Godless In DC

From WTF with Marc Maron Podcast, Episode 256 - Diablo Cody:

Marc Maron, regarding confession: Because I always wondered this about Catholic upbringing: did it actually resonate with you as a person? Did you leave upset and feeling bad, or did you leave like, "Aw, I gotta say all these things." I mean, was the punishment just the repetition, or did it actually effect you on a conscience—

In 1979, McDonald’s introduced the Happy Meal.

Sometime after that, it was decided that the Bible teaches that human life begins at conception.

Ask any American evangelical, today, what the Bible says about abortion and they will insist that this is what it says. (Many don’t actually believe this, but they know it is the only answer that won’t get them in trouble.) They’ll be a little fuzzy on where, exactly, the Bible says this, but they’ll insist that it does.

Atheists often point out that religious faith is closed off to evidence that contradicts it. What evidence would persuade atheists that their atheism was mistaken?

If I'm such an open-minded atheist -- if I really am an atheist because I think the God hypothesis is unsupported by the evidence -- what evidence for God would I accept? What would it take to change my mind?

From 3 Ways Conservative Christianity's Obsessions Promote Abortions | | AlterNet:

From JesusFetusFajitaFishsticks: [AHLQUIST SCREENSHOTS] If by "Christian love" you mean hatred & contempt...:

When will you stop saying this is shocking? It isn't anymore.
When will you stop saying this is rare? It isn't.
When do you think we need to start taking these kind of people seriously?

Just another case of Christian love being spread online.

From Gay marriage a threat to humanity's future - Pope | Reuters

Pope Benedict said Monday that gay marriage was one of several threats to the traditional family that undermined "the future of humanity itself."

…

"This is not a simple social convention, but rather the fundamental cell of every society. Consequently, policies which undermine the family threaten human dignity and the future of humanity itself," he said.

This came from Reddit, and the creator notes that it's not unlike Russell's Teapot and other similar arguments, but something about a dog with glasses makes it better.

I'm becoming increasingly agitated by the atheist tendency to lump all religious people into one heaping, monolithic, unthinking, right-winger fundie blob. I totally get how easy it is to generalize when making an argument, and blog posts would become burdensome to write and to read if we had to constantly add in footnotes that we're generalizing and not speaking of the every single religious person but a broadly defined group, and we know of exceptions that apply, and hey, I'm friends with some Christians that aren't like this, etc. I get that.

I'm trying to take a step back this week and figure out what it is I intend to accomplish by posting on this blog, by posting articles about religion and atheism on Facebook, and by engaging in debates there about said.

I’ve had a chance to look back on some of my previous postings (on other sites, not here) advancing and/or defending atheism and reason, and I have stumbled on a realization: I have been an asshole. A big, fat, harpy asshole. Not all the time, or even most of the time. But I read some of my previous commentary and realize that I’ve let myself be pulled down to a level that I’m frankly embarrassed by. Sometimes other people have pulled me down (and these others have been both theists and fellow non-believers), and, more distressingly, sometimes it’s been self-initiated.

The topic of abortion has been on my mind a lot lately (see my last post). Let me play devil's advocate for a moment here (recognizing, of course, how much more ominous that everyday phrase seems on a blog about atheism).

[I wrote most of this post back in January but never got around to finishing it.]

I am pro-choice and pro-life. Yes, I can be both (because I say).

I hope to one day be as eloquent as Sam Harris. This part wasn't really about 9/11 specifically, but it's exactly what has bothered me for so long:

I used to say that, theologically, I'm an atheist, but scientifically, I'm agnostic.

I'm theologically an atheist because that addresses belief: I don't believe in any supernatural beings or powers. Atheism simply means the lack of belief in a god, and that is my belief.

Via Drew, quoting Sam Harris:

From Matt Blank:

Why isn't Judas a saint? Had he not betrayed Jesus, Jesus might not have been executed. The martyrdom thing is kind of central to Christianity, isn't it?

So, why isn't Judas a saint? And perhaps more importantly, why do some especially ignorant Christians¹ vilify Jews for having killed Jesus, when that's an essential point in their religion?

1. I want to be clear that I do not mean all or even most or even a significant portion of Christians; this is definitely a small minority.

I have heard a lot of justifications for religion and for belief in a god. All of them so far have been unconvincing and flawed, but frankly, most of them are just crappy.

I really do not envy the lawmakers debating burqa bans.  I have tried to write this entry about half a dozen times and always scrap it because I can't make up my mind on this topic.  It's not even like I fluctuate and feel decisively one way one day and the next week I feel the another way - I'm completely ambivalent.

I am no Biblical scholar, nor have I studied the works of any who are. My only qualification is that I spent twelve years in Catholic schools, and went to Mass every week until I was 17. As such, most of my knowledge about the Bible comes from the Roman Catholic version (the New American, maybe?) and the beliefs surrounding it.

Here's what I understand of the Bible today: