Proof Not All “New Atheists” Are Condescending Jerks
Sure, we all have our moments (I certain have them) when we just want to grab believers by the neck and choke the belief system out of them. But many of us also know how hard it is to shed one’s belief in god. The following post on Reddit does a far better job than [...]
Skeptically Speaking Podcast/Radio Program
I’ve been a bit starved for interaction with real-life atheists/skeptics lately (I guess because I de-converted so late in my life, I never gravitated to those types before) so I ventured out and met some Edmonton skeptics at a local pub. It was fun – especially when the group began discussing topics like religion, superstition, [...]
Hey You Atheist Bloggers – Who’s Your Audience?
I wrote earlier this week on the reasons I blog about atheism. In doing so, I also came to a clearer understanding of who I write for: Me, Myself and I (you could say, I write for an unholy trinity of sorts): I find writing about atheism/religion to be stimulating and satisfying. Other Atheists: It’s [...]
Is Richard Dawkins Right? Does Believing in God Make You Delusional?
Search for “Dawkins” or “The God Delusion” on this blog and you’ll quickly learn that my de-conversion to atheism was connected to those two terms. Of course, I’m not alone. But, does being a Dawkins convert also mean that I think believers are suffering from a delusion? Answer: It depends. One definition of the delusion [...]
Did Pain & Suffering Lead To My De-Conversion?
It’s been suggested that I became an atheist because I am mad/upset at god for the pain and suffering he’s placed on or allowed me to experience – specifically, that I am mad my son is diabetic, and that I’ve suffered from neck and back pain. I’ve written about not being mad at god before, [...]
Let’s Talk About Evidence
Arguably the most common thing we atheists are heard saying is that there is no evidence for the existence of god. Just as commonly, we hear believers say that we must show evidence that god doesn’t exist (it’s at this point where you can usually hear an audible *sigh*). Before getting into the backward logic [...]
Cemeteries Used to Creep Me Out
I had an appointment after work today so I drove my car (I usually bike or bus). I also decided to lug my camera along – something I used to do a lot, but that I haven’t done in quite some time. I had no specific subject in mind and found myself turning into a [...]
New Feature For You Readers
Well, to my great surprise, it looks like I’ve got some regular readers. Suffice to say, I’m grateful that a few people on this planet are reading my ramblings. Thanks for hanging around. I wish I could buy you a coffee. I’ve installed the “Subscribe To Comments” plugin which means that you can choose, on [...]
The Illinois Family Institute’s Attack on The Friendly Atheist Equates to Cocking a Loaded Gun
It appears that some Christians are incredulous about the uproar around Laurie Higgins (of the Illinois Family Institute) letter writing campaign against Hemant Mehta and his Friendly Atheist blog. Let’s be clear; No one is objecting to the Institute speaking its mind about Hemant’s views. We all have the freedom to disagree with anyone’s view [...]
So be it…
Doubting Your Faith For the Hundredth Time? Church Shopping Yet Again? It May Be Time To Think The Unthinkable.
I remember when I began to have doubts about my faith. The world – according to Christianity – just wasn’t adding up. At first, I tackled the problem by exposing myself to more religion. I attended more church, met more church people, and read more of the Bible. Still, nothing made sense. “It must be [...]
Apple Eaters Provides Clarity Around the Attack on Hemant Mehta
I found an excellent blog – Apple Eaters where Jim has done an outstanding job clarifying the slime-baggery of the Illinois Family Institute attack on the Friendly Atheist. Get the word out, people. These people need to be taken to task. Edit: Another good synopsis on Daylight Atheism (via Atheist Revolution)
How to Piss A (Friendly) Atheist Off
Us so-called “New Atheists” have gotten a bad rap in many circles. As our numbers have grown, one counter-attack from the religious is that we are not like the old atheists – that we are militantly against religion and are attacking liberal-minded believers who are not concerned with our atheism. For my part, I am [...]
Why I Blog About Atheism
A question I’ve been asked at least three times since starting this blog is: Why blog about atheism? Why is something you don’t believe in so important to you? You don’t have a blog about your disbelief about Santa Claus – so why have one about your lack of belief in god? Of course, the [...]
Lee Strobel – The Case for Faith
A Christian friend lent me Lee Strobel’s The Case for Faith saying he found it “pretty convincing”. Well, it wasn’t. At all. I’ve got pages and pages of notes and will try to post something here when I’m done organizing my thoughts. In the meantime, all I can say is that if The Case for [...]
Proud Atheist Pappa
We took the kids for a treat tonight – dinner at Red Robins (one of their favorites). Almost as soon as we sat down, my daughter (11 years) mentioned how someone in the family thinks they saw a ghost at the side of her bed. My response was an immediate and confident, “there’s no such [...]
