Funny And Upsetting At The Same Time

Five things that atheists don’t want you to know:

This is an experiment in PuffHo/BuzzFeed/Thrillist clickbaiting. So, here goes:  “Five Things That We Atheists Don’t Want You to Know About Us.”

If you are curious, then click the above link. It's worth your time. You need to see it, to see what I think is funny. Kudos to Jerry Coyne. I think he might have another career as a humorist specializing in parody.

The reason I think that this is upsetting is because it is all too real.

On the one hand is the fact that some people (too many people) actually believe the five things.

On the other hand is the fact that there are way too many internet sites that use all kinds of gimmicks to try to get people to their site, and click, click, click... Sites like these make me run, not stay. (10 Things To Improve Your Sex Life.) I don't bookmark them. I really hate the techniques that they use. Jerry Coyne mentions three sites. There are probably thousands and things seem to be getting worse. Thank Ceiling Cat for Mr. Coynes site. It tends to be very civil there, and it actually has words that you can read. Lots of them. I don't know how he does it.

Let's set content aside for a moment. There are some horrible religious and right-wing sites out there. I mean this from a design perspective. Pop-up crap, java-script crap (I don't go to marketwatch.com anymore because without java-scipt all you see is a blank page), ads and other stuff that gets in the way so much it becomes hard to find the content. Another thing that is irksome are pages that refresh every half second. Also all kind of moving things that take your attention away from everything else. I find it hard to read when something on the page is moving. Things slide out from the side, and things slide out from the bottom. This is all very annoying to say the least. When I look at the content I tend to think that it's all crap as well, but that's another story.

Many religious and right-wing sites are full of ads that simply promote themselves. As an example try Anne Coulter or Rush Limbaugh. Gee, you would think that the world revolved around them.

Try religionnews.com or rightsidenews.com to see an example of an annoying pop-up that wants you to subscribe to them. To be fair religious and right-wing sites are not the only ones to do this.

I wonder how many people are driven away from a site because of its bad design?

How did Google ever become successful without all of this crap, I'll never know.

Other than mine, do you have a unfavorite crappy site suggestion that fits this description?

Growing Secularist Voting Bloc

Atheists Will Assemble Outside GOP Presidential Debate to Protest and Make This Key Demand:

Atheist activists are planning a demonstration outside of the Republican presidential debate in Iowa on Thursday evening, where they will publicly demand “a separation of religion from government,” according to a press release announcing secularists’ intentions.

The protest, which will be held outside of the Iowa Events Center — the site of the final GOP debate before the caucuses — is intended to help bring about awareness of the issues that atheist, agnostic and “non-theist” voters care about, while also touting free speech.

The tagline for the event is, “Keep Your Theocracy Out of Our Democracy.”

Rory Moe of the Central Iowa Coalition of Reason said that demonstrators hope to shed light on a growing, secularist voting bloc.

Jerry Coyne On Atheists, Antitheists, And Humanists

Self-abasing atheist at the Guardian calls atheism is a “leap of faith”:

Failure to accept gods is no more a leap of faith than is doubting the existence of the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, or Santa Claus. It’s not “faith” when you refuse to accept a proposition for which there’s no evidence.

In general I agree with Oluo’s thesis that atheism usually jibes with a liberal outlook. Many conservative political views derive at bottom from religion. And there’s a lot of evidence that religion is often an outgrowth of social injustice: the heart of a heartless world. Ergo, if you’re an antitheist and want to work towards the abolition of faith, one way to do that is to improve the lives of the impoverished and dispossessed.

But not all atheists are antitheists, and not all of them accept the connection between social well-being and nonbelief. Atheism is simply the refusal to accept supernatural deities, and there are plenty of conservative atheists. The view that this life is all we have, and that we should help our fellow creatures, is not atheism but humanism.

Would Jesus Practice Vandalism?

Atheists Are Really Sad Because People Keep Vandalizing Their Adopt-A-Highway Sign, You Guys Via @dailycaller:

The Adopt-A-Highway sign heralding a stretch of road occasionally cleaned by a California atheist group has been defaced for a second time in the last three weeks.

