Misguided?

From Atheist billboards are misguided by Jan Ainsworth:

In their latest poster campaign, Ariane Sherine and members of the British Humanist Association appear to have decided that it is a Very Bad Thing that parents might try and bring up their children within a religious or philosophical framework of their choosing. They suggest it is wholly unacceptable that anyone might suggest that their own child might belong to a particular religion.

While I know I risk offending the loyal and noble readers of Cif here, I genuinely can't believe that people actually donated good money to spend on billboard advertising that proposes such a misguided and patronising argument.

It is telling that Sherine resorts to quoting Richard Dawkins when she needs to find someone to explain the rationale for the campaign: "Children are routinely labelled with the religion of their parents", Dawkins suggests. By who, exactly? And if the answer is by their parents, who are the BHA to tell them to stop?

It is surely central to the role of a parent, whether committed to a religious faith or not, to want to pass on to their child the things they value most, the beliefs and world view that shape how they live. It is also consistent with that role to want to have those beliefs and world view acknowledged and affirmed as part of their children's education.

Read the rest here.

Why does this seem to bother Jan Ainsworth so much? Her spurious arguments and reasoning can simply be reversed and used to support Ariane Sherine and to denigrate herself. Of course this would be as useless and as pointless as what Ainsworth is trying to do. Yes, people should have freedom of religion. People also should have freedom of speech. If Sherine wants to spend money to express herself, then who is Jan Ainsworth to tell her to stop? All of this seems so pointless.

Speaking from personal experience, what matters the most to me about this issue is that people can end up getting hurt. If the child makes the choice to turn to another religion, or to atheism, there is immense potential for things to get very ugly.

The indoctrination of a child into a religion puts the child who doesn’t believe in their parent’s religion in a terrible position. The child must choose between what he/she sees as the truth, and his or her parents. Were his parents lying to him, or simply misguided? This is not an easy thing to deal with. The more that the religion defines who the parents are, the harder it is for the non-believing child.

This also puts the parents in a terrible position. If they truly believe, then their child will suffer for being a nonbeliever. Look out below, my kid’s going to hell.

I realize that some parents may be able to respect the wishes of their child to not believe as they do. However, simply by definition, their religion will not allow them to see their child as whole anymore. God will not accept him anymore. If they truly believe, then how can they accept him anymore? To me, this is absolutely monstrous. I find all of this to be very hard to put into words adequately, so I hope that some sense of what I mean is coming through.

Religious people claim to be compassionate. To me, they never seem to be very compassionate when this issue is brought up.

Oh, and it’s even worse if the child is gay or has had an abortion.

Before I go, here is one final quibble. Why the hell does Ainsworth write: “It is telling that Sherine resorts to quoting Richard Dawkins when she needs to find someone to explain…” Why is this “telling?” Could someone tell me? The only reason I can think of for Ainsworth to write this is because it comes off as some kind of insult directed towards Ariane Sherine. Poor woman, she can’t think for herself, she has to quote Dawkins. Yet, it’s not an insult to say that she quoted Dawkins, is it? I hate it when people do this kind of thing. It serves no useful purpose. Is it telling when Ainsworth quotes from the Bible? (I assume that she does, frequently.)

Why Do Atheists Care?

From God doesn't believe in atheists by Jack Chapman:

I noticed people who claim to be atheists always get upset whenever Christians have a National Day of Prayer, or set up a nativity scene somewhere, or maybe even say “God bless you.”

I even read a couple of weeks ago that some atheists are being “de-baptized.”
These are people who once believed in God, accepted him, then decided he doesn’t exist.

That has me wondering: Why do they care? Why waste their time if they believe our belief doesn’t exist? What’s so offensive about that?

It’s because every atheist deep down inside knows there is a God, they are mad at him and want to fight him with every bone in their body. Sad, isn’t it?

But there is good news, God doesn’t believe in atheists.

Obviously, Mr. Chapman doesn’t believe in listening. He seems to have never listened to any atheists at any time in his life. He also seems to not listen to himself. Otherwise, why would he write anything as stupid as this?