Why Religious “Objective Morality” is a Bunch of Balogne
An oft made claim believers make is that, without god, there is no objective morality. Meaning, without a higher power, we are free to make up whatever morality suits us, or the societies we live in. I call bullshit. Someone needs to explain how god’s morality can be so hopelessly confusing as to lead to [...]
Atheist Superstition?
I’ve been reading Carl Sagan’s The Demon Haunted World: Science As A Candle In The Dark – a terrific book that sheds a bright light on humanity’s history of superstitious thinking (ghosts, gods, UFOs, clairvoyance etc). As if Sagan’s writing weren’t profound enough, today I learned of Bruce Hood’s Supersense: Why We Believe in the [...]
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Recent Articles
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Amazing Atheists
- AnAtheist.net run by James Tracy who also looks after ‘The Atheist Spot’ (an atheist link sharing service)
- Atheist Climber Thoughts about science, nature and religion, as well as politics, philosophy, atheism and the occasional rant
- Atheist Revolution by vjack – an unbelievably prolific writer on the subject of atheism
- Attempts At Rational Behavior Godless liberal firmly supporting separation of church and state
- August Cline is the atheism & agnosticism author at about.com. He is excellent.
- Common Sense Atheism Awesome, awesome, awesome awesome atheist blog. End of story.
- Dangerous Talk an atheist/progressive blog discussing the three most dangerous topics of polite conversation: Religion, Politics, and Sex
- Daylight Atheism Night time is for dreaming. Daylight is for action.
- Friendly Atheist warmth and wisdom from the guy who sold his soul on eBay
- God is for Suckers! Group blog, providing commentary, news, and rants on the evils and stupidity of belief in the big invisible daddy in the sky.
- Godless Girl Ex-christian sarcasm-a-tron armed with a vag and a brain. Curiosity killed the faith, not the sass.
- Greta Christina's Blog I don’t think anyone writes more powerfully about atheism than Greta
- Happy Jihad's House of Pancakes As the title suggests, HJHOP is a fun and quirky (but still thoughtful) critique of religion.
- Lousy Canuck He’s Canadian and he’s an atheist. Need I say more? ;)
- Monicks: Unleashed Monica is the tireless force behind the ‘Think Atheist’ community
- No Religion Blog Nice, clear explanations relating to historical accuracy/claims in the Bible, among other things
- Pharyngula by PZ Meyers – evolutionary biologist, heathen and communion cracker desecrator!
- Stupid Evil Bastard What the hell is wrong with you people? (I love that tagline)
- The Gaytheists group blog for LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgendered) Atheists, Skeptics and Humanists
- Unreasonable Faith Excellent atheist blog (one of my favorites) by former evangelical Christian Daniel Florien
- Watching the Wheels see-er. do-er. writer. photographer. thinker. doodler. worker. lover. whiner. reader. cooker. planter. designer. laugher. cleaner (sometimes). remember-er. traveller. questioner. dreamer. organizer. learner. giver. crier. taker. sleeper. imagine-er. eater
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Heathen Bling!
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Awesome Atheism Websites
- Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster Touch his noodley appendage!
- God is Imaginary 50 simple proofs for non-existence of god
- Iron Chariots Wiki Awesome encyclopedia of counters to Christian apologetics.
- Secular Web contains a simply fantastic article library from both modern and past atheist/agnostic writers
- Skeptic's Annotated Bible Great place to learn about the contradictions, scientific fails and absurdities within the Bible (and there are many)
- Talk Origins Archive Exploring the Creation/Evolution Controversy
- The Freethinker Excellent secular focused site based on the magazine founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion.
- The Panda's Thumb excellent site focusing on evolution/creationism & the defence of science
- Why Won't God Heal Amputees? Is God real, or is he imaginary?
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Skeptical Rulers of the Universe
- Doubtful “Skepticism is a process.” This is a great place to learn. Sharon really does her homework for our benefit.
- Grassroots Skeptics A volunteer organization promoting critical thinking and a reason-centered worldview by helping local skeptics groups to share tools, information and strategies, and connect with skeptical individuals and activists.
- ICBS Everywhere Knowledge, science, reason, education, philosophy, behavior, politics, religion, and B.S.
- James Randi Educational Foundation Not-for-profit organization that promotes critical thinking by reaching out to the public and media with reliable information about paranormal and supernatural ideas so widespread in our society today. Home of the $1 million paranormal challenge.
- Podblack Cat Science, Superstitions and Skeptical Life
- She Thought women. thinking critically.
- Skepchick A group of women (and one deserving guy) who write about science, skepticism, and pseudoscience. With intelligence, curiosity, and occasional snark, the group tackles diverse topics from astronomy to astrology, psychics to psychology.
- Skeptic North The first Canada-wide blog for skeptics. Its mission is to affect and promote positive, science-based change in mainstream media, Canadian culture and education, and in government policy
- Skeptic's Dictionary Definitions, arguments, and essays on topics ranging from acupuncture to zombies. Detailed information on the supernatural, paranormal, and pseudoscientific. Dozens of topics in logic, perception, science, and philosophy.