The most recent act of vandalism to the sign sponsored by Atheists United San Luis Obispo occurred last week. An unknown perpetrator sawed the sign off its posts and painted over the first letter and the last letters of “Atheists.”

Thus, after the vandalism, the all-caps word “ATHEISTS” was transformed to “THEIST.”

Members of heathen group say they refuse to be intimidated by someone causing damage to their highway sign on the southbound side of Highway 101 near Atascadero, Calif.

“Despite this act of vandalism, AU SLO remains dedicated to making it acceptable to be a non-believer in this county,” group president Steven Arkowitz said is a press release sent to The Daily Caller.

These vandals are simply proving what many atheists already know, that morals and ethics are not exclusive to the religious.

Atheists can do good. I won't comment on the vandals.

I'm not sure why this is on The Daily Caller. Also, it's weird that they have a "poll" question at the bottom: "Does The Highway Sign Deserve To Get Vandalized?"

I think that The Daily Caller thinks that the sign is alive.

Crazy Christians Will Blame This On Atheists

Oregon shooter said to have singled out Christians for killing in ‘horrific act of cowardice’:

Investigators including cyber experts and hate crime specialists peered Friday into the life of a 26-year-old gunman whose massacre across an Oregon campus may have been driven by religious rage and a fascination with the twisted notoriety of high-profile killers.

What is known so far about the attacker — identified by a U.S. law enforcement official as Chris Harper Mercer — appear only as loose strands that suggested an interest in firearms and the infamy gained by mass shooters.

Witnesses also said he seemed to seek specific revenge against Christians, and police examined Web posts that hinted of wider antipathy toward organized faith.

Crazy Christians will also mention Joeseph Stalin and use this as an example of religious persecution.

Get Out Of My Foxhole You Atheists

Does the Navy Need an Atheist Chaplain?:

An avowed secular atheist and member of the Humanist Society stood in court recently and asked to have his group recognized as a religious organization, so he could serve as a Navy chaplain. What the court did not hear is that the Humanist Society is part of the American Humanist Association, an atheist organization that publicly mocks all religious beliefs.

For soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines who need it, chaplains perform religious services, pray on the battlefield, ensure access to religious Scripture, and provide religious comfort to the men and women in the field and to their families back at home. These atheists cannot do that.

Of course, if you are an atheist serving in the Navy you might not want any of the mumbo jumbo of a religious chaplain.

Jesus Would Yell "You're Fired"!

‘Southern Atheist’:

As one Pew Research Center study showed, the percentage of American Christians is on the decline, from 78.4 percent in 2007 to 70.6 percent in 2014, and the number of religiously unaffiliated Americans, including atheists, is steadily growing (from 16.1 percent to 22.8 percent in that same time).

In much of America, tolerance rules, but in some communities, especially in the Bible Belt, churches can still compel conformity in ways that make atheism a very costly choice. As we have followed the topic, we have met young people estranged from their families and others fired from their jobs. Perhaps most poignant for us are the people we’ve met who sit quietly in the pews every Sunday, pretending to share in a faith they do not have. The time we have spent with Mr. DeWitt has helped us to see that the freedom of religion we cherish in this country is meaningless — unless it is accompanied by an equally valid freedom from it.

You're Stupid! No, You're Stupid!

Norm Macdonald Slams 'Unfunny' Bill Maher, 'Hack' Atheists:

Comedian Norm Macdonald uttered some unpopular opinions for liberal Hollywood, slamming "hack" atheists and mocking Bill Maher as "unfunny." The Saturday Night Live alum talked to The Hollywood Reporter and derided Los Angeles elitists: "Oh, just the smugness. There are a lot more hack 'smart' comedians nowadays and atheist comedians. It's so dull."

In the September 1 article, he added, "To be talking about being an atheist living in West Hollywood is not the bravest stance to take. If a guy went up and said, 'Jesus Christ is our lord and savior,' I’d say, 'Damn, that guy’s brave!'"

I think that many people think that Norm Macdonald is an unfunny, dull, smug, hack comedian.

