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

MLK's Relevance To Anti-Atheist Bigotry 2008-01-21 14:49:00 In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., Nanovirus has an excellent post up about King's relevance to anti-atheist bigotry. King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail is slightly modified to address moderate Christians on the subject of Christian extremists. Powerful stuff with considerable relevance. Racial bigotry remains an important problem, but few would deny that progress has been made since King's time. I'm not sure we can say the same for anti-atheist bigotry.Tags: bigotry, Martin Luther King Jr., MLK, Christian, Christian extremism, atheist ...

Guest Post: Teaching Lies Jeopardizes America's Future 2008-01-21 07:16:00 This is an invited guest post by Billy (A Liberal Disabled Vet), a regular commenter on Atheist Revolution. I continue to appreciate his many thought-provoking comments and am happy that he agreed to write another guest post.A few months ago, vjack was kind enough to ask me to write a guest post. I wrote a piece which vjack named "Fear of an Idea" (I think I am pretty good at writing, but coming up with titles has always been tough for me) which generated some interesting comments. Vjack said I could write more, and so I planned. I planned to write about hypocrisy, both on the personal and institutional level. And writer’s block hit hard. That being said, I decided to write about something completely different.My son is about to enter college. He is studying history and secondary education with an eye toward becoming a high school teacher. I have begun paying a little more attention to the subject of education and have become more than a little bit concerned. My concern is more about ... America

Happy National Sanctity of Human Life Day 2008-01-20 14:58:00 Evidently forgetting (or simply not giving a damn) that the majority of Americans support stem cell research and that at least half the country thinks women should have the right to make their own reproductive decisions, George W. Bush has proclaimed today National Sanctity of Human Life Day. When he equates his personal beliefs as "our moral values," which is more repugnant - the arrogance assume that we all think as he does, or the possibility that he simply does not care what the people he supposedly represents think?What follows is the press release from Christian Newswire:On National Sanctity of Human Life Day, we recognize that each life has inherent dignity and matchless value, and we reaffirm our steadfast determination to defend the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society.America was founded on the belief that all men are created equal and have an inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and our country remains committed to upholding that fo ...

Homophobia Making Christianity Less Appealing to American Youth 2008-01-20 09:45:00 The Great Realization recently highlighted an interesting story from Alternet in which the results from one of the Barna survey are discussed. Evidently, one of the important reasons leading young Americans to reject Christianity in increasing numbers is the homophobia espoused by many Christian groups.We've been hearing for some time about American youth becoming increasingly critical of Christianity. There are sure to be many reasons for this, but it appears that one is the association between Christianity and homophobia.Referring to the religious right, Sara Robinson writes,I don't know how long they thought they were going to go on that way, all self-righteous and judgmental, blaming homosexuals and feminists for everything from 9/11 to the price of gas, ignoring the interests of the poor in favor of those of big business, and dismissing any kind of environmental stewardship as nothing more than a way to waste time until the Rapture comes. Clearly, the didn't see anything at all ...

Carnival of The Godless at Tangled Up In Blue Guy 2008-01-20 08:45:00 Something different for Carnival of the Godless this week. It looks like Tangled Up In Blue Guy has selected a subset of posts as worth featuring. I think I prefer the more egalitarian approach of carnivals past, but it will be interesting to see if this bit of editorial license catches on.Tags: atheism, godless, secular, blog, blog carnival ...

"But Isn't Religion Good for People?" 2008-01-19 09:43:00 If you've been an atheist for more than 10 minutes, you've probably heard this one. I seem to hear this one after a successful argument about the lack of evidence to support any claims of supernatural entities. The idea behind this is that even if the foundation of religious belief (i.e., that some god or gods exist) is false, religion might still be worth keeping around. There are many variants of this line of thought, so I'll pick what I think is a particularly thought-provoking one for this post. Can you imagine a scenario where you would advocate maintaining a probably false belief simply because the belief provided some benefit to the believer?The first thing that springs to mind involves some type of death scenario. Perhaps a loved one is dying and seeks comfort by asking you whether you think they'll go to heaven. Or maybe someone close to you is struggling with the death of someone important to them and wants your agreement that they are "in a better place now." I don't kn ...

