Atheism+ is live

The new Atheism+ website is now live.
http://atheismplus.com/

So far I like what they are saying, even if they have not really said much yet.

But again, for me atheism has allays had a healthy dose of Humanism, Skepticism and Social Justice.

Looking forward to more.

Sexual Harassment in the (Atheist) Workspace

With all apologies to Frank Zappa.

The big deal in online Atheism of late is the issue of sexual harassment at various atheist cons and the emerging idea of Atheism+ or A+.

It all got started with this post by Jen/Blag-Hag:
http://freethoughtblogs.com/blaghag/2012/08/how-i-unwittingly-infiltrated-the-boys-club-why-its-time-for-a-new-wave-of-atheism/

Fellow Game Designer and Atheist Jeff Dee sums it up from how he sees it on his blog:
http://wwjdee.blogspot.com/2012/07/sexual-harassment-amongst-unbelievers.html

Here is the issue I have with Atheism+.  I am not sure how it is different than what I am already doing.
I have never been a "super activist" but I have always taken a stand on what I thought was right against those in power (or otherwise).  Most recently my activism was mostly on raising awareness on various cliches portrayed in the media and advocating same-sex marriage. For me all of this and my atheism come from the same place. It is all about the same thing; "People are more important than imaginary gods".

Why then am I not a Secular Humanist? I suppose I am, but for me, right now, my atheism comes first.

But it seems, painfully, that I am a rare minority, or at least part of a very silent majority.
http://freethoughtblogs.com/greta/2012/08/24/mencallmethings-fuckin-hoe-fuckin-feminazi-slut/

A non-sexual-harassment reasoning to support A+
http://www.atheistrev.com/2012/08/threatening-others-cannot-be-tolerated.html

Lots of reactions linked and listed here:
http://www.atheistrev.com/2012/08/reactions-to-atheism.html

I will continue to monitor this, but I am not likely to change what I have been doing all these years.  I guess I was just ahead of the curve.

Sorry for the Silence

I have been away at Gen Con.

I wanted to have something to say about the A+ movement in Athesism and maybe even talk about why Todd Akin is shit-smear on this country.  But most this you already know.

But I will have something good soon.  Promise.

New links and lists

A couple of new-to-me blogs with some interesting links.

First up. 50 reasons God is Imaginary.
A great list and worth reading all of them.

Next is the blogger Lady Atheist and her "Top Ten Reasons why Religion Is Bullshit".
Also well worth the read.

Conservatives do not want you to learn

A couple of links that "graced" my computer screen this morning.

The first is the "Ten Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries"
http://www.humanevents.com/2005/05/31/ten-most-harmful-books-of-the-19th-and-20th-centuries/
I am not sure what they mean by "harmful" because by my understanding the most harmful book ever published was "The Bible" followed by "The Koran".  But this is a conservative website so who knows what they are thinking.  Let's look at a few of the books.

"The Communist Manifesto" and "Das Kapital"- I am not a fan of communism and I have not read these, so I can't comment.

"Mein Kampf"  ok I can't disagree with them here.

" The Kinsey Report" they are really quote mining this one.  This book pushed the understanding og human sexuality out of the dark ages.  Yes, it has it's problems, to list this one as "Harmful" says more about the people making the list.

"Democracy and Education" now this is just plain stupid.  Dewey was brilliant and I have based most of my educational career on his ideas. Calling this a harmful book is pushing some agenda.

"The Feminine Mystique" again the only reason this is on the list is because these guys want some members of the population to go back to where they were and shut up.  Their reasoning is full of  Ad Hominem attacks as well.

"The Course of Positive Philosophy" and "Beyond Good and Evil" they disagreed with religion therefore they must be bad.  What are these guys afraid of?  I say guys, but there was one woman on the panel.

I really have no words for these people.

The other is "14 Wacky "Facts" Kids Will Learn in ouisiana's Voucher Schools"
http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/07/photos-evangelical-curricula-louisiana-tax-dollars

Dinosaurs and men hanging out together?  The nice KKK?  This one has to be seen to believed.

Curiosity killed...no one

The latest Martian rover Curiosity has landed successfully on Mars.

The stated goal of this little robot is to see if Mars was ever capable of supporting life or even had life at one point.

I should not have spell out the ramifications of a positive discovery would have in both science and religion.

Till that happens you can follow Curiosity's Twitter feed. https://twitter.com/MarsCuriosity
And it's official site here: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/

Why are You Atheists So Angry?

I just completed Great Christina's wonderful book "Why Are You Atheists So Angry?"

As I have mentioned before it reads a bit like her blog postings only there is more of a newbie vibe to it.  Not her, but for the reader.  It is a great "Second" book for atheism.  The first book would be what ever first convinced you to be an atheist; say the Bible or for me a book on mythology.

I like Greta's easy to read style.  She never makes demands on you as the reader other than to think.  Think critically about the world around you.  Think about others. But above all, think.

There is some good wisdom here, especially the part about not needing to win every argument, that having the argument is often enough to convince others that atheism is not only an acceptable lifestyle, but really the only one if you are a thinking, feeling rational person.

If you are new to this community then I suggest picking it up.
Frankly it is worth it for the links alone.

Videos on Atheism

A few of these are making rounds today and a few I picked up along the way.

Enjoy!

A link of many videos,
http://introducedrat.com/evolution.htm







More here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/EvolutionDocumentary?annotation_id=annotation_390069&feature=iv&src_vid=I91Huv4jbCk

Eating at Chik fil a today

I am not. Obviously.

But if you eat at Chik Fil A on any other day that is your choice.
But eating there today the only message you are sending is "I stand for hate and believe that some people are second class citizens."

Or as my son said when rolled down his window as we drove by "You People are Awful!"

Encouraging Words from Greta Christina

Sometimes arguing atheism more than an uphill battle.  It is vertical climb with people above you throwing rocks at you.

But I took a break today and read a little more of Greta Christina's book  “Why Are You Atheists So Angry?”

She states that these sort of blogs CAN change people's opinions.  Maybe they come here and then go to read Jen's blog or PZ Myers or whomever.   Just one more reason not to believe in fairy tales and lies.

If that is the case then I can ignore the rocks being thrown at me.  I know most of them are in fear that I very well could be right.