I have always hated when people wore their patriotism on their sleeves, but rejected the substance behind that patriotism. It is reassuring to know that I am in good company. Early American artist, John Lewis Krimmel satirized Independence Day celebrations in his famous painting, “Fourth of July Drunk Celebration 1819 – Philadelphia” – Pictured below:
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A few years ago, I got into a religious conversation with my ultra-Jewish cousin. This was a long awaiting exchange of ideas. My cousin is very smart and so I was expecting a pretty interesting debate-style conversation. What I got was the same typical arguments I have gotten from newly minted born-again Christians.
The Supreme Court just ruled that corporations can have religious exemptions from laws. This is ridiculously insane for so many reasons.
There is a lot of suffering in the world, but not to worry, they are just punishments from God for all the things particular Christians don’t like. We bring all this suffering and death on ourselves by allowing evil sinners to do things we claim God doesn’t like. That’s what some Christians are still telling me.
Rabbi David Wolpe was named the most influential Rabbi in the country by Newsweek Magazine in 2012. He is also no stranger to high profile debates with atheists like Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris. Recently he posted an interesting meme on his Facebook page which inspired me to make a comment. Wolpe responded and I want to share our brief exchange and my thoughts about it in more detail. Here is the meme:
So here is the situation. My local representative on the School Board was a Republican and was caught stealing money from a charity. He was kicked off the School Board and so there was a vacancy. The current Board issued a call for people to replace him. There would be an interview with the Board and then the Board would vote. Since my son will be starting public school in this district, I decided to throw my hat in the ring.
The interview was on Monday night. Most of the questions were standard questions asked of all the candidates until the Republican Vice-President asked me about my atheism.
Atheism is on the rise in America and yet we are constantly discriminated against and marginalized because of our lack of belief in imaginary friends. For atheists who value reason, logic, and the scientific method, it sometimes seems like the inmates have taken over the asylum. But it shouldn’t have to be like this. Atheists make up a larger percentage of the American population than Jews, Muslims, and every other non-Christian religion in America combines. If we want to be less marginalized, there are things we can and should be doing.
On Saturday, I got to have a conversation with Sanderson Jones. He is the co-founder of Sunday Assembly. That’s the group that the media has labeled, “The Atheist Church.” And on Sunday, I attended the Sunday Assembly and got to see first-hand what it is all about.
I recently received a comment from a Christian pointing out that the Bible supports fasting for health reasons and that a scientific study has shown that fasting can be beneficial to cancer patients on Chemotherapy. The commenter then added that “this was another case of science catching up with God’s advice.”
Picture this, you are walking on a beach and all you see for miles is sand. Then, out of nowhere you find a perfectly formed rock. How do you suppose it got there? How could a rock have formed naturally?