Pat Robertson hates free speech

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I know he’s a bit of an easy target, since every second word out of this man’s mouth is something horribly offensive and totally out of date. We all have that racist, misogynist grandpa we’re embarrassed by, except we don’t normally have to listen to his hateful rhetoric on TV. Pat has a massive audience of gullible idiots who continue to pay for his lavish lifestyle, and it’s with his network that he’s now decided to attack atheist billboards, which displease him so much, he ironically demands that atheists should not be allowed to speak freely, and all this ‘first amendment’ stuff doesn’t mean jack shit.

I don’t know about you, but I like that he’s feeling rattled. I hope he continues to say shit like that, because if I know Americans, if there’s one thing they can’t stand, it’s anyone telling them to shut the fuck up.

I know I shouldn’t feed this troll, but…

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It’s a bad idea to feed Internet trolls, but every once in a while I get a comment on a random article that I just can’t resist writing a response to. This one appeared in an article entitled “Why is Christianity growing in China“. Here’s this clown’s answer:

It will be interesting to see atheists trying to uplift the human spirit with??? LOL, not to make fun of your beliefs dear “know it all”, but it’s been proven using the scientific method that human beings do indeed need to have their spiritual side cultivated in some way. Now you could be “spiritual but not religious”, that works for some. But there will never be a power greater then the worlds great religions that actually has the capability of lifting the most destitute, and guiding the most educated and well off of our lot. I know you don’t believe this dear atheist, but belief has nothing to do with how smart you are!

What’s his scientific proof, you ask? Well, like most religious idiots, the concept of ‘scientific proof’ is only relevant if it somehow confirms his ridiculous view of the world. In this case, it’s the idea that without a ‘spiritual’ side, there’s no way for people to feel uplifted and part of some greater whole.

What a fucking load of horseshit.

It isn’t the world of make-believe which inspires me. It’s the vastness of the universe, or the fact that the atoms which make up my body are forged of the amber of dying stars. I’m a product of over 3 billion years of evolution, one of a myriad of different lifeforms each adapted to suit their particular environment. I live on a cooling ball of rock and iron orbiting a massive collection of hydrogen, packed so tightly together that they fuse, forming helium and unleashing 3.8 x 10^33 ergs/sec of power (a number that is surprisingly easy to calculate, using only an umbrella, a tin of water, and a thermometer).

I find all of this more awe inspiring than any myth we’ve ever invented. How could we compete with the wonders of reality? In the past 80 years we’ve uncovered more about the universe than during our entire time here on Earth. There is still so much to discover and be inspired by, yet religious people keep claiming they have the monopoly on beauty and truth. The stories of Achilles and Jesus have nothing on the beauty of a supernova explosion, or an entire galaxy consumed in a Quasar.

As for intelligence having nothing to do with belief, I would venture to say while plenty of smart people can believe in some incredibly stupid and silly things, those very beliefs impact how a person thinks and acts. Steve Jobs thought alternative medicine could help his aggressive cancer. His stupid belief, while it may not have diminished his overall intelligence, affected his well being enough to terminate his life prematurely. Would anyone praise his ‘spirituality’ in this circumstance, or criticize the ridiculousness of his cherished beliefs? Had his friends and family been brave enough to call him out on it, he might still be alive, and the iPhone 5 wouldn’t suck balls.

If you want to pat yourself on the back for believing in things without evidence, that’s fine: just don’t pretend it makes you smart, guy.

The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 265

This week, Ryan joins me as we tackle the problem of child torture in the Democratic Republic of Congo as we wrap up the last days of the Indigogo “Bible Stories” Campaign. We also feature a hilarious letter from a fan asking for their tithing monies to be spent on something useful instead of opulent.

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The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 265
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Pope’s butler faces jail time for leaked memos

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OK, so remember how the US finally jailed their first priest for covering up sexual abuse? We all felt as though this was a positive sign of things to come, didn’t we? Well, as great as that felt, it seems as though justice is slow in coming to the Vatican. Jailing the Pope’s butler for leaking damning memos demonstrating the extent of corruption is a bigger priority for these fuckers.

