Ashley Schulte of the Ohio Rational Response Squad made an awesome video using footage from the Rally for Reason.
And I am in it. For two seconds.
(By the way, check out the wonderful Atheist Dance at the end! It’s like our new handshake.)
A second video (inside the museum) will be coming soon.
[tags]atheist, atheism, Ashley Schulte, Ohio Rational Response Squad, Rally for Reason[/tags]
If you ever wanted a good source to back up the statement that atheists are the minority least likely to get elected, Data360 has some nice graphs pulling together the various Gallup poll results on the topic.
Here’s the atheist chart in depth.
Compare that chart to those of how many people would vote for a homosexual or black person, respectively:
(via the Freakonomics blog)
[tags]atheist, atheism, president, gay, homosexual, black, data360[/tags]
In an attempt to explain why he raised his hand when asked if he did NOT believe in evolution during the first Republican presidential candidate debate, Sam Brownback has an op-ed in today’s New York Times where he tries to elaborate on his answer:
As one of those who raised his hand, I think it would be helpful to discuss the issue in a bit more detail and with the seriousness it demands.
You know this is going to be good…
I’m no expert in evolution. But I found several mistakes he made. More educated biologists (or more well-read blog readers) could probably find a lot more.
If belief in evolution means simply assenting to microevolution, small changes over time within a species, I am happy to say, as I have in the past, that I believe it to be true. If, on the other hand, it means assenting to an exclusively materialistic, deterministic vision of the world that holds no place for a guiding intelligence, then I reject it.
Nice to know that he believes in microevolution. I’m not sure, though, that there is a proper dichotomy here. Microevolution versus no God? What’s that all about?
Fundamentalists like Brownback who don’t understand science typically reject the idea of macroevolution, where changes happen at the species level or higher… even though macroevolution is simply microevolution over a long span of time. That, at least, would’ve been a better pairing in the paragraph above.
There is no one single theory of evolution, as proponents of punctuated equilibrium and classical Darwinism continue to feud today.
So this is reason to discard it? All scientists with a brain believe in evolution, even though they may disagree on the specific mechanisms. It’s like Brownback is saying we should completely reject the idea of defense in basketball because some coaches prefer a zone defense while others prefer man-to-man.
The most passionate advocates of evolutionary theory offer a vision of man as a kind of historical accident.
No scientist says that evolution is an accident. To quote a very passionate advocate of evolutionary theory, Richard Dawkins, “Mutation is random; natural selection is the very opposite of random.” Natural selection acts purposefully by selecting for the most well-adapted genes. Those genes come about by random mutations that get passed on to future generations. It is no “historical accident” that man came to exist.
… I believe, as do many biologists and people of faith, that the process of creation — and indeed life today — is sustained by the hand of God in a manner known fully only to him.
Most biologists do NOT think God has a hand in evolution. And many people of faith understand this as well. If anything, some people may say God started the evolutionary process. But educated people understand that natural selection is, in fact, a natural process.
I hope my biology’s not wrong in anything I said above. If it is, I’m sure you’ll correct it.
In case you can’t log in to the NYT website, I’m reprinting the op-ed piece below the fold.
The Exterminator at No More Hornets created a list of confessions.
I sadly admit some of the following have crossed my mind at one time or another…
- Even though I’m an atheist, I sometimes automatically say “god bless you” when a person sneezes. Then I kick myself for the rest of the day.
- I say “oh, Christ!” and “oh, shit!” about an equal number of times each day, even though I believe in only one of them.
- When I tell a stranger that I don’t believe in god, I’m a little disappointed if I don’t get a huge, shocked reaction.
What atheistical confessions do you have?
[tags]atheist, atheism, The Exterminator, No More Hornets, Christ, God[/tags]
One of the realizations I had while writing I Sold My Soul on eBay was that there were more “liberal” religious people out there than I had ever anticipated. I rarely heard their voices in the press, so it was surprising to me that so many Christians with progressive views existed.
Apparently, Jerry Falwell didn’t represent most Christians.
Shocking.
Media Matters just published a study (PDF) that confirms that conservative religious views dominate the news media.
