Congratulations, Great Britain!

The country has passed a significant threshold. Christians, you’re officially a minority now.

Every year, researchers from the British Social Attitudes survey ask a representative sample of British people whether they regard themselves as belonging to any particular religion and, if so, to which one? When the survey first asked these questions in 1985, 63% of the respondents answered that they were Christians, compared with 34% who said they had no religion (the rest belonged to non-Christian religions).

Today, a quarter of a century on, there has been a steady and remarkable turnaround. In the latest 2010 BSA report, published earlier this month, only 42% said they were Christians while 51% now say they have no religion. Admittedly, some other surveys – including the last census – have produced different findings on these issues, usually to the advantage of the religious option. There is also a margin of error in all such exercises. All the same, and particularly since the trends in opinion over time seem well set, it is hard not to feel that this latest finding marks a cultural watershed.

This Christmas, for perhaps the first time ever, Britain is a majority non-religious nation.

The article notes that it only took a generation to shift from 34% non-religious to 51% non-religious. There’s hope for the United States yet; I don’t think we’ll see a majority non-religious in my lifetime (but surprise me!), but we can make a relatively rapid change.

Bad diagnosis

Tim Moyle (I will not call him “Father”; I have a lot of respect for my father, none of it transfers to the clergy) wonders why atheists are so grumpy, and offers some explanations. He apparently does not know any atheists and is completely lacking in self-awareness, so his arguments don’t hold up very well.

Why is it that so many in the atheist community cannot bring themselves to get past their anger whenever they engage in discussion about religion? The language of many of atheist contributions in public debate is laced with venom and dripping with sarcasm.

Well, actually, when I consider religion, I feel two moods: either anger or hilarity. The reason we tend to feel that way is because religion is so damned ridiculous, full of crazy doctrines and absurd assumptions, and yet people believe in it so fervently. Look at Moyle’s version of Christianity: it’s an ornate death cult that makes up stories about an afterlife to justify servility in this one, and its major premises are that we’re all evil because an imaginary distant ancestor listened to a talking snake rather than god, we’re all damned, and the only way we can rescue ourselves from an eternity of sadistic punishments from our benign deity is to believe without doubt in a magic Jewish carpenter who was nailed to a stick and came back to life.

That makes no sense. It’s stupid. It’s funny, because it is so crazy.

But it’s also infuriating, because people are indoctrinated into this myth from an early age, they are closed-minded to any objections to the absurdity of the belief, and it sucks away time and resources from our culture that could be more productively invested in something useful and true. And, oh, yeah, it ruins people’s lives.

The explanation for why atheists are often exasperated is that simple: people believe in something that isn’t true. Worse, it’s not just false, it’s stupidly false. We’re people to whom the truth matters.

Moyle is incapable of seeing that, though. Instead, he makes excuses for his faith.

We speak not to the culture of death that grips our world but rather for the culture of life and light that ends with the gift of eternal life.

Sorry, no, Catholicism is a death cult and he just confirmed it. That “eternal life” they’re always talking about? We call it “being dead”. Religion invented this marvelous euphemism for death in which they refer to it as being alive in heaven (or hell), but really, it’s still just dead. To an atheist, death isn’t something to be celebrated but to be avoided, and dressing it up in silly stories about paradise doesn’t help.

Why are believers so confident? It’s because even though we have suffered the wounds of sin from various clergy, we know that they not the totality of our experience. There have been times when we stood as a paragon of grace for believers. Even today there are times when the voice of the Church has truly spoken to the core of many, moments when the transcendent presence of God is visible despite our sinfulness and brokenness for anyone who has both the eyes and heart to see it.

Who else read that question and the first answer that popped into your head was “Dunning-Kruger”?

I’ve never seen a priest stand as a paragon of grace, and it’s telling that Moyle assumes that role. I’ve found that human beings are capable of grace and goodness, and they don’t need to be propped up by mystical ju-ju to do good — and in fact it detracts from virtue when it has to be cajoled into existence with promises of rewards or retribution in an imaginary afterlife.