Progressive Christians Finally Opposing Christian Extremists 2008-01-18 07:43:00 It is not often that I get to do a post praising progressive Christians for standing up against the forces of Christian extremism, but this is just such an occasion. I am pleased to see this report from Gary Vance, an evangelical pastor/writer from Tennessee, that the Institute for Progressive Christianity, a progressive Christian think tank, is speaking out against Christian extremism in America.As Vance points out, it is not easy for the voice of progressive Christians to be heard above the roar of their extremist colleagues. After all, they are only now beginning to speak out, and the extremists are both well-funded and politically connected. Still, Vance sees cause for optimism and predicts that the pendulum is swinging back to the left.Vance sees progressive Christians as the only hope for successfully opposing the extremist faction.There is no group or individual outside of the Christian community that could adequately respond to the religious dimension of this threat without bei ...

Doubting Your Faith? 2008-01-17 05:47:00 This is for the Christians out there who find yourselves doubting your faith. You are going to receive a lot of advice from your fellow Christians about how doubt will strengthen your faith and may even bring you closer to your god. I'm not here to argue with that or to tell you that such a perspective is necessarily wrong. I just want to point out that there is another possibility you should at least consider. What if the doubt you are experiencing is a healthy sign that your rational mind is trying to break free from a tradition of superstition?Tradition can be a reassuring source of comfort in the dark times when we long for familiarity, but this does not necessarily make it worth retaining. Consider the person raised in home filled with racist attitudes. Racism is likely to feel familiar, even comfortable, but that does not mean that the individual cannot and should not leave it behind with maturity, even if his or her family continues to cling to it. That you were raised in the ...

Accused Murderer Says God Made Him Kill 2008-01-16 05:40:00 Whenever someone commits a horrible crime and then claims that some god told them to do it, believers and non-believers unite to reject the claim. Non-believers have an easy time rejecting the "god make me do it" defense because we reason that mythical beings cannot influence human behavior. We might accept the possibility that the criminal's belief contributed to the action, or we might look for mental illness. The believer often has a different path to the same conclusion. For the believer, god did not command them to engage in the despicable act because god would never do such a terrible thing. Of course, one only has to read the Christian bible or listen to Pat Robertson to realize that this is simply not true.The community of Tyler, TX, is reeling in the aftermath of a gruesome murder that would make Jeffrey Dahmer proud. 25 year-old Christopher Lee McCuin has been arraigned for allegedly killing and mutilating his 21-year-old girlfriend, Jana Shearer.Shearer's boyfriend, Christ ...

Help an Atheist in Need 2008-01-15 14:39:00 A reader left a link to a post on Pharyngula in the comments, and I think it deserves more attention than in may get in a comment thread. The post concerns an atheist blogger with whom many of you may be familiar, Possummomma (aka, Atheist in a mini van). She is struggling with health problems, and Berlzebub's Inferno is organizing a campaign to raise money for her. Like so many other fund-raising situations, every little bit helps. Donations can be made via PayPal. For information on how to donate, visit this post at Berlzebub's Inferno.Tags: atheist, Pharyngula, health, fund-raising, donate, blogger, donations ...

Utah Resident Would Rather Vote For An Atheist 2008-01-15 06:24:00 A short but effective letter to the editor was recently published in the Salt Lake Tribune, and I am reproducing it here for your enjoyment. The author, Jackie McCowen-Rose, manages to capture my feelings on the subject of religious pandering by political candidates as well as I ever could. I commend her bravery for expressing what is sure to be an unpopular opinion in a conservative state like Utah.Here is the letter:Better an atheistPublic Forum LetterArticle Last Updated: 01/07/2008 06:10:53 PM MSTPresident-wise, I would vote today for an intelligent, compassionate, articulate, well-read, honest and brave atheist or agnostic over any one of the more-Christian-than-thou bunch pandering shamelessly in the ring right now.Professions, assertions and declarations of "faith" belong at home and in the church/synagogue/mosque/temple/treehouse/cave of one's choice. In government, I want common sense and practicality, neither of which is the exclusive preserve of any religion.However, I have ...

