04.23.08
Posted in General at 9:32 pm by Hemant Mehta
A.J. Packman shares with us the first drafts of the parables of Jesus over at McSweeney’s.
“But what do you think about this?” asked Jesus. “A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway. Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go. Which of the two was obeying his father?”
“The first!” cried some of the disciples.
“The second!” cried the rest of the disciples.
And Jesus said, “Wait, I messed this one up. Did I mention that when the first son went to work in the vineyard he killed somebody? Because that’s important. So, yeah, which of the two was obeying his father?”
“Uh … the first?” said some of the disciples.
“The second! The second!” cried the rest of the disciples.
And Jesus said, “Oh, cripes, also the father only has one arm. And he is riding a horse the whole time. Was that clear?”
One of the disciples said, “Are you sure that’s not ‘The Parable of the One-Armed Father Who Rode on a Horse’?”
And Jesus said, “Maybe you’re right. OK, let’s change the question: Which of the two sons was the tallest?”
The disciples were silent.
Jesus shook his head in dismay. “Have I taught you nothing?”
(Thanks to Spazeboy for the link!)
[tags]atheist, atheism, Christian, Christianity[/tags]
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Posted in General at 9:00 pm by Hemant Mehta
You’re coming, right?
The party is at the Galway Arms in Chicago at 7:30 p.m. this Saturday night.
More information is here!
[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]
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Posted in General at 8:32 pm by Hemant Mehta
For some reason, I’m having “comment” issues on this site. People are having trouble posting them. They not able to edit their own comments afterward. And even moderating the comments is a hassle today — it’s not working properly.
Is there anyone online right now who can help me with this? If you are on AIM or Gmail chat, even better!
Please let me know.
Thanks!
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Posted in Dating, General at 6:00 pm by Hemant Mehta
A reader of this site has a dilemma.
He just posted a profile on Match.com. Part of his profile states that he’s an atheist. Right away, this is like kryptonite to a lot of potential dates who may not know what that means but see “atheist” as a dirty word.
He writes:
If we were in a face-to-face setting I could explain it to them more easily based upon their feedback/reactions. I don’t have that opportunity on an opening or second email reply.
One girl has already written to him. She says she’s never dated an atheist before, but it might be ok… you know, if he’s not into devil worship.
We need to clear up stereotypes and offer some advice to those people who *might* want to date an atheist but don’t have a clear impression of what an “atheist” is.
What advice do you have for those people?
There are probably many readers who have dated someone who knew next to nothing about atheism. What stereotypes did you have to correct?
Answer wisely! A potential love life hangs in the balance.
[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]
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Posted in General, Secular Coalition for America at 4:38 pm by Hemant Mehta
The Secular Coalition for America now has a ninth member: The American Ethical Union.
The AEU is the fourth humanist group within the SCA. It’s also an organization that considers itself “religious” (though they do not take a position on the God question).
The AEU was founded in 1876 and is headquartered in New York City. Ethical Culture is a nontheistic “religion” which is humanistic in nature and neutral as to the existence of a higher power.
“Our religion is ethics,” said Ron Solomon, who is the treasurer of the AEU, and newly-elected treasurer of the SCA, as well. “We are strongly interested in social action,” said Solomon. “And we want to join the fight against the Christianizing of America.”
He said AEU, which has 2,500 members, thought that it was important to add their resources to protect the interests of non-theists.
Said SCA lobbyist Lori Lipman Brown:
“The American Ethical Union’s ethical life stance and its programs to bring reason-based ethics to families and the public have certainly enhanced our nation; the American Ethical Union [is] an equally powerful and positive force within our coalition.”
(Via Humanist Network News)
[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]
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Posted in General, Mike Clawson at 11:48 am by Mike Clawson
Mike Clawson here again.
