Atheists tend to be politically minded people. Most of us care about the world and human progress. We vote and we engage in activism for various causes and yet politicians barely know we exist. We need to change that.
Strictly speaking, atheism is simply a lack of belief in deities. However, being part of the greater community of reason for several years now, I have noticed something. Most active atheists tend to also be humanists… even if they don’t like that term. In this sense there are atheist values.
I was at the mall the other day and I noticed a woman wearing a burqa. I don’t see this…
Last night, I was a guest lecturer at a community college sociology class. The subject was atheism and secular humanism. I started out talking about the beginnings of religion and at one point outlined how the Old Testament came together. One fundamentalist Christian in the class questioned my account and well she should have because it is pretty damning to her fundamentalist beliefs and because I think it is important to question everything.
Several media outlets have released a photo with two men who authorities think might be suspicious in relation to the Boston Marathon bombing. The thing is that we have no idea if these two men have anything at all to do with the bombing or are suspicious “looking” for another reason. We don’t know anything at this point and yet there are people on the internet calling for their heads.
I don’t have cable so I don’t watch my news on television. This means that I don’t have the “benefit” of the endless analysis and speculation that has almost certainly been going on non-stop on all the 24/7 news channels. Instead, I read my news online so I generally get mostly the facts and only a small amount of speculation. Based on that, I have some thoughts and speculations of my own.
Yesterday, tragedy struck the city of Boston as two bombs exploded at the Boston Marathon. At least three people have died and over a hundred are wounded with some even losing limbs. The photos are horrific and heart wrenching but the good news is that the world continues to spin.
Last week, a high school teacher in Albany, NY was disciplined over a controversial assignment. He asked his class to write a persuasive essay arguing that the Jews are evil.
Awhile back, a Christian Tweeted an interesting question to atheists. The question was this: “Why would you risk your soul? #atheism” Now, I know the Christian wasn’t actually expecting an answer, but I would like to answer this question anyway.
We all have heard the stories of Muslim women who are beaten, raped, and treated like property. We all know that women in Muslim controlled nations must cover-up or face some very real threats but now there are some Muslim women who are claiming that they are not oppressed at all.