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+27 +1
My School System Really Doesn’t Get What the Establishment Clause Means
So of course religion had nothing at all to do with the decision made by the Brandon High School band director to spend all summer perfecting their rendition of the much beloved Christian hymn “How Great Thou Art” to perform at halftime shows this fall. And when the RCSD school board finally announced this past weekend that the band would not only not be playing that hymn for fear of incurring a fine, but would furthermore be choosing not to perform at all in protest...
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+19 +1
So this C.S. Lewis guy was supposed to be a smart fellow?
Then how could he write down such illogical inanity as this? Let's break it in two, shall we? Start with his premise.
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+17 +1
Religious implications of finding life on other planets
The confirmed existence of extraterrestrial life, even if we could never make physical contact with it, would have profound implications for our way of thinking, perhaps making us realize the pettiness of our own divisions. But assimilating that fact would not cause any real difficulties for those not bound by religious dogma.
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+23 +1
The Straw Vulcan, Julia Galef Skepticon 4
Julia Galef's Skepticon 4 speech about the unrealistic portrayals of rationalism and skepticism portrayed in media and perpetuated in popular wisdom.
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+17 +1
Way Of The Mister: The god Delusion (small “g”)
A look at the Mormon idea of "eternal progression" and the reluctance of religious leaders to grant full disclosure to new converts.
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+25 +1
The Problem of Nuance in a Wonderful and Terrible World
Nuance is hard. Nuance is one of the hardest things to accept, and to manage. Many decisions are messy, with different values coming into conflict, and without one clear answer.
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+21 +1
Understanding Daniel
Apocalyptic evangelical Christians will often quote-mine from the Book of Daniel, usually out of context, claiming that the bible is describing events of our own day, or events soon to come. There are two primary reasons for doing this. The first and most obvious reason is that they simply do not understand Daniel; they are repeating what they have heard from another source, likely an evangelical preacher. The second reason is more sinister.
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+20 +1
Is Creationism just as irrational as Young Earth Creationism?
Basically, what makes someone like William Lane Craig and the other peddlers of Biola Bullshit, who think a god created the physical universe ~13 billion years ago, more reasonable or rational than Ken Ham who thinks a god created the physical universe ~6-10 thousand years ago?
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+21 +1
Not quite there yet
I was sent this list of 10 “biblical” beliefs that poison Christians, hosted on a site that opposes ‘spiritual abuse’. It’s a weirdly twisty look into the views of a fairly liberal but clearly fervent Christian — I actually agree with them that a lot of these beliefs are actively harmful, but the reasoning they use to reach that same conclusion is odd, to me. That makes it interesting to read, because it provides a peculiar perspective on concerns that are familiar to atheists.
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+21 +1
The Core of the Christian Faith Isn’t Intellectual, It’s Emotional
Religious conviction originates from the emotions first, then the intellect. That’s why the reasons they give us for the things they believe seem so weak to us and so strong to them. They feel the heat of their own personal commitments, and it predisposes them to accept things with far less support than it would require for anyone else to accept them. These beliefs were likely built upon a foundation of emotion during a period of time in which the believer was open and vulnerable to persuasion.
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+26 +1
Does atheism have to be anti-religious?
We tend to understand atheism as a war between religion and science - but in earlier times atheism was both more complex and more rich, says philosopher John Gray.
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+18 +1
A very beautiful response from Tracie Harris [ Atheist Experience show #693 ] - part 1/2
Tracie Harris offends a believer by answer his questions.
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+22 +1
Debunking Christianity: Hermeneutical Fun with the Bible, Salvation and Christology
Debunking Christianity
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+24 +1
The Pope is only as nice as he has to be to lure you back in
I’m skeptical of this, as I am with the “abortion forgiveness” move. In both cases, the Pope is tweaking things so that the church doesn’t give up even an inch of ground when it comes to telling people they are a bunch of worthless sinners because they are sexual. It doesn’t do anything to change the sadistic church teaching that holds that God loves to punish and judge people for acting on urges that, by their own measure, he gave to people in the first place.
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+21 +1
The Value of Prayer
What thousands of children go through because of the failure of a supposedly loving God to intervene is unimaginable. Because of the religious brainwashing those children go through, it’s likely most of them are perpetually praying to that same god to help them and stop what’s happening to them. If the abuse stops, that has nothing to do with the child’s prayer or any unsought intervention by a loving god who sees a child in need.
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+18 +1
You Can’t Wash the Blood from the Hands of Religion
Matthew expects the anti-theist to prove that religion is the only factor contributing to the dismal situation of our being, and if the anti-theist fails to prove that, it means that the link between religion and its social ills are weak. But that is not so. We only have to prove that the link is there. We simply have to prove that the link exists.
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+22 +1
Atheism as my path to High Holy Days enlightenment
Not long ago, I was having lunch with a colleague and we got around to the almost-always-perilous subject of religion. He asked me how I define myself, and I said, “I’m Jewish. And an atheist.” He laughed and said, “No, really, what are you?”
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+21 +1
Does Atheism Need Leaders -- and What Does Atheist Leadership Even Mean?
I thought I should take a moment to explain what, exactly, I mean by “leader.” I’d thought this would be obvious, but perhaps it’s not: When I say “leader,” I don’t mean “person you never oppose.” I don’t mean “person who tells you what to believe.” I don’t mean “enforcer of a dictated belief system.” I don’t mean “dictator”; I don’t mean “demagogue”; I don’t mean “pope.”
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+23 +1
Hell 2.0: Same Eternal Punishment, Now With Fewer Flames!
This vision of eternal punishment puts all the rest to shame. Hell 2.0 is entirely self-inflicted, it’s virtually flame-free, and you can rest easy knowing that your version of eternity removes every trace of divine retribution from the mix. Now you can mete out all the punishment without looking mean yourself.
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+23 +1
The Power to Name Ourselves: Why I Don't Give a Damn If You Call Yourself Atheist, Agnostic, Humanist, Freethinker, or What
Of all the assorted fights and squabbles in the atheist/ humanist/ freethinker/ secular/ godless/ whatever movement, I’ve tended to stay away from the one about which of these “whatever”s we should call ourselves. A lot of this has to do with my own personal and philosophical views on naming and language — and a lot of it has to do with my experience in the LGBT community, and my experience with the squabbles we went through about what to call ourselves.
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