We all do eventually. When I was in Ireland, I shared a stage with Rebecca Watson and Richard Dawkins. Later that evening, Watson stepped into what may now be the most famous of all elevators. We all know that after that Watson said something that was blown way out of proportion. This was largely because […]
Constant Attacks on Education
Sometimes the research I have to do is nothing short of disheartening. This weekend that that included Mark Chancey’s report on problematic religious studies in Texas public schools. http://www.tfn.org/site/DocServer/TFNEF_ReadingWritingReligionII.pdf?docID=3481 As if that weren’t already bad enough, some Texans also want to blindly follow Louisiana’s misdirection in their attempts to undermine public education, by adopting the […]
Are atheists more compassionate than religious people?
So there’s another study implying that the most compassionate people also tend to be atheist or barely religious, while the more religious one is, the less compassionate they’re likely to be. Now I don’t like to reinforce negative stereotypes, but I have also seen studies implying that the more deeply religious someone is, the more likely […]
That Dubious Dutko
Some months ago, I was on Bob Dutko’s young-earth creationism radio show. He tried to argue that if any non-avian dinosaurs were ever discovered, that would somehow disprove evolution. He doesn’t know how it would disprove evolution. I think he thinks that evolution is just a story, like his own belief system is, and that […]
on the Israeli atheist convention
A couple weeks ago, I posted to this blog a promotion for an atheist conference called MA-HA-R, “Tomorrow”, described as an Israeli Reason Rally in Tel Aviv. One never knows how these things will turn out in advance, and I had my doubts. When I went to the World Atheist Convention in Dublin, there were […]
What to do about America’s guns…
Tonight on Dogma Debate, David Smally and I will argue opposing views of the gun control issue with disarmed Britons, Thunderf00t and DPR Jones. I need these two in case of … you know… zombies. I need one of these too, but they’re illegal to carry, because if you have one of these, then people […]
MA-HA-R
Recently I was contacted by one Yanir Tearosh representing the Israeli Atheist Association. I was surprised to hear there was such a thing. More amazing than that, they’re actually holding an atheist convention in Tel Aviv. I wouldn’t have thought that possible. But it is apparently a thing, and his organization has asked me and […]
the “Merry Christmas” bill
As the Texas state director of American Atheists, I am concerned about Dwayne Bohac and his “Merry Christmas” bill, the one encouraging teachers to reveal their particular religious beliefs before students and faculty. While those with the most popular majority religion in this region could use this to earn brownie points with some parents and […]
Hello my baby, hello my honey, hello my rag-time gal
Even though I’ve never seen him in a top hat, this still reminds me of someone I know on this forum.
Kill ’em all; let God sort ’em out.
All the religious kids I knew growing were taught their own families’ sacred dogma to the exclusion of everything else. The only thing anyone was taught about what other people believed were strange parodies made to sound absurd by comparison. Atheists typically aren’t like that. For example, I took my own kids to a Buddhist […]