Rap Guide to Evolution – Rachel Maddow
Posted on July 10th, 2010 by DailyAtheist
Filed under: Atheism, evolution | 1 Comment »
New Campaign: ‘Pray for an Atheist’ in April ~ The Christian Post
Posted on April 10th, 2010 by DailyAtheist
A group of Christians, including a former atheist and a philosopher, have launched a new campaign that calls fellow believers to “pray for an atheist” beginning with April Fools’ Day.
“We want you to select an atheist friend or relative and pray for them by name each day during the month of April, 2010 (and beyond!). It’s easy and could make an eternal difference for someone you love,” the campaign states on its Facebook page.
Currently, “Pray for an Atheist” is purely a Facebook initiative and is designed to not only encourage Christians to pray for nonbelievers but also to become better equipped to share their faith in a respectful manner with atheists.
A number of atheists have expressed their strong objections to the idea of Christians praying for them, according to James S. Spiegel, author of The Making of an Atheist.
“I personally find it offensive if anybody wants to pray for me,” Spiegel cited one as saying.
For the atheist, the missing ingredient is not evidence but obedience.” ~ Spiegel, professor of philosophy and religion at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana
Read the complete post at The Christian Post
Filed under: Atheism | 3 Comments »
Interview with Author of ‘God Hates You. Hate Him Back’
Posted on March 14th, 2010 by cjwerleman
An interview with CJ Werleman, author of the highly successful ‘God Hates You. Hate Him Back’ that has created a real buzz among atheists, agnostics, and anti-theists throughout North America and UK, since its release in late 2009.
DA: Can you give us a brief synopsis of your book?
CJ: Simply, my book is a summary of all sixty-six chapters of the Old & New Testament. Similar to the Bible itself, chapter one of God Hates You is Genesis – finishing with the book of Revelation as chapter sixty-six, and everything else wedged in between. I tell each chapter with the intention of making the Bible fun and entertaining, while keeping the objective of demonstrating the wickedness of Abraham’s God in view. The broader goal to summarize the Holy Book in a manner that makes it accessible to all, and thankfully this approach appears to be resonating with readers.
DA: What do you think makes you different from your fellow proclaimed ‘new atheists’, such as Dawkins, Hitchens, and Harris?
CJ: Well, those guys are very serious aren’t they? And so they should be – they’re credentials speak for themselves. I am a huge fan of all three, although due to my rudimentary understanding of all things science related – I do find some parts of Dawkins’ writings heavy going. Hitchens, on the other hand, is such a brilliant writer, arguably the greatest non-fiction writer in current times, but his eloquence and incredible expanse of vocabulary often makes me feel a little stupid, in a nice way. In regards to Harris, well, he is a neuroscientist, and I have no business tangling with such, me being little more than a practical joker with a deep fascination of religion.
DA: Having read your book, I am aware that self-deprecating humor is a trademark of your comedic bag-of-tricks, and therefore I believe you are selling yourself short as you have done a remarkable job in dissecting the most important book in all of western civilization. My question is do you see yourself side-by-side with the aforementioned gentleman in the crusade to end monotheistic religion?
CJ: I really don’t know how to answer that. Those guys are geniuses, certainly in my opinion. I believe my contribution, if any, is that I have a way of explaining religion, or tackling religious issues in a manner that is both easy and enjoyable to read for non-theologians like myself.
DA: Your book has certainly received plaudits from atheist bloggers and various publications, but what of Christians – are they reading God Hates You?
CJ: Christians can read? Ok, I’m just kidding, in part. We do know that Jesus’ disciples were illiterate because not one bothered to write down a single word about his master. Either that or they thought to themselves “whose going to read it anyway?” because Jesus promised the apocalypse would take place long before their “generation had passed”.
Admittedly, though, I haven’t received too much feedback from the Christian community. Well, let me rephrase that: I have received plenty of “Burn in Hell” mail from Christians that presumably haven’t read my book, but not so much from those that have. Personally, I think the title scares them a little. Possibly, they believe contributing twenty odd bucks towards helping oil the engine of anti-theism will require the punishment of one too many “Hail Mary’s” or “Forgive me Father”.
DA: If a Christian did read ‘God Hates You’ what do you think they would take from it?
CJ: Well, on the proviso they had a modicum of rationality remaining in their superhero verse boogeyman paradigm of the world, they would have to acknowledge that their God is a prick. Sure, they still could go and worship him on Sundays, but they would at least be cognizant of the fact that God takes some kind of sadomachistic masturbatory pleasure in torturing prisoners of war, sex slaves, kittens and anyone that is non-Hebrew. Further, they would also learn that their typical American suburban lifestyle would cause the great dictator in the clouds more than a case of mild heartburn, especially if they haven’t murdered their daughter for yelling “I hate you” in a moment of teen rage, or by opting not to stone to death their homosexual son or neighbor. God is quite clear on these laws, but we in western modern society choose to ignore most of them, now that our own sense of morality has surpassed God’s. What’s significant is the fact that nowhere in the Bible is there a sub-text that reads, “Please ignore 595 of the 613 commandments when you establish a Jeffersonian constitutional republic.”