Let's all just call each other names and then pretend that we've actually accomplished something.

What Is It About Georgia?

The Freedom From Religion Foundation sure has been busy lately. I'm impressed.

Atheist Group Accuses Georgia Football Coach of Forcing Christianity on Players in 'Pray to Play' Report:

Mark Richt, the head football coach at the University of Georgia, responded to an allegation made by the Freedom From Religion Foundation group that he and his brother-in-law Kevin "Chappy" Hynes, a chaplain for the team, force their Christian beliefs onto the football players.

"We're at a secular university, I understand that. I don't try to make anyone believe a certain way at all,"The Telegraph quoted Richt as saying. "Anything that has to do with the spirit is strictly voluntary and never has any bearing on someone's availability to play at Georgia. It's always been that way."

FFRF has accused the coach of using his position to impose Christianity on the college team players and thereby violating church-state separation. "Some coaches think that students need to be Christian in order to be good people," FFRF stated in a report titled, Pray to Play, on coaches and chaplains who allegedly force their faith on players at U.S. public universities.

I blame Tim Tebow for all of this. WWJD? Jesus would play football, and Jesus would have a website with the URL jesus.com if he could manage to buy the domain name from the people who beat him to it. WWFSMD?

Believe it or not, there is a radio station with the call letters WWJD. It broadcasts in a Contemporary Christian music format.

All Christians Are In Jail

The evil atheists and the evil government have decided that Christianity is illegal. All Christians have been jailed.

Pastor asks atheist critics of Georgia school football team's mass baptism: 'When did it become illegal to say I'm a Christian?':

The pastor of the First Baptist Church in Villa Rica, Georgia, has responded to a group of atheists who denounced the mass baptism of the football coach and players of the Villa Rica High School, asking: "When did it become illegal to bow your head and pray? When did it become illegal to say I'm a Christian?"

The atheist organisation Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) verbally bashed the school after a video posted online last month showed the coach and players getting baptised before a football practice inside school property, claiming that the act was in violation of the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

Responding to the complaint, Kevin Williams, the pastor of First Baptist Church, said the baptism was voluntary. "We never meant to cause any problems for the school and we never thought we would get this much media attention for baptising kids," he said.

The church held a football-themed worship service called "Gridiron Day," an event in which a coach asked the church if he could be baptised on the football field.

"It was their choice to do that," Williams said. "We live in a free nation. People choose what they want. These people that got baptised freely chose at a church service to accept Christ and this was a follow-up to that."

Williams said he believes that "we live in a free country."

"These people that are trying to say you can't do that—well—they're taking away freedom. When did it become illegal to bow your head and pray? When did it become illegal to say I'm a Christian?" he said.

Actually, I wish it were illegal to be so stupid and deceitful.

Thems Fightin Words

Fight Ensues as Atheists Attack College Football Teams for Promoting Evangelical Christianity:

The American Center for Law and Justice has vowed that it will be fighting back against the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the atheist group that has issued a damning report on American college football teams which it says are promoting evangelical Christianity.

"Here at the ACLJ, we are fighting back. We are preparing comprehensive legal letters to let each of these college football programs know what their constitutional rights are," the conservative law group said in a statement on Thursday.

"We are fighting the angry atheist attacks on every front. We are standing up for the Constitution and for the religious rights of football players from coast to coast as the new season begins," it added, linking to a petition in support of its cause seeking to "defend religious freedom" on campuses.

This is tiresome. These people are either liars or extremely ignorant. They are probably both. It is sickening that they are taken seriously by so many.

Many others, including myself, have posted about these issues before. Headline Bias is one example from me.

The words of Thomas Jefferson always seem to need repeating:

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God; that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship; that the legislative powers of the government reach actions only, and not opinions,-I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore man to all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties.

Christopher Hitchens as well:

We keep on being told that religion, whatever its imperfections, at least instills morality. On every side, there is conclusive evidence that the contrary is the case and that faith causes people to be more mean, more selfish, and perhaps above all, more stupid.

