This afternoon I was reminded of a favorite episode of The Twilight Zone: “In Praise of Pip,” and a facet of that story I thought worthy of mention here.



The story opens in an Army hospital in South Vietnam, where a young soldier is brought in on a stretcher. He is evaluated by a doctor, who notes the soldier’s unusual name – Pip Phillips – and after examination, estimates that his patient’s chances of survival are not promising. Cut to half way around the world and a seedy…

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WHITLOCK'S BLOOD LIBEL



Linda Whitlock (Dec.18) repeats yet again the "blood libel" against unbelievers, that only Creationism offers any basis for ethics.



Whitlock has it backwards. Religion offers no basis for ethics. Religious morality consists of obeying the alleged will of God, as reported by your chosen authority. But obedience is not the same as morality. If believers wish to make war or keep slaves or oppress…

http://faithinsuperstitions.blogspot.in/

https://apps.facebook.com/wpsocialreader/me/channels/read/content/

http://www.economist.com/node/21543526?fsrc=rss%7Cbus

Driving through town this morning, the church parking lots were nearly full.  Thinking back to when I was a young man, under my parents' roof, and doing what was expected or demanded of me, I never gained or took much from attending church services - friends, certainly, and a lesson or two about life and people, perhaps.  But, I could never make any sense out of the creation myth, the miracles, a virgin birth, the resurrection, or being saved from my sins. 

I realize that some…

So, I originally wanted to create an account on here to rant about this, because I don't have too many people to rant to. It involves me signing up for a class about the New Testament at a community college in the middle of the Bible Belt and the crappy things that happened afterward. This is copied from my Tumblr, where I originally posted it, and it's fairly long.

I suppose it was my fault for thinking I could learn about the New Testament from a historical point of…

Take me up to the vacant moon

To look back down upon mankind

To gaze in awe of all we’ve done

And hold myself smug in those things

Take me further to Saturn’s rings…

I know everyone here knows the answer is yes, but I am writing this for the ones that have not figured that out yet.

http://www.squidoo.com/god-is-just-pretend

I came up with a very long post for another reason. Since I'm happy with how it turned out I thought I should post it here. It was in response to someone misusing the term agnostic, and was insisting that a lack of beliefs is agnosticism and that atheism is the positive belief that no gods exist. The person was also using agnosticism to mean that we currently don't have enough knowledge about gods but that we may one day have enough knowledge and rejecting the notion that knowledge of…

Petition: National Defense Authorization Act is illegal (S. 1867)

Why This Is Important

SOME PEOPLE THINK I'M JOKING WHEN I SAID THE MILITARY WILL HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO ARREST ANY AMERICAN WITHOUT CHARGES. THIS IS NO JOKE!! Bill Text - S.1867 ES - 112th Congress (2011-2012) - THOMAS…

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve read or heard from Christians that they have “a personal relationship” with Jesus Christ I would probably not be writing this on account of the unimaginable wealth I would have accumulated. You see, Christians love saying it:

I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

or

Getting to know Christ.

or

Jesus is my best…

It's been awhile - five-plus months, in fact - since we last heard from The Most Dangerous Show on The Net.

Fear not, though - The Evolution of a Godless Revolution returns at 8 ET/5 PT TONIGHT!!!

What is it, you ask?

Why, it's the return of ShockNet Radio's signature series, American Heathen! That's right, host RJ Evans returns from a prolonged break, along with his co-hosts both old (David 2, 2Buck Chuck and John Mill) and new…

Since i am o ff twitter today, i figured i would blog a little in a bit more than 140 chars. So here we go. Twitter is a great way of active social interaction between people, even between people from a very divers cultural and geographic backgrounds. Add to that, that this cultural interaction takes place in a very public space that is equally available directly to the "followers" of the individuals taking…

DID



YOU



KNOW?

I came up with this last night right before bed. I think it sums up the problem with religion perfectly.

'anti' means opposed or against.

'biotic' is from the Greek word 'biotikos' which means "fit for life."

Religion is opposed to being fit for life.

It is opposed to a real understanding of the world and the universe which allow science and technology.

It is opposed to doing the right things for life to proceed because it is so focused on…

http://gawker.com/5879888/yes-the-romneys-converted-mitts-dead-atheist-father+in+law-to-mormonism

Hi, State Rep. Richard Floyd threatened to "stomp a mudhole" into any transgender woman who uses a public restroom in Tennessee. "Stomp a mudhole," according to Urban Dictionary, means "To tear someone a new ass, to beat them to near death or to otherwise hurt someone to the point that they can not fight back." We cannot tolerate such hate! That's why I signed a petition to The Tennessee State House, The Tennessee State Senate, and Governor Bill Haslam, which says: "State Rep. Richard Floyd…

We have to find another place to live. Tennessee is getting more and more like a religious theocracy run by bigotted morons.

We have the don't say gay law which would make it impossible to discuss anything about homosexuality in school.

A couple of weeks ago we had the potty police bill which was supposed to limit people to the bathroom of the gender they were born in.

Last year we had bills proposed to the state congress which would exempt…

Check out my thoughts here. Your comments are welcome.

http://spiceislandatheist.blogspot.com/2012/01/tim-tebow-saga-argument-against-god.html