DA: What do you believe is greatest piece of evidence we have for proving that the God of the Bible is nothing more than a literary character?
CJ: The evidence that God is man made and not the other way around is literally on every one of the 1500 pages in the Bible, including: The voodoo scientific hocus-pocus magic of Genesis; the mythical Egyptian exodus; the contradictions of the Gospels’ account on every aspect of Jesus’ life and death; the self-made ideology of Saint Paul; and the arbitrary committee decisions made by the founding father’s of the Church.
The greatest ‘smoking gun’, however, has to be the manner in which the Ten Commandments were given, and the laws they include. For example, being envious of your neighbor’s car is in, but he omits any mention of child abuse. Worshipping other gods is out, but wait a minute – what other gods? Don’t go to work on God’s special day is in, but donate money or goods to the less fortunate is out. Don’t steal is in, but did he really need to waste one of the ten on something so self-evident? We are yet to find any civilization on the face of the planet, today or from yesteryear that believes stealing is a pretty good thing. Therefore, ultimately only an ancient male could have come up with such a limiting code for morality and ethics, and certainly we should expect more if it were truly handed down from a profoundly intellectual deity in the sky.
DA: The thirst for religious material amongst the atheist community seems to be at an all time high. Can you explain this?
CJ: Funnily enough, I’m often asked the question – why do atheists care so much about religion? Well, the simple explanation to that is that those holding religious beliefs possess a great deal of political power, particularly in the US. The Christian right in America have successfully pushed for the creation of religious laws including ban against gay marriage, and anti-cohabitation laws. Let’s not forget that it was the evangelicals that put Bush in the White House for two terms, an eight year period that saw the President veto the stem cell bill on religious grounds. Further, it’s also the chipping the away of Roe v Wade – which I believe is only a matter of time before the politically conservative stacked bench of the Supreme Court enacts it’s partiality and overturns this legislation. Finally, it’s also our education system that the religious right are attempting to hijack with their push for creationism to be taught to our children, placing them further behind the rest of the world in secondary education standards. All of these issues effect believers or non-believers whether we like it or not.
Hence, it is my opinion that rational minded atheists, secularists, humanists are finally gearing themselves up for political battle with the politico machine that is the Christian right. Arming ourselves, in this instance, means acquiring the necessary knowledge to know more about their God than they do. That way we can laugh those who believe the world was populated by a 900 year old man aboard a leaky wooden boat out of political relevancy.
DA: Your blog site is very interesting, you’ve seem to have made it your specialty to go after the radical religious right, particularly when they have just said some outrageous comments. Can you tell us a little about that?
CJ: It’s all good fun. Let’s be honest, these guys make themselves easy targets. If you’re going to blame an earthquake on some pact with the devil rather than continental drift or plate tectonics then you can expect a letter from me, or at least something posted on my blog site. It still surprises me, though, that mainstream media still gives these Christian whackos a free pass. Sure, CNN may comment on the fact that the Utah Senate recently passed a bill to criminalize miscarriages but I don’t see anyone calling them for what they truly are – a backwards society following the racist ramblings of a convicted fraudster. There’s your million-dollar paradox, we love the First Amendment but ridiculing absurd religious beliefs remains off the table. I watched on with aghast that Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith was treated as ‘off-limits’ by the media during the 2008 GOP Primary. This was a man vying for the Presidency of the United States but the media wouldn’t ask him whether he believed the North Americans were a loss tribe of Israel, or whether God punished Americans of the “negro race” with their skin color for remaining on the sidelines while some mythical battle took place in heaven. This is lunacy, but thankfully I do see signs that we are moving closer to laughing religious zealots out of relevancy.
DA: Where can people find your blog or purchase a copy of ‘God Hates You. Hate Him Back’?
CJ: My website is at www.GodHatesYou.net
Filed under: Atheism, Books | No Comments »
Christian Fundamentalists Take Over Texas State Board of Education ~ MSNBC.com
Posted on March 13th, 2010 by DailyAtheist
AUSTIN, Texas – A far-right faction of the Texas State Board of Education succeeded Friday in injecting conservative ideals into social studies, history and economics lessons that will be taught to millions of students for the next decade.
Teachers in Texas will be required to cover the Judeo-Christian influences of the nation’s Founding Fathers, but not highlight the philosophical rationale for the separation of church and state. Curriculum standards also will describe the U.S. government as a “constitutional republic,” rather than “democratic,” and students will be required to study the decline in value of the U.S. dollar, including the abandonment of the gold standard.
“We have been about conservatism versus liberalism,” said Democrat Mavis Knight of Dallas, explaining her vote against the standards. “We have manipulated strands to insert what we want it to be in the document, regardless as to whether or not it’s appropriate.”
Read the full article on MSNBC.com
Filed under: Atheism, Church & State | 2 Comments »
“Reason is the Greatest Enemy that Faith Has” ~ Baptist Church Sign
Posted on March 10th, 2010 by DailyAtheist
