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My most recent film, The God Who Wasn't There, is available on DVD at the official site and elsewhere.
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Articles on religion, written by an atheist.
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Religion
Your grief: An opportunity to sell my wares
We really need to find a way to communicate to preachers that relentlessly selling Jesus at a non-Jesus-freak's funeral is not acceptable. It happens far too often. When a minister Christ-markets at a wedding, I find it somewhat tolerable. At...
May 09, 2008
Pass the popcorn
I'm not planning to see the movie, but I'll enjoy watching this drama....
April 23, 2008
The Expelled idiocy knows no bounds
It's not unusual at all for early cuts of a film to "temp in" commercial music tracks. Sometimes those tracks end up being licensed for the commercial release of the film, sometimes they're replaced with cheaper songs, sometimes the film's...
April 17, 2008
Motivational posters
(Thanks, Maria)...
April 15, 2008
My April Fools' Day prank
People who say religion is useless clearly haven't discovered that it makes an excellent butt for a joke. In case you didn't catch the drama in real time, yesterday the front page of this blog was taken over by my...
April 02, 2008
I have revised my former position
UPDATE: Story about yesterday's amusing events coming later today......
April 02, 2008
My former position
April 01, 2008
Your Delusion Index
Calculate....
February 01, 2008
So sad
There are so many ways to be crazy. It's sad when people can't manage to be crazy the way they want to be: In a peeling house on South 32nd Street, five friends came together to stretch their faith. They...
January 26, 2008
Godless poetry
Got any? Call for entries: Incarnate Muse Press is seeking poems for its second atheist poetry anthology. Confront, question, or deny the god of your youth, the sacred text of your culture. Express your disbelief, disapproval, doubt, or dismay. Looking...
January 03, 2008
God accepts credit for killing spree
Special to Brian Flemming's Weblog New Life Church security guard Jeanne Assam says she's no hero. After gunman Matthew Murray killed four people in Colorado Springs, he was shot by Assam, 42, ending the killing spree. But Assam refuses to...
December 11, 2007
Today I am thankful...
...that my enemies are Christian and not Muslim. Because if they were Muslim my life would be very different. Sam Harris writes: Ayaan Hirsi Ali is the most prominent advocate of free speech and women's rights in the Muslim world,...
November 22, 2007
Every day
Mailbag: Hi there, I just wanted to say that from this day forward, every day, I will be praying for you because I know you have alot of talent and passion and one day you will be using your gifts...
November 19, 2007
Blessed are the sick, for they can be exploited
Imagine that in Ronald Reagan's twilight years -- the "long goodbye" of the neurodegenerative disease Alzheimer's -- some opportunistic political hack gained access to Reagan, manipulated a few quotes out of this mentally compromised old man, then penned the book,...
November 04, 2007
#1
Take that, Sam Harris!...
November 03, 2007
You could turn gay at any moment
As usual with Max Blumenthal's reports, I learned a lot....
October 30, 2007
"Most"
Little-known factabee: Most of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were named "John Hancock."...
October 23, 2007
Onward!
Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before. Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe; forward into battle see his banners go! Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross...
October 14, 2007
Oh, that's what it's about
R. Joseph Hoffman explains the Greg Epstein invention called The New Humanism. Number Eight: 8. In the new humanism, everything will be tentative. For example, if someone asks us, "What do you stand for?" we must not take offense. We...
October 04, 2007
Hollywood Hell House
It's back. Starts tomorrow. Look for David James as the Rave Rapist, among other roles....
October 03, 2007
Anger management
Totally overrated....
October 02, 2007
YouTube is eager to be Kent Hovind's bitch
The latest Kent Hovind scandal appears to be a larger scale repeat of the Uri Geller one. The facts as I'm able to determine them: 1. Kent Hovind, an evangelist for the crackpot Bible-based pseudoscience called creationism, distributes many videos...
September 16, 2007
Kent Hovind going copyright crazy
I picked the wrong time to take a break from the internets. Just got a message from Brian Sapient wondering why the hell I wasn't writing about a scandal that mixes two of my favorite subjects: copyright law abuse to...
September 14, 2007
Purity Ball
The folks who put on the excellent Hollywood Hell House are holding a Purity Ball this Saturday. Bill Maher is once again participating. If you have ever wanted to pretend you are a virgin, or the father of a virgin,...
September 12, 2007
Funny
Muslim fundamentalists .02% more advanced than Christian counterparts....
August 13, 2007
Excepting, of course, my religious bigotry
"We need to have a person of faith lead the country." vs. "Attacks of religious bigotry have absolutely no place in politics today."...
August 11, 2007
Hideous kinky Christians
As I predicted, my post below about Christian Domestic Discipline generated some email, but none of it has actually been angry (dammit). One emailer took issue with my categorization of CDD: You referred to CDD as 'kink', and I think...
August 07, 2007
Because I don't get enough angry email
Noticed in this ScienceBlogs roundup that, with varying degrees of outrage and squirm, Hemant, Greta Christina and Infidelis Maximus have been posting about Christian Domestic Discipline, the practice of Christian men spanking their wives to keep them in a state...
August 06, 2007
U.S. military brass
Fighting for our religious freedom: The report below is...from the Military Director for American Atheists, Kathleen Johnson, who is currently serving on active duty in Iraq. You are probably aware that religious proselytizing - specifically Christian proselytizing - has become...
August 04, 2007
Most discussed
The mainstream media is still generally terrified of religion as a serious subject. If one relied on major media outlets to gain an impression of our culture, one would get the idea that, except for a handful of cranky atheists...
August 03, 2007
Tragedy
For some, it's just a hassle....
August 03, 2007
Come out, come out
Wherever you are....
July 29, 2007
Fight! Fight! Fight!
Another opportunity to highlight the inherent divisiveness of religious faith. By all means, politicians should be challenged to denounce the terrible, terrible injustice (a "shameful moment" according to a possibly serious Josh Marshall) of one group of deluded nutcases trying...
