When I wrote Mirror Reversal in 2007, Global Warming was still uncertain and actively debated. Now massive destruction and human depopulation is as certain as the sinking of the Titanic once the fifth lower compartment was breached by the razor-sharp spikes of the iceberg. As the head engineer said, “It’s a mathematical certainly.”

My son, Rickie, a long-distance trailer driver recently told me that when he spends a night at a gigantic truck stop in the Texas, there’re…

(Several years ago, I undertook to read the Torah.  For specific reasons, see below.  But basically I wanted to find out, to my own satisfaction, just what it said, to the extent possible, given that it's such an ancient text that's been repeatedly copied and edited. 

To rabbis, thus to most Jews, it is a repository of priceless wisdom.   I set out to find it. 

What I found was both enlightening and disappointing. …

This week includes the entire audio from The Sagan Series, which can be found on You Tube, and my rant to one of those Christians who says I'm Not One of Those Christians.

Playlist

The Sagan Series Part One

Alleee 1

Babs Gonzales * Prelude to a Nightmare

Tommy Durden and the Westernaires * Hula Boogie

The Sagan Series Part 2

Al Jolson * I Dream of Jeannie

Petula…

There is someone on my tumblr who is an atheist scientist student.  She posted something along the lines of "religion is not the problem, people are" and went on and on, in what looked like a defense of religion.



I thought this needed to be sorted out.  I don't want criticism of religion to be so easily dismissed.  So I decided that people who criticise religion…

This week, ghosts from 1984 express their outrage and confusion when confronted by that strange and probably dangerous breed of human, the "Punker."

Playlist

Donohue 1

Alleee1

Kirby Stone Four * S'Wonderful

Donohue 2

Eden Ahbez * Banana Boy

Donohue 3

Earl Hines * Bubbling Over

Donohue 4

The sound of Criss Cross * Mozart symphony no. 40

Donohue…

Infidel, n. In New York, one who does not believe in the Christian religion; in Constantinople, one who does.”

Ambrose Bierce

It would be great to have reliable numbers on religious migration: how many people change religions each year, how many become new adherents, how many drift away, never to return?

Increasing the ranks

Different religions have different ways of increasing their ranks: birth rate (e.g., all…

In case you hadn't tried it, DemocraticUnderground.com (DU) is a popular liberal blog, with an occasionally good Religion forum for believers and Nones to try and discuss issues reasonably.

After I was banned from DU, I asked here at A/N, in this discussion, "Are Democrats locking atheists…

(Note: I decided to change the title - it's one of the great things about episodes! They're adaptable.)

Following the suggestion of AN's own Steph S., I lurked moar before continuing this series on atheist morals and ethics. I'm glad I did. In addition to the discussion Steph S. started, which I found edifying, I was also…

Last time: I blazed through the observation that a-theism and an-archy share certain similarities, both in how each word is defined, and how each idea is redefined by its critics in order to dismiss either without addressing the problems each poses for ethics. I concluded by mentioning that these redefinitions serve to cut each idea off from the moral center of the individual. This time, I'll clarify what I mean by that, and introduce my thesis - tentatively one could call this a theory of…

In today's installment of this new episodic essay, I harangue readers with some thoughts on what I'll call "existential anarchy" from an angry, atheistic point of view. I want to consider the roots of two ideas:

A-theos: without gods.

An-archos: without rules.

Both words are defined by what they lack. Without the missing subject, each object would be meaningless, just as "no-thing" is ill-defined without the implicit missing subject -- the…

I know my intro post wasn't very clear. Let me start by laying out the scene a little better. About a month ago I moved from el Valle in Albuquerque, NM to a farm in the St. Francis Mountains (if they can be called that with a straight face) south of St. Louis, where I live with my GF and her grandma, who lost her husband a few months before. Oh yeah, plus our three dogs, three inside cats, three outside cats, and two inside birds. We don't count outside birds. :D

My GF -- let's call…

Clips this week come to us from a sermon by Seattle Public Access favorite, the Reverend Bruce Howard.

Playlist

Rev. Bruce Howard 1

Alleee 1

Jimmy Scott * Exodus

DJ Shadow * Shadow Propaganda Mix

Rev. Bruce Howard 2

Pierre Doutour * High Tide

DJ Zebra & Bagad de Carhaix * The Imperial March

Rev. Bruce Howard 3

Como Carousel * Those Were the…

Hello my friends on Atheist Nexus, am updating you on the progress of the school project.

Normal lessons are being conducted and towards the middle of May, we received a volunteer at the school to orientate both our teachers and the students on computer skills. The program is already in progress and our students are so excited and fully committed towards attaining these skills.

The Godless Poutine based in Canada is running a one o one interview of both the School Director, The…

Kenji Yamada, 29.

Facebook: http://facebook.com/hajenso

Blog: paginavorus.wordpress.com

This is the second post in a new series of personal profiles of Atheists, Agnostics and Humanists who are helping to make the world a better place.

Kenji…

This is the first post in a new series of personal profiles of Atheists, Agnostics and Humanists who are helping to make the world a better place.

Over the next few weeks I will focus on people who are making a difference for others. They are examples of…

Dear reader,

I need your help and advice.

Awhile ago I heard about Seth Andrews' $30,000 Atheist Charity Drive. Before that I had heard about the Foundation Beyond Belief and other pre-existing secular charities.

While thinking about this, an idea entered my mind. Why not reach out to…

Unlike the character I covered in the last instalment of this series,Homer's Thersites, Lucian was a real person who starred in his own satirical works, written in Greek for an…

Religion Is Abomination

  Part I

Preface:  I’m not gay, but if I were I’d be pissed at some bronze-age fisherman or goat-herder declaring my genetic sexual proclivities to be “Abomination”—to be loathed or deplored.  I have news for you, I’d say, the whole screwy religion has caused more misery and suffering than same-sex lovemaking ever could.  At least nobody gets hurt when safely and consensually performed. It’s time we turn the tables…