Why do we care? I’ll give a two word answer. Arrogant assholes. Arrogant assholes like Jack Chapman who presume to know what we think. Who don’t believe us, actually they refuse to believe us. According to the arrogant assholes we are not only wrong to not believe in God, we actually believe in God!

Mr. Chapman, I could ask you the same questions. Why do you care what atheists say and do? Why are you wasting your time on atheists? And the question that confuses me, what is so offensive about believing your beliefs don’t exist?

Mr. Chapman, you are correct that some atheists are angry. However, we are not angry at something that does not exist. That would be rather foolish. We are angry at arrogant assholes. Arrogant assholes who say that belief trumps logic when it comes to what our laws should say, when it comes to the appointment of our judges, when it comes to voting for our politicians, and when it comes to what should be taught in our schools.

Mr. Chapman, you should try a little empathy. Try to put yourself in the shoes of an atheist and you may gain a little insight. You give the examples of a National Day of Prayer, a nativity scene, and the expression “God bless you.” Use your imagination. How would you feel about a National Day of something you do not believe in, little statues put up once a year in honor of martians, and people saying “May the flying spaghetti monster grace you” every time that you sneeze? Do you think that this would be silly? If you do, then you are beginning to understand the atheists' point of view. Thank you for that.

Mr. Chapman, if you do believe in God, why do you insist on making your God into an idiot? After all, atheists do exist. For God to not believe in atheists would really be rather stupid of him, wouldn’t it?

“Cussing! God isn’t real!”

From Anti-atheist prejudice widespread in America by Zac Smith:

Americans find atheists a particularly repugnant minority. According to Gallup, they are more disliked than any other major religious group, with the exception of Scientologists.

Research by Gallup also indicates the majority of Americans would not vote for a well-qualified atheistic presidential candidate. Even a gay candidate, the data suggest, would face less formidable discrimination.

But what is it about atheists that makes the American public revile them so intensely?

To illustrate anecdotally, in 2007, a Sunday-school teacher asked a class of fifth and sixth graders to draw a Christian and a non-Christian. One student drew his Christian as a cheerful-looking man holding a cross and declaring, “I LOVE GOD!!”

His non-Christian was unkempt, tattooed, covered in piercings, holding a bottle of “drugs” in one hand and displaying angry eyebrows. His speech balloon read, “Cussing! God isn’t real!”

This is, to my observation, actually a pretty accurate depiction of the popularly perceived dichotomy between theistic and atheistic character. The atheist is beheld as a hopeless individual roaming a world which, devoid of gods, is without purpose or potential for the morality that would ward him away from swilling down bottles of “drugs.”

Read the rest here.

Question The Existence Of God

From Thomas Jefferson: “Atheist and Leveler From Virginia” by Nick Gier:

As we celebrate Thomas Jefferson's 266th birthday this week, we need to be reminded about what a controversial figure he was. In the election of 1800 he was called "that atheist and leveler from Virginia."

Alexander Hamilton was so committed to preventing "an atheist in religion and a fanatic in politics from getting possession of the helm of state" that he urged New York governor John Jay to block Jefferson's election.

During the 1800 election campaign, rumors were spread that, if elected president, Jefferson would confiscate all the Bibles in the land and replace them with his own version, one in which all references to miracles and the Resurrection were deleted.

Jefferson was convinced that Jesus was a deist just as he was, and that the early Church had added unnecessary supernatural events to his life and teachings.

In a 1801 letter to Moses Robinson Jefferson wrote that "the Christian religion, when divested of the rags in which they have enveloped it, and brought to the original purity and simplicity of its benevolent instructor, is a religion of all others most friendly to liberty, science, and the freest expansion of the human mind."

Jefferson believed the propagation of religious dogma was the cause of much evil in the world, and he was convinced that reason alone could guide the moral life. In a 1787 letter Jefferson had this piece of advice for his nephew Peter Carr: "Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of God."

Read the rest here.

Godless Atheists Threaten Christian Civilization

The Godless Carders Association

Grinch This!