July 27, 2007
Atheist in a foxhole
Displaying courage, while a weaker soldier cries out for God's help: The chaplain said that O'Neal told him he was hugging the ground at Tillman's side, "crying out to God, help us. And Tillman says to him, 'Would you shut...
July 27, 2007
I'm not surprised
But I would have thought the gap would be wider....
July 26, 2007
"The cleansing of the Earth"
Max Blumenthal once again enters the belly of the beast....
July 26, 2007
Freethought Radio
Interview with yours truly now available....
July 23, 2007
Bad advice
The advice column is a literary form that is quite difficult to write even competently, and very few have mastered it. You need to have readers with interesting problems, select well from their letters and give them good, fearless, non-obvious...
July 12, 2007
Religion unites us
Obviously. (Thanks, Dana)...
July 10, 2007
Letter of the week
Always trying to save me: God, The Father, The Son (Jesus), and The Spirit, all 3 who are 1 yet 3 (a profound mystery no human can plummet) does receive E-MAIL. It's called Knee-Mail. Please try it....
June 29, 2007
Oh, how far we've come
It's not superstition if you use different words. I think Sam's idea would make a great translator website. The Ghetto Translator, for example, lets you enter any URL to see that website's text conveniently transformed into hip-hop. A Religion Translator...
June 26, 2007
God hates the world
You will never see a purer expression of Christianity than this. You'll eat your kids. (Thanks, Richard)...
June 22, 2007
Zombie theology
Two new articles at jesusneverexisted.com: Waking the Dead? and Encounter at Emmaus....
June 21, 2007
"Do you have any God-free money?"
"Under God" was not originally in the Pledge of Allegiance, and "In God We Trust" was not originally on U.S. currency....
June 17, 2007
PZ
Gives Greg Epstein a deserved beating....
June 14, 2007
Greg Epstein seeking further embarrassment?
I don't know what prompted it, but Newsweek's current issue has a brief story on the Greg Epstein controversy that was covered by this blog ("Humanist chaplain Greg Epstein wants you to join him, asshole" and "The F-Word") in March...
June 13, 2007
Creation Museum
Joe Sonka went there so you don't have to....
June 10, 2007
Adventures in book lending
By the Unorthodox Atheist: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3...
June 09, 2007
I heart Mitt Romney
I hope he stays in the race for a good long time. Because Christians should be publicly hashing out the very important spiritual implications of his candidacy: If You Vote for Mitt Romney You are Voting for Satan If you...
June 01, 2007
There's a word for it
And it rhymes with "slut": Evangelical teens are actually more likely to have lost their virginity than either mainline Protestants or Catholics. They tend to lose their virginity at a slightly younger age — 16.3, compared with 16.7 for the...
May 31, 2007
Greydon Square's "The Compton Effect"
Ships June 5....
May 31, 2007
Jerry Falwell
Remembered by Hitchens....
May 18, 2007
Jerry Falwell
Remembered....
May 16, 2007
Obscenity
Some pantywaists are complaining about a certain book just because it contains depictions of incest, rape, adultery, prostitution, drugs, bestiality and castration....
May 16, 2007
Misc.
What it's like to be a young atheist in Oklahoma. (Thanks, Danny) Another Christian pastor admits that Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort lost miserably: "They got completely shellacked in this one." Breaking news: Men like to look at pictures of...
May 14, 2007
The Nightline version of the debate
ABC cut down the debate to present it on Nightline (Part 2 here), and their editing job was a model of artificial news-media "balance" over actual fairness. Obsessively committed to the ideology of balance-at-all-costs, Nightline managed to censor out the...
May 11, 2007
Judgment Day
PZ lists twelve sins for which a certain system of "thought" needs to account. For the faithful's sake, I hope God doesn't turn out to be a scientist. 'Cause if he is, they're fucked*. *Note to religionists: Maybe just before...
May 10, 2007
The ABC event
Multiple clips and a write-up are now here....
May 09, 2007
Fight! Fight! Fight!
Al Sharpton claims that this statement by him doesn't really say what it says: "As for the one Mormon running for office, those who really believe in God will defeat him anyways, so don't worry about that; that's a temporary...
May 09, 2007
Crybabies
If you say something completely ridiculous in front of a crowd of people, and they laugh at you, according to Ray Comfort you deserve sympathy. Comfort has sent out a press release that basically says, "We may be dumb, but...
May 08, 2007
New Humanist on the RRS
Caspar Melville's feature on the Rational Response Squad....
May 08, 2007
Don't get your hopes up
I am sorry to be the one to bear this bad news about last night's ABC-hosted debate. In case you were holding out hope that Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron truly would prove the existence of God, and thereby give...
May 06, 2007
Links you sent recently
National Day of Failure. (Thanks, Jeff) Hitchens on Lou Dobbs. (Thanks, David) Further proof that my union is more an extension of the studios than an independent representative of its members' interests. (Thanks, Dennis)...
May 04, 2007
The importance of insanity
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney believes the following: About 2600 years ago, a tribe of Israelites traveled across the sea and became the first humans to set foot on the Americas. As these humans multiplied, they split into two racial...
May 04, 2007
The $50,000 Paranormal Challenge
This upcoming event at CFI is built on a model that could also be used for "Existence of God" events. It's not a "debate" about whether paranormal ability exists. Rather, the person making the extraordinary claim has to show up...
May 03, 2007
ABC debate streaming is re-scheduled for May 9 at 1 pm ET
Ray Comfort just emailed this to me (and add that to the list of sentences I never thought I would write): ABC Reschedules Debate About God New York, May 2, 2007 - Actor Kirk Cameron and best-selling author Ray Comfort...
May 02, 2007
Publishers Weekly biased against atheists?
I forget where I was reading it, but I remember someone a while back commenting that Publishers Weekly, the influential book-review service whose capsule reviews get top placement on Amazon.com, really seems to have it in for atheists. While books...
