Godless Evangelist

Catholic Priest vs. “silly” Stephen Hawkins on Science

2010-09-12T08:40:00.000-07:00

A Catholic Priest, Father Robert Barron, “weighs in on renowned scientist Stephen Hawking's upcoming book release in which he offers his "scientific" view on the existence of a creator.”

You can read the article here: -

http://wordonfire.org/WoF-Blog/WoF-Blog/September-2010/Culture--Stephen-Hawking---More-Tiresome-Atheism.aspx

How time repeats itself. Millennia ago scientists were no doubt ridiculed by theologians that “philosophized” that the Earth is round. Galileo was put under house arrest for proposing that the world isn’t at the center of the universe. And Charles Darwin’s discovery of bottom up, as opposed to top down design, evolution, is still denied today.

So Stephen Hawkins quote of, “Because there is a law such as gravity, the Universe can and will create itself from nothing”, one would have though that theologians would have learned to keep their moths shut for fear of sounding ridiculous… again… and again… and…

Quoting Father Barron, “scientists tend to make lots of silly statements when they attempt to philosophize”. Implying that only those like him that are gifted with the powers of witchcraft, voodoo, and magic can tell us such things as, god injects a human “soul” into a zygote at the moment of conception, and god won’t allow two people of the same sex that love each other to get married, and the integrity of the Catholic church is more important than the sexual molestation of our children, and that condoms are bad, even if one partner is known to have AIDS.

Real brain twisters like, space and time are interconnected so high speeds and immense gravity alter the passage of time itself, (what?), the double slit experiment where electrons can behave as either waves or particles depending on if a conscious entity is observing them, (what? what?), or when two particles are ‘entangled’, they can theoretically be on opposite sides of the universe but behave as if they were together, (what? what? what?). So Father Barron’s philosophical quote of “from nothing comes nothing” sounds just as ignorant as saying, “what goes up, must come down”, in reference to the Voyager space craft.

Our brains were designed by natural selection over millions of years to serve us well as hunter gatherers. The comprehension of concepts such as cosmology and quantum physics is only a lucky byproduct of that evolved intelligence. We can’t honestly comprehend times in excess of more than a few human generations, or distances more than one could naturally travel. But theoretical physics pushes us beyond that. Our brains can’t comprehend a ‘place’ without space or time so it’s an arrogant person that can so easily deny it in the face of mounting evidence, and an ignorant person that demands everything, including gravity, needs “contingency”.

The only true answer to the question, “why is there something rather than nothing” is, “nobody knows”. Science is starting to discover that, contrary to human intuition, “nothing” is unstable. Religion is still flogging the medieval dead horse of “magic man did it”, and “magic man doesn’t need an explanation”. Science is turning to evidence, such as the $10 billion Large Hadron Collider experiment. Conversely, Father Barron is trying to make the existence of god NOT a scientific question. He relies on fuzzy “metaphysics”, vague rhetoric and the degradation of science (by calling the need for evidence before acceptance an “ism”), as his tools. But god’s ‘gap’, continues to get even smaller.

My First Mega Church

2010-08-28T05:38:00.000-07:00

To get a flavour of my new South Carolina home of Greenville, I thought I'd sample the local hospitality and attend a Mega Church, the Redemption World Outreach Center, that's just a few miles from my new home.

For a start, it's not a church; it's a campus! In addition to the "Main Sanctuary", a sports stadium sized arena where the Voodoo takes place, the 10,500 strong congragation are privy to a gym, basketball court, and Family Fitness Center, a preschool, a bookstore, cafateria, a regular Chapel, a "City Transformation Center", (transformation to what?), and a "Power Source Building", (to transform 'older' children). Sounds scary right?

Well, the service, lead by "Apostle" (*face palm*) Ron Carpenter, was an exquisitly executed event that used social psychology to whip up the deluded into a frenzy of Jesus love. Lights, cameras, loud music, and stage performances akin to a rock concert, sporting event or politicl rally, that had the faith heads literally dancing in the asles full of the love of a guy that was executed 2000 years ago. In other words, an abortion doctor murderer breeding ground.

I have no problem with people having a good time, but to so passionatly follow this supernatural garbage at the expense of reason is at best delusional and at worst dangerous. Here's a secular video that instills the same sence of passion in us that's based on our evolutionary heratige - the need for community. "I get by with a little help from my friends" Go Joe Cocker!

Personal Info

2010-08-28T05:23:00.000-07:00

As neither atheist nor theist is immune to the ravages of the economic crisis, I've relocated from New Orleans, Louisiana to Greenville, South Carolina.

However, have no fear. My Godless Evangelism shall continue in the Buckle of the Bible Belt just as it did in Cajun Country. Actually, from my brief few weeks, the religious 'nutters' here are more plentiful and assertive, so I'm needed even more here than there.

God moves in mysterious ways?

NFL Player Gives Up Football for Jesus

2010-08-16T16:12:00.000-07:00

NFL third round pick, Glenn Coffee has retired after just one year of playing professional football because of his faith.

My initial thought were of sadness for him and his family that, because of a delusion, he's turned his back on a financially secure career that would have been a good foundation for his life. However, thinking about it, maybe from a purely money perspective, he's doing the right thing. He signed a four year contract for $828,000. Now that's not chump change, it's only for four years and an equally talented individual, say a Wall street wizz would be getting that for a life time. In leaving the NFL and turning to a life of spreading the virus... I mean "message" of Jebuz, Coffee will be able to milk his story for the rest of his life.

