I have a few friends who are Republicans mainly because they perceive the Republican Party as pro-business. I should add that on social issues most of my Republican friends are still pretty liberal and many of them are even atheists. I mention that in defense of Dave Silverman who was absolutely correct in trying to reach out to atheist Republicans at CPAC.
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CNN’s BeliefNet writer, Candida Moss claims with a straight face that Christians didn’t steal Easter and that this is just a myth. Yeah, it’s just a myth no doubt created by the Devil or some atheists. Okay, she didn’t say that last part, but you get the idea. The funny part here is that Easter is one of those holidays where Christians were too lazy to even bother to change the name of the holiday.
Religious believers love to claim that God is the only possible source for morality. While I have made it clear in a previous article that God does not ground morality at all and that the true source of morality is human empathy and compassion, many religious believers still hold on to their dogmatic view. Not to worry, I have developed a test to see which one of us is correct.
Look, I understand that in countries like China, Iraq, Egypt, or Israel, it is certainly possible and even probable that a Christian might be persecuted for his or her religious faith, but in America where 80% of the country is made up of Christians and roughly 95% of our government is made up of Christians (including the President), it is extremely unlikely. It is more likely that a Republican would be persecuted in Alabama than a Christian to be persecuted in the United States.
This is why I love it that the number one online news program are filled with rational people who self-identify as “agnostics.” The on-air personalities of The Young Turks aren’t those mean atheists like me; they are open-minded progressives like me. They are also not “preaching” to the “choir” in that their audience isn’t just atheists. I don’t know if I can call them mainstream, but they are certainly more mainstream than the average atheist broadcaster.
The other night, I re-watched the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, “Who Watches The Watchers.” This is probably the episode that most obviously deals with religion and has become a favorite among atheists.
Even though Tom Cruise is an outstanding actor who picks mostly good to great movies to star in, that isn’t the reason why I love him. I love him because he is such an outspoken Scientologist.
Fred Phelps is dead. He was the founder of the now infamous Westboro Baptist Church, which is the smallest famous church you will ever here about. For the most part, the Church is made up of Phelp’s admittedly large family and that is about it. It isn’t like they are some giant mega-church or even a match for the local church around the corner (there is always a church around the corner). So why are so many religious writers so giddy that Fred Phelps has died?
The news is abuzz at the thought that the head of Westboro Baptist Church, Fred Phelps, is near death. There has been talk about picketing his funeral and everything. For starters, Fred Phelps was excommunicated from his own church last year and even if that were not the case, WBC members don’t believe in having funerals.
I work part-time in retail and the other day I had a woman ask me about how I viewed the Bible. She then handed me a Bible tract titled with that same question and told me that it would only take a few moments of my time, but it could change my life.