Besides, some priest getting a holy tingle is not sufficient compensation for one raped child.

Atheists tend to see the state of their personal world as being limited to the best they can achieve. Life’s injustices will never ultimately be surmounted and they are limited to a ‘what you see is what you get’ assessment of life’s trials. Believers know that things will be better. They know that following the teachings of the church can bring them closer to that promised ideal in the here and now, and that any justice denied them by the events of their personal lives as a result of their fidelity to God will be theirs to enjoy in the life to come.

Wait. Limited…to the best we can achieve? So to a Catholic, the best we can achieve is inadequate and futile, and we need the assistance of some invisible cosmic spook to achieve justice? This guy has everything backwards. That makes the Christian perspective the one that is limiting and futile, because when I look at all we can do and all the potential of future knowledge, I find myself far more uplifted than any reassuring lies from the church can ever accomplish.

And once again, “life to come” is a euphemism for “death”. Moyle is basically saying he believes we’ll find justice in our death, which is a rather grim sentiment when you see through their fabrications.

See what I mean? Death cult. Belittling human accomplishments and celebrating an imaginary life for corpses — is it any wonder we can’t decide whether to laugh or rage at these antic ghouls?

Quantum atheists!

On Atheist Talk radio on Sunday morning at 9am Central time, James Kakalios will be joining the gang at Minnesota Atheists to talk about his new book, The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics: A Math-Free Exploration of the Science that Made Our World(amzn/b&n/abe/pwll). It should be very entertaining. The book looks good, although I’ve only had a chance to flip through it so far…but it’s right here by my side at the computer desk, and it’s on my short list of books to get read over break.

We also have some videos by Jim Kakalios, and here’s one…although I hesitate to put it here. The first time I put up one of his videos, the comments blew up and it turned into the precursor of today’s endless thread. Let’s not do that again, OK?

New rules: there are some things you are not allowed not to say anymore

Sorry, fellow atheists, but if you thought you could just get away with sitting quietly and not making a noise, you’re doomed. The situation is worse than simply some silly believers flying into a snit because horribly militant, aggressive, obnoxious atheists put up signs that say something offensive and vile, like “you can be good without god” — you thought if you just avoided confronting people with such criminal sentiments, you’d escape their notice and condemnation.

But soon, they’ll be coming for you if you are insufficiently fervent in cheerleading for god. Look at this: a group of atheists attended a city council meeting to protest (politely, of course) prayer before meetings and ten commandments signs, and they were threatened with expulsion for the terrifying t-shirts they were wearing. They bore a slogan that other attendees complained about as “offensive”. That slogan was simply One nation, indivisible.

Did you catch that horror? They left out the words “under god” that are supposed to be there, dividing “nation” from “indivisible”! I don’t know how Cape Coral City will cope with all these people going around not saying things.

Here’s another example of this amazing touchiness. Elizabeth Edwards recently died of cancer, and she left a final statement for her family and friends. It’s a nice, brief farewell, and in it she says, “You all know that I have been sustained throughout my life by three saving graces—my family, my friends, and a faith in the power of resilience and hope.”

Did you catch that one, too? I know, you can hardly believe it, and you’re probably shocked to your core by her dreadful omission: she didn’t mention her faith in Jesus! Holy crap, you mean women are going around dying of cancer without words of praise for their lord and savior on their mind?

Wait, you’re thinking, no one could possibly be so insensitive and arrogant that they think they should dictate what a dying person’s final thoughts should be — other than us atheists, that is, who are expected to barge into the deathbed scenes and slap the weak-willed fading sap until they renounce their false beliefs in gods.

Oh, hang on…we don’t do that, either.

OK then, no one could be that arrogant…except a Christian. Get a napkin ready, just in case you feel an urge to throw up a little when you read how one Christian reacted to Edwards’ farewell.

