When reading the Old and New Testament, and even to an extent the Koran, one can find oneself rather pleased with some of the stories, and enjoying them for their narrative and even, occasionally, stylistic merit. But if you’re of a more practical character like I am, the various prescriptions for meting out temporal punishment and the common injunctions to carry out God’s will somehow fall short of one’s expectations. After all, what good is a god who needs people to carry out his will in the first place?
Well, I’ve figured out the solution, and it involves looking east to the land of my mother’s birth: India. The Hindus clearly have it all figured out, which neatly explains why India is the cleanest, most prosperous, wealthiest, safest, and least corrupt nation on earth. Oh. Hang on a minute…
So it was with skepticism but hope that I dove headfirst into the curious pages of the Atharva Veda. The Atharva Veda is a lengthy catalogue of Read the rest of this entry »
This does not look like any fun at all, to say the least. And it makes you wonder just how out of shape Hitchens really is. I think I could last longer but I’m certainly not burning to try… I’ve read the Vanity Fair article about this “experiment.” It’s a worthwhile read, as you might imagine, and here is likely the the most trenchant observation from it, not only about the procedure, but about rectitude and morality in general:
I apply the Abraham Lincoln test for moral casuistry: “If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.” Well, then, if waterboarding does not constitute torture, then there is no such thing as torture.
One more time for all the postmodernists and moral relativists out there:
One in ten atheists prays? And 21% of us say we believe in God? What the— ?
I heard about these oxymoronic poll results from the Pew Forum’s Landscape Survey, but have been very busy and was unable to quickly form a cogent response. And then I came across this post at the Friendly Atheist–author Susan Jacoby (The Age of American Unreason) gets at the possible “Pew Paradox” here quite deftly, I find. So let’s just permit Jacoby her say:
To say that you’re an atheist who believes in God and prays is the equivalent of saying that you’re a vegetarian who loves to scarf down barbecued ribs and T-bone steak. Or a Christian who rejects the teachings of the New Testament. Or a religiously observant Jew who also believes that Jesus was the Messiah. Or a Muslim who believes that Jesus was God.
…
Americans as a people have become supremely ignorant about Read the rest of this entry »
1. An atheist would never claim that the disastrous floods experienced in the Mid-West recently are the work of God.
2. An atheist would never murder a young woman, cook parts of her, and then possibly eat her—certainly not because God supposedly told him to.
3. An atheist would never burn a cross onto his student’s arm, persist in talking about religion during a Science class he teaches, and refuse to remove a Bible from his desk in a public school classroom.
As for #1, as Pastor Erich Schumacher of Northbrook Baptist Church did preach that
“Through Adam’s rebellion, the earth was put under a curse so that basically the earth wouldn’t cooperate with our rule. Thorns and thistles would grow, and it would be painful work subduing the earth and having dominion.”
I’ve been meaning to try to encapsulate the recent development with Obama and his unsettling (for nonbelievers) position on continuing Bush’s faith-based programs. Perhaps the best way to present this is to just show how Keith Olbermann and Barry Lynn of Americans United for the Separation of Church & State parse it…
Since I make the requisite effort to be cognizant of why we observe holidays, I set myself to wondering about why atheists might be thankful (pardon my mixing of holiday metaphors) for this country’s independence. An obvious reason presented itself: the separation of church and state. There was no such thing in England when those crazy white boys (Jefferson and Madison, pictured here, among others) who shaped this country’s political ideals eventually wrote the following 16 words in the Establishment Clause to the First Amendment of the Constitution:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion … or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
Despite the lingering religiosity in much of this country, we atheists can take some solace in these words… especially in the first ten. Nonetheless, we can also take heart in the 1994 interpretation of the Establishment Clause by Justice Souter’s majority opinion, which stated:
You may have noticed that my column is a little late this week. I’m going to go ahead and claim that it’s because my topic this week is a late arrival to the Christian scene: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The Mormons, who briefly held the national attention when one of their flock ran for the Republican nomination, are famous for ménage-a-plenties, sharing a state with the Rat Pack, and wearing magical underwear (on a comedy blog I used to run, a picture of them was one of the most commented-on items.) But the Mormons are about more than free love (for men,) free religion (for whites,) and free pizza (for me, please.) They boast one of the most bizarre and literally incredible religious histories of the 20th century. For a wonderful and hilarious primer, be sure to check out the south park episode “All About Mormons.”