From The Atheists Who Try to Steal Christmas by Mary Grabar:

Tis the season. . . for atheist Grinches to display their hatred of Christmas by trying to stomp out one of the most visible displays of Christianity in a country founded, and still operating on, Judeo-Christian principles.

Good God Almighty! First of all, why would atheists want to steal something they don’t want? What would an atheist do with Christmas once he stole it? Contrary to popular belief, most atheists are very moral people and would never think of stealing anything.

Mary Grabar gets it, and doesn’t get it, all in one short sentence: “… to display their hatred of Christmas by trying to stomp out one of the most visible displays of Christianity…”. Many atheists dislike, even hate, Christmas because of its incessant visibility. Some atheists simply want equal time. Some, like me, would be happier without Christmas. After all, the true meaning of Christmas is the celebration of the birth of the son of God. Again, Good God Almighty, why would an atheist possibly object to that?

How idiotic is it to write of “Judeo-Christian principles” while trying to defend the righteousness of Christmas?

How many times will “good” Christians ('You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.') repeat the lie that the United States was founded as a Christian nation?

In Fighting Words For A Secular America Robin Morgan says it better than I will ever be able to:

The Declaration of Independence contains not one word on religion, basing its authority on the shocking idea that power is derived from ordinary people, which challenged European traditions of rule by divine right and/or heavenly authority. (Remember, George III was king of England and anointed head of its church.)

The words “Nature’s God,” the “Creator” and “divine Providence ” do appear in the Declaration. But in its context — an era, and author, Thomas Jefferson, that celebrated science and the Enlightenment — these words are analogous to our contemporary phrase “life force.”

Jerry Falwell notoriously blamed 9/11 on “pagans, abortionists, feminists, gays and lesbians … [and other groups] who have tried to secularize America.” He’s a bit late: In 1798, Alexander Hamilton accused Jefferson of a “conspiracy to establish atheism on the ruins of Christianity” in the new republic. Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence William Boykin thunders, “We’re a Christian nation.”

But the 1796 Treaty of Tripoli — initiated by George Washington and signed into law by John Adams — proclaims: “The Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian Religion.”

Click on the link above (or this one right here) and read the quotes that Robin Morgan has gathered together from Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison.

To pick one, here is Thomas Paine:

Of all the systems of religion that ever were invented, there is no more derogatory to the Almighty, more unedifying to man, more repugnant to reason, and more contradictory in itself than this thing called Christianity.

Religious people wonder why atheists are so angry. One answer is people like Mary Grabar. I try very hard to be civil when I write about this topic, however it takes every bit of restraint that my body and mind possess to refrain from hurling every epithet of a cursing nature that I know of at people like Mary Grabar. And like any good American, I know quite a few.

There are fifteen paragraphs in her article. I’ve only written about the first one, as well as the idiotic title. Will the future bring fourteen more posts from me about what an idiot Mary Grabar is?

Update:
I just found this. Last year Jillian at Sadly, No! proposed a new verb:

Grabar (vi): To ramble incoherently on a topic about which you know nothing, esp. in a manner possibly offensive to listeners, most often while in a state of extreme intoxication or other cognitive impairment. “Dude, you so totally grabared at the party yesterday that my girlfriend doesn’t want me hanging out with you anymore.”

Who You Calling Intolerant?

Merriam-Webster defines intolerance as “unwilling to grant equal freedom of expression especially in religious matters.” So, when freedom of expression is granted equally in Olympia, Washington; why is it that the atheists are the ones who are intolerant?

From Intolerant Atheists Post Sign Next to Baby Jesus:

An intolerant atheist group unveils an anti-religion placard in the Washington state capitol building, joining a Christian nativity scene and holiday tree on display during December....

Atheists Do More Than Just Vote

As I’ve pointed out before, atheists vote. (If you follow the link, trust me, the part about atheists voting is in there somewhere.) They also make political contributions.

From Dole's mistake: 'Godless' ad drove donors, voters to Hagan by Lisa Zagaroli:

It's no surprise to Steve Lowe that being an atheist is considered taboo.

