Austin's Atheism Blog

It's been pointed out more than once and by many people that an atheist has no chance of being elected President of the United States any time soon. As a demonstration of just how different America is from Europe, there is a very realistic chance than an atheist could become Britain's next Prime Minister: David Miliband. What would be unthinkable in America seems to be treated as unimportant by most in Britain. It doesn't appear as though many think that being an atheist or a theist is an important question when it comes to politics — and that's as it should be.

At least, that's as it should be in an ideal world, but our world is far from ideal. Because of the extent to which religious privilege continues to pervade politics and culture, there are ways in which an atheist politician can differ substantively from a theist politician — just as female politicians can differ from males and black politicians can differ from whites. The parallel here is that minorities are less likely to accede to, much less expand, traditional privileges enjoyed by majorities. Maybe that's one reason why it's so hard for them to get elected: they can't be trusted to uphold the status quo. Read more...

As I have noted more than once, people who defend the Pledge of Allegiance — either generally or the inclusion of "under God" specifically — tend to do so in a way that only ends up providing good reasons to disagree with them. I’m not sure if this is because they are ignorant of the issues or simply don’t care and hope that their readers are the ignorant ones. Either way, though, it suggests that one of the best ways to argue against retaining "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance is to encourage apologists to write and talk as much as possible. Read more...

A common argument used by conservative Christians against evolutionary theory is the idea that it reduces humanity to mere physical beings and morality to "survival of the fittest." They don't often mention Social Darwinism by name, yet these same conservative Christians often support politics similar Social Darwinism in their effects, if not their intent. How can Christians be so horrified by the alleged moral and social consequences of "Darwinism" while supporting Social Darwinism?

 

Read Article: Social Darwinism: Darwinism is an Atheist Lie, Except in Politics

There are significant disagreements over the nature and process of scientific research which involve disputes between atheists and theists. There is a strong movement, for example, to undermine the methodological naturalism which constitutes a primary basis by which scientific investigation proceeds. Some Christians see this methodology as antithetical to their theistic beliefs and a barrier to the introduction of those beliefs into school science classes.

 

Read Article: Philosophy of Science: Scientific Investigation, Research, Methodology

A girl as young as eight shouldn't even be married, never mind trying to get a divorce — and from a man who is fifty years older! It's only because traditionalist Islam continues to sanction the barbaric practice of marrying off prepubescent girls is this even an issue and that's only because Muslims believe that their prophet, Muhammad, married a girl of about the same age.

This practice would probably be easier to stamp out if only it were permitted for Muslims to say "Not everything Muhammad did was right, and just because Muhammad did it doesn't mean we should today." That, however, is difficult in a religion that considers even visual depictions of Muhammad to be blasphemous, never mind criticism. It's good that most Muslims around the world reject marrying little girls, but it's only in spite of Islamic traditions. Read more...

Courts have firmly established that public schools cannot mandate or even recommend that students pray. In place of prayer, some try to have schools enforce a "moment of silence" at the beginning of the day. Is this just a way to get around official prayers and should it be banned? It certainly seems like a dishonest way of introducing prayer. Sometimes the language of the law explicitly mentions prayer as something for students to do during their quiet time. Sometimes prayer is referred to repeatedly in discussion among legislators while they are working on the law.

And, sometimes, it's simply the case that the biggest supporters of this law are also the ones who keep trying to push school prayer itself. How fair is this, though? The mere fact that a supporter of school prayer ends up supporting a moment of silence doesn't mean that the moment of silence is necessarily or automatically as wrong as school prayer. Still, it's hard to shake the impression that a moment of silence is only being supported because it's perceived and treated as a way around court rulings that strike down school prayer time. Why else are these same people pushing it so hard?

A common question which atheists hear a lot is 'why don't you believe in God?' Theists, religious or not, have trouble imagining why anyone would not believe in at least some sort of god, preferably their own. When a belief occupies such a central place in a person's life and even identity, this is understandable. The fact is, there are many reasons why atheists might not believe in any gods. Most atheists can cite multiple reasons and every atheist is different.

Note: This has been updated with links to longer explanations about each reason why atheists don't believe in gods.

 

Read Article: Why Not Believe? Reasons Why Atheists Don't Believe in Gods

In her campaign battle against Kay Hagan, Republican Elizabeth Dole has apparently decided that she can improve her chances of winning by making explicit appeals to anti-atheist bigotry among North Carolina voters. I don't know which is more depressing: the fact that Elizabeth Dole would make such explicitly bigoted appeals, or the fact that her hate mongering might actually help her.

It's really no better than appealing to racism or anti-Semitism, but at least those sorts of appeals have to be made implicitly by bigoted Republicans. Hate mongering can be more open and explicit when the targets are atheists and gays. I have to wonder, though, if Dole gave any explicit thought to her bigotry before doing this or if it just happened automatically and naturally.

I also wonder why she hates atheists so much that she would not only attack us, but attack the very idea of our wanting equal civil rights in the first place. That's not casual hate; this is a strong and deep hate motivating her to attack atheists very ability to live in the community as equals. Read more...

It seems likely that for decades, most atheists have remained in the closet about their atheism while only a few were willing to be "out" and public. Could that be about to change? Some are focusing their activism on encouraging more and more atheists to come out to family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers about their atheism. The idea is that the more common public atheism becomes, the less of a stigma it will be. Do you agree? Read more...

John, the son of Zebedee, was called along with this brother James ("the Great") to be one of Jesus' twelve apostles who would accompany him on his ministry. John appears in the lists of apostles in the synoptic gospels as well as Acts. John and his brother James were given the nickname "Boanerges" (sons of thunder) by Jesus; some believe this was a reference to their tempers. Although younger than James, he appears to have first been a disciple of John the Baptist before following Jesus.

 

Read Article: Saint John the Apostle: Did St. John Write Revelations, the Gospel of John, and Three Epistles? Did John Really Die?