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 54 8842

Articles from Atheist Revolution

Opposing Religious Extremism: More Religion Not Answer 2007-07-26 05:50:00 Most American Christians are brought up believing that religious extremism is a serious problem in the Middle East. They define religious extremism almost exclusively in terms of that associated with Islam. They are correct about the dangerous of Islamic extremism, but they tend to overlook the Christian extremism right here in America. Religious extremism is a global problem which knows no boundaries and which has vast implications for shaping the future of our world.Writing for Spencer Speaks, former Denver Post columnist and feature writer for The Chicago Tribute Jim Spencer has crafted an interesting article on this important subject. Starting with the recent act of Christian terrorism at the University of Colorado and the protest in the U.S. Senate by Christian extremists, Spencer asks whether it is time for us to examine religious extremism right here in America.When the crazies think God is on their side, they know few limits.And while Spencer is quick to point out that American ...

Dogfighting and Christian Morality 2007-07-25 05:32:00 Debunking Christianity asks whether Christians find Michael Vick's dogfighting morally reprehensible. The assumption is that Christians will say "of course," opening the door to some version of the problem of evil. However difficult it may be to consider that this assumption might be wrong, there is some evidence that it may be exactly that.As reported on ChristianNewswire, Dr. Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Pastoral Associate of Priests for Life, views animal cruelty as little more than an opportunity to oppose a woman's right to a certain medical procedure. Evidently, Dr. King believes that the real significance of the Vick case is that it highlights "the disparity in societal protections for animals and unborn humans.""The appalling cruelty to dogs described in the complaint against Michael Vick immediately reminds me of another kind of cruelty that is not only not punished, but is protected by our authorities," said Dr. King. "I'm talking about the incred ...

New Book for Atheist Parents 2007-07-24 16:15:00 Atheist parents often have a difficult time finding good resources in a country dominated by Christian mythology. Earlier this year, we saw the publication of Parenting Beyond Belief: On Raising Ethical, Caring Kids Without Religion, and now another book on the subject is available, Sean Curley's Humanism for Parents - Parenting without Religion.According to a press release, Curley's book "discusses the ramifications of parenting without reliance on religion" and "details rites, rituals, and practices that can be used in a home regardless of religious affiliation." I think this sounds interesting, especially given Curley's point about how one of the benefits of religion is the family traditions with which it is often linked. This book should be informative for secular parents seeking ways to gain this benefit without the ridiculous superstition that accompanies the religious versions."Parenting has always been difficult, but historically parents have had thousands of years of religi ...

War on Christmas Starts Early in Berkley 2007-07-24 05:23:00 I realize it is July, but I'm here to tell you that the War on Christmas is coming early this year. This year's war could get interesting since increasing numbers of atheists seem to be finding a voice and since it provides political candidates with opportunities for more pandering to superstitious voters.According to The Daily Tribune, Berkley voters are signing petitions to require their city to display a nativity scene and other Christmas symbols on City Hall property this December. It appears that they will have a chance to vote on this requirement in November. If approved, the city charter will be amended to include the requirement.The petition calls for the city to display the nativity scene along with secular holiday icons so that it is in compliance with existing law, which prohibits displays of only Christian religious icons on government property.However, something interesting happened last year after the ACLU objected to a nativity scene at City Hall.The city then included ...

Doing God's Work By Killing Gays 2007-07-23 05:36:00 According to the Houston Chronicle, 26 year-old Terry Mark Mangum believed he was doing the work of the Christian god when he killed a gay man in a bar last month. " ... I believe with all my heart that I was doing the right thing."Why should we expect Mangum to feel remorse when he is convinced that he was doing the work of his god?Mangum, who described himself as "definitely not a homosexual," said God called on him to "carry out a code of retribution" by killing a gay man because "sexual perversion" is the "worst sin."According to the Chronicle, Mangum spent 6 months planning to murder a gay man, went out specifically looking for a gay man to kill, stabbed Cummings to death solely because he was gay, and buried him on his grandfather's ranch. I know many of you do not agree with me about the need for hate crimes legislation, and I'm okay with that. You might say I've grown accustomed to holding unpopular views. Still, I have a hard time seeing how this sort of crime doesn't warr ...

Reality-Based Investing 2007-07-22 10:57:00 The human mind is vulnerable to a variety of biases, cognitive errors, and the like. Primitive superstitions, such as religious belief, are particularly fascinating examples, but they are hardly the only one. The ritualistic behaviors of baseball players, buying lottery tickets and other forms of gambling, the "hot hand" phenomenon in basketball, and even most approaches to investing share a common core of irrationality.It is worth noting at the outset that none of us are immune to making the sort of errors which bias human judgment. Even those of us who readily embrace reason do not always think or act in rational ways. Not the very intelligent, not the nonbeliever, and certainly not me. While we can minimize the damage done by various errors and even learn to defend against them, some level of irrationality will almost certainly creep in.I have previously described some of the mistakes I made with regard to investing strategies and how I took some initial steps toward reality-based i ...

Carnival of the Godless #71 and Humanist Symposium #5 2007-07-22 07:36:00 Ready for some quality godless reading? The 71st Carnival of the Godless is now up at Aardvarchaeology. As if that wasn't enough, the 5th Humanist Symposium will soon be appearing at The Green Atheist. Just how I like to spend my Sunday mornings.Tags: Carnival of the Godless, Humanist Symposium, blog carnival, atheism, humanism ...

