The Happy Agnostic

The Reason Rally - March 24, 2012

2012-01-25T14:14:00.000-08:00

http://reasonrally.org/

The Reason Rally is an event sponsored by many of the country’s largest and most influential secular organizations. It will be free to attend and will take place in Washington, D.C. on March 24th, 2012 from 10:00AM – 4:00PM at the National Mall. There will be music, comedy, and speakers.

Goodbye, Christopher Hitchens.

2011-12-29T15:04:00.000-08:00

Christopher Hitchens, author of The Portable Atheist and God is Not Great, dies at 62.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/16/arts/christopher-hitchens-is-dead-at-62-obituary.html?pagewanted=all

Would the World Be Better Off Without Religion?

2011-11-21T13:36:00.000-08:00

I just found this Intelligence Squared U.S. debate on NPR.

The "Yes" side: A.C. Grayling and Matthew Chapman
The "No" side: Dinesh D'Souza and David Wolpe

Listen: http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=142490736&m=142457000

Read: http://www.npr.org/2011/11/21/142470957/would-the-world-be-better-off-without-religion

Conversation on the TED group on LinkedIn: "How would you teach a child about Christianity without denying evolution?"

2011-11-08T08:23:00.000-08:00

http://lnkd.in/r4h6Sb

I came across this discussion thread today. It's laughable how any time a question like this is asked in a forum, it becomes a pissing match between atheists/agnostics and believers. My favorite phrase from this discussion is "religious brain disease."

Just thinking about persecution

2011-08-05T14:22:00.000-07:00

Recently, I've been listening to and reading about the ongoing debate (if you can even call it that) between the New Atheists (led by personalities like Sam Harris) and radical evangelical christians. These right-wingers--like extreme Republicans and Tea Baggers--are really good at dragging the continuum to their side. And now they've dragged it far enough to make centrists seem like delusional misanthropes. Lately, I keep hearing christians talking about how atheists are persecuting them and how atheists are against religious freedom. It makes me ask the question, "How can an essentially powerless minority persecute the empowered overwhelming majority?"

Someone needs to explain the difference between people not agreeing with you and being persecuted to these grousers. I guess in the lightest sense of persecution, being equal to harassment, a few could claim persecution, like maybe the political candidate who says they don't believe in evolution or don't believe that the earth is more than 6,000 years old and then receives hate mail or is heckled from the crowd at a rally; however, most of the religious right who are crying persecution don't meet even this mild definition of persecution. Most of them are just unhappy because someone spoke out against them or their beliefs or even just has an opposing viewpoint that is getting some public notice (finally). We should set a higher bar for what constitutes persecution.

As a non-believer, my views are challenged in the media every day. Am I persecuted because of this? No. Just annoyed. It's different.

Article about Michele Bachmann's holy war in Rolling Stone

2011-07-25T10:34:00.000-07:00

I just finished this article by Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone about Michele Bachmann and wanted to pass it on.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/michele-bachmanns-holy-war-20110622

From the article:
"Michele was a member of [O.W. Coburn School of Law's] inaugural class in 1979. Originally a division of Oral Roberts University, this august academy, dedicated to the teaching of "the law from a biblical worldview," has gone through no fewer than three names — including the Christian Broadcasting Network School of Law. Those familiar with the darker chapters in George W. Bush's presidency might recognize the school's current name, the Regent University School of Law. Yes, this was the tiny educational outhouse that, despite being the 136th-ranked law school in the country, where 60 percent of graduates flunked the bar, produced a flood of entrants into the Bush Justice Department."

Austrian Pastafarian wears colander as religious headgear for driver's license photo

2011-07-13T14:51:00.000-07:00

Is it poking fun or making a point? I'd go with making a point.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14135523

A.C. Grayling on The Colbert Report

2011-06-30T17:00:00.000-07:00

Stephen Colbert interviews A.C. Grayling about his humanist "bible," The Good Book.

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/382819/april-26-2011/a-c--grayling

Stephen Hawking on the "fairy story" of the afterlife

2011-05-16T17:03:00.000-07:00

"I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark." ~Stephen Hawking

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110516/us_yblog_thelookout/stephen-hawking-says-afterlife-is-a-fairy-story

Updated links

2011-05-04T10:17:00.000-07:00

I've updated broken links in old posts. I've decided to spend some time on this blog lately because of a dramatic increase in visits.

Why do Americans dislike atheists?

2011-05-04T08:59:00.000-07:00

This Washington Post article has a lot of links to related studies.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-do-americans-still-dislike-atheists/2011/02/18/AFqgnwGF_story.html

The Black Atheist

2011-05-02T12:30:00.000-07:00

I came across this article through an NPR article, and I liked this quote:

"Among black folks, if you're a criminal who shows up at a service on whatever Sabbath you subscribe to, you're just a fallen human who is worthy of love and redemption. But if you're a moral and decent human who doesn't believe in a supernatural force, you'll soon find that your kind is most unwelcome."

