For Hitch

A reminder of the sort of thinking he so eloquently battled. When Hitch was first diagnosed, a writer who doesn’t deserve mention by name in this post (you can click to find out who, but it really doesn’t matter) said that God was being kind, offering a lingering and painful death to give him time and reason to reconsider his atheism.

How fucking sweet. This was my response at the time (I think Hitchens’ response was an eloquent silence).

So I heard, today—you’re dying; God has blessed you with a cancer
In the past, a certain-death-by-torture sentence.
So I send congratulations! “Why?” you ask; well, here’s my answer:
Now there’s time and motivation for repentance!

Since the hand of God has touched you, with His doom-inflicting fingers
Your esophageal cancer is sublime!
And I wish for you the type of death that lingers, lingers, lingers,
With the merciful benevolence of time!

You have time to turn to Jesus, and to thank your carcinoma
If you’ll listen to Our Lord Almighty’s voice
Just repent to God, your savior, just before you lapse to coma,
Cos Jehovah gave you time to make your choice

If you choose to shun the chance to make a godly new beginning
And you tell yourself it’s really just as well
Then you’re reaping what you’ve sown, and since you spent your life a-sinning
Then I hope you like eternity in Hell!

Sorry, writer-who-will-not-be-named, looks like Hitch died without giving you the satisfaction. He’s left quite a legacy, but there’s a great many around willing to keep his flame going.

Proof Of God?

Over at Debunking Christianity, John Loftus answers a question. Specifically, the question of “what would it take for you, an atheist, to believe in god?”, and the objection that in reality, our answers are all lip service, that we are closed-minded and unwilling to budge. You can go take a look at his answer, but mine is a bit different. For me, this is one of those questions better answered with another question: What would it take for you, a christian, to believe in someone else’s god?

The same evidence that should be sufficient to convince an atheist, will necessarily disconfirm some religions, given that they disagree with one another, and positively proving one of them may well violate fundamental tenets of another (come to think of it, it might support none; there may be a very real deity that every single religion gets wrong). Gods are intentionally fuzzily-defined; if they were clearly defined, they would be easy to disconfirm. Absolute proof of a specific God would be a believer’s worst nightmare! With so many options, the odds that their own god is the right one are better in the absence of evidence. Besides (he said, cynically), old habits die hard, and the habit of denying empirical evidence has a long history.

Can you imagine what the various reactions of atheists and believers might be, to the sort of evidence that would make PZ check himself into a padded cell? My version, after the jump: [Read more…]

Pity The Atheist…

Pity the atheist, bitter and cold,
Who simply refuses to look
Ignoring the beautiful things to be found
In the pages of one special book.

Pity the atheist’s closed little mind
Which denies any mention of God
Where faithful see castles, and streets paved with gold,
He sees nothing but hollow facade. (continues after the jump…) [Read more…]

Fashionable Nonsense

I tried on a new piece of clothing
It was fuzzy and silken and red
It looked quite a lot like a sweater
But there wasn’t a hole for my head.
I struggled to put it on anyway,
But no matter what angle I tried
My arms found their sleeves without problem,
But my head stayed completely inside.
There’s something that’s wrong with this picture
And I’m quite at a loss, what to do—
So I talked to the guy at the counter…
He suggested I try it in blue.

It may be the style, or the fashion
But it keeps me from using my head
So instead of just wishing it fit me
I’ll try something different instead.

Context.

Atheist Christmas Stories

Looks like something the FtB community might enjoy–CNN’s iReport people are collecting our stories, the stories of “A holiday season without religion”. I’ve already submitted An Atheist’s Christmas, which (amusingly) was already seen by one commenter as an attack.

Anyway, increased visibility, a spectrum of atheist christmases, is a positive step toward increased acceptance. So, yeah, go tell the world about your atheist holiday season, whether you celebrate something or not. As of this posting, there are 189 stories up.

Bill Donohue Is Looking For Accidental Christians

Once there was an accidental Christian
Who had never read the bible—not a word!
She never knew that Jesus died to save us
Though it’s not her fault; she simply hadn’t heard!

Her beliefs, of course, were just coincidental
Cos she’d never heard a sermon or a prayer
So her strange belief in transubstantiation
Was devout, though she herself was unaware.

