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

Guest Post: Fear of an Idea 2007-11-07 06:06:00 The following is an invited guest post by Billy (A Liberal Disabled Vet), a regular commenter on Atheist Revolution. Enjoy!I have been trying for most of my life (some of the early years are a little iffy) to understand people and the world. I think I may have come up with a small insight into the Christian (as well as authoritarian, fundamentalist, and christianist) mode of thought. What one idea links these groups?I met my first girlfriend in high school at all county chorus. She was nice, quiet, sweet, and was raised Catholic and then (to the surprise of her parents) ‘born again.’ She and I had long philosophical and literary discussions, but if the subject became religion, my ideas (at the time agnostic deism (though I did not know the term at that time)) disturbed her at a very deep level. The idea of the universe as ‘god’ actually frightened her. She was not stupid. She carried a 4.0 at a public high school (including AP physics and biology) and planned to go to college ...

Gift Ideas For The Atheist: Atheism Quotes Calendar 2007-11-06 05:08:00 Looking for a gift for that special atheist in your life who probably thinks that celebrating an ancient pagan holiday corrupted by Christians to honor the birth of someone who may or may not have actually lived is just a bit silly? How about a gift that can be used all year round to bring some sanity to a world filled with religious delusion? How about an atheism quotes calendar? A reader, who happens to be a designer, put this together and thought you might be interested. Looks pretty cool if you ask me.Tags: gift ideas, atheist, atheism, atheist wall calendar, atheist quotes calendar, Christmas, holiday ...

God Hates Yeast 2007-11-05 05:50:00 So I've decided to read the Christian bible from cover to cover. Why? The last time I did so was quite awhile ago, well before I had read much about atheism. When I've referred to biblical passages here, Christians sometimes complain that I'm taking the passages out of context. So I picked up a parallel bible with the NIV version presented column-by-column with the King James version. I'm about mid-way through Leviticus now and ready to share some initial impressions.This is the first time I've read the NIV translation, and it certainly makes for an easier read than the King James. Still, I like to go back and forth to compare both versions and note some of the seemingly important differences. As but one example, NIV replaces "thou shalt not kill" with "you will not murder." At least to my mind, there is a world of difference between the meaning of "kill" and that of "murder."Genesis makes for an interesting read, and I genuinely enjoyed it. A certain beauty is evident in some of ...

Don't Miss Humanist Symposium #10 2007-11-05 05:45:00 Humanist Symposium #10 is up at Letters From a Broad. Hard to believe there have been 10 of these already, isn't it? Check it out.Tags: humanist, humanism, blog carnival, secular ...

Mississippi Governor's Race: Bush Crony vs. Theocrat 2007-11-04 14:37:00 On Tuesday, my fellow Mississippi residents and I will be asked to cast our votes in the gubernatorial race. Republican incumbent and Bush crony, Haley Barbour, faces Democratic challenger, John Eaves. Ordinarily, I'd feel fairly comfortable voting for whoever the Democratic Party decided to run. Barbour is about as good-ole-boy as good ole boys get. Not only does he want to restrict a woman's right to make reproductive decisions, but he's notorious for his corruption in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Unfortunately, Eaves is no ordinary Democrat. The heart of his campaign involves pushing school prayer.To say that I am undecided in this election would be quite an understatement. I despise Barbour and all he stands for (e.g., maintaining the highest grocery tax in America while running the poorest state in the country, cronyism, corruption, support for the criminal who currently occupies the White House, etc.). But do I despise him enough to support a theocrat?Is it fair to call Eave ...

Huckabee Uses Pascal's Wager 2007-11-04 06:18:00 If you missed Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's recent appearance on the O'Reilly Factor (yeah, I wouldn't watch that crap either), you might be interested to know that he used Pascal's wager to justify his religious delusion. For more on Huckabee and how some in the religious right are evidently trying to shield him from criticism of his delusional beliefs, head over to the Carpetbagger Report.Tags: Mike Huckabee, politics, election 2008, 2008 election, Bill O'Reilly, religion, delusion ...

BlogRush Adds Category For Atheists 2007-11-03 07:16:00 Now that BlogRush angered many atheist has greatly expanded their categories, adding one for atheists under the broader religion category, is it time to give them a second chance? As you may recall, BlogRush angered many atheist bloggers by dropping most of us from their network. Others dropped in solidarity with those who were booted. Now they've added a category for us. What do you think? Should we give BlogRush another try?The appeal of BlogRush is that it may bring more traffic our way. I realize that this did not work before, but I hold out hope that such a system could work. Under the newly revamped system, it looks as though the traffic would probably be more focused (in the atheism category). It also appears that we would no longer be expected to advertise Christian nonsense in the BlogRush widget. If this is accurate, it might be worth giving the service another try.Tags: BlogRush, atheism, atheist, blogging, blog traffic ...