Clearly Elizabeth Edwards wants to put her faith in something, be it hope or strength or anything. But not God. I wonder if it’s just bitterness, that’s she’s been forsaken by more than just her estranged husband — that’s she’s been forsaken by Him. And imagine if she’d have become First Lady. Americans generally expect outward expressions of faith in our presidents, Christian faith especially, and thus in our First Ladies as well. The Democratic base obviously doesn’t care, as we can see in the “wow factor” expressed by the author at the American Prospect. Being anti-religion is cool, so Edwards’ non-theological theology gets props from the neo-communists. Still, at her death bed and giving what most folks are calling a final goodbye, Elizabeth Edwards couldn’t find it somewhere down deep to ask for His blessings as she prepares for the hereafter? I guess that nihilism I’ve been discussing reaches up higher into the hard-left precincts than I thought.

“neo-communists”? “nihilists”? “You all know that I have been sustained throughout my life by three saving graces—my family, my friends, and a faith in the power of resilience and hope” is nihilism now?

Please, people, this is one reason I get rather peeved at all the internal chastising going on within the godless community about who is a dick and who isn’t. There are no atheists who can compare in dickishness to your average, pedestrian conservative Christian.

Also, you might want to start working on your deathbed lines now. If they aren’t all about Jesus, there’s a mob of ghoulish Christian dicks who’ll be gnawing on your corpse afterwards.

Mommy, why is there a War on Christmas?

You’ve probably been wondering. Who in their right mind would declare war on a family holiday? Who would be crazy enough to think such a thing was actually happening? You might have the impression that it’s all a delusion erupting from the fevered brain of blowhard Bill O’Reilly, but it goes deeper than that, back to the 1950s, when the Cold War fostered a whole generation of destructive nuts. Here’s a lovely summary of the history of the War on Christmas, which finds its roots in paranoia about Communists:

In 1959, the John Birch Society, a far-right organization that sees anti-American and communist conspiracies in just about everything, released a pamphlet called “There Goes Christmas!” written by Hubert Kregeloh. The pamphlet claimed, “One of the techniques now being applied by the Reds to weaken the pillar of religion in our country is the drive to take Christ out of Christmas — to denude the event of its religious meaning.” The John Birch Society believed the UN was being used to crush religious belief:

The UN fanatics launched their assault on Christmas in 1958, but too late to get very far before the holy day was at hand. They are already busy, however, at this very moment, on efforts to poison the 1959 Christmas season with their high-pressure propaganda. What they now want to put over on the American people is simply this: Department stores throughout the country are to utilize UN symbols and emblems as Christmas decorations.

These “UN symbols and emblems” were simply secular Christmas decorations that did not employ religious imagery, decorations that had been around for some time. The pamphlet claimed this was a plot to destroy Christianity and called on patriotic Americans to boycott any stores that displayed such decorations. No one took this very seriously in 1959 — this was, after all, the John Birch Society. The conspiracy theory did not catch on. But it was to come back a few decades later.

Oh, but that brings back Christmas memories…I had a crazy uncle who was in the John Birch Society, and it didn’t take much to get him ranting about how the UN was a Commie Plot. Christmas was presents and tinsel and butter cookies and ol’ Henry handing out JBS tracts and explaining how the Africans were a servile race.

Speaking of race, there’s also the odious Steve Sailer and VDARE explaining how it’s a Jewish conspiracy. But then, Jews, Commies, they’re all the same, right?

The paranoid psychoses are getting ripe over on the other side, and have been putrefying for over 50 years. We’re at the stage now where if a Jew, Commie, or Atheist doesn’t say “Merry Christmas”, it’s a sign that they’re out to destroy the holiday by outlawing it; and if they do say “Merry Christmas”, it’s a sign that they’re out to destroy the holiday by subverting it. No matter what we do, we stomp on Christmas!

More evil atheists waging the War on Christmas

Down in Texas, they had a holiday parade, and the atheists showed up — not to be mean, not to beat up Christians, not to stink up the event with doom and gloom and cynicism, but to celebrate the Christmas season.

