IrishCentral
Irish atheists increase by 400 percent in ten years, survey shows
IrishCentral
The number of Irish people with no religion - atheists and agnostics - increased by 400 percent in Ireland between 1991 and 2011 to a total of 277,237. The massive increase is due to a huge breakdown in trust between the Catholic Church and many of its ...

Mocking with a monster: Atheist joke earns dubious award for Wisconsin
OneNewsNow
The Flying Spaghetti Monster is a non-official symbol used by atheists to mock Christians' belief in God. A portion of the public display cannot be mentioned by responsible media, but it is intended to be a mockery of Christianity and Judaism during ...

Apparently, there’s a new Spider-Man movie in the works, and he’s got a fancy new costume (without nipples, I’m happy to report), and it’s got the hardcore comic fans in a lather. Well, not about the costume. It turns out that a few photos of the actor playing Mary Jane Watson were also leaked, and…she’s not sexy enough for some.

There’s actually 28 pages of people arguing whether Woodley is hot or not, seven times as many as there are talking about the new costume. (Although, like all comment threads, they go off-the-rails after a while. Flicking through, there’s an intense argument over whether the phrase "lipstick on a pig" is sexist, and a fair amount of discussion about porn.)

I hope the people making the movie aren’t as superficial as the ones who want to see it, although I fear there may be some unfortunate feedback between the two groups.

Uganda is notorious for having some of the most repressive anti-gay laws in the world, but that’s not enough for the bluenoses of Africa, oh no: they’ve just passed sweeping anti-pornography laws.

The Bill defines pornography as any cultural practice, form of behaviour or form of communication or speech or information or literature or publication in whole or in part or news story or entertainment or stage play or broadcast or music or dance or art or graphic or picture or photography or video recording or leisure activity or show or exhibition.

It also prohibits any combination of the preceding that depicts unclothed or under clothed parts of the human body such as breasts, thighs, buttocks and genitalia, a person engaged in explicit sexual activities or conduct; erotic behaviour intended to cause sexual excitement and any indecent act or behaviour tending to corrupt morals.

That’s a bit…broad, don’t you think? That “underclothed” bit is already being interpreted as a ban on mini-skirts, for instance — just exposing any bit of the thighs has just been criminalized. Give ‘em time, they’ll get around to making exposing the knees illegal, and then the ankles, and eventually everyone will be wandering about dressed like Victorians.

But it’s not just Uganda that is run by prudes: David Cameron in the UK is anxious to police the internet with the same prim attitude. He’s been working with ISPs to lock down the internet.

The language of the mythical ‘porn filter’ is so insidious, so pervasive, that even those of us opposed to it have been sucked into its slippery embrace. And so even when it turns out that O2 are blocking the Childline and Refuge websites, or that BT are blocking gay and lesbian content, we tend to regard them as collateral damage – accidental victims of a well-meaning (if misguided) attempt to protect out children from the evils of cock.

But this was never the case. As Wired reported back in July, Cameron’s ambitions extended far beyond porn. Working through secretive negotiations with ISPs, the coalition has put in place a set of filters and restrictions as ambitious as anything this side of China, dividing the internet into ‘acceptable’ and ‘unacceptable’ categories, and cutting people off from huge swathes of it at the stroke of a key.

“As well as pornography, users may automatically be opted in to blocks on “violent material”, “extremist related content”, “anorexia and eating disorder websites” and “suicide related websites”, “alcohol” and “smoking”. But the list doesn’t stop there. It even extends to blocking “web forums” and “esoteric material”, whatever that is. “Web blocking circumvention tools” is also included, of course.”

And the restrictions go further still. Over the weekend, people were appalled to discover that BT filters supported homophobia, with a category blocking, “sites where the main purpose is to provide information on subjects such as respect for a partner, abortion, gay and lesbian lifestyle, contraceptive, sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy.”

Wow. That had me wondering whether freethoughtblogs was blocked yet, but as Martin Robbins explains at that link, they are being secretive about who is getting blocked, as well.

Hey, I wonder if they swapped the Ugandan and UK parliaments, if anyone would be able to tell?

Atheist discovers his faith amid prostitutes and drug addicts
Northdallasgazette
Atheist discovers his faith amid prostitutes and drug addicts. December 29, 2013 By NDG Staff No Comments · A Lord's Supper painting travels with couple from crack house to their latest "home". A Lord's Supper picture travels with couple from crack ...

Raw Story
Mother says atheist group saved her Christmas
The Tribune-Democrat
A mother who claimed she was turned away from a church's toy giveaway because she wouldn't let volunteers hold her baby says her Christmas was saved by an Oklahoma atheist group. Tiffany Wait said she, her husband and their 7-month-old baby went to ...
Atheist group saves Christmas for Oklahoma family claiming poor treatment by ...Raw Story
Atheist group saves Chickasha woman from Christmas nightmareChickasha Express Star
Mother Thanks Atheist Group for Saving Christmas After 'Shockingly Bad' Church ...Mediaite

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Mother says atheist group saved her Christmas
The Tribune-Democrat
A mother who claimed she was turned away from a church's toy giveaway because she wouldn't let volunteers hold her baby says her Christmas was saved by an Oklahoma atheist group. Tiffany Wait said she, her husband and their 7-month-old baby went to ...