But when the head of the Washington Area Secular Humanists saw Sen. Elizabeth Dole's "godless" campaign ad, he did something he'd done only once before — he sent money to a political candidate.

Turns out, Sen.-elect Kay Hagan got 3,600 contributions within 48 hours of Dole airing of the controversial ad, which centered on Hagan's attendance at a fund-raiser at the Boston home of someone active in the atheist community. The Democrat from Greensboro had immediately used the "godless" ad as an e-mail fund-raising tool, and it paid off.

"I told Hagan's campaign, 'This is the reason you're getting money from me — I want you to know this is not hurting you, this has helped you,'" said Lowe said, who gave $50 to Hagan and called Dole, R-N.C., several times to complain.

Lowe, the Washington atheist, said he gave money unsolicited because he was upset that Dole would suggest a candidate was unqualified or "unworthy" due to associating with people who don't believe in God.

"It was so offensive to me," said Lowe, who was unveiling an unrelated ad campaign with other atheist leaders Tuesday at the National Press Club.

In that campaign, Washington buses will have signs that say, "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake."

You can read about one groups reaction to those bus ads here, where the concept of irony seems to have not occurred to the chairman of a group called In God We Trust. He attacks the bus ads claiming that they “are a deliberate attack on American traditions, beliefs and customs.” What could be more American than freedom of speech? In God we trust, and God said that atheists don’t have freedom of speech.

Those Damn Humanist Braggarts

From UN Affiliated Atheist Group Launches Ad Campaign Targeting God and Christmas:

The national advocacy group In God We Trust today blasted the atheist American Humanist Association for its ad campaign mocking the Christmas holiday and American's who believe in God. The ad campaign asks, "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness sake," and will be placed on Washington, DC city buses.

"These ads are a deliberate attack on American traditions, beliefs and customs by a United Nation's affiliated group that espouses a radical anti-American agenda and is funded by a zealot who believes that the U.S. is a backwards nation full of imbeciles," says In God We Trust Chairman Council Nedd.

The American Humanist Association brags on its website that it is an official U.N. Non Governmental Organization (NGO) and works with the U.N.'s Department of Public Information. According to the AHA, its mission is to, "Support and promote the work of the United Nations, actively engage in lobbying for the UN and our own organization's objectives with our national governments . . ."

Does God tell these people to resort to name calling? Or do they think of that particular Christian value all on their own?

"This ad campaign is yet another attempt by America-hating snobs to mock and attack our nation's traditions and culture" says Nedd. "The AHA is not some harmless little atheist group. These people hate America and they are working with our nation's enemies to attack our heritage."

Oh ye of little faith. Oh ye of so much fear.

Tolerance Doesn't Mean Submission

From What is an “atheist community”? by PZ Myers:

One of the essentials of community building is the construction of principles of tolerance. We don't have to agree with each other on everything, nor can we, and as we all know, freethinkers are going to be especially diverse and fractious. Learn to take the best that each subset of us offers — you do not have to swallow all of the Communist party line to see that some of what they say is useful. You do not have to be a member of the RRS to see that we share some common goals, and that we can work together. Heck, there are Christians who share some of our goals (secular government, religious liberty, good science education, and so forth), and we can and must work together with them. And at the same time, as skeptics and science-minded people, the principles of tolerance we adopt are going to have to include frank disagreement and criticism of ourselves and others. That should be a central part of who we are, that we do not muzzle our ideas and that we can go up to our fellow atheists and say, "you're wrong" on just about anything, but without simultaneously implying that they're going to be ostracized from the community.

Religious Display

From Capitol to display Nativity scene, atheist sign:

State officials have authorized permits for two holiday-season displays this year.

One is a Nativity scene from Olympia-area realty agent Ron Wesselius, who sued last year over the issue and then won a legal settlement allowing his display.

The other is a 30-by-30 inch placard from the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Coalition, which plans to offer a nonreligious perspective.

