Christian Privileges: Hidden Ways Christians are Privileged in American Society
Thursday July 31, 2008
The concept of “nonconscious ideology” was created to describe those ideologies whose implicit, unreflective, and uncritical acceptance help maintain their dominance in society. Sexism and racism are nonconscious ideologies in ... Read More
Faith-Based Funding and Job Discrimination
Thursday July 31, 2008
Barack Obama wants to continue George W. Bush's faith-based initiatives and he expects liberal Democrats to be happy about this. Some have bought into his rhetoric and insist that everything ... Read More
Weekly Poll: Should the State Have a Say in Your Sexuality?
Thursday July 31, 2008
Ethics and Morality: Deontology and Ethics
Wednesday July 30, 2008
Deontological moral systems are characterized primarily by a focus upon adherence to independent moral rules or duties. Thus, in order to make the correct moral choices, we simply have to ... Read More
Wright-Patterson AFB: Only Fundamentalist Christians Welcome?
Wednesday July 30, 2008
The closer we look, the more examples we can find of military personnel misusing their positions to promote their own religion. All cases involve Christians — particularly conservative, evangelical Christians. ... Read More
Forum Discussion: Meaning & Purpose of Christian Marriage
Wednesday July 30, 2008
Debates in America over permitting gay marriage turn substantially on very different conceptions of what marriage is, why marriage exists, and what sorts of roles married people should have in ... Read More
From Jehovah's Witness to Atheist: Life Outside The Watchtower Society
Tuesday July 29, 2008
Many Jehovah's Witnesses are taught that life outside the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society is filled with wickedness and pointless misery. But what happens when one of them becomes an ... Read More
City Council Blocks Access to Sites on Atheism, Wicca
Tuesday July 29, 2008
Can you imagine the outrage that would appear if a government agency blocked employees' access to web sites on Christianity? How about if they blocked access to sites on Judaism ... Read More
Comment of the Week: Distributing Bibles in Schools
Tuesday July 29, 2008
Some Christians have a strong, even burning, desire to use public schools as something like a private game preserve for their religious proselytization. The government requires all those children to ... Read More
Atheism & Foxholes: There Are No Atheists in Foxholes
Monday July 28, 2008
The claim that there are no atheists in foxholes has been around for a long time, but it became especially popular after the terrorist attacks in America on September 11, ... Read More
Teleology and Abortion: Must Women Provide their Uterus to the Fetus?
Monday July 28, 2008
Image © Austin Cline
Original Poster:Library of Congress
One argument in defense of abortion which does not dispute the pro-life position that the fetus might have a right to live is the ... Read More
Book of the Week: Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing,
Monday July 28, 2008
Image courtesyPriceGrabber.com
Humans have committed great evil against each other over the course of millennia, often in the name of religion but also often in the context of secular ideologies — ... Read More
Life is Material, not Supernatural: We Are Material, Natural Beings
Sunday July 27, 2008
Most religions say that life is much more than the flesh and matter we see around us. In addition, there is supposed to be some sort of spiritual or supernatural ... Read More
Should Atheists Be Allowed to Publish?
Sunday July 27, 2008
It still surprises me how often critics of atheism express the desire or simply the attitude that atheists shouldn't be able to publish or publicly express their criticisms of religion ... Read More
Mailbag: Disrespect Towards the Pope
Sunday July 27, 2008
From: "Anthony"
Subject: The Pope
Who ever you are i would like to comment on your comments on the views of the pope. if you be such the person who let such ... Read More
Which is Better, Atheism or Theism? Why Should Anyone Consider Atheism?
Saturday July 26, 2008
Given how atheism and theism are mutually exclusive, and how atheists and theists debate so much, it may seem natural to wonder which of the two is "better." This is ... Read More
Controlling Women: Male Guardians, Sexual Harassment, and Religion
Saturday July 26, 2008
Photo © istockphoto/Serdar YagciPoster © Austin Cline
Apologists for the harassment of women in public will sometimes whine that women who dress "provocatively" are simply "asking for it." The truth is, ... Read More
America's Godless Public Square: Godless, Naked Public Square Signifies Liberty
Saturday July 26, 2008
A common complaint from the Christian Right is that strict separation of church and state threatens to create a 'godless' or naked public square and that the goal of secularists, ... Read More
Philosophy of History: Philosophy of Historical Events & Historical Processes
Friday July 25, 2008
The Philosophy of History is the study of history, writing about history, and what impact history has upon the present day. It can be referred to as the Critical, Analytical, ... Read More
Church Pushes Priest's Parole, Priest Later Sexually Abuses Woman
Friday July 25, 2008
The Episcopal Diocese of California pushed had for the parole of James Tramel, a convicted murderer, in 2006. Why? Because while in prison James Tramel became an Episcopal priest. Upon ... Read More
Crusades & Faith-Based Violence: Kill them all; for God knows His Own
Friday July 25, 2008
Photo © istockphoto/Duncan WalkerPoster © Austin Cline
There seems to be an inverse relationship between how vociferous believers are in claiming that their religion is peaceful and how peaceful their religion ... Read More
Myth: Atheists Have Just Never Heard an Intelligent Defense of Christianity
Thursday July 24, 2008
Christians who are completely caught up in their religious beliefs sometimes have trouble understanding why someone else would fail to agree with them. They regard their religion, doctrines, and traditions ... Read More
Atheism & Optimism
Thursday July 24, 2008
Many common myths about theism imply that there is a contradiction between being an atheist and being optimistic. If there is no afterlife, how can atheists have hope for the ... Read More
Weekly Poll: Vatican Behavior During World War II
Thursday July 24, 2008
C.S. Lewis and the Argument from Desire
Wednesday July 23, 2008
One of the earliest arguments offered by C.S. Lewis for believing in the existence of God can be labeled the 'Argument from Desire.' According to Lewis and other apologists, every ... Read More
Religious Defense of 'Scientific' Intelligent Design
Wednesday July 23, 2008
People who deny the truth and reality of evolution do so for exclusively religious reasons. There are no legitimate scientific arguments against or alternatives to evolution. Most people are as ... Read More
Forum Discussion: Feeling Guilty
Wednesday July 23, 2008
Guilt is a curious human emotion. Or is it more of an attitude than an emotion? It's not even easy to say exactly what it is, but it does seem ... Read More
Church & State Fundamentals: Origins of Sabbath Laws
Tuesday July 22, 2008
Where did the Sabbath Laws come from, how have they been enforced, and what sorts of legal challenges were made against them? It has often been said that if you ... Read More
Religious Extremists Not Responsible for their Own Violence?
Tuesday July 22, 2008
Conservatives — and especially religious conservatives — tend to portray themselves as the ostensible defenders of traditional religious morality and social order. As part of this, they are usually the ... Read More
Comment of the Week: Christianity vs. Native American Religion
Tuesday July 22, 2008
One of the aspects of Christian history which gets too little attention is how Christian missionaries, Christian leaders, and regular Christians treated the religions of people living in regions being ... Read More
Excusing Anti-Atheist Bigotry: I Don't Really Hate Atheists, Honest!
Monday July 21, 2008
Perhaps the most hypocritical response to atheists' denunciations of anti-atheist bigotry is the excuse that "I don't really hate atheists." Typically heard from a person who just finished complaining that ... Read More
Bruce Walker: Atheism is Bad Because it Permits Lying
Monday July 21, 2008
Atheists' status as scapegoats means that we are accused of all manner of nonsense. The sillier the accusation, the more likely it is to appear at some point. All of ... Read More
Book of the Week: Wrath of Angels: The American Abortion War
Monday July 21, 2008
Image courtesyPriceGrabber.com
Anti-abortion activism is perhaps the largest social protest movement since the 1960s anti-war demonstrations which gripped campuses and cities across the nation. Despite its size and power, however, it ... Read More
Why Taxation of Religion Matters
Sunday July 20, 2008
Tax exemptions may not be the most common issue facing courts in arguments over the separation of church and state, it is one of the most fundamental. Initially it appears ... Read More
Atheism Has to be a Creed. It Just Has to Be!
Sunday July 20, 2008
One of the more popular myths about atheism is the idea that it's some sort of ideology, philosophy, religion, or creed. Some religious theists just can't understand how atheism can ... Read More
Mailbag: Founders of Atheism
Sunday July 20, 2008
From: "Willy"
Subject: Who Founded Atheism?
