon, which really is not a light at all, rather a reflector of light.A number of audience members left the room at that point, visibly angered by what so ...

More Secular Americans? 2007-08-21 05:25:00 Estimates of the number of nonbelievers in America vary wildly, but recent data suggest that there may be far more of us than we've realized. If accurate, these numbers suggest that politicians who continue to ignore us are making a mistake which could become increasingly costly.Here is some video on the subject.H/T to Debunking ChristianityTags: atheist, atheism, secular, godless, nonbelievers, America ...

Turning The Other Cheek? 2007-08-20 05:37:00 Christians are advised in their bibles and by their "savior" to "turn the other cheek" and "love" their enemies (Matthew 5:38:45). In fact, they are expected to believe that their own savior sought forgiveness for the very people who killed him (Luke 23:34). What then are we to make of the refusal of an overwhelming majority of American Christians to follow such admonitions when it comes to someone like Osama bin Laden?Bin Laden is once again a hot topic, especially in the presidential debates, as questions mount about why we still haven't caught him and whether Iraq was an unwelcome distraction from doing so. It is probably accurate to say that he is the man Americans most hate and that he has been so since 9/11.It it not my intention to defend bin Laden. He is a despicable example of the consequences of religious extremism, and his very existence should be a troubling reminder of what happens when religious zealots acquire the means to harm others. He is a dangerously deluded indivi ...

Texas State/Church Separation Rally Sept. 8 in Austin 2007-08-19 09:07:00 Texas may be a hotbed of religious idiocy, but the state also has its share of freethinkers who value church-state separation. There will be a rally at the Texas State Capitol Building on Saturday, September 8, featuring speakers from American Atheists, The Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, The Freethinkers at the University of Texas as Arlington, and The Freethinkers Association of Central Texas.According to Joe Zamecki, Texas State Director of American Atheists, the goals of the rally include:To speak out for the civil rights of non-religious Americans.To vocally promote the separation of government from religion.To show support for the Croft family in Carrollton who have sued over the moment of silence in their public school. (No matter how the case ends, or whether it's over by then or not.)To protest the flurry of religious bills and now religious laws coming from our current Texas State Legislature.The rally will take place on Saturday, September 8, 2007 from No ... Texas

More Tragic When a Christian Dies? 2007-08-18 14:03:00 From the title and focus of this article, I'd have to say that the author believes that death is somehow more tragic when it happens to a Christian and even more so when it happens to a fundamentalist Christian. I'm at a loss for words. I'll be filing this one under WTF. ...