An Atheistic Examination of the Culture of Belief: How Religious Devotion Trivializes American Law and Politics

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June 2006

New York, New York, June 29, 2006 Special to The Raving Atheist Three years after mocking Pope John Paul II for condemning the use of sarcasm, The Raving Atheist has himself condemned the use of sarcasm. In a February 2003 "news" item titled "Pope Hits Out Against Sarcasm," the atheism-themed blog parodied a Catholic press report bearing the same headline by suggesting that the then-Pontiff's criticism of sarcasm was somehow equivalent to the condemnation of alliteration, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, metaphor, allegory and understatement. Yesterday, however, TRA denounced his own writings for their inexcusable sarcasm, arrogance, egotism, condescension, bullying, rudeness and cruelty... (319 Words)

I will not tell you why I will not. Thomas More, A Man for All Seasons (1966)... (17 Words)

I'm extending my pledge not to malign God to people as well. From now on The Raving Atheist will be a malice-free site. Arrogance, egotism, condescension, sarcasm, bullying, rudeness and downright cruelty have permeated many of my posts. Not merely the ones directed at the religious, but at other atheists, at agnostics, pro-choice advocates, anyone who disagreed with me. For the most part I was not trying to hurt anyone. I attempted to proportion my venom to the known sensitivities of the target. Those who enter the Blogosphere frequently thrive on controversy, so much of the time the "victim" was... (547 Words)

The God Who Wasn't There filmmaker Brian Flemming has described himself as a "Christian Atheist." He explained his meaning in an interview with Christianity Today last year: Once you're a Christian, I don't think you ever shake being a Christian, and personally I don't want to . . . [T]he Jesus that I hold in my mind as the Jesus who taught me my moral values in many ways, I don't want to lose that. I like Jesus. When I see a picture of Jesus that doesn't make me feel bad, it makes me feel good. I'm an atheist because... (151 Words)

A Squad reader requests biblical proof, or the identification of an event, that establishes the existence of the Holy Spirit. The Squad chooses the scriptural option, citing 1 Corinthians 2:9-13. The function of the Spirit is delineated in Galatians 5:22-23, which describes "the fruit of the Spirit" as "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." One atheistic objection, among others, is that this theory implies that these virtues are not truly our own our but are imposed upon us by an outside force. That difficulty, however, is not necessarily solved by declaring that the qualities are evolutionary... (176 Words)

Questions have arisen regarding the fate of this site's Forums, as well as the potential for speech restrictions there or in the comments section to the main blog. This site shall always be dedicated to the relentless pursuit of the truth, wherever it may lead. Despite concerns I have expressed elsewhere, I have never and shall never ban commentors or delete or edit their input. The only restrictions on speech will be those I impose upon myself. You also have my irrevocable promise that I shall never close the Forums. As it stands, they are in the control of the... (256 Words)

Neither Christ nor Christianity shall ever again be maligned on this site, I have vowed. In contemporary America continuing this blog under such constraints might appear to rival the composition of a thousand-page novel without the letter "e." Or perhaps without the alphabet, given that Christianity equates Christ with God, and that the denial of His existence could be fairly construed as an insult. The seeming impossibility of the challenge might suggest an abandonment of disbelief. Consequently charges of atheist heresy, of conversion to theism, have now been lodged against me. With such conversions I am well familiar. Often I... (737 Words)

[NOTE: For reasons I will explain in a later entry, this post is unfair in a number of respects to KC of Bigli and Atheist Mommy. I retract those parts of the post which imply that they are dishonest or unscrupulous.] Is there honor among atheists? I'm beginning to wonder. My character has been brought into question this week in two posts by atheist bloggers: Raving Atheist Targeting Atheist Mothers? by "KC" at Bligbi, and Raving Atheist exposed yet again by Francois Tremblay of Goosing the Antithesis. Abortion being the topic, I understand the general vitriol and incivility of the... (2712 Words)

"Indians by the thousands are descending on a remote village in eastern West Bengal to worship a man who scampers up trees, gobbles up bananas and has a 'tail' . . . [t]hey believe he is a reincarnation of the Hindu monkey god Hanuman and that his 13-inch tail has healing powers," reports today's New York Post. Similarly, a few years ago a Nepalese village hailed a girl with four eyes, two mouths and two noses as the incarnation of the goddess Bhagawati. At the time I noted that the ability to "see God's image" in such people was touching,... (349 Words)

Liberal Christian Jill of Feministe is not thrilled by The Thrill of the Chaste, the upcoming book by conservative Christian Dawn Eden. The author's criticism of pre-marital sex with dating partners perturbs Jill, particularly Dawn's observation (excerpt available here) that women who indulge in such sex before marriage can't appreciate men the same as those who practice chastity. "[J]ust as I would never tell [Dawn] that she must have premarital sex in order to appreciate men for who they are," says Jill, "I find it completely offensive that she would attempt to tell everyone else that we can't possibly respect... (1060 Words)