Pope Benedict XVI’s butler will be tried on an aggravated theft charge over the leaking of hundreds of secret papers from the pope’s personal apartment to an Italian journalist, a Vatican spokesman said Monday.

The butler, Paolo Gabriele, acted out of a desire to combat “evil and corruption everywhere in the Church,” according to a prosecutor in the case.

And what kind of reward do you get for trying to fight corruption in one of the oldest organizations in the world? Why, a possible 6 years in jail, that’s what!

The Vatican has promised a ‘public trial’, but it’s already pretty messed up that as a semi-sovereign state (with no actual official status) it can send their own people to jail for having the guts to try and do something about all the evil shit the Vatican does.

I do hope it’s public, since these morons don’t seem to realize the rest of the world is taking Paolo’s side. I can’t wait until you jail this man and show the world what a corrupt, malignant organization you are…

Papacy finally OKs condom use

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It was only a matter of time before the millions of African men, women, and children slowly dying of AIDS would shame the Catholic Church into changing its stance on condom use. In a new book set to be released, based on conversations with the Pope, Benedict said in some cases, using a piece of rubber on your dick would not make God angry.

When he was asked if his church was against condom use, he said:

“It of course does not see it as a real and moral solution. In certain cases, where the intention is to reduce the risk of infection, it can nevertheless be a first step on the way to another, more humane sexuality.”

If you’re wondering why a sexless adult should have anything to say about sexuality, remember that the ‘humane’ interpretation of sexuality usually involves not having any. St. Paul was famous for his hatred of sexuality. As far as he was concerned, it was far better never to have sex than procreate. He saw celibacy as more pure, more divine. This sick attitude towards sex has since infested our world and made masturbation, one of life’s few enjoyments, a sin.

All of this is coming way too late. The majority of Catholics have been pro-birth control for a while now, and as usual, it’s the top brass who are late to the reform party. How many millions of people died needlessly because of some bullshit interpretation of Onan jizzing on the ground? How many unwanted babies were aborted, with their mothers bleeding to death in back alleys because of the church’s stance on contraception? Fucking ridiculous.

But wait, there’s more!

His language in attacking the use of recreational drugs in the West and its impact on the rest of the world is particularly striking.

Do they have to ruin everything that’s fun?

Christian calls atheist “mean” on Reddit

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Here’s another “hey, atheists are being mean and should stop” article from someone clearly annoyed that people on Reddit have less than kind things to say about religion.

If you want to find out why I call these guys Reddit Atheists, take a brief dip into the atheism subreddit. It is a place entirely defined by bitter, faux-enlightened young people sharing “thought-provoking” images about the horrific evils of religion (in practice, pretty much just Christianity) and congratulating each other for being “enlightened.” The site was originally intended to be a place where people talk about atheistic ideas, but as is Reddit’s depressing trend, it soon devolved into a swampy mess of endless, banal clichés, memes, and general anti-intellectualism. It actually rivals Creationism in terms of having a narrow worldview.

Trying to lump us in the same category as these morons, eh? While I agree Reddit isn’t usually more than rage comics, memes and infographics, I really don’t think the online conversation about non belief is being dictated by it. It’s just a bunch of frustrated (usually) young people who have no other outlet other than an online content aggregator.

Defining your life by volatile antitheism—in other words, clinging to something you don’t believe in—isn’t just annoying, it’s actually pretty backward, and, in some cases, culturally malignant. For a demographic that spits a lot of game about equality and mobility, they sure love lording their “intellect” over anyone who dares to think differently. The atheism subreddit gets off on feeling superior to other people; it’s not about ideas or truth, they’d rather thrive on that faux-scholar buzz.

How is this culturally malignant to expose the superstition of others? Well, if your culture relies on superstition, perhaps it would. But in a world dependent on the explanatory power of science, it’s culturally malignant to hold on to Bronze Age ideas, not to debate them.

Also, this guy was so busy busy focusing on the shit he didn’t like, he forgot to read all the personal, touching shit people DO talk about. The number of times I’ve read heartbreaking stories of young kids being kicked out of their homes (one of them was Ray Comfort’s kid, BTW), or kids psychologically abused by religious parents and family members is honestly impossible to tell. The hundreds of positive comments, and support these people get is nothing short of extraordinary compared to the isolation these people would normally be faced with.