Isn't it funny that no matter how much you look through history you will find many of the leaders of atheism (Stalin, Lenin, Marx, Trotsky, etc.) ... Read More
Propaganda Poster: Using War to Promote Peace & Democracy
Saturday July 19, 2008
Image © Austin ClineOriginal Poster: National Archives
Can peace be achieved through war? Of course it can. Every war has been followed by a peace of some sort. It's not that ... Read More
Bush Edits Out Jefferson's Criticism of Religion
Saturday July 19, 2008
On the Fourth of July, President Bush was at Monticello where he attended a naturalization ceremony for new citizens and gave a speech on the importance of good citizenship. Monticello ... Read More
Bible Commentary: Jesus Advises Vigilance (Mark 13:30-37)
Saturday July 19, 2008
Although the majority of chapter 13 has been directed at reducing people's anxiety towards the coming apocalypse, now Jesus is advising a more watchful stance. Perhaps people shouldn't be afraid, ... Read More
Harry Potter: Is Harry Potter a Christian Allegory?
Friday July 18, 2008
When Christians talk about the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling, it’s most often to complain about them - for example, their use of magic. A few Christians, though, argue ... Read More
Debunking Edward Said
Friday July 18, 2008
Edward Said is a frequently cited critic of how Westerners deal with the "orient" — both in terms of international politics and scholarly research. Are Said's critiques justified, though? Some ... Read More
Omnipresence: God is Omnipresent & Everywhere, Even in the Bathroom...
Friday July 18, 2008
Photo © istockphoto/Nicole S. YoungPoster © Austin Cline
Have you ever had the feeling you were being watched? According to Christian theology, you are — Christians believe their god is omnipresent, ... Read More
Parapsychology: Spiritualism, Science & Naturalism
Thursday July 17, 2008
Parapsychology and the interest in spiritualism and various alleged psychic powers did not develop out of thin air. They are all, at least in large part, the product of religious ... Read More
Albert Mohler & Crossway Books Promote Falsehoods About Atheism
Thursday July 17, 2008
It's easy to find falsehoods about atheism and atheists on the internet. Most such examples tend to come from bloggers who seem to get an itch to write about atheism ... Read More
Weekly Poll: How did Human Beings Originate and Develop?
Thursday July 17, 2008
Gods Are Too Similar to Believers: Gods Probably Created in the Image of Humans
Wednesday July 16, 2008
A few cultures, like ancient Greece, have postulated gods which appear to be as natural as human beings, but in general gods are supernatural. This means that they are fundamentally ... Read More
Anarchist Steph: Secularism Equals Totalitarianism
Wednesday July 16, 2008
You don't have to be a conservative evangelical Christian or a Christian apologist in order to have been taken in by various myths, misconceptions, and outright lies about atheism. This ... Read More
Forum Discussion: Superstition & Evolution
Wednesday July 16, 2008
That which characterizes "superstitious" behavior can be found in a variety of contexts — not just typical "superstition" but also religion, paranormal beliefs, and so forth. If superstition can be ... Read More
Problem & Definition of Truth: Why Truth Matters and How Truth is Defined
Tuesday July 15, 2008
It may sound odd to wonder how and why truth matters - under most circumstances the importance of truth should be obvious. Nevertheless, the question of truth does have problems ... Read More
Texas: Abusive Exorcisms Protected by Law
Tuesday July 15, 2008
You may have already read about the Texas Supreme Court decision which threw our a damages award given to 17-year-old girl over injuries suffered during an exorcism. According to the ... Read More
Comment of the Week: Individualistic Americans?
Tuesday July 15, 2008
Americans seem to like to think of themselves as highly individualistic, but just how individualistic are they, really? Strong individualism is arguably a trait that goes hand-in-hand with being a ... Read More
How Should Atheists Respond When Others Ask for Prayers, Miracles?