Why I am no longer much of an atheist
American Thinker (blog)
That's why I hate atheists who want to do away with Christmas. And I'm not even Christian. Atheists are doing themselves a disservice. They are alienating their own breed. I am moving out of the stable of doubt. I am embracing religions that I don't ...
Why atheists should quit the 'War on Christmas'CNN (blog)
War against Christmas targets Christ, not SantaSILive.com
Pope's invite falls on deaf earsToronto Star

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Guardian Express
Former Atheist Arvind Kejriwal Wins Election, Thanks Gods of Four Religions
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Although he was an atheist in the past, he thanked the gods of four religions after winning the election. On at least three separate occasions Arvind Kejriwal thanked the gods of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, and Sikhism for the divine blessings ...
Once-atheist Arvind Kejriwal thanks God, calls it miracleTimes of India
Once-atheist Kejriwal thanks Supreme Father, Ishwar, Allah, Waheguru for 'miracle'Hindustan Times
Secular Arvind Kejriwal thanks god for AAP 'miracle'Zee News

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New York Daily News
Need $3000? Atheists hope 3rd try at gift succeeds
Chicago Tribune
But after both the Park District and public library in Morton Grove declined to accept the $3,000 he raised, high school math teacher and atheist blogger Hemant Mehta is hoping he and fellow atheists can find a home for their contribution with a local ...
Chicago-area library declines donation from atheist, saying he represents ...New York Daily News
Atheist Tries Giving $3K to Food Pantry After Library, Park District Reject ...Christian Post
Atheist Group Hopes 3rd Time's A Charm For $3000 DonationCBS2 Chicago
Morton Grove Champion -Patch.com -KRMG
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Written by Johnny O’Coileain (Add him on Facebook)

Editor, One Nation Under Nothing/Crackpot Chronicle

 

 

Countless times I’ve experienced politically correct atheists who magically believe in the idea of Unicorns and Rainbows Atheism. One such person recently commented:

 ”There are ways to express your opinion without insulting the beliefs of others; immature and tasteless!”

First off, religions and ideologies don’t have human rights like people; they are fair game for ridicule. “Respecting” an idea is based on the merit of the idea, not on the masses having an emotional attachment to it. The fact is this: You can be the most friendly atheist on the planet, and even hire the fucking Care Bears to write your rebuttal to a religious person. But no matter how tactfully you pillow your words, it’ll always amount to some version of: The beliefs you dedicated your  entire life to are a colossal mistake.

The notion that there’s a polite way to deliver this to a true believer, is like believing there’s a friendly way to piss on an electric fence.  There isn’t a happy way of saying someone’s heartfelt beliefs are a lie. Oppositely, there’s no jovial method of saying atheists are destined for totalitarian hellfire for the imaginary crime of doubting. At the heart of disbelief is the idea that others are mistaken; and within Abrahamic theism is the doctrine of non-believers eternally set ablaze. This is what such bogus endeavors sound like to me:

 Politically Correct Atheist, “Hi Mr. Fundie! Is it true you believe your leader drowned an entire planet?”

Mr. Fundie, “Pretty much.”

Politically Correct Atheist, “Oh that’s nice. I can respect that. Wanna hold hands, skip, and whistle in the park?”

With the above, I’m not encompassing fence-sitters and liberal Christians. Such people aren’t really Abrahamic theists; they ignore the genocide, rape, chauvinism, and slavery, while only focusing on the happy lines. Cherry picking the nice parts doesn’t really make you a true believer. In actuality, they’ve created a new ideology distinct from the Biblical reality. They are Christian-ish. They can be reasoned with, because they never accepted the entire book to begin with.

I’m commonly called a “bigoted asshole” for taking a hard stance against Abrahamic totalitarianism. But it’s a mantle I’ll gladly wear. When it comes to favoring the freedom of thought against totalitarianism, I am a bigoted asshole. When it comes to standing up for the rights of my LGBT brothers and sisters against a mindset proclaiming them an abomination, yes, I am a bigoted asshole against such thought.

The same goes for resisting genocide, slavery, the subjugation of women, chauvinism, infanticide, child stoning, thought crime, bunk science, and talking animals (and one plant) accepted as literal history.  None of these ideas are respected in practice, so why should we respect them in theory? After all, each of these concepts manifest in the Abrahamic myths. Magically putting “religion” in the title somehow commands respect? I beg to differ. Fascism with fairy tales is still fascism. Tossing in a fucking unicorn into the bargain doesn’t make it somehow acceptable.

Not even Hitler can top drowning an entire planet of people. If the belief in this is worthy of respect, then you’re just as pathetic as the dogmatists you’re taking offense for. If the belief in thought crime and killing first born Egyptian children somehow deserves respect, then you are intellectually bankrupt. Any atheist who claims we should “respect” such beliefs are climbing the summit of Bullshit Mountain right along with those they defend.