How dismal it is to see present day Americans yearning for the very orthodoxy that their country was founded to escape.

I've said before that when the religious ain't got nuthin' else, they go ad hominem. In what seems to be a more recent development, they go ad hominem with fightin' words. Like I said, these people are either liars or extremely ignorant, and are probably both. They love to use deception. Examine the headline: Fight Ensues as Atheists Attack College Football Teams for Promoting Evangelical Christianity. Or this headline: Atheists Attack Top College Football Teams' Chaplains. "Atheist(sic) take aim at college chaplains."  Sounds like blood was spilled, shots were fired, faces were punched, all because of an unprovoked attack by militant and evil atheists. A swarm of atheists ran out on the football field and went berserk in the name of Joseph Stalin!

Because of a total lack of understanding of what the word equality means we must constantly be subjected to daily violent verbiage from the religious. They think that not getting their way means that they are persecuted.

"Faith causes people to be more mean, more selfish, and perhaps above all, more stupid." Notice that Hitchens included "more selfish". That is the heart of the matter with all of this. The Christians only care about themselves, the rest of us be damned.
 

More Shenanigans

I call shenanigans again.

For some reason I hear Monty Python in my head exclaiming: "Nobody expects the Atheist Taliban!"

Just as I finish one post about murderous, genocidal atheists; I discover that atheists are also devious and bullying.

Mayor’s Scathing Message About ‘Devious’ and ‘Bullying’ Atheists — and His Pledge Not to Back Down:

A New Mexico city isn’t backing down from a heated battle with an atheist activist group over the permanent presence of a nativity scene on public property, with the mayor of Belen issuing some harsh words for the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Mayor Jerah Cordova told TheBlaze on Thursday that he’s continuing to defend what he believes is a historical piece of art that reflects his city’s colorful history, taking pointed aim at activists’ handling of the contentious First Amendment debate.

“The FFRF has every right to believe what it wants. But so does Belen,” he said. “The FFRF’s tactics are designed to create conflict and division in communities across America. They stir up controversy where there had been none before for their own publicity and fundraising.”

And he wasn’t done there.

“I don’t understand why anyone would want to belong to such a devious group,” Cordova continued. ”I’m grateful to live in Belen, where we have a closeknit and united community that doesn’t put up with their style of bullying.”

When ya ain't got nuthin' else, you can always go ad hominem.

I Call Shenanigans

Words matter. It is deceitful to use a word to mean something it does not mean. Dave Armstrong should revisit the 8th commandment.

Dave Armstrong is a writer for Patheos. His bio is posted on his site. In part it says:

Dave Armstrong is a Catholic author and apologist, who has been actively proclaiming and defending Christianity since 1981, and Catholicism in particular since 1991...

Ted Cruz sees an "assault on faith", others see "militant atheists" and others see a need to "defend" Christianity. This here means war, I guess. I don't understand the need for all of these war words. Why does Christianity need defending? The dictionary gives one definition of defend as "to maintain or support in the face of argument or hostile criticism". I think that Christians need to convince themselves of their faith and that is the reason they become so defensive. By the way all of the above war labels like "militant atheist" come from the religious. Atheists do not define themselves in those terms. At least I haven't come across any that do. Most of us dislike those descriptions.

Later on Armstrong's bio says:

Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J.

It's kind of a low blow to emphasize a Catholic priest named Father Hardon, but I simply couldn't pass this by. Who says God doesn't have a sense of humour. Also, Dave seems rather proud of his association with Father Hardon. It seems to me that Father Hardon should have moved to Fucking, Austria. Either that or maybe a name change was in order. Sometimes it seems like The Onion is hacking other websites and sneaking in little tidbits. Or maybe sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

Enough of all this silliness.

I call shenanigans because of this:

My bottom line point in all this is that atheism requires as much faith as Christianity does...

No. No No. A thousand or more times no.  My dictionary defines an atheist as "a person who believes that God does not exist". Atheism does not require any faith, it requires a lack of faith, no faith at all. Faith does not exist in this equation.

Armstrong's post is all about how atheists didn't seem to realize that a previous post was sarcasm. It is a really strange and tedious rant.