Considering the High-Def Plunge: HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray 2007-11-03 06:12:00 As something of a film buff, I've been intrigued by recent developments in high definition programming, beginning with HDTV and now with high-definition content available in the form of DVD media. I collect DVDs for films I know I will watch again and again, and the availability of high-def players and media makes me think twice about buying standard definition DVDs. After all, why buy technology that will soon be obsolete when a superior technology is already available? And yet, I have not yet taken the high-def plunge and am reluctant to do so.We are in the midst of a high-def format war where two incompatible technologies, HD-DVD and Blu-ray, are competing to be the accepted standard to replace DVDs. This has created immense confusion for consumers and is often compared to the VHS vs. Beta debacle some of us recall. As a result, neither technology appears to be gaining much traction outside of enthusiasts.The tech enthusiast in me would love to jump into the fray. For less than $20 ... Dvd

Atheism and White Power 2007-11-02 07:15:00 Believe it or not, some white nationalist groups are showing signs of opening their doors to atheist members. Given that these groups are often regarded as an arm of the right-wing Christian extremist movement, I was shocked to discover discussions of atheism on one prominent white supremacist website. I'm even more shocked to think that nonbelievers might consider joining such groups.The Stormfront White Nationalist group first came to my attention when I received an e-mail from a former atheist blogger in North Mississippi (she's still an atheist but no longer blogging). She told me that there had been a Klan rally in her community and that she was visited the website listed on their literature to learn what she could about these extremists. This brought her to the Stormfront White Nationalist Community, where she discovered an atheism/agnosticism sub-forum in the theology forum. Could such hate groups actually have nonbelievers for members?The Ku Klux Klan was historically tied t ...

Words of Wisdom: Richard Dawkins 2007-11-01 05:45:00 Christianity, just as much as Islam, teaches children that unquestioned faith is a virtue. You don't have to make the case for what you believe. If somebody announces that it is part of his faith, the rest of society, whether of the same faith, or another, or of none, is obliged, by ingrained custom, to "respect" it without question; respect it until the day it manifests itself in a horrible massacre like the destruction of the World Trade Center, or the London or Madrid bombings. Then there is a great chorus of disownings, as clerics and "community leaders" (who elected them, by the way?) line up to explain that this extremism is a perversion of the "true" faith. But how can there be a perversion of faith, if faith, lacking objective justification, doesn't have any demonstrable standard to pervert?Richard Dawkins, The God DelusionTags: Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, faith, Christianity, Islam ...

Every Day Is Halloween For Christians 2007-10-31 05:43:00 A line from one of the many Halloween specials I've seen over the years has stuck with me: the idea that Halloween was thought to be the day of the year when the barrier between the world of the living and the spirit world was thinnest and most permeable. Silly to be sure, but I remember being impressed with the idea as a child. As an adult, I am amazed that Christians actually believe this sort of thing. They take their bibles literally, worshiping a zombie and confident that angels and demons are locked in battle for their souls. Every day must be like Halloween!Let me say at the outset that I am convinced that a large number of so-called Christians do not actually believe much of what their bible tells them they are supposed to believe. They call themselves Christians, attend church, and engage in the occasional religious ritual for reasons other than belief. Maybe they do it to belong and be accepted. Maybe they do it because that was how they were raised and going through the mot ...

Superstition Reigns Supreme in America 2007-10-30 05:40:00 How about a short horror story in time for Halloween? The true ones are always the most terrifying, so this one will be true. In August of 2007, The Barna Group completed a nationwide telephone survey of 1,000 American adults, selected at random and weighted to reflect demographic trends. The results are quite chilling.A report of the results can be found here. Among the findings, which serve as this brief horror tale, are the following:Americans are confident in the truth of many biblical stories. In fact, two of three adults accept the literal truth of six well-known biblical stories.The story most likely to be accepted as being "literally true" (i.e., as occurring exactly as described in scripture) was "the story of Jesus Christ rising from the dead, after being crucified and buried." A full 75% of respondents said that they interpreted this story literally, including 68% of college graduates.The tale of Daniel in the lion's den was accepted as literal truth by 65% of American adul ... America

What It Would Take For Me To Believe 2007-10-29 05:36:00 Christians are fond of asking atheists what it would take for them to believe in a god of some variety. Some are simply curious; others are convinced that asking this question will highlight the atheist's close-minded nature. Unfortunately, many atheists step in a trap of some variety as they try to answer this question without thinking it through ahead of time. I offer my response to this question below to satisfy Christian curiosity and help atheists avoid some of the common traps.When a Christian asks, "What would it take for you to believe," he or she is really asking, "What would it take for you to believe in the particular god in which I believe?" Many atheists miss this, failing to require the Christian to define what it is that they want to know my requirements for believing. By skipping this vital step, the atheist guarantees that misunderstanding will later result. Do not assume that you know what the Christian is asking about. In fact, it is unlikely that they know what the ...

BBC Notes "Atheist Moment" in America 2007-10-28 10:30:00 Of the many things I appreciate about the Internet, one near the top of the list is the ease of obtaining international news. Mainstream American media outlets do a terrible job of covering what is happening in the world, preferring instead to regale us with pointless "news" of Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, and Paris Hilton. I am particularly interested in reading about how America is perceived from the perspective of other countries. A story on BBC News recently caught my interest. It appears that they've noticed our "atheist moment."Tim Egan's article notes that America, "one of the most religious countries in the West," is experiencing a surge of doubt.It may be daring to say it but America seems to be experiencing an atheist moment. Although "In God We Trust" was declared the national motto by an act of Congress more than 50 years ago and has been stamped on the currency for longer than that, some considerable doubt has developed of late.That the United States is experiencing re ... America

Carnival of the Godless at Greta Christina's 2007-10-28 08:06:00 Carnival of the Godless #78 is now up at Greta Christina's Blog in the form of an extra spooky haunted house edition just in time for Halloween. It is a big one, full of sweet godless reading sure to rot your teeth, so make sure you check it out.Tags: godless, blog carnival, Carnival of the Godless, atheism, secular, Halloween ...