Full Article: http://www.theroot.com/views/black-women-who-use-word?page=0,0

The NPR Article I saw first: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127239913

Penn Gillette on atheism on NPR's This I Believe

2011-04-28T11:53:00.000-07:00

I heard this when it was first aired a few years ago, and it has stuck with me. One of my favorite quotes from it is, "Believing there's no God means I can't really be forgiven except by kindness and faulty memories. That's good; it makes me want to be more thoughtful. I have to try to treat people right the first time around."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5015557

Bart Ehrman interview on the Colbert Report

2011-04-28T11:09:00.000-07:00

This is a couple years old now, but I laugh out loud watching Stephen Colbert "school" Bart Ehrman.

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/224128/april-09-2009/bart-ehrman

Here's an even older one from 2006:

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/70912/june-20-2006/bart-ehrman

Skeptics in the Pub

2011-04-12T08:03:00.000-07:00

I just learned about this. If I was a joiner, this might be fun. It might not be. Enough beer and all conversations end up here anyway, right?

http://skeptic.org.uk/events/skeptics-in-the-pub

List of famous Atheists and Agnostics

2011-03-30T08:09:00.000-07:00

Some of my favorite thinkers, writers, comedians, programmers, CEOs, leaders, musicians, pundits, actors, directors and scientists are non-believers. So is Keanu Reeves.
http://www.celebatheists.com/wiki/Main_Page

The Sunset Limited by Cormack McCarthy

2011-03-23T12:40:00.000-07:00

Samuel L. Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones came together to bring Cormack McCarthy's The Sunset Limited to HBO. Of the movies in the two-dudes-talking-in-one-room genre I've seen, this ranks among the best, if not #1.

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117944524

Children must have theory-of-mind to believe in supernatural signs...and gods.

2011-03-23T10:00:00.000-07:00

http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=signs-signs-everywhere-signs-seeing-2011-03-13#

http://www.slate.com/id/2283372/

The Pew Forum on Religious and Public Life's Religious Knowledge survey

2011-03-17T14:13:00.000-07:00

http://pewforum.org/Other-Beliefs-and-Practices/U-S-Religious-Knowledge-Survey.aspx

Spoiler: Only 8% of Americans knew that Maimonides was Jewish.

NPR story: Atheists and agnostics know more about religion

2011-03-17T14:11:00.001-07:00

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/09/28/130191248/atheists-and-agnostics-know-more-about-bible-than-religious

Fridge Magnets

2007-09-07T11:18:00.000-07:00

http://www.vikarsrant.net/Jokes/StickersAndMagnets.htm

Persecution of an athiest child in Kansas

2007-05-21T07:43:00.000-07:00

From a 20/20 special "Seeing is Believing:"
http://www.exchristian.net/2/2007/05/price-of-atheism.html

Richard Dawkins interview

2006-10-11T07:22:00.000-07:00

Richard Dawkins is interviewed about his book The God Delusion. (9:36)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMqTEfeqvmM

Intelligence and athiesm corrolated

2006-10-11T07:15:00.000-07:00

http://kspark.kaist.ac.kr/Jesus/Intelligence%20&%20religion.htm

Why Athiests care about religion

2006-09-27T14:04:00.000-07:00

Ever notice that non-believers seem preoccupied (obsessed?) with religion? Why is that?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4fQA9mt-Mg

Richard Carrier speaks at Stanford U.

2006-09-27T13:59:00.000-07:00

Most of this information is presented in some form in The God Who Never Lived, but some is new.
http://www.stanforddaily.com/2006/05/31/jesus-never-lived-speaker-says/

Discriminating against non-christians OK

2006-08-18T08:24:00.000-07:00

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/08/13/Columns/Non_Christians_need_n.shtml

Other Intelligent Design theories must be considered

2006-08-18T08:19:00.000-07:00

If we are going to consider Intelligent Design as a viable theory, maybe we should consider all Intelligent design theories?

http://www.skeptic.com/the_magazine/featured_articles/v12n02_other_ID_theories.html

Maybe I just don't eat enough chocolate to be faithful?

2006-08-18T08:12:00.000-07:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14400252/

Or drink enough cocoa?
http://today.reuters.com/tv/videoChannel.aspx?storyid=7404893db7e8ef9986f568e72c63cefe4e29a862

The Other Side of the Story

2006-08-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

Every story has at least two sides. This is what dissenters had to say about the Flying Spaghetti Monster:
http://www.venganza.org/category/hate-mail/

(Broken link fixed 05/04/2011)

Which came first, the Allah Chicken or the Allah Egg?

2006-07-26T13:57:00.000-07:00

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2006-07-13T120627Z_01_L13421474_RTRUKOC_0_US-KAZAKHSTAN-EGG.xml

Wouldn't that egg taste great together with this:
http://www.blacktable.com/gillin041202.htm

The Ten Commandments were really written by John Hughes

2006-07-25T15:16:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1kqqMXWEFs&feature=Views&page=1&t=m&f=b

U.S. Forefathers were not Christians

2006-07-18T09:24:00.000-07:00

They weren't agnostics or atheists either, but anyway...

(This link was updated on 05/04/2011)

http://www.thenation.com/article/gods-country

(Article: In God's Country)