May 02, 2007
Answers in Genesis Creation Museum
This museum "will counter evolutionary natural history museums that turn countless minds against Christ and Scripture." The $25 million institution opens May 28. Kentuckians are thrilled. Why will the museum succeed? Gullibility is a factor: “Americans just aren’t gullible enough...
May 01, 2007
Richard Carrier on history before 1950
I have heard Richard make this point before, and now he spells it out in detail in his latest (all too rare) blog entry: The first day I arrived in the office of my graduate advisor at Columbia University, Professor...
May 01, 2007
Atheists in foxholes
Lt. Wayne Atkins filed a complaint with the Army over a general's use of the phrase "there are no atheists in foxholes." The complaint was rejected. Atkins resigned. According to Atkins, the Army National Guard is now using his rejected...
April 30, 2007
Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron will prove God exists
The Rational Response Squad will be debating Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron. After ABC ran a story in January about hundreds of atheists videotaping themselves blaspheming the Holy Spirit, best-selling author Ray Comfort contacted the network and offered to prove...
April 27, 2007
Blasphemy Challenge stats
#10 Most Discussed -- All Time #2 Most Responded -- All Time...
April 24, 2007
Pretty please
It's a little known fact that women finally got the right to vote when all the good little wifies made their husbands a martini, smiled coyly and said, "Pretty please?" We impudent atheists could learn a thing or two from...
April 23, 2007
Religion: A force for good
As you know, religion never does any harm ever. Even the little religions are good: The group practices an ancient religion that includes elements of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and worships the peacock angel, or "Malak Taus," which appears as...
April 22, 2007
Running from the obvious
Jesus says clearly three times in the Bible that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is an unforgivable sin. Still, some Christians just don't want to accept this fact, and they find any way they can to get around it. Even...
April 20, 2007
I don't know
If this is real or not. But it's funny. (Thanks, Brian)...
April 20, 2007
Sam Harris vs. Andrew Sullivan
Concludes. You want to have things both ways: your faith is reasonable but not in the least bound by reason; it is a matter of utter certainty, yet leavened by humility and doubt; you are still searching for the truth,...
April 18, 2007
Sam Harris vs. Chris Hedges
Debate in L.A., May 22....
April 17, 2007
On the radio
I'll be on "The Bob Siegel Show" again on KCBQ San Diego tomorrow, Sunday, April 15, at 3 pm PT. Listen live. UPDATE: Apologies if you tuned in. I didn't get on until 3:45 pm, and then Bob Siegel mostly...
April 14, 2007
Amazon.com plays matchmaker
Well, my favorite clown John Gibson made the same mistake. Dear Amazon.com Customer, We've noticed that customers who have expressed interest in The God Who Wasn't There have also ordered The Lost Tomb of Jesus on DVD. For this reason,...
April 14, 2007
And now it's official
Damn....
April 13, 2007
iTunes the Church Lady?
I didn't investigate this, as iTunes requires buying the full album just to hear the song in question, but this sure seems like a weird kind of censorship if it is happening....
April 10, 2007
The bait and switch
PZ has a simple request. If we uppity atheists are guilty of arguing against the worst arguments on the other side, will someone please lay out clearly the alleged "best" arguments? [T]he "best" of the religious views are mentioned as...
April 09, 2007
"We've got virgin teenage America being raped on the sidewalk"
And war is the only solution. Jeff Sharlet's new Rolling Stone article on BattleCry: "When you enlist in the military, there's a code of honor," Luce preaches, "same as being a follower of Christ." His Christian code requires a "wartime...
April 09, 2007
It's an Easter miracle!
Proving that at least one resurrection really did happen on this day, the Rational Response Squad YouTube account is back up. Some history. A couple facts: Atheists who spoke up in defense of a Christian pastor whose single video was...
April 08, 2007
Don't forget
That you can see The God Who Wasn't There for free today (if you're reading this on Easter Sunday) over the intertubes. Some comments on the screening at DailyKos. (On Easter! How dare you!)...
April 08, 2007
Free! Special Easter screening of The God Who Wasn't There
Zachary Moore is streaming the movie all day Easter Sunday at his blog. How exactly will you be watching it? I don't know. But I told him he could do it....
April 07, 2007
There's a name for it
Every year at this time, those people who beat themselves silly and get nailed to a cross make the news. As if this behavior is unusual. But there are people doing this kind of thing every single day. Getting beaten...
April 06, 2007
Links you sent me
"What if God Smoked Cannabis?" Warning: REALLY LOUD. Turn down speakers before clicking. (Thanks, Lexi) "Craig" Warning: Excessive mugging. (Thanks, Maria) Let us not forget what today, Good Friday, is really about: Indulging our bloodlust in a socially acceptable manner:...
April 06, 2007
Two for two
The Institute for Humanist Studies now has an unbroken record of failing to describe the you-know-what dust-up accurately in its "news" stories. In the topic sentence of his IHS/Humanists.net-hosted article on the Epstein controversy, August E. Brunsman promotes a familiar...
April 06, 2007
Some links
Monster. (Thanks, Javier.) PZ Myers seems to agree that the proper response to Epstein's tactic is contempt, in his case bored contempt: Ho-hum. Whenever I see someone jabbering about "fundamentalist atheists," a combination of terms that makes no sense at...
April 05, 2007
Fox News humanists
My issue with Fox News isn't one of philosophy. I don't mind that Fox News is conservative, or that it wants to get its conservative point of view out to the public. The problem with Fox News is that it...
April 05, 2007
More convenient mischaracterizations
Greg Epstein now has a (sort-of) defender! Well, it happens to be a guy who had a hand in writing the press release containing the infamous 22 words... A group of renowned Humanists, atheists and agnostics will gather at Harvard...
April 04, 2007
A new kind of debate
Formal debates about the existence of God suck. Always. One problem is that so many debates are set up with the misplaced notion of balance. One side is making an extraordinary claim, yet the side with the default position (not...
April 04, 2007
Obligatory "atheist fundamentalism" post
Comments by others: Daylight Atheism Ironwolf If Epstein has defenders, I haven't encountered them....