Monday July 14, 2008
Many religious theists, especially Christians, will ask for people's prayers and express hopes for a miracle when they experience significant problems in their lives (such as illness and injury, for ... Read More
John Madziarczyk: Atheists Rely Too Much on Science
Monday July 14, 2008
It can't be denied that most secular atheists in the West place a lot of emphasis on science and the ability of science to provide reliable information about our world. ... Read More
Book of the Week: Quest for Paradise
Monday July 14, 2008
Image courtesyPriceGrabber.com
Human cultures and religions exhibit a great deal of variation in doctrines and beliefs. However, there are also quite a few areas where they exhibit strong similarities - not ... Read More
Myth: Atheism is a Cause, Therefore Atheism is not Mere Disbelief in Gods
Sunday July 13, 2008
People see atheists involved in various forms of political or social activism and conclude that atheism itself must be some sort of belief system and cause. This myth bizarrely confuses ... Read More
Diversity as a Defense for Christian Supremacism
Sunday July 13, 2008
Image © Austin Cline
Original Poster:National Archives
I've written a number of times about how Christianity is being pushed not just in the Naval Academy, but in fact all the service academies. ... Read More
Mailbag: Feel the Love!
Sunday July 13, 2008
From: "Jenny"
Subject: The Spirit
Have you ever let yourself be confirmed by the spirit that he lives? Sometimes it's just easier for people not to believe in a God, then they ... Read More
Existentialism: Simone de Beauvoir Biography
Saturday July 12, 2008
Simone de Beauvoir was a French novelist who played an important role in the development of existentialism and feminism in the 20th century. A number of her novels were explicitly ... Read More
Evolution in Action: Bacteria Evolve New Trait
Saturday July 12, 2008
Evolution Deniers like to claim that naturalistic, materialistic evolution cannot account for the appearance of completely new traits — according to Deniers, only slight modifications of old traits is possible. ... Read More
Pledge of Allegiance Resources: Information, History, Arguments on Under God
Saturday July 12, 2008
Image Source: Andersen Ross/Getty Images
The Pledge of Allegiance has been recited by tens of millions of school children over the years and is familiar to most Americans — but was ... Read More
Humanist Metaphysics: Humanism & Souls
Friday July 11, 2008
Souls are typically a feature of supernatural beliefs - not inherently, but because belief in them is supported by religious tradition and not by any scientific evidence. While humanism does ... Read More
Shariah in Britain: A Matter of Injustice
Friday July 11, 2008
It was bad enough when Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams declared that Islamic law should be allowed to replace civil law in certain context of people chose it, but now ... Read More
Christian Right v. Godless Liberalism: Why Do Christians Attack Godless Liberals?
Friday July 11, 2008
The nature of godless liberalism can be difficult to understand because of the misuse of the label by the Christian Right. According to them, all liberals are godless because they ... Read More
Bonds of Tradition, Customs, and Habits from the Past: Traditional Authority
Thursday July 10, 2008
A social group that is organized along the lines of traditional authority is one which relies heavily upon traditions, customs, habits, and routines in order regulate human behavior, to distinguish ... Read More
Don Feder: Longing for the Days When Atheists Were in the Closet
Thursday July 10, 2008
One of the most curious and disturbing reactions to atheists who are public and unapologetic in their criticisms of religion and theism is the longing wish for the days when ... Read More
Weekly Poll: Should the Pledge of Allegiance say 'Under God'?
Thursday July 10, 2008
Are Godlessness & Secularism a Threat to Religious Liberty? Protecting Religion
Wednesday July 9, 2008
A common complaint made about secularism is that it is contrary to religious liberty. At best this is a misunderstanding about secularism because a failure to endorse or promote any ... Read More
Irritating, Immoral Atheists Infesting WordPress
Wednesday July 9, 2008
Atheists don't generally seem to be very welcome, at least not if they have the gall to speak out and say what they think about theism and/or religion. Atheists might ... Read More
Forum Discussion: Abortion Analogy
Wednesday July 9, 2008
Arguing by analogy can be a tricky tactic because every analogy is inadequate in some way, and often in important ways. On the other hand, analogies can be vital parts ... Read More
Are there Any Atheistic Religions? Can an Atheist Be Part of Any Religion?