The placard will carry a message similar to one put up in the Wisconsin statehouse the past 12 years, AnnieLaurie Gaylor, co-president of the organization, said Monday

That placard said: “At this season of the Winter Solstice, may reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell.

“There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”

Read the rest here.

"Pick boogers and of course, pray if they choose"

In boogers we trust.

From Atheist Family in Texas Challenging Neutrality of a 'Moment Of Silence' by Nikki W:

The neutrality of a mandatory Texas law that requires all students take a minute of silence every morning to reflect, meditate, pray or engage in whatever silent activity they wish is under attack. This time, its round 2 by a family of Atheists.

Created to allow all individuals an opportunity to do what it is they want to do, quietly, during that mandatory "one minute" time frame following the Pledge of Allegiance, the 2003 legislature is once again under attack for what is said to be a waste of time.

A family who lives in a suburb of Dallas, TX has filed an appeal to a lawsuit they actually filed but failed at victory back in January of this year. The judge presiding over the case found no evidence that the minute of silence, required in all Texas public schools, had any kind of religious foundation.

Read the rest (including the part about the boogers) here.

Without God On Their Side

From Atheist group sues Bush over national prayer day by Scott Bauer:

The nation's largest group of atheists and agnostics is suing President Bush, the governor of Wisconsin and other officials over the federal law designating a National Day of Prayer.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation sued Friday in U.S. district court, arguing that the president's mandated proclamations calling on Americans to pray violates a constitutional ban on government officials endorsing religion.

The day of prayer, held each year on the first Thursday of May, creates a "hostile environment for nonbelievers, who are made to feel as if they are political outsiders," the lawsuit said.

Read the rest here.

Visit The Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Niche Dating Sites Thrive Online

From Pet-Loving Atheist Seeks Green Geek by Ki Mae Heussner:

Forget tall, dark and handsome. Try geeky, wealthy and Wiccan.

As the online dating marketplace continues to flourish, up sprout more and more sites that cater to nearly every belief system, hobby and lifestyle.

Are you a hardcore sci-fi fan? Trek Passions might be for you. Interested in meeting other atheists? Try Free Thinker Match. Hung up on horse lovers? Maybe you'll find Mr. or Ms. Right at Equestrian Cupid.

According to Internet traffic monitor Hitwise, the top-five dating sites enjoy about 46 percent of the market share. But literally hundreds of niche sites populate the rest of the online dating world, including services for vegetarians, farmers, plus size singles, geeks, golfers, Wiccans, bikers, the goth community, the incarcerated and the very wealthy.

Religulousosity

Bill Maher gets religulous.

From Bill Maher takes on religion for laughs -- and more:

Bill Maher has taken his crusade against religion to the big screen.

Maher, who has been picking on organized religion for years on his TV shows "Politically Incorrect" and "Real Time," zealously traveled the world for "Religulous," his documentary challenging the validity and value of Christian, Jewish and Islamic faiths.

Raised in a Roman Catholic household by a Catholic father and Jewish mother, Maher decided at an early age that the trappings and mythology of the world's religions were preposterous, outdated and even dangerous.

"Religulous," directed by fellow doubter Larry Charles ("Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan"), is intended to inspire similar skepticism in others -- and perhaps get nonbelievers to talk more openly about their lack of faith.

Read the rest here.

Surprise, surprise. Some Catholics don’t like it that Bill Maher got religulous.

From Bill Maher’s Ridiculous Religulous by Rev. Robert Barron:

It seems that every time I turn on the television, I hear the comedian Bill Maher bad-mouthing religion. In the last several years, Maher has appeared dozens of times on Larry King’s show, where he consistently mocks the beliefs of religious people, especially Christians. Well, he’s come out with a new documentary film on his favorite subject, and he’s called it, subtly enough, Religulous. I had the opportunity to see an advance screeing of the movie last week in a theatre on the near north side of Chicago. Please don’t go to see it — and I say this for two reasons. First, it’s a mindless and utterly unpersuasive attack on religious faith, and second, it’s remarkably unfunny. Religulous is basically a one-joke movie: put Bill Maher in the presence of simple-minded folks and let the clever comedian take apart their beliefs. This might have worked as a five-minute sketch, but twenty minutes into the movie, I was gazing at my watch in boredom. Practically all of Maher’s interlocutors — Christian fundamentalists, anti-evolutionists, a holocaust-denying rabbi, or even a man who thought he was the re-incarnation of Jesus — had in common a complete intellectual incapacity to deal with the standard objections that the comedian raised. Again and again, I found myself muttering, “Come on, Maher, pick on someone your own size.”