- SkepticReport Extremely well organized and laid out skeptic site. Lots of good information here.
- Skeptics Society A scientific and educational organization of scholars, scientists, historians, magicians, professors and teachers, and anyone curious about controversial ideas, extraordinary claims, revolutionary ideas, and the promotion of science.
- Skeptics Society Blog Official blog of the Skeptics Society, featuring the writings of Michael Shermer as well as many others.
- Skeptigirl dedicated to free thinking, critical thinking, science, and skepticism
- Woo Fighters Purpose is to promote critical, skeptical, and scientific thinking by inspiring students to become active promoters of scientific skepticism and defenders of science.
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Health & Medicine
- Quackwatch International network concerned with health-related frauds, myths, fads, fallacies, and misconduct. Primary focus on difficult/impossible to find quackery-related information.
- Science-Based Medicine Exploring issues and controversies in the relationship between science and medicine
- Science-Based Pharmacy Turning an eye on the profession, separating fact from fiction on both sides of the counter.
- The Denialism Blog Discussing the problem of denialists, their standard arguing techniques, how to identify denialists and/or cranks, and discuss topics of general interest such as skepticism, medicine, law and science.
- The SkepDoc Retired family physician, former U.S. Air Force flight surgeon and skeptic who writes about alternative medicine and quackery.
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Why I Blog
I'm here to help doubting believers let go of their fear and guilt, to provide an example of an atheist leading a happy, moral and fulfilling life, and to connect with fellow non-believers. Welcome!
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Navigation
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On Youtube
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Podcasts/Radio
- For Good Reason Interview program hosted by D.J. Grothe, promoting critical thinking and skepticism about the central beliefs of society.
- Skeptic's Guide to the Universe Home of one of the longest standing skeptical podcasts.
- Skepticality Official podcast of Skeptical Magazine
- Skeptically Speaking Live radio/podcast hosted by everyone’s favorite geek girl, Desiree Schell “Call in. Question Everything.”
- The Atheist Experience Fantastic call-in atheist TV show out of Austin, Texas with big focus on talking with believers.
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Great Reads
- Letter to a Christian Nation - by Sam Harris
- Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible & Why - by Bart Ehrman
- The God Delusion - by Richard Dawkins
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History & Statistics
- Adherents.com Excellent statistics and maps on the subject of religious adherence.
- History of the End of the World This is a great link showing the 220 times the world was predicted to end, but did not.
- Maps of War: History of Religion
- What Charles Darwin believed about religion an excerpt from his biography should clear things up
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Favorite Articles
- Frequently Asked Questions for the Newly Deconverted is for new atheists wondering where they go from here
- Jesus Myth the case against the historical Christ
- Why are atheists so angry? Greta Christina has a post that sums the reasons up quite well!
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Communities
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Advocacy & Activism
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Favorite Videos
- Atheist a simply made video with an incredibly inspiring message
- Intelligent Design on Trial An excellent documentary about the controversy that occured in Dover, Pennsylvania over the teaching of evolution.
- My Spirituality as an Atheist One of my favorite videos – truly poignant and beautiful.
- Pat Condell’s Youtube Channel is Atheism on the offensive (controversial, funny & brilliant)
- Potholer54′s Youtube Channel home of the amazing “Made Easy” series (evolution & natural selection, the scientific method, and history of the universe etc)
- Why Do People Laugh at Creationists? is an excellent 24 part Youtube video series by Thunderfoot
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The Four Horsemen
- Christopher Hitchens author of “God is Not Great”
- Daniel Dennet author of “Breaking the Spell”
- Richard Dawkins author of “The God Delusion”, “The Blind Watchmaker” & more
- Sam Harris author of “The End of Faith” & “Letter to a Christian Nation”
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Meaning of Life Type Stuff
- Ethic of Reciprocity “The Golden Rule” is one of things that guides my life
- One Source of Morality might be from our feelings of empathy
- Secular Humanism check out the Council of Secular Humanism affirmations and declarations
- Secular Humanism on Wikipedia atheism is what I don’t believe & secular humanism is, more or less, what I do
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Kick-Ass Science
- Action Bioscience Promoting bioscience literacy. Great articles on evolution, genomics, the environment, biotechnology and more.
- Bad Astronomy My favorite astronomy blog! Written by Phil Plait
- NASA Image of the Day Pure awesomeness!
- Sense About Science responds to the misrepresentation of science on issues that matter
- Wired Science Nice, eclectic mix of science articles from a variety of fields. Always entertaining.
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Fun/Entertaining
- Atheist Cartoons Best atheist related comics on the web!
- Jesus & Mo The adventures of modern-day Jesus and Mohammed. What could go wrong?
- The Onion News Network The best satire news on the web. Not an atheist site, but often satirizes religion and religious beliefs.
- xkcd A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language