April 04, 2007
Atheism Week at Mickipedia
What I said earlier about videoblogging? It doesn't apply if you're a cute atheist with a nice voice who can speak off the cuff while still making a coherent point. But that probably went without saying....
April 03, 2007
Because they think
Well, it's a simple question. (Be one of the hundreds to comment at Digg.)...
April 03, 2007
This post is not about Greg Epstein
Some videos: Greydon Square album coming 6-5-07 Waterboarding Growing up in the universe (Pre-order now)...
April 03, 2007
Greg Epstein ≠ humanism
Perhaps lost in the controversy over Greg Epstein's attempt to frame his dispute as "humanism vs. atheist fundamentalism" is that Epstein mischaracterizes the former half of that conflict as well. Not all humanists would stand with Epstein against Sam Harris...
April 03, 2007
The litmus test
In 2003, I marched many times alongside several religious and "interfaith" groups who shared my position on the Iraq war but did not share my view that there was no sky god looking down on all of us protesters as...
April 03, 2007
The F-word
What a train wreck. Harvard's Humanist chaplain Greg Epstein seems determined to take the worst possible approach in his response to the controversy he started. His decisions are like an object lesson in bad crisis management. That controversy, to sum...
April 02, 2007
If it's not my god, it's atheism
Throughout the history of religious belief, what's the most likely way for a god to enter the public imagination? The answer is clear: The deification of a leader -- whether warlord, king or emperor. In fact, it's possible that's how...
April 02, 2007
It exists because I say so: "The sensible religious center"
This incoherent USA Today op-ed by Tom Krattenmaker is a model of knee-jerk "the middle is always right" thinking. The short version... You can bash my enemies: No doubt, the high-profile atheists have a legitimate point when they detail the...
April 02, 2007
300 blows
Just saw the hit movie 300. It made me think, are Americans really this stupid? Answer: Yes. UPDATE: Amusing response from a reader: "I totally agree that Americans for the most part could likely be stupid. However, you did pay...
March 31, 2007
Humanist chaplain Greg Epstein wants you to join him, asshole
Humanism wants us all to get along: Not all nonbelievers identify as humanists or atheists, with some calling themselves agnostics, freethinkers or skeptics. But humanists see the potential for unifying the groups under their banner, creating a large, powerful minority...
March 31, 2007
Persecution!
Bryan Killian had his religious rights trampled on when he tried to wear the sacred garments of his religion to school. Weaverville – When you’re a pirate, some dangers just come with the territory: scurvy, grog hangovers, a walk down...
March 29, 2007
Department of Obvious
ABC News: Does believing that "God is on our side" make it easier for us to inflict pain and suffering on those perceived to be our enemies? If we think God sanctions violence, are we more likely to engage in...
March 28, 2007
Nightmares
The horrors, the horrors. This stuff would be funny if the crackpot ideology of anti-evolutionism did not have behind it tens of millions of dollars in annual spending and significant influence in the U.S. government and the media -- as...
March 27, 2007
Lenny Bruce, Queer Nation...
...and the Blasphemy Challenge. Greta Christina puts the Blasphemy Challenge in context. Excerpt: Right now, this country is having a public conversation about religion, in a way that, as far as I'm aware, it never really has. And part of...
March 26, 2007
More harm than good
Correlation is not causation, but still these facts do cry out for explanation: In an opinion poll published in Britain recently, 82 percent of the people polled said that they thought religion does more harm than good. My first reaction,...
March 24, 2007
Richard Carrier
is an interesting guy. (Via Richard Carrier)...
March 22, 2007
Imagine no religion
That's where the trend lines are headed, according to the Pew Research Center: It doesn't appear that younger people tend to acquire superstition as they age, either. Gen Y is the most religion-free generation in the survey, but the trend...
March 22, 2007
Sam Harris vs. Andrew Sullivan
Continued....
March 20, 2007
The script
Sometimes it's astonishing that they play their role so precisely as intended....
March 19, 2007
May 3: National Day of Futile Babytalking to the Sky
On the National Day of Prayer, while the superstitious are seeing who can grovel before the Sky Daddy the best, atheists will actually be doing something good for the world. Atheists: 1 Babytalkers: 0...
March 15, 2007
Talk about it
I'd like to see this happen. But not just "I believe in God," which is so vague that almost anyone can say it by privately defining "God" however they want in their own minds. When it comes to debating religion,...
March 15, 2007
CFI on tour
From CFI: The Center for Inquiry is taking to the road with new theme-focused seminars. We will be bringing top presenters to cities across America -- hosting intensive weekend seminars on some of the most urgent controversies facing secular humanists,...
March 15, 2007
Important distinctions
Mentally ill. Normal. (Thanks, Andrea)...
March 15, 2007
Santa shot!
And other atrocities. (Thanks, David)...
March 14, 2007
"God vs. the Bible"
Faithless deist John Armstrong has finished his book "God vs. the Bible," which he has been working on at least since I first met him in Louisville....
March 14, 2007
Man bites dog
It's currently the most viewed story on latimes.com: "When the Secular Coalition asked me to complete a survey on my religious beliefs, I indicated I am a Unitarian who does not believe in a supreme being," Stark said. "Like our...
March 13, 2007
More?
The blog Petty Larseny sees more than one non-theist lurking in the Capitol: Toss in Mr. Ellison, of Minnesota's fifth district, and you're now talking about two non-theists in the House, one non-Judeo-Christian monotheist, six more possible non-theists and two...
March 12, 2007
Religion never does any harm, ever
The future research scientists of Kentucky are obviously well-served. America is on the right track....
March 12, 2007
Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA), nontheist. Apparently.
Who is that mysterious godless congressperson? According to nontheist lobbyist group the Secular Coalition for America, it's Congressman Pete Stark: There is only one member of Congress who is on record as not holding a god-belief. Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.),...
March 12, 2007
Robert M. Price on "Point of Inquiry"
Bob Price is always worth a listen. Robert M. Price is professor of theology and scriptural studies at Coleman Theological Seminary and professor of Biblical Criticism at the Center for Inquiry Institute. He’s a fellow of the Committee for the...