The author asked if people practicing Christianity was really that horrible for non-believers. Judging by his own story, I would say his opinion is tainted by the fact that he never lived in a religiously oppressive home. The same can not be said of many redditors. Living under the thumb of religion would make anyone frustrated, and if the worst they do is mock religion, are you honestly going to compare that to the campaigns of hatred normally directed at us?

What the article should read is simply “I don’t like Reddit”. That’s fine, it’s not for everyone. But writing an article telling people to shut up not only stinks of a kind of irony, it sends the wrong message about how conflict should be resolved: you don’t talk less, you talk more!

The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 264

This week, Carisa joins me as we talk about global warming, Curiosity rover landing on Mars, and the shooting at a Sikh temple by a white supremacist.

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The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 264
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An open letter to Sam Harris

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Perhaps I’m not the best person to offer advice on how to deal with trolls. My site gets relatively light traffic, and the people who visit tend to be way too polite, nice, or otherwise supportive. My lack of popularity in a sense has shielded me from the kind of criticism you’re regularly subjected to. Still, I feel I understand why your positions have been so vilified, and why you often find yourself outside of what the ‘atheist mainstream’ believes.

First, while I think you’re a great writer and I endlessly enjoy your prose, you don’t exactly speak the way regular people do online. Your style is more reminiscent of newspaper editorials than blogs, and in a sense, it lacks a feeling of genuineness. It almost makes one feel as though you’ve been too careful with your words. A little candidness goes a long way online, especially when you’re trying to express frustration.

Second, your controversial position on things is so nuanced, it’s difficult to actually represent it well, especially when one considers the short attention span of the Internet (I bet only a fraction of my readers will even bother to read this entire article). Even when you provide resources to properly analyze your belief, (like the link you said justifying torture that I’m still wrestling with) you’re asking what is essentially the laziest generation in the history of the planet to studiously research your position. That ain’t gonna happen.

Third, you must chose your battles. While you are undoubtedly more recognized than PZ Myers, the man has established a large online following; one that I wouldn’t dare anger. This is not a place I normally expect civil debate (and I don’t actually think it’s the intent of the site anyways). Holding PZ responsible for the things his fans say suggests the solution would be either censorship or policing, neither of which I think is a good idea.

Fourth, your experiences with a psychedelic drugs will always make you an outsider. America is so afraid of drugs, it would rather jail a huge segment of its population than allow adults to make their own decisions about their bodies. You and I both know a prohibitionist attitude is religious in nature, but it has been ingrained long enough in American culture that the default stance on recreational drugs is “drugs are bad, m’kay?”, regardless of religious affiliation.

Last but not least, your criticism of Islam will always be mistaken for racism. I know, because I get the same look from people when I say something. This vile religion has managed to convince everyone that belonging to their group somehow makes one part of a ‘race’, and criticism of this misogynist, violent culture amounts to being a modern day bigot. That’s not a label anyone enjoys, and people are willing to ignore reality if it means they won’t look bad, even at their own detriment.

I know the Internet can be a harsh place, and it lobs criticism far more than praise. Just remember that so much of the Internet is the raw, unfiltered thoughts of people who have no responsibility for the words they say. Take it with a grain of salt, man.

The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 263

This week, our Bible Stories campaign gets resurrected from the dead, and we talk about gun control in America. I expect there to be lots of discussion, so please be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments!

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Where was God at the Aurora shooting?

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There’s a predictable pattern to the way religious people deal with tragedy. Undoubtedly, this kind of horrific thing makes them question the dogma they’ve been spoon fed their entire life – that an omnipotent being cares for their well being, especially when it seems so senseless; the evils of the world throw this ‘loving god’ thing back in their face, and they don’t like it.

Then come the rationalizations:

Let’s be clear: there are no easy answers to the deepest questions of suffering. Libraries overflow with the volumes that have been written to address these questions. Centuries of philosophers, pundits and preachers have reflected on the existence of evil, the meaning of pain and the role of God in suffering.

