Raw Story
Festivus For The Rest Of Us! Florida Atheist Successfully Puts Up Beer Can ...
Huffington Post
This is the most ridiculous thing I could come up with," said Stevens, an atheist. "This is about the separation of church and state." Because Florida considers the Statehouse rotunda to be a public forum, people can use the space to express themselves ...
Fox News host flips over atheist holiday display: 'Baby Jesus is behind the ...Raw Story
Self-Described 'Militant Atheist' Erects Festivus Pole Near Nativity Scene in ...Christian Post
Atheist protesting a nativity scene in Florida's Capitol rotunda by erecting ...ABC Action News
UPI.com (blog) -New Times Broward-Palm Beach (blog) -Florida Today
all 255 news articles »

Slate Magazine
Why I'm Quitting the Online Atheism Community
Slate Magazine
For the last five years I have considered myself an “activist atheist.” I trolled Facebook and Twitter for theists and told them why they are wrong. I made fun of them for their unreasonable beliefs. I would analyze and nitpick their statements, show ...

and more »

Slate Magazine
Why I'm Quitting the Online Atheism Community
Slate Magazine
For the last five years I have considered myself an “activist atheist.” I trolled Facebook and Twitter for theists and told them why they are wrong. I made fun of them for their unreasonable beliefs. I would analyze and nitpick their statements, show ...

and more »

Officials Refuse to Back Down in Battle With Atheists Over Florida City's ...
TheBlaze.com
An atheist activist group is demanding that a Florida city remove a nativity scene from public property. The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a church-state separatist group, has insisted that the creche be immediately taken down from the grounds of ...
Fla. City Officials Refuse to Remove Nativity Scene Following Atheist Threat ...Christian Post

all 6 news articles »

 

 

 

 

 

Written by Johnny O’Coileain (Add him on Facebook!)

Editor, ONUN/Crackpot Chronicle

 

One of our readers submitted the following question:

One huge question I always had was the so-called fine tuning of the universe. Christians say that is a sign of a creator. How would you explain it?

Well, you know how religious people describe the “creator” or “designer” as the most perfect being? Aside from the typical perfection fallacies (like the Omnipotence Paradox), all one must do is take this definition, then look at the universe itself; a cosmic contradiction arises between the two.  Because of cosmic forces, most parts of the universe are too volatile, chaotic, and unstable. Basic research of the immense forces at work is akin to an inanimate warzone.

Planets are destroyed every second. Stars die out every second. Our Milky Way galaxy has several planets, the majority of which are extremely hazardous for life. And even if earth represents one of those rare successes, many parts of our own rock are uninhabitable. Also, aspects of earth that we associate with stability eventually die, breakdown, and weather away. I can imagine improvements to those “designs”. Why can’t God?

I’m sorry, but by any measure of success, with the vast majority of activity represented by chaos, that’s a pretty horrendous design. Now, in naturalistic terms, it makes perfect sense. But in the context of an All-Perfect designer, looking at the universe as evidence of design/perfection is devastating. A creator who embodies perfection, but creates mostly chaos as an example of order, is worse than a dog who paints the carpet with its butthole. That would be better evidence that something was “designed”.

By accepting the universe in the context of science, imagining perfection is next-level ridiculous. But, like reality in general, we know that imperfection is perfect; perfectly natural. If our universe was designed by the God of the Bible, I would expect better. As long as you can imagine a better outcome, and that outcome hasn’t manifested, then a God didn’t design it. God, presumably knowing what constitutes the best possible outcomes, fails to make them happen. An inhospitable universe with scarce bursts of order is evidence against a perfect creator.

TheBlaze.com
What Drove an Atheist Photographer to Publish a Book Filled With 200 Stunning ...
TheBlaze.com
While the photographer and author says the book will appeal to individuals of all theological stripes, there's one fact that might raise some eyebrows — and interest: Schacter is an atheist, and is unattached and unaffiliated with a house of worship.

America Might Be Ready for an Atheist President
Newser
(Newser) – A Politico Magazine story sounds a pessimistic note about the prospects for an atheist president, noting that Barney Frank came out as gay 25 years ago but waited until after his political retirement to announce that he was a non-believer ...