March 09, 2007
Science and sin
Speaking of batshit crazy....
March 08, 2007
Yeah, but what kind of Christian?
Atrios is right: Plenty of voters will take into account the religion of the candidate, and plenty of candidates will make an issue of their religion. Which brings us to one of the points I've been trying to make: Therefore...
March 08, 2007
This day in God
"Australia's #1 podcast" interviewed me about The God Who Wasn't There and a variety of other subjects. So did some totally gay Canadians. (It's on today at 6 pm PT, I think.) A hip young Episcopal priest who all the...
March 08, 2007
March 12
Are there any atheist members of Congress? Of course there are. But is there one willing to come out and say so? If so, I believe he or she will be the first elected official at the national level to...
March 07, 2007
This machine grills Baptists
Tonight the president of Liberty University Theological Seminary, Ergun Caner, will be facing off with the Rational Response Squad on their radio show. I'll personally be talking with Caner for the third hour of the show. For a Baptist running...
March 02, 2007
This is not your father's humanism
There is a new humanism. And they have a conference in April. Eat breakfast with E.O. Wilson, listen to Dar Williams, and watch former Democratic senate candidate Ned Lamont throw any national-office aspirations away as he associates himself with these...
March 01, 2007
On Cameron's bone box
A perspective. "There is more truth in Dan Brown's fiction than in James Cameron and Simcha Jacobovichi's fact." (Thanks, Susan)...
February 28, 2007
Blasphemy Challenge parody unfairly yanked from YouTube
The latest victim of YouTube's apparently easy-to-game complaint system may be a video by a Christian pastor lampooning the Blasphemy Challenge. (His video also directly mocks me; an apparently drugged "Brian Lemming" narrates the whole thing). YouTube's draconian action makes...
February 28, 2007
Blasphemy Challenge on CBS local news in Toledo
I missed this one when it first appeared. Lots of unwitting humor here, starting from the scary opening graphic apparently labeling atheists "The Cult" (er, by what definition exactly?) to the glowing description of the Christian church when it appears...
February 28, 2007
The Nick Gisburne story
If any reporters are reading this (and I know you do), YouTube's banning of Nick Gisburne is a great story that, amazingly, doesn't seem to have yet appeared in a major publication. The story is developing new wrinkles every day,...
February 27, 2007
I can't tell
Is she effing serious? There might be some kind of inside-astrology humor here that I'm not getting....
February 27, 2007
"I'm sorry, I heard none of that"
AngryLittleGirl holds up well against her Fox News evil twin. I just don't understand why she's so angry. (Thanks to Susan for the link.)...
February 27, 2007
Hillbilly Atheist
I'm late to the party on this, but the Hillbilly Atheist has a pretty good presentation....
February 27, 2007
The Pre-Nicene New Testament
Hi Christians! Thanks for finding this blog. And my email address. Yes, it is always a delight for me to speak with John Gibson on the radio. I'm glad you enjoyed the interview so much. And, not that you asked,...
February 26, 2007
Overton window
And how to shift it....
February 26, 2007
On Fox News radio tonight
Does the documentary The Lost Tomb represent a mainstream media attack on Jesus? I'll be discussing this with the always fair and balanced John Gibson on his radio show tonight at 5:15 pm PT/8:15 pm ET. I will demand to...
February 26, 2007
Santa, bone boxes, polygamy, teh gay...
Misc. links... --Sometimes a person tries to be serious, but what he says ends up being unintentionally funny. And sometimes a person tries to be funny, but ends up being funny in a totally different way. --They've been finding Jesus...
February 25, 2007
Christians are not all the same
Some Christians believe that the universe came into existence 6,000 years ago, that everyone else is damned to Hell and that gay people represent a grave threat to all humanity. Other Christians, not so much....
February 24, 2007
Andrew Sullivan endorses the Jesus Project
Not that he realizes it. But in the latest round of the Sam Harris/Andrew Sullivan online debate, the question of the historical Jesus is raised by Sullivan, who yet again displays a striking lack of common sense when it comes...
February 21, 2007
The failed hypothesis
God....
February 21, 2007
Damn Rapture
That's religion, always dividing us....
February 21, 2007
r u there god?
Chatting with Him is indeed frustrating, until you compare the experience to the alternative form of conversation. (Via PZ)...
February 20, 2007
The Jesus Project
Hail CSER! That's (slightly) funnier if you understand that the acronym for the Committee for the Scientific Examination of Religion, "CSER," is pronounced "Caesar." I'm hailing CSER because it was an exciting day yesterday for the organization, which at CFI-West...
February 19, 2007
If you don't maintain a delusion, how can you lead?
You have to either believe in Poseidon as ruler of the seas, engrams as the source of troubles in your reactive mind, or a 2,000-year-old zombie as your salvation. If you don't believe in something wacky, clearly you aren't qualified...
February 18, 2007
Science vs. faith flowchart
Dang, science sure is harder. (Via Boing Boing)...
February 17, 2007
Checking in with the Blasphemy Challenge
The Blasphemy Challenge is still going strong. The main video now has more than a quarter million views and ten thousand comments. Children continue to be led astray. And today the New York Times published a story on the Challenge...
February 17, 2007
Not everyone agrees that The Blasphemy Challenge is a fabulous idea
While many atheist bloggers are quite supportive of it, The Blasphemy Challenge has come under fire from some "nice guy" religion critics who feel that a friendlier approach toward superstition would be better strategically. Ed Brayton calls the Blasphemy Challenge...
February 13, 2007
In case you can't get enough
Near Pleasant Hill, CA? Discuss The God Who Wasn't There with a Lutheran pastor every Tuesday in February....
February 10, 2007
The Blasphemy Challenge
Tops 1000 responses. Freaks out Jerry Falwell's Liberty "University." Is sure to be overshadowed by this exciting new challenge....