BBC Asks "Must the U.S. President Believe in God?" 2007-07-21 11:11:00 Sometimes I forget that international observers examining the role of religion in American politics must occasionally feel the way I do when I look at politics in Iran. This article from BBC News asks whether belief in supernatural entities which contradict scientifically-based natural laws is a prerequisite to the American presidency. I'm afraid so. Yep, we have freedom of religion here. One of these days, we might also have freedom from religion.Tags: religion, politics, Iran, American presidency, freedom of religion, freedom from religion ... President

Christian Terrorism: A Growing Threat? 2007-07-21 06:27:00 One of the reasons I started this blog was that I was concerned that constant media coverage of "militant Islam," "Islamic extremists," and the like, while undeniably important, might obscure a threat much closer to home - Christian extremism. American politics was dominated by a neoconservative cabal, influenced by biblical literalism, Christian premilleniumism, militarism, and imperialism. I soon discovered that these neocons had close ties to the Christian Reconstructionist, Christianist, Nationalist, and Dominionist movements. The more I learned, the more convinced I became that the danger was real. Nevertheless, I was unprepared for the intensity of hatred and intolerance I found as I dug deeper into Christian extremism. Most of all, I was unprepared for Christian terrorism.Just like we distinguish between Muslim extremists and terrorists on the basis of their behavior (e.g., terrorism involves actual or threatened violence), we can distinguish between Christian extremists and Ch ...

Pharyngula Lays Smackdown on Critics 2007-07-20 07:13:00 Now that it is in the dictionary, "smackdown" is clearly the post appropriate word to describe a recent Pharyngula post by PZ Myers. PZ is clearly at his best when he's fired up about something, and that is certainly the case here. If I had some sort of hall of fame for my favorite posts of all time, PZ's would belong.Of course, PZ is absolutely right to describe a map claiming to show the density of religious believers in the United States in the following way:It shows the concentration of ignorant, deluded, wicked, foolish, or oppressed victims of obsolete mythologies in the United States, with the lighter colors being the most enlightened and the dark reds being the most repressed and misinformed.Not surprisingly, his remark was greeted with outrage. After all, his blog is widely read and not just by atheists. Never mind that he was right - some found his words offensive. He did a great job of responding to critics, but he's right that the heart of the response can be distilled t ...

Public Prayer 2007-07-19 05:43:00 Christians may squabble endlessly over what it means to be a Christian, and many are fond of claiming that only those who believe exactly as they do deserve to be called "real Christians." However, it seems fairly obvious to this author that there must be some common doctrine shared by all Christian. One of these is the belief that the Christian bible is central to the religion. Granted, fundamentalists are going to take their bible far more seriously than so-called liberal or moderate Christians, but all must agree that the Christian bible provides an important source of guidance. So why is it that so many self-identified Christians ignore what their bible says about prayer?What are we to say about a "Christian" who prays publicly or crusades to promote public prayer? Here we seem to have an individual who is either ignorant of what his or her bible says about prayer or is intentionally disregarding it.The Christian Bible Condemns Public PrayerMatthew 6:5 - 7 says:5. And when thou pra ...

Religious Intolerance: Christian Pot, Atheist Kettle 2007-07-18 05:37:00 From a Christian perspective, spotting religious intolerance is a fairly simple matter. Odds are, if you are an atheist, you are intolerant. And yet, this is a simplicity based on irrationality and Christian privilege. What is religious intolerance, how should we recognize it, and is it a crime of which all atheists are guilty?Christians Accuse Atheists of Religious IntoleranceFirst, anyone who openly criticizes the idiosyncratic beliefs of a particular Christian is guilty of intolerance. This is true even if the critic is simply pointing out inconsistencies between an individual believer's belief system and the Christian bible or other official doctrine of a recognized religious group. Of course, critics of the bible itself or mainstream Christian doctrine will also be accused of intolerance, but what matters most is the individual believer's unique interpretation and personal experience (e.g., revelation). Anyone who questions this is labeled as intolerant.Second, anyone who dares ...

Secular Humanism Involves Compassion Too 2007-07-17 05:22:00 There is an interesting letter in The Times Herald-Record (NY) that I cannot let slide without responding. The article, "My View: Being a believer means caring about and for others," by Kim Dixon contains one of the most common misconceptions about nonbelievers so prevalent among Christians. Have a look, and you'll want to respond too.Ms. Dixon, you identify yourself a "devout Roman Catholic." As a member of the only true Christian church, your comments deserve to be taken seriously.Being a believer means I have faith, hope and love. It means I try to take care of myself and those entrusted to me and those I don't even know. It means I donate time and money to my church community and to my town community. It means I raise my children to follow my example.Everything you describe here except "faith" and "church community" apply equally well to virtually every nonbeliever out there. I see nothing else in this statement that is not fully captured by secular humanism.As a secular humanist ...

Delusion, Crime, and Personal Responsibility 2007-07-16 18:01:00 The American legal system is based on the assumption that someone who commits a crime acted out of free will and should be held responsible for his or her crime. However, there are exceptions designed to absolve (e.g., insanity) or reduce (e.g., diminished capacity) one's responsibility. The purpose of this post is not to discuss these factors but to use them to ask some probing questions about the nature of religious belief.A man with a gun was killed today by a security officer outside the office of Colorado governor Bill Ritter. The gunman claimed, "I am the emperor and I'm here to take over state government" and refused orders to drop his gun before he was shot.For the sake of discussion, let's assume that facts emerge showing that this man had a long history of mental illness, was off his medication, and had become psychotic. Let's further assume that we learn that he was delusional at the time of the incident and that he genuinely believed that he was the emperor of Colorado ...

Congratulations to the FFRF 2007-07-16 15:11:00 The Freedom From Religion Foundation has exceeded the 10,000 member mark, making it the largest association of atheists and agnostics in North America. As a member, I can tell you that they are a worthwhile organization with an excellent newsletter and an active program of both promoting freethought and opposing church-state violations. If you are not already a member, check them out.Tags: Freedom From Religion Foundation, religion, atheist, agnostic, freethought, church and state ...