Centuries? More like millennia. In fact, some 300 years before the supposed birth of Jesus, a Greek philosopher by the name of Epicurus essentially laid out the most compelling argument regarding the notion of God’s relationship to evil ever made. His argument has yet to be refuted:

Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or he can, but does not want to. If he wants to, but cannot, he is impotent. If he can, but does not want to, he is wicked. If God can abolish evil, and God really wants to do it, why is there evil in the world?

Your answer, sir?

The capacity to choose God and goodness came with the commensurate ability to choose evil. Is it loving to force his creation to follow his order, or to teach it and leave the creature to choose? It would seem that God came to the same conclusion that America’s founders did many millennia later: compulsory virtue is no virtue at all.

Ah yes, the old free will argument. God could eliminate all evil, but in doing so he would be subjugating us, and we wouldn’t have the ‘option’ to turn away from him. That’s all fine and good for the god of the Old Testament, who simply obliterates the unbeliever’s soul. The Christian god, unfortunately, has a rather unpleasant fate for anyone who exercises their own free will and chooses not to love an invisible tyrant. In his view, it is more moral to allow a person the right to choose their actions for a lifetime (however brief) than to torture that person forever for making the wrong ones. Sorry, your god sucks.

Let me suggest simply that God, in his sovereignty, has chosen to make our decisions meaningful. Consequently, much of what happens on earth neither conforms to, nor results from, his preference. There are at least four influences on human events: God’s will, to be sure; but also the will of Satan, our adversary; peoples’ choices, for better or for worse; and natural law (gravity, collision, combustion, and the like).

What a confusing mess of influences here. Why does Satan even exist? Sure, we make him out to be the bad guy, but it seems to me he’s simply the ‘bad cop’ to God’s ‘good cop’ routine. Without Satan there to look like the bad guy, you realize that by failing to rid the universe of this loathsome entity, he is in fact endorsing evil. Like Epicurus pointed out: if God is all powerful, and there is still evil, it is by his choice alone. One cannot condone evil without being part of it.

You don’t get nearly the same consternation in Burundi or Burma, because suffering is normal to them. God and hard times coexist intuitively there.

God likes to be where the action is, and there’s no greater place of suffering than Africa. And because tragedies are a regular occurrence there, Aurora isn’t a big deal. See, isn’t that a satisfying answer to the problem of evil? It isn’t?

The God of the Bible promises no exemption from suffering. In fact, he all but promises suffering. He does not suggest that his followers won’t go through fire, but rather that we won’t burn up.

What a deal! Sign me up for this omnipotent god who spends his time ‘grieving’ with me when my infant son dies of a highly treatable illness. Hopefully I got him baptized in time, or he’ll burn in hell!

Where was God in Aurora? He was on the lawn in front of the Civic Building as thousands gathered in solidarity, hope, and love at a packed prayer vigil last Sunday.

God was with those people who, powerless as they are, could do nothing but grieve. Sounds like the all powerful creator of the universe, doesn’t it?

Redemption has only begun in Aurora, and already God is everywhere. There will be beauty once this story is written that overshadows and transcends the ashes.

It’s doubtful any of this supposed beauty would make up for the innocent lives lost at something as peaceful and enjoyable as a movie. I would rather none of this happened rather than see an opportunity for human solidarity in the face of tragedy.

The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 262

This is it folks! The final 60 hours before my Bible Stories Kickstarter Campaign is over. So, to celebrate this event (ok, maybe more to entice you), this show will be available for free as long as the campaign is on.

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The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 262
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This is what a Creationist ‘argument’ looks like

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There’s a part of me (a rather small and insignificant part) who admires the time and effort creationists employ trying to refute evolution. Think of how much time and effort these morons put into trying to prove that their invisible friend is in fact responsible for all the diversity of life on Earth. It’s an ambitious goal to say the least, but do you know what makes it easier? Inventing shit!

If Evolution is truly occurring, vestigial organs would not only exist, but they would greatly outnumber the fully functional ones…Since Evolution is a random, chance process, there must be numerous trial and error combinations until a functional organ or appendage is produced. Any of these “vestigial” organs would still be in existence in a multitude of species and individuals and there would be no doubt that Evolution is fact.

