Life Without a Net

Thanksgiving is a tough holiday for the thoughtful non-theist.  For a non-theist with progressive values, it’s difficult not to view it with utter disdain.  It is at once a distillation of the privilege of religious insinuation into public life, and the glorification of materialism and selfishness.  Despite this fact, Thanksgiving has become for me a … Continue reading »

  “The Rule of Law is second only to the Rule of Love. The here and now is less important than the hereafter.”  – Antonin Scalia, Supreme Court Justice. In America, the Supreme Court is the ultimate judge.  Once it has decided a matter, that’s pretty much it.  Antonin Scalia, one of the judges who … Continue reading »

When I write articles about Christian hate, bigotry, misogyny, and general malevolence, I am inevitably chided by “Good Christians” for misrepresenting both them and their holy writ.  Jesus, I am told, was a liberal.  He advocated love, tolerance, and women’s rights.  He came to earth to teach us a better way to live in peace with each other. In … Continue reading »

Christians are fond of defending the sanctity of Biblical Marriage.  One man, one woman, bonded for life, sexually exclusive, and celibate before marriage.  The thing is, that’s not in the Bible.  In order to find that model of marriage, we have to move much farther forward in history.  If anyone was to take the Bible … Continue reading »

I’ve been doing some thinking about the anti-abortion position, and asking myself some basic questions: What do anti-abortionists say they believe? What do anti-abortionists do? Are these two things consistent? As far as I can tell, what they do and what they say are at odds.  Either they do not really believe abortion is murder, … Continue reading »

It’s very easy for some of us to jump on the anti-consumerism bandwagon.  We look at soccer moms driving their 1.7 kids 2.4 miles to school in their Ford Excessives, and we smugly note that there is not so much as a deep pothole to test their off-road capability.  We rail against the excesses of … Continue reading »

Many “agnostics” suggest that elements of Intelligent Design are compatible with Evolution.  Why isn’t it possible that there’s both a god who created life AND evolution via natural selection?  This question represents a misunderstanding of evolution. Evolution is dependent on *non-intelligent* selection. That’s literally the whole point.  All the predictions made by evolutionary theory rely … Continue reading »

It turns out that one piece of dating advice routinely given to men is wrong.  I know I’ve heard it said for many years:  ”Smile when you meet someone.  Smile to show them you’re interested in what they’re saying.  Show off the pearly whites — it’s attractive!” Actually… no. New research published in the American Psychological … Continue reading »

Among the criticisms being leveled at the recent study on sex and secularism is the assertion that there is no established correlation between guilt and enjoyment of sex.  This is a very odd criticism for anyone who has been both religious and secular.  We know we’re enjoying sex more now that we’re not feeling guilty. … Continue reading »

One of the foundations of the scientific method is that it provides for replication regardless of prior conviction.  That is, if ten people perform the same experiment in the same way, they will achieve the same results regardless of what they expected the results to be.  In fact, this is one of the things that … Continue reading »

“Atheist Agenda” is a scary sounding term to a lot of people.  To some, it conjures up images of burning churches and outlawing the ownership of Bibles.  To others, it’s a bit less sinister, but still sounds like a concerted attempt to take away people’s sense of identity as people of faith. In light of … Continue reading »

If you are one of the estimated 21 million Americans suffering from paraskevidekatriaphobia (fear of Friday the 13th), here’s a tidbit that might be disturbing.  A British study from 1993 determined that at least in terms of car accidents, there may be something to the fear.  Even though fewer people drove on Friday the 13th, there were … Continue reading »

I received a short email from a reader concerning atheism and guilt.  Here’s the nutshell version:  What do atheists do for absolution?  Whether there’s a god or not, Christians believe that by asking forgiveness directly or of a priest, they experience a spiritual change and receive peace.  And maybe the belief creates the reality, which … Continue reading »

If you are still riding the fence about whether non-believers are moral people, here’s a little tidbit from the Pew Research Center.  White Evangelical Protestants agree at a startling 62% that torture can sometimes or often be justified.  One out of five thinks we ought to use it often.  Significantly less “unaffiliated” (psst… non-believers) agree … Continue reading »

Do you punish the ones you love every single time they hurt you?  It’s not a flippant question.  I’ve been thinking about all the people who have done things that hurt me, and I’m struck by the realization that punishment is something I reserve for particularly bad offenses.  I don’t go about life doling out … Continue reading »

I’ve been thinking a lot about how to test whether science and religion are compatible.  A couple of nights ago, with the aid of a Johnny Walker Black and soda (it really was in your honor, Hitch… hang in there!) I stumbled on a very simple truth: We cannot use both science and religion to address … Continue reading »

Here’s a truism we’re all familiar with:  The wiser we get, the more we realize how little we know.  It’s especially true of scientific investigation and education.  More importantly, it’s a foundational difference between religion and science.  The hallmark of science is its malleability.  When the data changes, the hypotheses change.  The best scientific thinkers are … Continue reading »

1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.5 Slaves, … Continue reading »

9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from … Continue reading »

Sheena Iyengar is a professor at Columbia University and an innovator in research on choice.   I’ve been sitting on an advance copy of her new book, The Art of Choosing, which I’ve just discovered has been released.  It’s a great book.  I recommend it for anyone interested in learning more about this whole “free … Continue reading »

For several months now, I’ve had a profile on OkCupid.com.  No, I will not tell you the profile name, and no, you could not guess it from information off of this blog.  And anyway, I’m honestly not there to find a date.  I am, however, very interested in their matching algorithm, and have spent hours … Continue reading »

For most of us atheists determined enough to debate theists, I think one of the most frustrating arguments for God goes something like this: There are some things that are real even though they defy proof and definition.  You can’t “prove love.”  Love exists, but you can’t touch it or feel it or even define … Continue reading »

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the afterlife.  Two questions have been at the forefront of my mind, and I think I can address them both with an observation that just hit me a few minutes ago.  Here are the questions: 1) Does belief in an afterlife provide a measure of comfort to … Continue reading »

PART 2 PART 3 I’m going to break this entry down into multiple parts, posting one per day, as it is quite long, and on reflection, I think it’s too much to ask readers to spend so much time per day on a blog entry.  To that end, if it seems as if there’s more … Continue reading »