Here are their key findings:
- Combining newspapers and television, conservative religious leaders were quoted, mentioned, or interviewed in news stories 2.8 times as often as were progressive religious leaders.
- On television news — the three major television networks, the three major cable new channels, and PBS — conservative religious leaders were quoted, mentioned, or interviewed almost 3.8 times as often as progressive leaders.
- In major newspapers, conservative religious leaders were quoted, mentioned, or interviewed 2.7 times as often as progressive leaders.
As Media Matters summarizes:
Despite the fact most religious Americans are moderate or progressive, in the news media it is overwhelmingly conservative leaders who are presented as the voice of religion.
Here’s one example of a typical trend, where conservatives were quoted, interviewed, or mentioned in major newspapers or television nearly three times as often as their progressive counterparts:
It all just goes to show how skewed the representation of religion is in the media. The loudest voices don’t necessarily represent the most people. (And I have yet to meet a Catholic who agrees with Bill Donohue.) Still, the media flocks to the fundies when they need a religious soundbyte rather than seeking out someone with a shred of intelligence.
[tags]atheist, atheism, I Sold My Soul on eBay, Christian, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Media Matters, conservative, Catholic, Bill Donohue[/tags]
Pretty girl.
She’s on some soon-to-be-canceled show on the CW network called Hidden Palms.
If only she’d be our spokesperson…
Brent has a plea for Amber to do just that. Check it out.
[tags]atheist, atheism, Amber Heard, Hidden Palms, CW[/tags]
From today’s Onion:
An excerpt:
We can look at the fossil record and trace many of our genetic traits back to ancient species. In fact, scientific reasoning can explain nearly every stage of life from the Big Bang to the present day. I say “nearly” because the period that scientists claim lasted from roughly 205 to 250 million years ago, commonly known as the Triassic period, was quite obviously the work of the Lord God Almighty.
One of this blog’s readers sent me an email (slightly edited by me):
I received a disturbing phone call from my sister-in-law yesterday about her husband, my brother-in-law.
Seems that my bro-in-law is experiencing difficulty with alcoholism, but he is reluctant to attend AA meetings because of their insistence that in order to be successful in the AA program, you must submit to a higher power - a power greater than yourself - God. Of course, you are permitted to define God anyway you choose, yet you are reminded in the chapter “We Agnostics” from the “Big Book” that “As soon as we admitted the possible existence of a Creative Intelligence, a Spirit of the Universe underlying the totality of things, we began to be possessed of a new sense of power and direction, provided we took other simple steps.”
Seriously, is AA the only non-profit group out there that addresses alcoholism? Is there no god-free group that is focused on addiction? Surely there must be someplace an addicted atheist or agnostic (or secular humanist, pagan, or other) can turn to for assistance with addiction.
I am hoping that perhaps you or one of your readers can offer some advice on what I might communicate to my bro-in-law and his wife about such a support group… one that preferably doesn’t have a huge fee attached to their services.
The brother-in-law has a good point. AA’s solution to alcoholism involves a lot of submission to God.
The only group I know that is similar to AA, but gives secular advice, is Save Our Selves (SOS). I don’t know much about them, though.
Maybe someone else can offer some better suggestions?
[tags]atheist, atheism, Alcoholics Anonymous, God, Save Our Selves, Pagan, Agnostic[/tags]
For those of you who like essays and cash, Seed and Honeywell are sponsoring an essay contest where entrants answer the following questions:
What does it mean to be scientifically literate in the 21st century?
How do we measure the scientific literacy of a society? How do we boost it? What is the value of this literacy? Who is responsible for fostering it?
The deadline is July 1 and the maximum word count is 1,200.
For some reason, you have to be an American to enter. You also have to be 18 or older. (So up yours, you 17-year-old Germans.)
Winner gets $2,500. The first loser gets $1,000. Not too shabby.
More information can be found here.
And PZ can’t enter, so you have a shot!
[tags]atheist, atheism, Seed, Honeywell, American, German[/tags]
I Sold My Soul on eBay
Jim and Casper Go To Church
