Austin's Agnosticism / Atheism Blog

Official, institutional bigotry and discrimination against atheists used to be much more prevalent in America. There was a time when the testimony of atheists would not be accepted in courts of law. Several states technically bar atheists from elected office right in their constitutions, though these provisions are no longer enforceable. Atheists today continue to encounter personal bigotry and resulting discrimination, but not so much in the context of social institutions enforcing official policies.

 

Read Article: Boy Scouts Must Be Prepared to Fight Godless Atheism: Bigotry & Discrimination are Needed for Christian Society

Apologists for the efforts of some Muslims to get women to cover their heads will sometimes argue that if the women choose it, then it doesn't matter because it's analogous to a fashion choice. Why not allow them to choose to wear veils or headscarves like they choose to wear rings or high heels? What such arguments ignore is how the clothing a person wears can affect a person's self-image. Women who are pressured to "choose" head coverings can end up seeing themselves as unequal to men and thereby cease to be assertive, fully autonomous individuals.

What this means is that any government interested in the autonomy and equality of women must make it possible for women to develop as autonomous, equal citizens. This, in turn, means creating spaces where it's possible for them to refuse to adopt religious or cultural traditions which inhibit that development. That's not easy to do, and it's probably not possible without making some trade-offs that are less than desirable on some level. Read more...

From: "Kati"
Subject: Faith

I think that you generalize religion too much. Just because I have faith in God, I don't think that all faith is justified. I have found the right faith. I believe in the one true God. The Bible is a love letter written to human kind. I believe that it is completely true in every way and that it provides me with all of the moral and ethical instruction I need to live the life that God wants me to live.

Read more...

America's Christian Right invests a lot of effort arguing for a connection between family values and their religion, but what basic family values require their religion or belief in their god? Godless families exist because values like love, respect, and sacrifice don't depend upon theism. You don't even have to be a theist to oppose abortion or support sexual abstinence until marriage. None of the positive family values necessary for raising healthy children are undermined by being godless.

 

Read Article: Religion, Atheism, Family Values: Are Religion & God Needed for Family Values?

For the most part, the progression of modernity has been characterized in large part by the elimination of unjust privileges which have allowed members of certain classes and groups to exercise unjust power and authority over others. The earliest targets were royalty and the aristocracy; in more recent years the targets were white privilege and male privilege. Today, one of the most significant sources of unconscious and unrecognized privilege is religion.

It's so bad, in fact, that some actually work to expand religious privileges rather than to eliminate them. One example comes from Barnet, northwest of London, where religious leaders will be given the privilege of buying passes that permit them to park anywhere they want regardless of the parking regulations. This privilege is to ostensibly allow them to serve their congregations better. There's just no way that it will be abused, right? And there's no reason to give similar privileges to anyone else, right? Read more...

Democratic Senator and presidential candidate Barack Hussein Obama has made a number of comments about secularism, church/state separation, religion, and the role of religion in the public square. Unfortunately, some of these comments have been contradictory - one time he'll say something which appears to support strict separation and secular government, then he'll turn around and say something which supports weak separation and weakened secularism. What does Barack Obama believe, and why?

 

Read Article: Barack Obama on Religion, Atheism, Secularism: What Does Obama Believe

It is commonly claimed by both critics and supporters that modern science is value-free. This is false, though it is true that science lacks many of the values traditionally ascribed to religion and doesn't make any value judgments about the use of scientific knowledge. On the other hand, the very ability of science to function as it does, and so successfully, is dependent upon a set of very important values. Some of those values are explained here.

 

Read Article: Values of Godless Science: Modern Science Needs No Religion or Gods for Values

All over the United States, radical Christians are pushing private organizations and public institutions to bow to Christian traditions under the guise of religious freedom. The truth, however, is that the ideology of such Christians accepts no sovereign over the world except their god, and so laws which fail to uphold their beliefs are not recognized as valid. This has been called "creeping theocracy" — that is, getting organizations and institutions to change policies so everyone ends up following Christian traditions whether they want to or not.

Curiously, some of these Christians have started to complain about Muslims who, they allege, are doing the same thing. I'm surprised they don't file a trademark or copyright infringement lawsuit. Read more...

Support for keeping "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance is popular in America. Even some atheists, as well as normally staunch defenders of secularism and church/state separation, question whether it's necessary or appropriate to remove "under God" from the Pledge. A variety of arguments and claims are offered by apologists for the current Pledge of Allegiance, all of which fail. Either they ignore the basic arguments of critics or they are historically and factually inaccurate. The best defenses and justifications for keeping "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance offer no good reasons not to get rid of it.

 

Read Article: How to Counter Arguments Defending "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance

The question of whether or not some sort of god exists is not one which should necessarily occupy the minds of atheists all of the time. Theists - especially Christians - regularly challenge us with arguments and ideas which supposedly demonstrate that their god definitely exists. But prior to that, there is an even more important issue to address: is a god really important in our lives?

 

Read Article: Does God Matter?