Read the rest here.

Which Is It?

No there isn’t a god:

I spent hours on a post that lists all of the billionaires in the world that are United States citizens. It is a royal pain to try to post a table in Blogger. Table this, mono-space font that, tab this, preformat that. Nothing I tried worked. My readership had been trending down lately, so I figured I’d post it anyway, even if it did look like crap, no one is going to see it. A commenter calls me a fool.

Yes there is a god:

My billionaire post is responsible for more readers coming to my site than I have seen in months. And the day isn’t even half over. A commenter calls me a fool.

Neither:

I remain a faithful atheist dog.

"Neither" Makes No Sense:

Yet, I remain a faithful atheist dog.

"We've only been flipped off like twice"

From Atheists read religious texts for charity by Erin Rowley:

Nat Jackson read passages from the Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster Saturday to crowds walking past the Allen Street Gates.

Before reading verses about how the Spaghetti Monster created the universe, he put on a black eye patch, the required attire for the Spaghetti Monster's believers.

That text was one of more than a dozen religious books -- including the Bible and the Quran -- put on display by the Penn State Atheist and Agnostic Association, of which Jackson (senior-anthropology) is president. Passersby could donate money in return for hearing club members read aloud from the book of their choice.

The "Bible-A-Thon" raised about $503, which will go to Doctors Without Borders, an organization that brings medical care to people worldwide.

Club members manned their table of religious texts from 9 a.m. to about 7:15 p.m. Some of them held up signs that read, "Make atheists read the Bible."

Read the rest here.

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Justin Is Not Making The Noodly Leap

This is fucking retarded

Damn atheists!

At Least He's Not An Atheist

From Zamora: 'I kill for God' by Moses Mendoza and Vanessa Ho:

Isaac Zamora, accused in the deaths of six people, says he kills for God.

"I kill for God. I listen to God," Zamora said twice Friday, his first public words after being arrested in the killings of a deputy, two neighbors, two construction workers and a motorist.

Read the rest here.

Schools Are No Place For Imagination

We can’t have our children becoming creative. We can’t encourage them to think for themselves. What would they be like as adults? What would they be like as voters?

From 'Imagine No Religion' signs to go up around town by Astrid Galvan:

A national organization that promotes freedom from religion and separation of church and state is hoping to get Phoenix commuters talking with five controversial billboard ads that will go up this week.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, based in Madison, Wis., paid advertising company CBS Outdoor to put up five signs that read "Imagine No Religion."

The message on the billboards will start to go up Monday and will remain there for a month, said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Phoenix will be the first city to have as many as five signs.

But getting the billboards up did not come without hurdles.

The five sites chosen by the organization were changed after CBS Outdoor said they had to be 1,000 feet from any schools or churches, Gaylor said.

The site locations were finalized late last week, and CBS Outdoor was not available for comment over the weekend.

The organization, comprised of 12,000 atheist or agnostic members, aims to promote free thought and separation of church and state.

The billboards debuted last year in Madison and have made their way to cities like Columbus, Ohio, and Seattle.

A billboard reading "Keep Religion OUT of Politics" is currently displayed in Denver and will remain there throughout the Democratic National Convention.

So far, Gaylor said, there has been little opposition to the billboards, and she doesn't anticipate any issues in Phoenix.

"The free thought movement has never been stronger in this country," she said.

Read the rest here.

The free thought movement may be getting stronger, but freedom of speech sure seems to be having more and more restrictions placed on it all the time.

Now I need to go and try to figure out what it was about this news item that caught my eye in the first place.

Visit The Freedom From Religion Foundation.