Why would vestigial organs outnumber functional ones? Because this guy thinks entire organs spontaneously appear due to random mutation! Forget the fact that his little ‘diagram’ seems to indicate a rather strong propensity for phalluses (just how many vestigial dicks can one man have?), why is ‘Evolution Man’ so damn wide? Are those eyeballs for nipples? Is it just me or would that be fucking awesome?

However, in the late 1800′s there were an estimated 150 vestigial parts in the human body. Supposedly anyone can claim that something is vestigial because it serves no apparent purpose and the individual can survive without it. Today there are no vestigial organs claimed for the human body! That is because in the last 100 years, medical science has found that there is indeed a purpose to everything in the human body.

Ummm, no it hasn’t. Of course, this moron has no real obligation to tell anyone the truth, but this idea that every human organ serves a purpose can quickly be disproven if you’ve ever had to go to the dentist to remove your ‘wisdom’ teeth. The reason they exist is once upon a time, your ancestors had bigger jaws, but thanks to the genius of evolution, there was no evolutionary pressure to loose these painful molars, and so every year, dentists pull out millions of those little suckers.

Creation says there will be zero vestigial organs while Evolution requires millions of them.

Creation also says the Earth is 6000 years old, about a few millenia after the invention of agriculture and the domestication of the dog. Now, it’s time to set up a straw man and knock that sucker down, baby!

This car engine [picture of a car] also has no vestigial parts because, like the human body, it too had a Creator! If something so complex as the human body could evolve by chance, then even more so could this automobile evolve by chance.

Evolution isn’t real because man invented a car! My logic is infallible! If that wasn’t enough to convince you, this bombshell will!

If you don’t believe God created all living things, male and female, in 6 days….
How many millions of years was it between the first male and the first female?

See, isn’t it easier to assume that magical daddy-man in the sky did it all over the span of a long work-week than the hard-to-understand process of evolution?

The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 261

This week, we have a very special two part Bible Stories podcast for The Book of Judges.

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The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 261
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Dinosaurs are Satan’s way of deceiving us!

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I know this question wasn’t asked of me, but I want to answer it anyway:

I’m a little shocked. She says she is a Christian, but the Bible doesn’t say anything about dinosaurs. Should I let him keep them, as long as he understands that dinosaurs aren’t real? Even the PBS shows that he watches talk about dinosaurs and evolution, and how the scientists found these “bones” but the Bible doesn’t say that God ever created them, and the earth is only 6000 years old, not old enough to have ‘bones” that they say are millions of years old! I know that Satan tries to trick us in many ways, and this is one way he tries to fool man into believing that there isn’t a God who created the universe. How can they be bones when they made out of ROCKS? I told my son that dinosaurs are one of Satan’s many ways of tricking man, and he must talk to God before he plays with them. Am I handling this right? My first 3 were girls, and I adopted boys, and lots of mothers tell me that boys are often attracted to these dinosaurs. So I don’t know what to do. Is this just harmless fantasy play for him, or should I be worried that he may go on believing in things like evolution?

Dear concerned idiot,

Since you posted this question on the Internet, let me answer by saying first there is almost no chance your pathetic, antiquated worldview will be inculcated on your infant son. It’s too late. Maybe if you totally disconnected from the World Wide Web and lived in a cave for a while, you might be able to halt the assault of information that we call the Internet. Unfettered access to information is the reason your religion is slowly dying off. It can’t possibly compete with the wealth of ideas the rest of the world has to offer.

If it’s any consolation, though, your relationship will face the inevitable strain your dogmatic belief entails, so rest assured that your son’s interest in dinosaurs is a positive sign of his intelligence and curiosity of the world beyond the confines of your limited schema. A wealth of experience and knowledge awaits him, if he’s lucky enough to receive even a basic education, which I’m sure you’ll do your best to prevent.

By the time you’re dead and he’s finally able to live his life free of your religious tyranny, he may have a few positive memories of you, though they will be clouded by your intense ignorance. In the meantime, I suggest you stop blaming your imaginary friend (or enemy) for everything you despise. Odds are, it’ll only drive a wedge between you and everyone else not living in your delusion.