Tuesday July 8, 2008
Although most religions are theistic, which means that belief in a god or gods is incorporated into its doctrines, there are a few religions that are atheistic. Such religions may ... Read More
Liberty Counsel Misunderstands or Misrepresents the Law
Tuesday July 8, 2008
It's all-too-frequent that I witness Christian Nationalists misrepresenting the law. I'm often unsure whether I'm seeing deliberate misrepresentation as part of an effort to deceive people, or simply a misunderstanding ... Read More
Comment of the Week: Surprising Religious Theists
Tuesday July 8, 2008
It's well known that religious theists harbor all sorts of misconceptions and myths about atheism and atheists. One important implication of this is that real atheists will not necessarily behave ... Read More
What is Aesthetics? Aesthetics is the Philosophy of Art, Beauty, Perception
Monday July 7, 2008
Aesthetics almost never comes up in atheists' discussions about religion, but perhaps it should. First, religious and theistic ideas are often communicated in various forms of art (including film, books, ... Read More
Yomin Postelnik's Simple Proof of God: Simply Fallacious
Monday July 7, 2008
There aren't any new proofs or arguments for the existence of gods. Atheists sometimes can develop new arguments against the need for believing in gods based on new advances in ... Read More
Book of the Week: The Age of American Unreason
Monday July 7, 2008
Image courtesyPriceGrabber.com
Have you gotten the impression that Americans are disdainful of intellectual pursuits, complex ideas, and thought that requires real work? Well, you should have because it's true. Anti-intellectualism isn't ... Read More
Propaganda Poster: Boy Scouts Must Be Prepared to Fight Godless Atheism
Sunday July 6, 2008
Image © Austin ClineOriginal Poster:Library of Congress
Official, institutional bigotry and discrimination against atheists used to be much more prevalent in America. There was a time when the testimony of atheists ... Read More
Veiled Women at University
Sunday July 6, 2008
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 ... Read More
Mailbag: Faith and Religion
Sunday July 6, 2008
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 ... Read More
Religion, Atheism, Family Values: Are Religion & God Needed for Family Values?
Saturday July 5, 2008
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 ... Read More
Pray & Display: Should Religion Permit Parking Anywhere?
Saturday July 5, 2008
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 ... Read More
Barack Obama on Religion, Atheism, Secularism: What Does Obama Believe
Saturday July 5, 2008
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 ... Read More
Values of Godless Science: Modern Science Needs No Religion or Gods for Values
Friday July 4, 2008
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 ... Read More
Christianists Opposed to Islamists: Pot, Meet Kettle
Friday July 4, 2008
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 ... Read More
How to Counter Arguments Defending "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance
Friday July 4, 2008
Image Source:Andersen Ross/Getty Images
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 ... Read More
Does God Exist? Does God Matter?
Thursday July 3, 2008
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 ... Read More
Personal Autonomy Linked to Increased Happiness, Less Depression
Thursday July 3, 2008
According to research done by Ellen de Bruin, a Dutch psychologist and journalist, personal autonomy and freedom make people happier. That's the conclusion she draws from a study showing that ... Read More
Weekly Poll: Are You an Atheist Who is 'Out of the Closet'?
Thursday July 3, 2008
What is Respect? What Does it Mean to Respect Religion or Theism?
Wednesday July 2, 2008
What does it mean to 'respect' someone's religion or religious beliefs? Many religious theists insist that their religion deserves to be respected, even by non-believers, but what exactly are they ... Read More
Christian Nationalists Continue to Push Christianity at Service Academies
Wednesday July 2, 2008
We have seen lots of reports and evidence of inappropriate behavior at the Air Force Academy where religion — specifically Christianity — has been promoted and pushed by officers and ... Read More
Forum Discussion: Shoot All Atheists?
Wednesday July 2, 2008
The presence of more hostility towards and distrust of atheists than any other minority in America is fairly well known by now. What might not be so well known is ... Read More
Atheism Basics: Are Atheists All Freethinkers?
Tuesday July 1, 2008
A standard dictionary defines a freethinker as “one that forms opinions on the basis of reason independently of authority; especially one who doubts or denies religious dogma.” What this means ... Read More
Suppression of Scholarly Criticism or Qur'an, Islam
Tuesday July 1, 2008
In Islam the role and place of the Qur'an is more analogous to the role and place of Jesus in Christianity, not the Bible. Proving that the Qur'an was not ... Read More
Comment of the Week: Humans Worship Cruel Gods
Tuesday July 1, 2008
Many believers insist that their god is the embodiment of love, morality, and justice, but at the same time their religious traditions, scriptures, and even current dogmas indicate that their ... Read More