On April 19, I read a commentary in the Roanoke Times by Clonnie_Yearout; Yearout (gender unknown) was arguing for Creationism and against "Darwinism". I sent the following in reply. The Times printed at least two letters (by other people) replying to Yearout, but not this one.  



FROM: John B. Hodges

(contact info)

TO: Editor, letters page

I would like this considered for a COMMENTARY or OP-ED.



Greetings-



Clonnie Yearout's commentary ("A Tale of…

I mentioned somewhere else on AtheistNexus that xians fail to realize that ethics, as a field of study, originated with the ancient Greeks, who didn't attach it to the practice of their religion in any way. I found the following article on Psychology Today: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/experiments-in-philosophy/200806/do-atheists-pose-threat-morality

(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…

Katherine Stewart has an article on AlterNet:

Are Christian Fundamentalists Teaching Genocide in Our Schools?

http://www.alternet.org/story/155663/

First of all, I am who I am!  I will not, by godlessdamn, be anything other than myself. 

Second, I have little to loose.  I played the games, faked the faces, but I never could really hide who I am.  I became disliked, sometimes ridiculed, very often ignored, but because I have always believed in a few things very strongly, things like ethics and truth, and I stood up for them rather than…

Greeting from The Project

Here we examine the merits (or lack thereof) of cultural relativism.  Is everything relative?  Does post modernism work?  Do Eskimo’s hate babies?  You say to-ma-toe, we say to-mat-NO.  Sharpen your critical thinking skills and prepare for some super-addition in this edition of Norm’s Conceptual Corner. Check it out at …

From one Roy Fisher:

http://ieet.org/

When it comes to morals it seems that Christians never get above the belt-buckle unless it is to peer behind a brassiere. Genes for sexual obsession passed down from the Catholic Church evidently have not mutated over the centuries as Christian leaders remain overly concerned with who's doing who, how they are doing it and if there are any naked people or pictures anywhere near.

To be sure there is a need for watchdog organizations and laws keeping dangerous sexual predators, perverts…

• Do atheists have a moral ground for their perception of right and wrong? 
• Is an atheist entitled to claim a sense of right and…

This is from my personal blog on blogspot - www.integralmath.blogspot.com

I have a breaking news bulletin:  if there exists some method--irrespective how obscure, or nearly impossible to be found--to take what is at most a cheesy/almost possibly creepy hello and transmogrify that plum nearly gauche faux pas into some abject, intellectually deficient reason to lecture someone*, somewhere on…

Nov. 12, 1995; Why I am a former Objectivist and former Libertarian. 

 

Mike Huben writes: (begin quote) 

One of my eventual projects for my Critiques of Libertarianism web site 

is to present something on folks who have left, like yourself.  If you 

have any material about why people leave, including your own personal 

history, I'd be very interested to get ahold of it.  What first cracks 

the certainty, what conspicuously doesn't work, what was the turnoff,…

The Columbus, Ohio newspaper, The Republic, just today printed the story Religion: Battle Over Circumcision, describing the battle that is erupting in San Francisco over a November 8 ballot that would ban male circumcision. While much of the article tries to distract readers from the issue by making reference to Foreskin Man and how it incites the anger of religious groups like Jews. I think the real issue is not what the author of “Foreskin Man” is up to, but the fact that there is an…

Back on June 13, 2011, I wrote the blog post More catholic Whining, in which I described the situations happening in some States like New York and Illinois, involving certain catholic charities having issues with their states making it illegal to discriminate against straight couples in common law relationships and to discriminate against gay couples when providing fostering and adoption services. Now I thought this story was…