February 09, 2007
Sam Harris and Andrew Sullivan
The debate continues. You simply wrote to inform me that you have never doubted God’s existence, cannot account for how you came to believe in Him, and are well aware that these facts will not (and should not) persuade me...
February 08, 2007
Google searches that bring you here
A visitor from Missouri arrived here this morning from a Google search for "brian flemming homosexual atheist." I don't know what it is that inspires people to believe that I'm gay. Is it because the L.A. Weekly once described me...
February 07, 2007
"Why do Jews inspire such hatred?"
So asks a CNN panel of Christians and Muslims, without a single Jew represented. The panel concludes that Jews bring the hatred upon themselves because they won't shut up about what they believe. Well, not exactly, but, as PZ Myers...
February 06, 2007
The persecution of Keith Henson
It's always worth remembering how horrible Scientologists can be. Update: Also, see this interview....
February 05, 2007
Ultimate Bible Quiz
I wouldn't have guessed this... You know the Bible 96%! Wow! You are awesome! You are a true Biblical scholar, not just a hearer but a personal reader! The books, the characters, the events, the verses - you know it...
February 03, 2007
Upcoming CFI-West events
Flock of Dodos Feb. 6. Darwin's Nightmare (starring Robert Forster) on Darwin Day, Feb 11. And then there's this: The Center for Inquiry-West presents: R. Joseph Hoffmann The Jesus Project: A no-holds-barred approach to testing the evidence for historicity Sunday,...
February 02, 2007
The Doomsday Code
Looks good. (Thanks, Erik.)...
February 02, 2007
Wow
Brian Sapient and Kelly did a great job on "Nightline," whose correspondent John Berman treated them, the Rational Response Squad and the Blasphemy Challenge fairly....
January 31, 2007
Blasphemy Challenge is on "Nightline" tonight
See Brian Sapient of the Rational Response Squad defend the Blasphemy Challenge tonight on "Nightline" on ABC: Brian "Sapient" is an average looking 30-year-old guy who works out of his basement in Northeast Philadelphia. His job? Well, Brian is taking...
January 30, 2007
My appearance yesterday on Fox News Channel
Here's YouTube video of my appearance on John Kasich's show "Heartland" on the Fox News Channel... When I realized Kasich was going for the "save the children!" angle, I decided to out-shameless him with my zeal to save those same...
January 28, 2007
I'm on Fox News Channel this Saturday
As soon as I come back from Park City, I'm zooming over to the L.A. studio of the Fox News Channel and appearing on "Heartland with John Kasich" to talk about the Blasphemy Challenge. You will be shocked to hear...
January 25, 2007
More fun
"The Atheist Delusion" and "Atheist Delusion 2". It seems that more and more creative people are realizing that religion contains vast unexplored areas that are ripe for comedic exploitation. Television and movies, constrained by controversy-filtering gatekeepers, have been unable to...
January 21, 2007
Mr. Deity
Very funny. Thanks to David of the Free Inquiry Forum for the tip. UPDATE: And some more funny....
January 20, 2007
I'm alive
There have been inquiries. It turns out that the prayer offensive against the Blasphemy Challenge did not work. The YouTube page is still up, lions and entire high schools are still making response videos, and not one participant has been...
January 12, 2007
Fighting back
Aaron Kinney is not going to let prayer destroy us without a fight....
January 10, 2007
Blasphemy Challenge to disappear on Friday
Well, it was fun while it lasted. But it looks like the Blasphemy Challenge will be erased from the planet on Friday at noon. Because Christians are not just going to pray against it on Friday. They're going to engage...
January 09, 2007
The past week's press for the Blasphemy Challenge
The Newsweek piece sparked another round of attention for the Blasphemy Challenge. MP3 links: Penn Jillette mentioned the Challenge on his radio show. Brian Sapient of the Rational Response Squad sparred with Laura Ingraham. Count the fallacies! (In a single...
January 07, 2007
Newsweek on the Blasphemy Challenge
The story will be in the issue released on Tuesday. It's on the web now. Excerpt: "Hi my name is Lindy and I deny the existence of the Holy Spirit and you should too." With that five-second submission to YouTube,...
December 30, 2006
Some recent blasphemies
Magic Lonely in heaven "Tired of living in fear" and proof...
December 29, 2006
The Courtier's Reply
The best method to determine if the claims of astrology are true is to engage astrologers in a sophisticated conversation about the subtle differences between them. After all, some natal astrologers using the topocentric house system believe that a sun...
December 24, 2006
"The arithmetic of souls"
Sam Harris....
December 23, 2006
Provoking conversation
That's the point. I'd say it's working. Here's one from DailyKos: Why does Jesus say that blaspheming the Holy Spirit is the one blasphemy that cannot be forgiven? I don't get it. That is the only vehicle for salvation. Deny...
December 21, 2006
Showdown with John Gibson!
I'll be on John Gibson's Fox News radio show tonight at 5 pm PT/8 pm ET, discussing the Blasphemy Challenge, the War on Christmas and The God Who Wasn't There. John Gibson practically invented the War on Christmas, so this...
December 21, 2006
This morning's challenge stuff...
Looks like one of the biggest days yet for the Challenge, with coverage online at NY Times and popular blogs Boing Boing, Wonkette and others: Virginia Heffernan's New York Times blog "Screens" on the Blasphemy Challenge. RU Sirius took two...
December 21, 2006
Richard Dawkins weighs in
He's warming to the Challenge: I had not given the Blasphemy Challenge any thought until you called it to my attention. Now that you have done so, I do not seem to feel strongly one way or the other. As...
December 20, 2006
What irrational force has overwhelmed Susan Jacoby?
I mean that facetiously. Unlike Jacoby, I would not characterize an opponent's honest difference of opinion about whether the first Christians worshipped a mythical Christ instead of a human Christ as the result of an emotional problem. Susan Jacoby isn't...
December 20, 2006
Carl Sagan
Blog-a-thon today....
December 20, 2006
Julia Sweeney on TV
See Julia Sweeney on the Late Late Show. Have I mentioned lately that her awesome one-woman show Letting Go of God is now on CD?...
