Religions

My wife, Laurel, is on an atheist letter-to-the-editor writing mission. Every month she submits another letter to our local newspaper, the Salem (Oregon) Statesman Journal.  Here's her March letter (click on the link to read the online comments). Nicely done, Laurel.  Question those who flaunt "religious arrogance" Could religious beliefs survive if children were not indoctrinated into religion from an early age by their families and cultures, and instead were allowed to decide whether religions make sense when they are old enough to examine the evidence and logic? Why do almost all religious believers believe in the religion their parents or…

So, I was browsing through the Sunday Oregonian a little while ago and came across a story about how recently deceased Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was remembered as a "man of faith" at his funeral.  This is a similar story I found on Google News, "Justice Scalia eulogized at funeral Mass as man of faith and man of law." Forever combative about the law, the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was remembered Saturday as a man whose deeply held religious faith brought him peace. Rather than a star-studded funeral service featuring judges and politicians, Scalia’s sendoff at the…

There's high drama playing out here in Oregon right now. Four remaining armed militant militia members (is there any other kind?) who have taken over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County are now surrounded by the FBI, who apparently have moved in to within 50 feet of them with armored vehicles. The Oregonian newspaper has a story on this, which includes an embedded You Tube live audio feed of the militants talking among themselves, and to some supporters who currently are driving to the refuge from Portland.  The militants see themselves as Christians standing up for their twisted…

My wife, who in some ways has become even more fervently churchless than I am, was the one who recommended David Silverman's book to me. "Fighting God: An Atheist Manifesto for a Religious World" takes no prisoners. After reading the first few chapters, I can tell that Silverman makes other anti-religion writers like Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, Richard Dawkins, and Christopher Hitchens look like comparative pussies.  In the book's introduction, he says: But religion is not just incorrect, it is malevolent. It ruins lives, splits families, and justifies hatred and bigotry, all while claiming to be the source of morality.…

Below is a Church of the Churchless guest post by Osho Robbins. My wife and I had some new neighbors (husband and wife) over for dinner last night. The man used to be a hypnotherapist. He had a lot of interesting things to say about hypnotism, a topic Robbins raised in his email message to me. Hi Brian, I've been reading some of your recent postings. The following might be of interest to you to post as a new topic.  A lot of people who follow a certain belief (whether Radha Soami, Islam or any other) don't realize that they are simply…

My wife, Laurel, is just as much a fervent scientifically-minded secular activist as I am. A few days ago she wrote a letter to a city official here in Salem, Oregon about religiously-themed roadside memorials on public property. Roadside memorial in Georgia What she said makes a lot of sense. Sure, the desire of relatives and friends to put up a cross, flowers, and such at the place a loved one was killed in a traffic accident is understandable. But not all intuitive impulses deserve to be allowed as lawful acts, especially when they appear to go against the grain…

Are you fucking kidding me!? No, of course not. Because there is no limit to the craziness religious believers can create in the name of their non-existent God. LAHORE, Pakistan — Late one night, the imam Shabir Ahmad looked up from prayers at his mosque to see a 15-year-old boy approaching with a plate in his outstretched left hand. On it was the boy’s freshly severed right hand. Mr. Ahmad did not hesitate. He fled the mosque and left the village, in eastern Punjab Province. Earlier that night, Jan. 10, he had denounced the boy as a blasphemer, an accusation…