18 people made up the Atheist Vuvuzela Marching Band which paraded down Texas Avenue while playing “Jingle Bells” on vuvuzela horns.

News 3 spoke with the leader of the group who said they weren’t protesting Christmas or the parade but were there to announce their presence in the community.

…

“We just wanted to say hey, were here, its’ ok, you know. We didn’t intend to be specifically offensive to anyone you know we just wanted to say we’re here too,” said Keri Bean of the Brazos Valley Atheist Vuvuzela Marching Band.

Bean organized the Brazos Valley Vuvuzela Marching Band and said they chose to perform “Jingle Bells” to stay with the Christmas spirit of the parade.

“When we were walking around we would say, ‘Merry Christmas’ or ‘Happy Hanukkah’, ‘Merry Kwanzaa’, there’s a whole bunch of different holidays that happen now, so we wanted to make sure that everyone was represented,” Bean said.

Good for them. That’s exactly what we should do: have a good time, adopt good traditions like midwinter festivals as our own, and join in with the community. No one can complain about that, can they? Well, maybe the vuvuzelas were in poor taste, but otherwise they were just being enthusiastic and participatory.

It is no surprise at all that some people were upset. Not at the vuvuzelas, either. Here are some of the responses they got.

“Wasn’t exactly happy about the Christmas Parade this year, I spent many years teaching my children to love and respect other people and to love the fact that they were children of God and I don’t feel that they should be influenced in any other way especially not at a Christmas parade,” said Tina Corgey, who is a lifelong Bryan resident.

Corgey brings her three kids to the B/CS Christmas Parade every year.

She said she was disgusted by what she saw on Sunday.

“If you have younger children they weren’t going to understand but I have older children, a teenager, 8-year-old and they were curious and they asked questions and it was hard for them to believe and understand that there are actually people out there that don’t believe in God,” Corgey said.

Who’s the nasty, cynical bigot stinking up the event? A Christian, of course.

The media isn’t helping, either. They’ve got a poll with an awesomely stupid question, something I wouldn’t have thought would even be considered…but of course it will be.

Should Non-Christian Groups Be Allowed to Participate In the B-CS Christmas Parade?

Yes 57.5%
No 43.0%

I think what would make the parade better is if they excluded the cranky Christians. And vuvuzelas, too.

The violence isn’t at all surprising…it’s from offended religious folk, after all

This is genuinely screwed up. Supporting separation of church and state can get you beat up in Hawaii.

When Senate President Colleen Hanabusa introduced a reverend to say the invocation, Mitch Kahle stood from his seat in the gallery of the Senate chambers and said, “I object. My name is Mitch Kahle and I object to this prayer on the grounds that it’s a violation of the first amendment of the constitution of the United States. I object.”

Kahle’s protest lasted about seven seconds. Then he stopped talking and sat down. The Senate’s Sergeant at Arms was determined to remove Kahle. When Kahle resisted he was forcefully removed and roughed up. The incident was caught by several video cameras including a camera belonging to Hawaii News Now.

Watch the video. You can hear Kahle make his brief statement, which does not disrupt the proceedings — the prayer goes on without interruption. It’s the aftermath that gets ugly when security guards and various people in suits drag him out of the room, rough him up on the ground, and strike out at the cameraman, who also ends up thrown on the ground.

It’s a distressingly violent response to a moderate and civil protest.

But there’s good news! It went to trial, and look how it ended:

District Court judge Leslie Hayashi needed less than an hour to find Kahle not guilty.

“Number one, there was no disorderly conduct. Number two, he has a first amendment right to speak in a public forum such as he did. And number three, the legislature was violating our U.S. Constitution as well as the Hawaii constitution by having these invocations,” Harrison [Kahle’s lawyer, not the judge] said.

American government should be secular. Let’s stop this game of opening government meetings with pleas to an invisible magic man in the sky.