For today’s reading I’ve chosen the brief chapter 8 in the Book of Nephi (not to be confused with Nehi, a popular southern soft drink.) If the Bible were an episode of the television show “Lost,” then the book of Mormon is an episode where they recap the events from a different character’s perspective: someone who was nowhere near the important stuff, is incredibly boring, and certainly never existed.
Joys of Atheism 9 posted by guest blogger Jason Torpy
It’s been said, “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.” It’s maybe the opposite of “joy,” but in order to be happy, we have to have a little perspective. It’s important that we, especially in NYC, not retreat into a bubble and forget that the world is certainly imperfect. We have a natural, undirected world to deal with and the only way to be truly happy is to participate in the continuous improvement of our world and our species.
That having been said, let’s parse some of the many major issues about which we might be outraged. Disenfranchisement by politicians and corporations of the will of the public; what are our choices in November, really? Corporate immunity for a variety of environmental and social atrocities, at home and abroad; I’m an MBA and a free marketeer, and even I can see that corporate officers get away with murder. Unchecked war throughout the world, including of course Iraq; whatever side you’re on, it’s a tragedy. Environmental deterioration; c’mon, is anyone denying this with a straight face these days? These are of common interest, not necessarily only for atheists.
As if we needed more to be outraged about, let’s focus these issues through the lens of Read the rest of this entry »
A Texas Supreme Court ruling is letting a North Texas Pentecostal Church off the hook in a case filed by Laura Schubert, a woman who claims that members of the Pleasant Glade Assembly of God Church held her down, “laid hands” on her, and tried to exorcise demons from her in 1996.
When Schubert’s case was finally heard in 2002, a lower court awarded her $300,000. That amount was later reduced to about $180,000. The most recent decision (6-3) by the Texas high court found in favor of the church. And the court did so based on an interpretation of how far religious freedoms extend within the First Amendment of the Constitution. According to Justice David Medina, holding the church guilty
“would have an unconstitutional ‘chilling effect’ by compelling the church to abandon core principles of its religious beliefs.”
So, because part of the church’s dogma that allows for “the laying on of hands” for healing purposes (read in the modern day as “sexual abuse”), and because it still believes in ghosts and ghouls as its essential religious tenet, the court has determined that these principles are sacrosanct, and ought not to be legally questioned. And so absurdity is once again allowed to trump reason—apparently if we are going to have to the Constitution interpreted as Justice Medina sees it.
Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson saw the case quite differently and stated in the dissenting opinion that Read the rest of this entry »
Poor Neil Beagley is dead at 16 from a treatable urinary tract infection. According to Oregon medical examiner Dr. Clifford Nelson, Beagley likely had a congenital condition that had caused numerous blockages of his bladder and/or urethra over his short life. The last incident, which could have been averted by the simple insertion of a catheter, contributed to a build-up of urea in his kidneys and a subsequent poisoning, which in turn resulted in heart failure. Any urologist given the chance could have saved this young man.
Why, you might ask, did the young Beagley not receive medical treatment? He was part of the Followers of Christ Church, whose members believe in prayer and faith healing as remedies for illness and disease. This might all be laughable if it weren’t so tragic.
As a matter of fact, Beagley’s own toddler cousin, Ava Worthington, died earlier this year from bronchial pneumonia and a blood infection, both also treatable conditions, but her parents (pictured below) refused to seek medical assistance for their daughter’s problems as well.
When reading the Old and New Testament, and even to an extent the Koran, one can find oneself rather pleased with some of the stories, and enjoying them for their narrative and even, occasionally, stylistic merit. But if you’re of a more practical character like I am, the various prescriptions for meting out temporal punishment and the common injunctions to carry out God’s will somehow fall short of one’s expectations. After all, what good is a god who needs people to carry out his will in the first place?
