February 2011
itsrightnow asked: Your blog is amazing. It's so insightful and intelligent, it makes me happy there are people like you out in the world.
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Ask an Ex-Mormon Monday
I received some fabulous questions, so don’t be worried if I didn’t pick yours for this week’s installment of Ask an Ex-Mo Monday; your question is on the queue!
This week’s question comes from: marketingminds.
This question is actually complex, so I’m going to break it up into three weeks because I’m going into detail as to what happens in the Mormon temple.
First of all,...
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Fuck the First Amendment, Apparently
Jan 26, 2011 - Introduced in House
House Congress Resolution 13: Reaffirming “In God We Trust” as the official motto of the United States and supporting and encouraging the public display of the national motto in all public buildings, public schools, and other government institutions.
Don’t mind the fact that this wasn’t our motto until 1956 when we changed it...
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January 2011
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Family To Go To High Court To Challenge Chaplains...
An Australian family won the first round in their battle to have chaplains thrown out of the nation’s public schools.
Ron Williams journeyed from Toowoomba to Sydney yesterday for a directions hearing in his challenge and was thrilled to hear that his case could be heard in the High Court over three days in May.
“This is a very important moment,” a jubilant Mr Williams...
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“Goblins, hobbits…truly everlasting gobstoppers…God is just one of...”
– Julian Baggini - British philosopher. Editor of “Philosophers’ Magazine.” Author of “Atheism: A Very Short Introduction” (2003).
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greypoppies asked: Problem: agnostic 14 year old, homeschooled because of medical reasons. Parents make me use "Dr. Wiles' Exploring Creation through Science" curriculum. It's as bad as it sounds.
Help?
Help?
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mothasucka asked: It is so good to know that people such as yourself exist in the world. I appreciate your responses to the things that I say immensely.
solo1y asked: "Everyone's entitled; just leave them alone" would be fine if they didn't vote. But they do. And now gays in California can't get married. So we have to advocate.
Anonymous asked: What is the point of advocating? Once you "prove them wrong", what are you going to do after that? Is there some kind of higher moral good to all of this? It's a person's belief, just leave them to it. -____-
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writtenmemory4 asked: The reason that I applaud your last response so much is because of your argument structure. You lack logical fallacies, you don't use rhetorical devices to hide any lack of knowledge on a subject, and you didn't even really attack the asker personally, and instead went for their "question".
Thank you very much; it honestly means quite a lot to me.
Thank you very much; it honestly means quite a lot to me.
Anonymous asked: i see that it may not make your life miserable but everything you're fighting to prove false is all some people have/want/need. i don't support die hard atheist or die hard christians. either way you go out to attack the others sense of being. obviously whether your atheist or christian or anything you still function. so what's the point of trying to take away someone's beliefs...
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Profile of an Atheist: Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller was born on October 17, 1915, the second child of Isidore and Augusta Miller, Polish-Jewish immigrants. His father was originally an illiterate, but wealthy businessman who owned a women’s clothing store. However, during the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the business went under causing the family to lose almost everything.
Miller worked as a teenager to help the family get by and...
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Vatican to "Reach Out" to Atheists
The Vatican announced a new initiative aimed at promoting dialogue between theists and atheists to be launched with a two-day event this March in Paris.
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The initiative, called “Courtyard of the Gentiles,” takes its name from a section of the ancient Temple of Jerusalem accessible to non-Jews, which Pope Benedict XVI has used as a metaphor for dialogue between Catholics...
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Scale of the Universe →
Click it.
Just trust me.
It’s probably the coolest thing you’ll see all month, at least.
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“A belief in an afterlife has the unavoidable effect of making this life less...”
– John Bice - American writer, religious columnist, and noted beer expert.
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Image of Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus "Appear" on...
Solis said she was spreading out the cooked tortillas when her mother noticed something unusual.
One of the tortillas had a large brown spot that resembled the Virgin Mary holding the Baby Jesus.
Solis, a mother of four who was raised Catholic, said she and her family are saving the tortilla.
The La Grulla area woman said they are not sure if they are going to call...
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Only 28% of US Biology Teachers Teach Evolution
Based on data from the National Survey of High School Biology teachers, the authors estimate that only 28% of all biology teachers consistently teach evolutionary biology, while 13% explicitly advocate creationism or intelligent design. The remaining teachers they deem the cautious 60%:
The cautious 60% may play a far more important role in hindering scientific literacy in the United...
Anonymous asked: My bio teacher told me that he doesn't believe in evolution.
What do?
What do?
aninsufferableknowitall asked: "the second best book on religion on the market today."
What's the first in your opinion?
(I'm sure you'll have blogged about it before but I can't be bothered to search, ha.)
And whilst I'm here your blog is wonderful, intelligent and insightful. Well done! x
What's the first in your opinion?
(I'm sure you'll have blogged about it before but I can't be bothered to search, ha.)