She believed in god the father, son, and spirit
She believed we fell from Eden, cloaked in shame
She believed that Jesus’ sacrifice redeems us…
Though she never knew, believed it just the same

Now the Catholic League is searching for this woman
Who is Christian, though she truly doesn’t know
Cos they’re looking to adopt her as their daughter
So her accidental faithfulness can grow.
Incredible stupidity, after the jump: [Read more…]

Much Ado About “Nothing”

I looked in my wallet, to take out a note—
There was someone I needed to pay.
Now, I’m used to my wallet containing just nothing,
But there’s even more nothing today

I didn’t just not have a dollar today,
I didn’t have twenty or more!
I didn’t have hundreds, I didn’t have thousands,
More nothing than ever before!

It’s not that I’m working with negative numbers,
Just zeroes, and zeroes galore!
I thought that, with zeroes, just one was enough
But I’ve zeroes today by the score!

There’s nothing—just nothing—a whole lot of nothing,
There’s nothing all over the place
Just zeroes, and zeroes, and zeroes and zeroes…
I’m lucky they take up no space.

You’d think inundation with infinite nothing
Would be a particular hell
But the thing about nothing—no matter how much—
Is that nobody really can tell.

You can double my nothing, it’s still only nothing,
At double-or-nothing the odds
And nothing is nothing, when speaking of money
Or even believing in gods.

Long, involved rant after the jump: [Read more…]

Ellwood City–No Atheists Allowed.

On the lawn at Ellwood City
Such a pity, such a pity,
That the mayor should be an idiot, and ignorant of law
Though he doesn’t see a danger
Showing Jesus in the manger
If a sign appeals to reason, he can see the fatal flaw
See, the laws of our great nation
Build a wall of separation
So endorsing a religion is a step we must not take
And Mayor Tony Court, his honor,
Knows the “reason” sign’s a goner—
He’ll reject the application, for the constitution’s sake!
We can show the birth of Jesus
Without worry, if it please us,
After all, it’s only Jesus, not some Christian Holy writ
Jesus’ birth is universal
So there’s no need for reversal
Since it’s representing everyone, there’s none who doesn’t fit!
But a sign promoting reason
In this holiest of seasons
Is a First Amendment no-no; it establishes a stance.
“Use your brains” is violation
Of our country’s firm foundation
Since it isn’t true for everyone, it doesn’t stand a chance!

You won’t believe the real story, but it’s just below the jump:

[Read more…]

A Good Day For Atheists

Checking the news can be daunting sometimes. Recent stories have had atheist bad guys demanding the Pendleton Cross be removed, the Big Mountain Jesus be removed, the Cranston Rhode Island School Prayer be removed… why it is that these stories never lead with “atheists urge others to follow the law”?

Anyway, it is the rare day when I find a story that does not paint atheists as evil. And today, not one but two stories that explore particular atheists in detail, accurately and sympathetically. These are good stories, and well worth reading!

In the New York Times (in the Fashion & Style section?), a story, “The Unbelievers”, about African-American atheists:

Given the cultural pull toward religion, less than one-half of a percent of African-Americans identify themselves as atheists, compared with 1.6 percent of the total population, according to Pew. Black atheists, then, find they are a minority within a minority.

In 2008, John Branch made his first YouTube video, “Black Atheism.” With the camera tight on his face, Mr. Branch, now 27, asks, “What is an atheist? An atheist is simply someone who lacks a belief in God.” Half kidding, he goes on, “We’re not drinking blood. We’re not worshiping Satan.” The video has received more than 40,000 hits.

“I think it attracted so much attention because, in the black community, not believing in God is seen as a thing for white people,” said Mr. Branch, a marketing strategist in Raleigh, N.C. “I hate that term, ‘acting white,’ but it’s used.”

Reading through the article, there is so much I want to re-post here, but I’ll just say “go read the whole thing.” It’s a thoughtful exploration of a group that should not be invisible, but often is (at least in the real world–it also shows the power of the internet to build community).

The second article is a pleasant little thing–a family in Austin has been exploring many different faith communities, just to get to know them better, and today’s article describes their meeting with some local atheists, a fun encounter that actually “gets it” in describing atheists like the ones I know:

As my girls asked more questions, more laughter ensued, more stories were shared, and it became apparent that though atheism might be a declaration of what is not believed, it isn’t a negative or nihilistic outlook.

It’s a short article, but again, worth the read.

Maybe there’s hope after all. Can’t wait to see what the comments sections look like.