December 20, 2006
Blasphemy Challenge roundup
The RU Sirius show is up. Nice Christmas music after the interview. As I write this, the count is 300 response videos. Dang, that's a lot of blasphemy. (And just for the record: If it turns out I'm wrong about...
December 20, 2006
Could be interesting
Just found out that the other guest on the Alan Colmes radio show tonight with me will be Bill Banuchi of the New York Christian Coalition. We'll be discussing his attempts to introduce sectarian divisiveness into what used to be...
December 19, 2006
Religion never causes any problems ever
In case you forgot: Shortly after school began in September, the teacher told his sixth-period students at Kearny High School that evolution and the Big Bang were not scientific, that dinosaurs were aboard Noah’s ark, and that only Christians had...
December 18, 2006
Hmm...
David Sklansky's post here has got me thinking. Not the intelligence-test part of his dare, but the polygraph-test part of it. I wonder how many prominent Christian leaders actually have a high level of confidence in the things they say...
December 18, 2006
Press for the Blasphemy Challenge
I'll be on the radio: Alan Colmes Radio Show Fox News Radio Network Tuesday, December 19 7:15 pm Pacific Time/10:15 pm Eastern Time listen online here Michaelangelo Signorile Show SIRIUS OutQ 106 Wednesday, December 20 12:30 pm Previous: My one-hour...
December 18, 2006
Sam Harris
And more on NPR....
December 18, 2006
The Blasphemy Challenge: Summary of Day 1
Yesterday was the official launch of the Blasphemy Challenge. Official site The trailer on YouTube Press release After the launch, the Challenge was declared extremely viral by television news programs in San Francisco and Los Angeles. By my calculations, if...
December 15, 2006
Religion never causes any problems ever
The strongest military force on the planet adopts a religious dogma that emphasizes "building the Kingdom" for Christ, demonizes all who don't subscribe to the dogma and fetishizes the end of the world. Gee, I don't see any problem with...
December 12, 2006
"Letter to a Christian Nation" by Sam Harris
Now an audio book....
December 05, 2006
Julia Sweeney
Lexi reminds me: Just wanted to let you know that there are great discussions going on in the comments at Julia Sweeney's weblog. Her CD is out, too. I haven't heard the CD, but I saw the show twice. Highly...
November 29, 2006
The stupidity
It burns. Proceed at your own risk. Example (condensed from the original): SAM HARRIS: Even if your claim about the link between faith and morality were true, it would offer no support whatsoever for your religious beliefs. Even if atheism...
November 25, 2006
My kind of missionaries
In SLC. (via PZ)...
November 21, 2006
Religion never does any harm
Ever....
November 17, 2006
New site on religion
From Sam Harris's email newsletter: On Faith: A Washington Post / Newsweek Website The Washington Post and Newsweek have jointly launched a website to discuss religion. Sam has signed on as one of the bloggers. This looks like it will...
November 15, 2006
Standing firm on medieval values
Both depressing and encouraging: BALTIMORE, Nov. 14 -- Faced with rising public acceptance of same-sex relationships, three U.S. Christian denominations are taking strong measures this week to condemn homosexual acts as sinful. The nation's Roman Catholic bishops, meeting in Baltimore,...
November 15, 2006
Liberty University
pwned: If you were told that Liberty University taught that San Francisco was twenty-eight feet from New York you wouldn't believe it. So when Richard learns that Liberty University teaches its students something equally absurd, that dinosaurs are a few...
November 12, 2006
Flying Spaghetti Monster sighting
Ramen!...
November 12, 2006
Christmas is not Christian
Christians join the War on Christmas. Seductive....
November 10, 2006
Scientist apologists
Depressing. Sam Harris chatting in RA's forums: I just returned from a three-day meeting at the Salk Institute entitled, Beyond Belief: Science, Religion, Reason and Survival. Participants included Steven Weinberg, Harold Kroto, Richard Dawkins, and many other scientists and philosophers...
November 08, 2006
Richard Carrier
Richard Carrier Blogs. You read....
November 08, 2006
The restoration of Ted Haggard
Dobson is no longer on the team that is going to re-program Ted Haggard, but, really, this "restoration" process is just sick, and should be considered a bigger scandal than the sex and meth. The process that Pastor Ted faces...
November 08, 2006
Ruled by hate
It's impossible not to feel sorry for Pastor Ted. His written confession/apology (PDF) to his congregation practically contains an entire Greek tragedy. The protagonist is a gay man who posed in a straight role because he felt the gay part...
November 05, 2006
Biblical values
Ted Haggard on gay sex: We've decided the Bible is the word of God. We don't have to have a general assembly about what we believe -- it's written in the Bible, all right? So we don't have to debate...
November 03, 2006
Haggard
Will he use this opportunity to finally do some good with his life? Haggard has tremendous potential now to stop spreading hate and start introducing his flock to the concept of tolerance, but I won't hold my breath. Jeff Sharlet...
November 02, 2006
Almost half of America
Is agnostic or atheist? (Thanks, David.)...
November 01, 2006
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
Read the first chapter of The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins for free here. Good writing, but my favorite part of The God Delusion is the beginning of Chapter 6, pages 211-212. To find out why, well, you'll just have...
October 31, 2006
Killing the messenger
I think Sam Harris is correct that eventually a belief in mythological creatures like "God" will be embarrassing. The majority will ultimately look at people who literally believe in Holy Bible fairy tales the same way we'd look at an...
October 23, 2006
Batshit crazy
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Donald Rumsfeld: He leads in a way that the good Lord tells him is best for our country. This statement will not cause a national crisis because: a) Neither Chairman of...
October 20, 2006
Richard Dawkins on Colbert Report
Clip. (Thanks, Tim.) YouTube link. (Thanks, Josh.)...
October 18, 2006
"Deliver Us From Evil"
See it if you can....
October 16, 2006
It's worth the day pass
Richard Dawkins interview in Salon. Click through the ad to read it....
October 13, 2006
Wanted
PZ says: We need a scientist who is willing to snort cocaine for a couple of years, sleep willy-nilly with models and any half-naked starlet with no taste, and bash himself repeatedly over the head with blunt objects until his...
October 09, 2006
Sam
On NPR....
October 03, 2006
The true state of affairs
"The truths contained in religious doctrines are after all so distorted and systematically disguised that the mass of humanity cannot recognize them as truth. The case is similar to what happens when we tell a child that new-born babies are...
September 27, 2006
Hearing voices
Sam Harris: The president of the United States has claimed, on more than one occasion, to be in dialogue with God. If he said that he was talking to God through his hairdryer, this would precipitate a national emergency. I...
September 22, 2006
All Sam, all the time
NYC, Monday, Sept. 25. See Sam Harris confront the obvious question: As religious insanity propels us toward the inevitable nuclear attacks, isn't it more important to be nice and accommodating of insane ideas than to prevent the end of civilization?...
September 21, 2006
More Sam Harris
Letter to a Christian Nation now shipping. I've read it. My capsule review: Buy several and give them to people who need it....
September 19, 2006
Sam Harris
‘God’s Rottweiler’ Barks Head-in-the-Sand Liberals...
September 18, 2006
Today in history
Let the bells ring. (Thanks, Ron)...
August 24, 2006
Sam Harris: Letter to a Christian Nation
Sam Harris's new book is available for preorder now: “Thousands of people have written to tell me that I am wrong not to believe in God. The most hostile of these communications have come from Christians. This is ironic, as...
August 21, 2006
FSM revealed!
Now worship this, bitches. (Thanks, Mark.)...
August 17, 2006
Scientists
Are fully capable of stupidity. (Thanks, Lexi.)...
August 17, 2006
Who's who
Among the godless. (According to Beliefnet.)...
August 17, 2006
Russell's Teapot
Worship it, bitches. (Thanks, Mark.)...
August 14, 2006
How the United States will prevail
We'll outsmart all of the other countries....
August 11, 2006
Not governed
By the laws of men....
August 10, 2006
The disease
Bill Maher: Yes, liquor releases demons, but I want to know why the demon in Mel Gibson is hatred of the Jews to begin with (I know, the father). Why, when Mel's id is released, it's about the Jews fucking...
August 02, 2006
The hero pattern
Dang. I wish the Star Wars movies were better, because if they were I'd watch them all back to back to check out the Science Pundit's thesis that Darth Vader is almost as heroic as Jesus. (And Luke doesn't even...
July 27, 2006
Optimism
Bush-approved minister: "The end of the world as we know it is rapidly approaching.... Rejoice and be exceeding glad -- the best is yet to be." Nothing to worry about. Christians are at the helm....
July 27, 2006
States
When people speak of their mystical religious experiences, I am often struck by how similar those experiences sound to descriptions of other, more worldly ones. For example, an advocate of meditation will describe how the process helps him achieve peacefulness,...
July 11, 2006
Iraq's normal state
Good thing that the Bush Administration had a well thought-out plan for dealing with the natural conditions in Iraq that created Saddam Hussein: Shiite militiamen rampaged through a Baghdad neighborhood Sunday morning, killing more than 50 people and leaving many...
July 09, 2006
Jesus appears in grilled eggplant
Reader Duckdog writes, "I was troubled by the image of Christ that was present in your grilled eggplant. You might want to keep an eye out for any supernatural forces at work here." Here is Duckdog's enhanced picture. I knew...
July 04, 2006
"Deliver Us From Evil" documentary review
Picture this: You're an upper-level manager for a large company. You are directly responsible for hundreds of employees in your region. Right now you are in your office, behind your desk. You have in front of you an employee of...
June 28, 2006
The Raving Atheist
I have no idea what's going on with RA. But it's damn interesting. It may be some kind of a stunt, but that's okay -- I'm a sucker for stunts. As are you, if you read this blog....
June 25, 2006
The future is very bright
We should all be encouraged that the batshit insane among us here in the United States are a tiny, fringe minority: According to various polls, an estimated 40% of Americans believe that a sequence of events presaging the end times...
June 22, 2006
God hates fags, but please don't mention it
The Raving Atheist discovers an unusual advocate in the Sisyphean struggle of liberal Christianity against fundamentalism: Fox News' Julie Banderas goes ballistic on Shirley Phelps-Roper, who has brought her "God Hates Fags" campaign to the funerals of soldiers who have...
June 12, 2006
On Air America Phoenix now
I'm on the air now with Sankara Saranam on "Religion Roundtable." Archive will be here....
June 10, 2006
6-6-06 Satanic High Mass
In future years, millions will probably claim to have been at the 6-6-06 High Mass held by the Church of Satan on its 40th anniversary. To test these claimants, ask "What happened between Lust and Destruction?" If they tell you,...
June 07, 2006
Atheism in the workplace
Over at Shirley's blog....
June 02, 2006
The Ten Commandments
The first few things God wants you to remember: Do not have any other gods before Me. Do not represent [such] gods by any carved statue or picture of anything in the heaven above, on the earth below, or in...
June 01, 2006
Paradise Lost: Revelations
CFI-West event this weekend: CFI-West will screen the documentary about three teenagers convicted of murder in what some claim was an atmosphere of "Satanic Panic." After the bodies of three eight-year-old boys were discovered in a shallow creek in deeply...
June 01, 2006
Jesus pan
Disappointed that you have never fried up a tortilla that ended up with the face of Jesus on it? Now you can, every time. The Jesus pan. (Thanks, SS)...
May 31, 2006
Left Behind: Eternal Forces video game
In a new video game called Left Behind: Eternal Forces, you get to be a member of a Christian death squad: Imagine: you are a foot soldier in a paramilitary group whose purpose is to remake America as a Christian...
May 30, 2006
Shorter Karen Armstrong
A literal belief in the mythology contained in ancient books is infantile. But a vague, incoherent approach to these books that assumes their core premise -- that a character named "God" actually exists -- now that's a grown-up perspective....
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