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America Might Be Ready for an Atheist President
Newser
(Newser) – A Politico Magazine story sounds a pessimistic note about the prospects for an atheist president, noting that Barney Frank came out as gay 25 years ago but waited until after his political retirement to announce that he was a non-believer ...

and more »

ChicagoNow (blog)
An atheists' top 10 classic Christmas songs
ChicagoNow (blog)
There seems to be some confusion as to what atheists do on Christmas. Typically we decorate trees, have wonderful food, drink and conversations with friends and family, exchange presents and often listen to the wonderful music we grew up with.

As tests for genes that contribute to more diseases become available and, in many cases, become cheaper, we will increasingly be faced with decisions about how much we want to know about our future health prospects. Would you want to know if you carried a gene that conferred a 60% chance of developing Huntington's disease by age 65? Or that multiplied your chances of having a stroke by five—even though the risk of having a stroke in any given year would still be extremely low? How much would you pay for a test that, for more than 99.5% of women will reassure them that nothing is wrong, but in the other cases will reveal that one's odds of developing ovarian cancer are 39%? A prime example of this situation made the front page of the New York Times last month—and highlighted the deep connections that genetic testing has to the evolutionary history of human populations... Read the rest of the story.

Here’s the summary from Jacques Rousseau.

We do now know that Mandela was a member of the Communist Party, and some might therefore think it follows that he was an atheist. On the other hand, we do know that he was baptised as a Methodist, and we have Wikipedia quoting an interview with Mcebisi Skwatsha, in which Mandela apparently confirmed that he was a Methodist. In Mandela’s book Conversations with Myself, he says ”I never abandoned my Christian beliefs”, and a comment on Pharyngula points to a CNN story, where it’s described how Mandela would regularly receive blessings from Chief Rabbi Cyril Harris.

Mandela also spoke at churches on a semi-regular basis, and in short, clearly seemed to have no antipathy to religion. Instead, his attitude to religion seems to have been exactly the right one for the leader of a nation to have – to hold it as a personal issue, and to devote himself to allowing others to exercise their religions, or lacks of religion, in the manner they see fit. In other words, regardless of what his personal beliefs were, he seems to have been fully committed to secularism in government.

He was a secularist. That ought to be good enough.

Atheism in Portland: Establishing a 'church,' facing Christmas (Q&A)
OregonLive.com
We talked with Fost, who has been teaching at PSU for five years, about his thoughts on Sunday Assembly and the challenges of facing the holiday season as an atheist. Fost is the author of "If Not God, Then What? Neuroscience, Aesthetics, and the ...

Ophelia has the video of Bill Donohue, David Silverman, and Schmuley Boteach on Fox News — and she’s right, the two flanking nutcases were embarrassing, while Silverman was the voice of reason. The two theistic cranks kept whining about Satanists! Ruining Christmas! while Silverman just pointed out that yes, you don’t get to decide which religion gets to be the right one in a pluralistic country, and that means you have to give satanists the same accommodations you do Christians. But Satanists! How can you support Satan?

I found out what that was about. Oklahoma has a Ten Commandments monument on their statehouse steps…so a Satanist Temple has asked for parity. Seems fair to me. Cue predictable dismissals:

Rep. Bobby Cleveland, who plans to introduce a one such bill next year, said many Christians feel they are under attack as a result of political correctness. He dismissed the notion of Satanists erecting a monument at the Capitol.

"I think these Satanists are a different group," Cleveland, R-Slaughterville, said. "You put them under the nut category."

Brady Henderson, legal director for ACLU Oklahoma, said if state officials allow one type of religious expression, they must allow alternative forms of expression, although he said a better solution might be to allow none at all on state property.

But I think Baptists belong in the “nut category”! Can we have the Christian monument taken down? Although I think Henderson is actually the voice of reason here.

Also, the Hindus want to put a monument to Hanuman there, too. Are they in the “nut category”? How do you decide which religion is nutty?

I would also point out to Donohue and Boteach that there has been a long history of discrimination against both Catholics and Jews in the US — they won’t disagree, I’m sure both are far more aware of that history than I am — so it’s a bit weird for them to be participating in a discussion that attempts to label one religion as fringe and undeserving of recognition, support, or even respect. I guess empathy is not one of those “Judeo-Christian” virtues.

Atheist billboard proclaims nobody needs Christ at Christmas
Fox News
Why would they do that well here to answer is David -- money is president of the American Atheists and responding is -- his Forte he's the author of the book -- -- answer proof of god in heaven welcome to you about. Thank you for having us. It is not ...

