Turns out I’m not the only one who thinks that one of the great injustices of the Christian religion is its portrayal of Satan as The Greatest Evil, which isn’t even warranted by biblical standards. This week, I read these two essays:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/lenhardt01.htm http://daltonator.net/durandal/religion/satan.shtml
Once again, religioustolerance.org proves to be The Go-To site!
From http://www.underworldamusements.net/blog/2010/uavh-scopes-june29/
Welcome to the first installation of an ongoing series of reports on the Scopes Trial in Dayton Tennesee in 1925, exactly 85 years ago! The trial was the first in the US to be broadcast on the radio. Those recordings no longer exist, but we will be releasing a podcast every day that Mencken published an article in the Baltimore Sun. Relive the trial in real time through the words of one of America’s greatest and most prolific writers.
June 29th – Homo Neanderthalensis July 9th – Sickening Doubts About Publicity July 10th – Impossibility of Obtaining Fair Jury July 11th – Trial as Religious Orgy July 13th – Souls Need Reconversion Nightly July 14th – Darrow’s Eloquent Appeal July 15th – Law and Freedom July 16th – Fair Trial Beyond Ken July 17th – Malone the Victor July 18th – Genesis Triumphant July 20th – Tennessee in the Frying Pan July 27th – Bryan Sept. 14th* - Aftermath *Will be released by July 30th.
Many Christians (I don’t know the percentage) actually do worship a murderous, bloodthirsty god (regardless of the fact it’s apparent in the bible that it is), and consider fear of their god a necessity to go into “heaven.” It’s a lot more simple and practical than it first sounds. This is not some great spiritual truth for them. This is not enlightenment in the least. This is as primitive as any “religion” can get: You’ve got to love God or He will kill you. (Sound familiar?) So why study the bible or pray? They don’t want no fruity intellectuals in this religion. Alls you gotta do is get saved. Alls you gotta do to want to get saved is be ascareded. Praise. And that’s something to be proud of.
He’s the King of All the Atheists, and now Richard Dawkins is hammering home what he sees as his key argument against the existence of God. In his book, The Greatest Show on Earth, Dawkins aims to put the theory of evolution in a factually unassailable position.
Here, at Adelaide Writers’ Week in 2010, he goes through his book chapter by chapter, and in doing so attempts to convince his audience of the absolute veracity of Darwin’s theories. Date: Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0800 Location: Adelaide, Australia, Adelaide Writers’ Week, Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Program and discussion: http://fora.tv/2010/03/01/Meet_The_Author_Richard_Dawkins
Tagged with atheism christopherhitchens
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121813448
Humanism — the belief that ethics and morality can be vested in rationality, rather than a supernatural deity — might sound like a departure from faith communities and culture, but according to Greg Epstein, it doesn’t have to be.
In his new book, Good Without God: What A Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe, Greg Epstein responds to challenges against humanism that spring from atheists and religious communities alike. Epstein argues that so-called nonbelievers actually share many important beliefs, and he discusses the importance of investing in these values of tolerance, responsibility, and morality.
Epstein himself is an atheist, and the Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University. Good Without God is his first book.
Tagged with humanism christmas atheism greg epstein book:author=greg epstein
http://www.pointofinquiry.org/frank_schaeffer_crazy_for_god/
Frank Schaeffer is New York Times best selling author whose books include three semi-biographical novels about life in a strict, fundamentalist household: Portofino, Zermatt, and Saving Grandma, and also the memoir Crazy For God: How I Grew Up As One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back, which is now out in paper back. His latest book is Patience with God: Faith for People Who Don’t Like Religion (or Atheism).
Tagged with richarddawkins atheism guardian
This was a really well done show and interview that overturned a lot of the popular notions about the Columbine event. Great podcast in general, superb show.
Tagged with skepticism atheism columbine trench coat mafia bunk
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