Perhaps this is the strangest part:

Y’all need to lighten up! It’s satirical humor. Have you never read satire? Never watched Saturday Night Live or read the Harvard Lampoon or watched Monty Python or Stephen Colbert or listened to Rush Limbaugh? If so, did you take every word of those things literally (as mine were approached)?

Rush Limbaugh, satirist? I think that explains a lot.

I really hope that my writing is not as tedious as Dave Armstrong’s is. To each his own I suppose, but his style is very difficult to understand. Perhaps that is why he is complaining about all the atheists that misunderstood him.

The Boy Scouts Still Ban Atheists

I have read about the Boy Scouts and gays. I did not know about the Boy Scouts and atheists:

Last month, the Boy Scouts of America voted to eliminate their ban on gay scout leaders. This is of course a welcome change, but the Boy Scouts still ban atheists from their ranks. We want this ban to end, and we want you to help us!

Read more here if you want more information.

It seems that there are still things that need to change before the United States is truly about equality and freedom.

Thank God For Making Me An Atheist

Ricky Gervais: Why I’m an Atheist

Humbug

The definition of the word humbug is interesting.

Merriam-Webster gives these definitions:

1 a : something designed to deceive and mislead b : a willfully false, deceptive, or insincere person

2 : an attitude or spirit of pretense and deception

3 : nonsense, drivel

Wikipedia says this of the word:

Humbug is an old term meaning hoax or jest. While the term was first described in 1751 as student slang, its etymology is unknown. Its present meaning as an exclamation is closer to 'nonsense' or 'gibberish', while as a noun, a humbug refers to a fraud or impostor, implying an element of unjustified publicity and spectacle.

Humbug seems to be the perfect word for atheists at Christmastime. Jesus being born a virgin birth. Humbug! Jesus is the son of God. Humbug!

Reason’s Greetings is an OK replacement for Season’s Greetings. However, I would like to propose Happy Humbug and Happy Hoax as replacements for Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas. Spread it around, and make Bill O’Reilly even more hopping mad about his imaginary war.

Happy Humbug, everyone! (Especially you, Bill!)

Oh What A Joyous Time Of Year

It’s time for another episode of The War On Christmas. Let’s all play. It’s so much fun.

From For What It’s Worth by Stephen Stills:

There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong

A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid

From No Christmas Presents for the Obama Kids This Year by Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights:

If the Obamas want to deprive their children of celebrating Christmas, that is their business. It is the business of the public to hold them accountable for the way they celebrate Christmas in the White House. We know one thing for sure: no other administration ever entertained internal discussions on whether to display a nativity scene in the White House.

From Fox & Friends Attack Atheists (Again) And Yet Another School For Being Anti Christmas – Ho, Ho, Ho! by Priscilla:

Once again, Fox News, as part of its traditional crusade known as “the war on Christmas,” is creating national controversy about a local school decision which, up till now, wasn’t controversial. While other adult networks are discussing the escalation of troops in Afghanistan, today’s Senate debate on a monumental health care bill, and the unemployment situation, the kids on Fox & Friends are discussing yet another school which doesn’t get its Christmas seal of approval. And to make the point, they brought in Pastor Rick Warren whose refusal to denounce a draconian law mandating life imprisonment for homosexuals in Uganda, supported by one of his pastors, means a less than merry Christmas for Ugandan gays. But it’s Christmas time and it’s Fox News mission to spread less than holiday cheer and drive a sprig of holly into the hearts of those who don’t get right with Jesus.

Read the rest here.

From Atheist Group Says Christmas Isn't a Religious Holiday by American Atheists:

Atheists and others who demand strict separation of church and state seek only to prevent government agents from deciding, for anyone, whether or how to celebrate the season. The multitude of seasonal celebrations underscores the importance of the government's neutrality.

Atheists enjoy parties, celebrations, presents, and life. To those who celebrate America's diversity, we extend our heartfelt wishes for a wonderful season. To those who selfishly try to claim the whole season as their own, we wish a lousy one.