Maybe I should just start with the disclaimers. I am posting this question solely out of a desire to get to know people better, and hopefully to help find some common ground and common passions. I have no hidden agenda, and if you think you perceive any subtle digs directed at atheists then please assume that you are misreading me. Also, this post is not an invitation to play “Ask a Christian Pastor” again and bombard me with demands to defend every little aspect of my faith. Let’s talk about our other passions, not about what you don’t like about my faith. And if you decide to hammer me with these questions anyway, please don’t get offended if I decline to engage.
So here’s my question: I know that most of you here are pretty passionate about atheism and also usually about the separation of church and state. And I’ve noticed that whenever Hemant or whomever invites you to become more activist it usually has to do with supporting either Atheist groups, groups fighting for Separation, or (less frequently) groups supporting science education. That’s all well and good, and it’s natural that these would be emphasized on a specifically atheist blog. It’s also natural that at a blog like this people would talk about those passions and not so much about other ones.
However, I don’t want to make the mistake of assuming that these are the sole or even primary defining passions in your lives. I’m sure that many of us are also passionately committed to other causes and issues, perhaps even more so than atheism or religious/non-religious freedom. For instance, I am passionately committed to social justice issues – e.g. issues of fair trade, anti-slavery, poverty reduction, environmental sustainability, ethical consumption, racial and gender equality, and active peacemaking. You might not know it based on the things I end up talking about here, but I’m actually far more interested in these topics than I am in discussing atheism vs. theism.
So I’m curious about you. What else are you passionate about? What issues are most important to you? What causes have you devoted your life to? Are “atheist” and “religious” issues your primary interests or are those simply what shows through here on this blog?
Let’s share our passions. I’m hopeful that we’ll find more points of commonality than perhaps we would expect.
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Posted in General at 12:27 am by Hemant Mehta
This is Amber Heard:
She’s yummy.
And she becomes even hotter when you find out she’s an atheist.
(Hey, USA Today said she was. It must be true.)
Brent Rasmussen agrees with me on her scrumptiousness. Which is why he made a plea for her to become our spokesperson.
Amber is starring in a slew of movies this year, including Never Back Down (with Djimon Honsou), Pineapple Express (with Seth Rogen), and The Informers (with Winona Ryder).
(Ok, just one more gratuitous pic:)
*drool*
Why do I bring her up?
In a recent interview with Rob Brink for Missbehave magazine, the subject of religion came up…:
What are you reading right now?
A really great book by Christopher Hitchens called The Portable Atheist, US News about some discoveries on some secrets of Christianity, and a book about Pakistan.
I saw your profile on the website “Friendly Atheist.” So, that’s your thing huh? I mean, that you’re um… practicing atheism?
Ha. Yeah, that’s a great oxymoron. No, I’m not a practicing atheist. I’m a practicing human and I know how that sounds but I’m learning everything I can about being human. I was raised in a strict Catholic environment but the only thing I feel comfortable saying that I know is that I can’t know. I will never prescribe to an organization that claims to tell me how to do anything. I’m not anti “higher power” so you could call me agnostic. Whatever, call me anything but I will never be a “religious” person.
There was an open letter on the site asking you to be the Atheist spokeswoman. Pretty goddamn funny.
You have to love the irony — an organization based on the belief system of telling you not to believe in any organization based on belief systems…
Do you think if you weren’t raised in that crazy Catholic environment you’d feel the same? Anyone I know that grew up Catholic is so against it now.
I’d like to thank the way I was raised for giving me enough knowledge about organized religion to make the adult decision to live the rest of my life without it. I don’t think you can believe or not believe in anything unless you know a lot about it. I know Christianity, especially Catholicism, like the back of my hand. And my education has given me the freedom to know that it is completely absurd for me to believe it.
A few things:
“Friendly Atheist” is not an oxymoron! [Thanks to those who pointed out that "friendly atheist" is not what she was referring to. You win!]- The “open letter” was on Brent’s site, not mine.
- Atheism is not an organization. We don’t tell you anything. Individuals, however, may try to persuade you against religion.
- Amber, I still love you. Marry me?
- Pretty please?
Oh, to be Amber’s Heard’s personal Portable Atheist…
[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]
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