Sinead O’Connor was way ahead of her time

Man, remember when Sinead O’Connor tore up the picture of Pope John Paul II saying “fight the real enemy”? Well imagine she did that same stunt today but with Raztinger’s picture instead; I’m not sure she would cause as big a firestorm now. I can’t imagine how much courage it took back then to take a stand against such a large institution, but we owe a lot to the bravery of folks like Sinead who chose to speak their mind even when it wasn’t the popular thing to do. It might seem trivial today to be able to call on the resignation and punishment of religious leaders over their treatment of children, but only a decade ago that was some pretty taboo shit.

Sam Harris: Science can answer moral questions

Here is Sam Harris’ talk he gave at TED very recently. I realized most of you have already seen it, but for the uninitiated, it’s a great presentation that deserves your attention. Because there are such great time constraints at these events, we unfortunately don’t get to hear everything about Sam’s ideas (why are you so harsh on time, TED!), but I’m looking forward to see how they develop, and I’m eager to read more in the coming future.

Jesus has issues

Thank you so much for everything Jesus; cancer, parasites, and genetic diseases that slowly waste people away are fucking awesome. Also, thanks for arbitrarily killing innocent people, especially if they aren’t me

God, take over the media!

Take from the unrighteous, and give the media over to the crazy Christian fundies. Oh Lord! don’t you know with your super magic you can simply change things and make it easier for the blatantly ignorant to spread the message we all better love you before you throw us into hellfire. Three cheers for the prince of peace!

Hitchens’ Ten Commandments

Here our old friend Christopher Hitchens breaks down the 10 commandments and issues 10 of his own. Which ones do you prefer?

Larry David on Religion

Oh Larry, if religious people DID keep their insane opinions to themselves, then I’d be out of a job, and the world would be a very different place. I guess instead of making fun of religionists, I would have to get out in the real world and get a 9-5 job…oh the horror!

Morality without God

Man, I hate the accusation that just because I don’t believe in a sky-deity I suddenly don’t possess any morals whatsoever. Who decided the only way to “be good” was by blindly accepting the moral edicts of a 6000 year old manuscript? Did everyone suddenly forget the fact things were pretty fucked up back then? What parts of the Bible are still moral by today’s standards? How about selling your daughter into slavery, or murdering your family members if they didn’t believe in the same God as you? Talk about a great moral tome!

Hitchens lays the smackdown

I still find it telling no religious person has yet seriously dealt with Hitchens’ challenge asking to show evidence that any moral action inspired by religion could not also be accomplished without reliance on the supernatural. I’ve said time and time again: there is no reason to believe in a world beyond the material reality of this one. The only reason we think there is one is because for the longest time in our history, it was a necessary way to explain this confusing and often cruel world. Now we know better and adherence to this superstitious belief is, quite honestly, rather embarrassing. When you were old enough to know there were no monsters under your bed, did you continue to believe out of fear of being wrong?

No more nails!

No More Nails: eliminates the cruel need to have someone hammered to a cross for the supposed sin of a man who never existed!

Deconversion

Here’s a great video about how one Christian slowly came to realize his religious beliefs were entirely a human invention, and not the result of divine will. Having never believed myself, I find this kind of thing totally fascinating. Also, the music is totally trippy. Be sure to watch it!

Christian prays for “YouTuber” to have a horrible accident

What better way to convince me your God is real than by asking him to arrange a terrible accident that crippled me forever? It’s a good thing prayer doesn’t work, otherwise these scary motherfuckers would be causing all kinds of crazy havoc. I’m not exactly sure if this guy is psychotic or not, but if there was a candidate for religious nutjob, he’d make the cut.

The Thinking Atheist takes on Noah’s Ark

These guys don’t pull any punches, and they do quality work. If you haven’t signed up to their YouTube channel, think about doing so now to avoid missing out!

Frank Zappa sticks it to Christians

Remember when Rock and Roll was a way of rebelling against the tyranny of religious fundamentalists? How could you not love this art form, and one of their most important ambassadors, Frank Zappa. We miss you, man!

JFK on the separation of church and state

It’s sad Jack’s words have since fallen on deaf ears as Christians work tirelessly to erode the wall separating church and state. This one act is the reason why your own country has enjoyed such unprecedented freedom (which isn’t what it used to be, honestly). All religions seek power and control, and are therefore antithetical to freedom, and great men like John F. Kennedy recognized this fact not so long ago. It’s a damn shame that everyone seems to have forgotten it since then.