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Raw Story
Atheists and Christians lay claim to Nelson Mandela — but which was he?
Raw Story
In the wake of Nelson Mandela's death, both atheists and Christians have tried to claim him as one of their own. The South African dissident who went on to become President Nelson Mandela appeals to both Christian and nonbelievers, but are their clues ...

They’ve announced their person of the year, and it’s…Pope Francis, The People's Pope.

You have got to be fucking kidding me. They’ve got this great pulpit with mass media attention to actually highlight the important events and people on the planet, and they pick the pablum-spewing head of an antique organization that demands its followers adhere to obsolete and dangerous beliefs, and this is what they say about it?

The papacy is mysterious and magical: it turns a septuagenarian into a superstar while revealing almost nothing about the man himself. And it raises hopes in every corner of the world—hopes that can never be fulfilled, for they are irreconcilable. The elderly traditionalist who pines for the old Latin Mass and the devout young woman who wishes she could be a priest both have hopes. The ambitious monsignor in the Vatican Curia and the evangelizing deacon in a remote Filipino village both have hopes. No Pope can make them all happy at once.

Jebus. It’s no more mysterious and magical than the Mafia, or the Medellin Cartel, or Phillip Morris, or the NRA, and the people who turn a septuagenarian into a “superstar” are the sycophants in the media.

And this…

But what makes this Pope so important is the speed with which he has captured the imaginations of millions who had given up on hoping for the church at all. People weary of the endless parsing of sexual ethics, the buck-passing infighting over lines of authority when all the while (to borrow from Milton), “the hungry Sheep look up, and are not fed.”

His virtue is solely palliative — he’s there to say soft words and create the illusion that the church isn’t the domain of child-rapists and oppressors. The church denies family planning to women in Africa, bounces pedophiles around to unsuspecting dioceses, buries tales of generations of abuse in Ireland, demands that women die in the name of fetus worship…oh, look! Pope Francis said atheists might get to go to heaven! Aww, he’s so folksy and kind.

The sheep are still not fed. But maybe they’ll be a little quieter in the slaughtering pen.

There can be only one reply.

As for Time magazine…I remember the old magazines that would gather dust on the coffee table at my grandparents’ house, Reader’s Digest and Look and others so tired that I can’t even recall their names, and I would read them because I was desperately bored, and I would mainly be curious about them because they represented what old people cared about (and near as I could tell, they didn’t even care that much about them). The magazines survived on subscription by habit, I suspect, and even then I could tell they were doomed. Welcome to that club, Time.

ChristianToday
How plausible is a good atheist?
ChristianToday
Three cheers for atheist campaigner Ariane Sherine. For Ariane – who was behind the controversial "There's Probably No God" adverts a while back – is launching a new initiative which we Christians can support. Her latest endeavour has an aim which is ...

ABC Action News
Self-Described 'Militant Atheist' Erects Festivus Pole Near Nativity Scene in ...
Christian Post
The Festivus pole, a relic from the 1990s NBC sitcom "Seinfeld," made an appearance in the Florida Capitol on Tuesday, after a self-described "militant atheist" received permission to set it up near a Nativity scene. "A Pabst Blue Ribbon Festivus pole ...
Gov. Rick Scott allows 'militant atheist' to erect beer can Festivus pole at ...Raw Story
Festivus For The Rest Of Us! Florida Atheist Successfully Puts Up Beer Can ...Huffington Post
Atheist protesting a nativity scene in Florida's Capitol rotunda by erecting ...ABC Action News
Florida Today -Examiner.com
all 204 news articles »

My wife is a vegetarian, and I’ve mostly cut meat out of my diet, too — I’ll indulge a bit when I travel, but that’s about it. But I’m done now. It makes no sense: it’s not sustainable or economical, but worse, it’s brutal and cruel. Rolling Stone has just published a remarkable expose of Big Meat, the factory farms that abuse animals.

I made the mistake of watching the videos, too. Fortunately, my dinner had been vegetarian already, or I might have lost it. So be warned.

Really, everyone, this is a small step. We’ve been cutting back on meat for years — I might have a small portion, once a week, if that. We’ve already got all the recipes we need, my wife is already fully vegetarian, this is just making a little more commitment on my part. It’ll be an easy transition.

Near Death Experience Turns Atheist Doctor Into Believer
The Epoch Times
I went to the emergency room of the hospital because of a bad reaction to a tetanus shot. While in the emergency room, I was given two shots of penicillin. After the second shot, I fell to the floor. All of a sudden, I found myself floating at the ...