God Squad Review CLXXII (Don't Care What They're Saying) If you're interested in reading the Squad's babblings on sin and coping with death read their column. I'm giving them a pass this week in honor of Father Hartman's pledge to cure for Parkinson's disease within ten years through the efforts of his foundation.... (55 Words)

A bumper sticker proclaiming that vehicle's owner is a "Decent, Honest, Atheist" adorns Shirley Setterbo's car. It's just an simple, innocent declarative statement, but somehow it's provoked rage from McDonalds drive-through cashiers, conversion attempts and laughter from truck drivers. Shirley is naturally puzzled by these reactions. It's almost as bad as the time she taped a sign to her butt to demonstrate the correct spelling of the phrase "Kick Me," and discovered that people were misinterpreting it as an invitation to violence. The experience has made her so paranoid that she's decided to leave her "Religions are just cults with... (491 Words)

Like religion, separation of church and state is a topic as poorly understood by the poll-givers as it is by the poll-takers. According to this article, "Church and State Separation Splits Americans." That conclusion is based on CBS News poll which included the following questions and results: (1) In general, do you think that teaching the Bible in a public school does or does not violate the Constitution and the separation of church and state? Does violate 46% Does not violate 46% (2) Do you think public schools should or should not be allowed to teach the Bible as a... (425 Words)

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 died in service of this Sodomite nation of ours. Unfortunately, Julie also goes Biblical, not the best strategy for someone opposed to the notion that God Hates Fags. Worst of all, she quotes some irrelevant language from Leviticus, whose pertinent passages commands people to kill fags -- and she compounds the error by calling Shirley an "abomination", which is precisely what God Calls Fags. And in the middle of her own preaching about what (she thinks)... (163 Words)

A Squad reader who lost a leg to bone cancer at age 12 has "a problem with people who believe God allows adversity in their lives." I have a problem seeing how his logic could support anything but the opposite conclusion: I don't believe God visited this malady on me. I believe He created natural law. The cancer came about through His natural law. The cancer cells were obeying natural law. I'm sure God knew this would happen and could see the life choices I would make as a result of losing a leg. Seems to be more that just... (493 Words)

Montgomery, Alabama, June 8, 2006 Special to The Raving Atheist Defeated after winning only 44% of the vote in his party's primary for Alabama state attorney general, Democratic candidate Larry Darby blamed the loss on public misconceptions regarding atheism and Holocaust denial. "Atheism is just the lack of a belief in a god or gods, nothing more, nothing less," said Darby. "It doesn't mean that I reject morality or worship Satan, or require me to take a particular position on any given issue. Unfortunately, old stereotypes are hard to overcome." Darby likewise explained that his Holocaust denial was simply a... (275 Words)

What do I consider the most significant reward of nearly four years of blogging? By far, my association with kind and caring people like Ashli of the S.I.C.L.E. Cell, who made me and many others a proud part of this happy story. She reached out last fall to a stranger in need, stood by her for many difficult months and eventually brought her into her home. No post I've written has come close to accomplishing as much good -- or ever will.... (83 Words)

"We don't love the Bible because it's old; we love it because it's true," said the God Squad. But that was last week. This week, in response to a question about conflicting scriptural accounts regarding the sequence of creation of men, animals, and women, they dismiss the book as a bunch of "legends." Specifically, they embrace the "non-religious, scholarly view" known as the "Documentary Hypothesis": Under this hypothesis, the story of the creation of man in Genesis, Chapter 1 (the account where man and woman are created at the same time) was written by the P author, and the story... (423 Words)

Don't you hate it when you come back to your desk and find that someone's put a sticky over the word "Atheists" on your "Atheists Love America, Too" coffee mug? I can see despising America enough to cover up that word, but who dislikes atheists? The worst part of it all is deciding what to say in the e-mail you send to your boss, your boss's boss and your co-workers, as Shirley Setterbo of AtheistExposed2 did.... (76 Words)

One problem skeptics have with Christianity is the mechanics of the salvation scheme: why would an infinitely intelligent being decide that the only way to redeem mankind was to have a son by a virgin, sacrifice him, and bring him back to life? The plan might be efficient by Rube Goldberg standards, but most of us could think of quicker and surer ways to go about it. Like erasing our sins by snapping His fingers. Or making us good in the first place. But in Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis argues that the improbability of the scenario establishes its truth: Besides... (554 Words)

Is there something special about sky-god baby-talk fairytale belief that requires the state to treat it better than any other kind of lunacy? In a new paper, Professor Brian Leiter says no. From the abstract of Why Tolerate Religion: Religious toleration has long been the paradigm of the liberal ideal of toleration of group differences, as reflected in both the constitutions of the major Western democracies and in the theoretical literature explaining and justifying these practices. While the historical reasons for the special "pride of place" accorded religious toleration are familiar, what is surprising is that no one has been... (522 Words)

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