I’m simply quoting that last bit. I don’t wish anyone a lousy season. (However, I like the rest of the quote very much.) With each passing year I simply become more weary of all of this.

Bloody Or Well Done?

How do you like your heretic to be cooked?

I’ve been wondering if there is a breaking point for the pissed off and frightened religious people of the world? They seem to be mighty riled up over ‘new’ atheists, atheist billboards, atheist signs, atheist blogs, and atheists ‘killing’ Christmas.

At some point will they try to reinstate the burning of heretics at the stake?

On The Issue Of Hate And The Sky Daddy

As an atheist I do not hate God. I cannot hate something that I do not believe in. Also, I do not hate believers. Even though I believe in their existence, I do not hate them. They sure do scare me sometimes, though. They also frustrate the hell out of me. Sometimes I even get a little angry with them. Jim Downey has helped me understand why I frequently feel this way.

I don’t hate the believers, yet it sure seems that many of them hate me. They also seem to fear me. That confuses me. After all, they have God on their side, and I don’t.

From So, do you "hate God"? by Jim Downey:

…the notion that atheists "hate God" has always struck me as being very insightful. No, no, not into our motivations or beliefs. Into the minds of the believers.

Because I don't give God much thought in my day to day existence. And I certainly don't spend any emotional energy on the Big Guy. Because, you know, I don't believe in Him. Or It. Or Them. In fact, the whole notion is about as silly as hating the Loch Ness Monster. It's just absurd.

Very interesting. Very insightful. Sometimes I think that I am slowly driving myself insane whenever I try to understand people who think and believe things (both political and religious) that are the exact opposite of what I believe. I find it very difficult to do, yet I continue to do it because I feel that I may learn something useful. I also feel that we need to agree on something/anything or we all shall perish into the abyss of total chaos. I wonder if those on the other side of the religious/political fence ever even try to understand the likes of me. It seems that I never have seen any signs of that happening. Even once.

Very often I am overwhelmed at the sheer verbosity of the religious when they try to use logic and evidence to prove the existence of God. They write and talk endlessly and never see that they have missed one little crucial point. You cannot make something out of nothing. Their logic and evidence are nonexistent. Everything that they offer as evidence and logic is actually make believe and pretend. And, as Jim Downey points out, they have some strange beliefs about atheists. They believe these things without evidence. This is why I believe that religion is very dangerous. If you can believe in the existence of God without any evidence, what is to stop you from believing in something else without evidence? (For example, that atheists hate God.) How many other things will you believe in before you truly jump into the deep end of lunacy? “Death panels” anyone?

How can one understand that which is impossible to understand? (I don’t mean God here, I mean the people that Jim Downey so aptly described.) How does one even begin to comprehend that another thinks that I can hate something that does not exist? It is mind boggling.

Thank you Mr. Downey for this little gem. And for Sky Daddy, as well.

Belief Change

From Number of atheist groups growing in some US campuses:

As teenagers move into young adulthood, some leave God behind. But not in huge numbers.

More than three-quarters of young adults taking part in the National Study of Youth and Religion profess a belief in God. But almost 7 percent fewer believe in God as young adults (ages 18 to 23) than did as teenagers, according to the study, which is tracking the same group of young people as they mature.

What young adults are less likely to believe in is religion. The number of those who describe themselves as "not religious" nearly doubled, to 27 percent, in young adulthood.

Growing hostility toward religion was found, too. About 1 in 10 young adults are "irreligious" — or actively against religion — after virtually none of them fit that description as teenagers.

At Iowa State, most of the club's roughly 30 members are "former" somethings, mostly Christians. Many stress that their lives are guided not by anti-religiousness, but belief in science, logic and reason.

From 'Sinners' gather at atheist meeting:

Interest in local atheist groups has roughly doubled since the United Coalition of Reason erected a billboard off of Sixth Street in Queensgate Nov. 12 reaching out to non-believers, organizers said.

The billboard states "Don't believe in God? You are not alone" and lists the local chapter's Web site. Coalition leaders said they've heard from many people who didn't know that there were groups out there for non-believers.