And whilst I'm here your blog is wonderful, intelligent and insightful. Well done! x
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Montgomery County, NC, Board Supports Bible...
The Board of Education unanimously gave permission for the superintendent to explore the possibility of teaching Bible classes at both high schools.
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After reviewing curriculum material supplied by board member Shirley Threadgill, Ellis stated that he would “fully support offering these classes in our schools and would make an enthusiastic administrative recommendation to do so in...
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“The task of the real intellectual consists of analyzing illusions in order to...”
– Arthur Miller - American playwright and essayist. Prominent figure in American theatre, where he specialized in writing dramas. Won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Interviewed by BBC for The Atheism Tapes where he openly stated he had been an atheist since childhood.
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Conservative Christians Divorce More, New Study...
Divorce is more common among conservative Christians and young people, according to a recent study.
University of Iowa sociology professor Jennifer Glass presented her study on skyrocketing divorce rates in regions highly populated with conservative Christians to an overflowing crowd in Burdine Hall on Friday.
“Politically and religiously conservative states, especially in the Deep South,...
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onebilliontastesandtunes asked: Hi! I've been following you for a while, and I'd love to give a penny for your thoughts about this post:
http://uprightbipedalist.tumblr.com/post/2904342627/trapping-religious-folk-into-admitting-agnosticism
http://uprightbipedalist.tumblr.com/post/2904342627/trapping-religious-folk-into-admitting-agnosticism
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“I think in the best case, religion gives people bad reasons to be good where...”
– Sam Harris - American author of the bestselling 2005 book “The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason,” the second best book on religion on the market today. The threat the world faces, it argues, is not religious extremism - it is religion.
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Update: Atheist President Ejected from Meeting Due...
I previously reported on this story here.
The right to free speech became a heated exchange between Mayor John Sullivan and a non-profit atheist group when one of their members was removed from council chambers.
Atheists of Florida, Inc. President John Kieffer was escorted from chambers by three police officers when the mayor took exception to his shirt, which held what Sullivan felt was a...
Anonymous asked: i don't think believing in anything whether its a unicorn, a spaghetti monster, a cure for cancer, heaven or God is lazy. knowledge only takes you so far while believing/hope/faith are unlimited. i've been in situations where all i had was... believing/hope/faith to keep me going when i had no control over what would and could happen. i respect what you think and say because it is based...
passionatecynic asked: I'm loving Ex-Mormon Mondays. I always thought that Mormons were kind of crazy, but I assumed it was like typical Christianity crazy. But the more I learn about it the more I realize Mormons are completely bat shit fucking insane. I keep thinking you're making this stuff up just to mess with us!
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Suspect In Murder Surrounding Blasphemy Laws...
A man who confessed to assassinating a leading liberal Pakistani politician is being showered with gifts and praise by his fellow prison inmates, his attorney told CNN.
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Police said Qadri confessed to the killing and said he assassinated his boss because of Taseer’s campaign to change Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws.
At the prison just outside of Islamabad...
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Ask an Ex-Mormon Monday
I received some fabulous questions, so don’t be worried if I didn’t pick yours for this week’s installment of Ask an Ex-Mo Monday; your question is on the queue!
Actually yes, anonymous!
However, in order to understand the belief, it’s kind of important to understand some of the Mormon theological ideas.
First of all, Mormons believe that God was once a human, just like we are...
14-billion-years-later asked: What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
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Reminder: Ask an Ex-Mormon Monday
Get your questions in now! Even if they don’t get answered right away, it gives me a lot of awesome questions to answer!
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“Men have had the vanity to pretend that the whole creation was made for them,...”
– Camille Flammarion - French astronomer
Personal Request
About finding books for one of my 8th grade students.
I’d love some suggestions
You can suggest them here.
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fuzzley asked: Its interesting in this debate that both sides are pro something. Pro choice implies the christians (for it is almost 100% down to their religion) are anti choice,which they are.but pro life implies we are anti life, which we are not. Even more offensive when you take into account religion is run by men.if men had womb would be different story.
an-ominous-atheist asked: Well in my opinion life is anything from a bacterium to a human being, from a weed to a tree. But of course, humans don't decide on what's ethical based on whether something is living or not, but whether it is sentient. A zygote does not have sentience, memories, feelings, loved ones, or an identity (or a soul, of course). If allowed to develop, it WILL, but as of this CURRENT POINT IN...
poltergeistk asked: I just want to say something from the "semantic" point of view. I'm a pro-choice. But I'm pro-life too. Why? because, technically I support life. I support health care and universal right to a health service, science advances that could fight cancer and other diseases. I support protecting children in bad conditions, like in poverty or war. When someone uses a word like...
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Answer to a Long Anonymous Question
Some people use religion as a means of sanity. Some people can’t handle the fact, or at least the possibility of the fact that there is no higher power and they are all alone with their fate.
There is absolutely no reason that people need to use religion to stay sane. There is no reason that people can’t deal with being human and the consequences that come from being human. Saying...