Mitt Romney vs. Mike Huckabee 2008-01-15 05:38:00 Time for a religionist rumble? Their campaigns may be at odds, but it seems that there is plenty about which they agree. There is an excellent article about the religious intolerance of both Romney and Huckabee by Joe Conason posted at Salon.com. A taste:Whatever bland assurances they may offer to the contrary, both Romney and Huckabee have implicitly endorsed religious tests for a presidential candidacy. Both suggest that only leaders who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are qualified to lead. Huckabee says that we should choose a president who speaks "the language of Zion," meaning a fundamentalist Christian like himself. Romney says that among the questions that may appropriately be asked of aspiring presidential candidates is what they believe about Jesus Christ, a question he endeavored to answer in a way that would assuage suspicions about his own religion.H/T to Religious Right WatchTags: Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, politics, religion, Jesus Christ, Christian, fundamentali ...

Does Your Candidate Believe In Evolution? 2008-01-14 05:35:00 Does it matter that most of the Republican presidential candidates (including Ron Paul) reject evolution? You bet it does! Panda's Thumb provides a link to a great article in Reason explaining why. I'll provide an excerpt below, but this is one you'll want to read.From the Reason article by Ronald Bailey:A larger question is whether a candidate's belief about the validity of evolutionary biology has anything to say about his or her ability to evaluate evidence. A January 4, 2008, editorial by Science editor Donald Kennedy correctly argues, "The candidates should be asked hard questions about science policy, including questions about how those positions reflect belief. What is your view about stem cell research, and does it relate to a view of the time at which human life begins? Have you examined the scientific evidence regarding the age of Earth? Can the process of organic evolution lead to the production of new species, and how? Are you able to look at data on past climates in se ...

My Religion Involves Screaming Gibberish 2008-01-13 08:58:00 Growing increasingly tired of hearing conservative Christians whine about how they are persecuted against by "secular progressives," I thought it would be fun to see if I could highlight the absurdity involved in such claims. Of course, what started as a thought experiment rapidly it devolved into more of a rant as I was writing it, but what the hell. I'll share it anyway.Assume that that I decide to stand outside a local business and scream gibberish, not so much at anyone in particular but loudly toward the ground. It is reasonable to expect that the police would be called and I would be arrested if I continued my behavior when they arrived. If nothing else, I would be guilty of "disturbing the peace," "creating a public nuisance," or something similar. Those of you living in big cities probably see homeless persons suffering from schizophrenia arrested for this sort of thing daily.Freedom of speech probably wouldn't be an issue since I was disturbing others and since my speech has ...

Don't Believe In God? You Are Not Alone 2008-01-12 12:18:00 I don't know about you, but if I was driving along and saw a billboard like this one recently placed along the New Jersey Turnpike, it would put a big smile on my face. Bravo to FreeThoughtAction and their partner, the American Humanist Association, for the latest secular billboard.Here is the press release from the American Humanist Association:Nontheist Billboard Greets NYC Area Motorists(Washington, D.C.) "Don't believe in God? You are not alone." Starting tomorrow morning,these words will be read by southbound motorists on the New Jersey Turnpike at the section of I-95 near Ridgefield, between the George Washington Bridge and the Lincoln Tunnel. They are part of a highway billboard that features an image of blue sky and clouds with the words superimposed over. The billboard will be placed by FreeThoughtAction, an independent adjunct of the American Humanist Association. "The point of the billboard is to let nontheistic people, such as atheists and agnos ...