We must not be afraid to use words like “bullshit” in describing actual, dead-on bullshit. The moment you proclaim the belief in a talking snake, or planetary genocide, among other things, reason is reasonably out of reach. When these very same people forcibly push for voter disenfranchisement and killing classroom science as we know it, yelling bullshit through a bullhorn becomes quite viable.

I’d prefer raising the middle finger to a dictator  than be the person saying others destined to rot in a cosmic Holocaust. Free thinkers, when you ridicule such ideologies, take this as your consolation: We can say the most asshole-ish things in the universe about Abrahamic theism, but we still have the moral high ground. Why? Because we’d never wish Hell on anyone. No earthly insult can one-up the reprehensibility of telling someone they’ll live in a Cosmic Soviet Union because they doubt.

Christian Post
'Friendly Atheist' Tries Giving $3K to Food Pantry After Library, Park ...
Christian Post
An atheist blogger living in a Chicago suburb has announced his plans to donate $3,000 to the nearby Niles Township Food Pantry after his donation was denied by the Morton Grove Park District and local library. Hemant Mehta, a Naperville-area teacher ...

Christian Post
Atheist Tries Giving $3K to Food Pantry After Library, Park District Reject ...
Christian Post
Hemant Mehta, a Naperville-area teacher and blogger behind the well-known website "Friendly Atheist," said in a recent YouTube video that after his donation was rejected by both the park district and library, he's hoping the food pantry will accept the ...
Atheist Group Hopes 3rd Time's A Charm For $3000 DonationCBS2 Chicago
Atheist blogger now plans to donate $3K to food pantryNiles Herald-Spectator
Atheist Can't Believe No Charities Will Take His DonationPatch.com
KRMG -Opposing Views
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Adam Lee has a live one. This guy, fuguewriter, is now claiming that the laws of thermodynamics do not apply to electrical energy, in defense of Ayn Rand’s magic MacGuffin in Atlas Shrugged that produces near-infinite quantities of electrical energy.

Be honest and make an argument. Show how *thermodynamic law* – any one of them, or all – is what infinite *electrical* energy would violate, especially under a new conception of energy, which presumably would get beyond QED (which Rand knew a bit about from interviewing Oppenheimer, knowing about Feynman, etc.).

This is one reason this isn’t a serious discussion: y’all jump to the attitudes without an argument in between. So much easier that way. The fixed, permanent contempt for the other is maintained.Then, when challenged, if an argument’s provided it’s hash.

So, pony up. Show how (allegedly) infinite electrical production (whatever that would mean exactly) is specifically a violation of thermodynamic law, particularly under a new conception of energy – which presumably gave access to an unsuspected type of energy. This will be a pretty trick.

Gosh, Ayn Rand met Oppenheimer and knew about Feynman, which makes her physics fantasies plausible. I’ve met Krauss and read some of Hawkings’ books, therefore I guess I’m a physicist now.

That was easy. It doesn’t even require any math!

There’s no profit in atheism!

War against atheists is the real problem
SILive.com
As an atheist and a Jew, I take great exception to State Sen. Lanza's characterization of atheists as intolerant and hateful that don't believe in decency, civility and kindness all because they put up a billboard that stressed family, friends, food ...
Why atheists should quit the 'War on Christmas'CNN (blog)
Pope's invite falls on deaf earsToronto Star

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Guardian Express
Once-atheist Arvind Kejriwal thanks God, calls it miracle
Times of India
NEW DELHI: Delhi's newly sworn-in chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday showed his secular side when he invoked gods of all four major religions - Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Sikhism - thanking them for the "miracle" that brought him and his ...
Former Atheist Arvind Kejriwal Wins Election, Thanks Gods of Four ReligionsGuardian Express
Once-atheist Kejriwal thanks Supreme Father, Ishwar, Allah, Waheguru for 'miracle'Hindustan Times
Secular Arvind Kejriwal thanks god for AAP 'miracle'Zee News
Mizo News
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Raw Story
Mom: Atheist group saved my Christmas
The Independent
A mother who claimed she was turned away from a church's toy giveaway because she wouldn't let volunteers hold her baby says her Christmas was saved by an Oklahoma atheist group. Tiffany Wait said she, her husband and their 7-month-old baby went to ...
Atheist group saves Christmas for Oklahoma family claiming poor treatment by ...Raw Story
Mother Thanks Atheist Group for Saving Christmas After 'Shockingly Bad' Church ...Mediaite
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Crossmap
Singing hymns at atheist services makes as much sense as celebrating one's ...
Irish Times
Such thoughts are triggered by the unwelcome news that 2013 has seen the emergence of an “atheist megachurch”. It's hard to know quite how serious Pippa Evans and Sanderson Jones are about this enterprise. Last January, the two English comedians ...
'Good' is Not Good All the Time: Sunday Assembly (Atheist Church ...Crossmap

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Stephanie Bush