The only difference of course is that a sports star earns his money by entertaining people. A preacher earns his money by lying to people.

I Get YouTube Comments

2010-08-09T17:02:00.000-07:00

Question: If the idea of God can be dismissed as a memetic parasite trying to survive, then any idea can be dismissed the same way--including atheism. The idea of rational thought would itself be a meme. The idea that there are such things as memes would be a meme. Rational thought breaks down entirely under such as system as we could have no way of knowing whether any thought we have has any relationship to reality at all.

Answer: No, you're conveniently ignoring the fundamental difference. EVIDENCE! Using reason, rationality, critical thinking and common sense based on empirical evidence that is testable, repeatable, and subjected to the rigorous scrutiny of peer review.

It's interesting that theists attempt to portray reason, atheism, and even science as a religion. Subconsciously they know the very word "religion" is delusional, divisive, disingenuous and dangerous. It's a fascinating 'panic' defense.

A "Viral Memetic Infection" Victim

2010-08-02T21:43:00.000-07:00

Diane Benscoter spent five years as a "Moonie." She shares an insider's perspective on the mind of a cult member. She admits she had a "viral memetic infection".

Can some one please tell me how the Moonie cult differs from Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, or any other religion? The only true answer is numbers of members"

"When one person believes something stupid, it's called insanity. When thosands of people believe something stupid, it's called a cult. When millions of people believe something stupid, it's called a religion."

What "Cult" Size Fits You?

2010-08-02T03:19:00.000-07:00

I came across the following slide of a presentation at the Faculty of Philosophy lecture by Robin Dunbar, Director of the Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Oxford.

http://www.philosophy.ox.ac.uk/events/conferences/religion,_tolerance_and_intolerance

Using 19th century 'utopian cult data' (whatever that is), he determined the optimum group sizes for both religious and secular communities. Not surprisingly, for religious communities the number is about 150. The group size that is considered to be that throughout the majority of human evolution. But for secular communities, that number drops to about 50. It seems that a supernatural component to a group (whether it's true or not) provides increased social adhesion.

What we can deduce from that is to not worry so much when you see attendance at your secular events in onesie-twosie numbers while people are pouring into churches by the dozens. It's natural. Secular organizations should be more numerous, but smaller in size. From a membership of one, (like me), to around 50.

Feed The New Zealand Christian Virus

2010-08-01T07:18:00.000-07:00

A church in New Zealand is distributing food for the hungry. That's great! But they've been having problems with delivery. Why?

Kerry Bensemann, the organizer said:

"while the warehouse had adequate staff, the charity's policy was that parcels could be delivered only by members of a church."

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch/3977369/Non-Christian-volunteers-not-wanted-by-food-bank-organiser

So basically, feeding the hungry is just a cover for spreading the Christian memetic virus. The amazing thing is that infected people, like zombies, don't even realize it.

Religion vs. Dungeons & Dragons

2010-07-30T07:42:00.000-07:00

I've been listening to the discussion whether gays should be allowed to be married in church, baptized, or even take communion, or, if a woman can be ordained into the Catholic priesthood, or, if blacks (before 1978) could be ordained into the Mormon church. Even though, of course, discriminating against anyone because of their race, gender, or sexual orientation is wrong, but I have to ask myself, "Why would anyone want to?"

It reminds me of the arbitrary rules of the fantasy role playing game of Dungeons and Dragons. That left handers can't enter the 'Kingdom of Varg', or if you're shorter than 5'6", you can't seek immortality from the 'Elves of Zargon', or if you're a double jointed Japanese ballet dancer born in the southern hemisphere and who's belly button sticks out (Ewww - I hate that!), then you can't possibly understand the 'Mysteria from the Forgotten Realms of Ravenloft'?

I think it's time to play a different game?

Godless Quotes

2010-07-23T15:43:00.000-07:00

Is there an intelligent man or woman now in the world who believes in the Garden of Eden story? If you find any man who believes it, strike his forehead and you will hear an echo. Something is for rent.

-- Robert Green Ingersoll, "Orthodoxy" (1884)

Jesus is a Professional Wrestler & God (or himself) is his Fight Promoter

2010-07-19T08:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, if I go way out here and accept that the Christian god exists and is the all powerful, all knowing supernatural, *groan…*, doesn’t that make the crucifixion and resurrection a huge con trick? Do you really believe that a supreme being would actually allow his son (or himself) to go through all that self imposed mutilation?

Of course not! But it's a great story of, a good guy (Jesus) that gets the crap beaten out of him by bad guy, (the Romans, the Jews, or humanity in general), then good guy comes back and eventually wins! Wouldn’t that make Jesus a kind of ‘Professional Wrestler, and god (or himself) a showman and entertainer like P.T. Barnum of “there’s a sucker born every minute” fame? So, it's all a big side show, planned from the very beginning for the entertainment of the crowd.

The gullible Christians eat it up, just like Pay Per View wrestling fans.

Zombies in Biology and Religion

2010-07-18T17:48:00.000-07:00

The Emerald or Jewel Cockroach Wasp (Ampulex Compressa) facilitates a venomous sting at a carefully chosen spot in a roach's brain which induces zombie like behavior. The wasp, which is too small to carry the roach, then leads the victim to it’s burrow by pulling one of the roach's antennae in a manner similar to a leash. Once they reach the burrow, the wasp lays an egg on the roach and the wasp’s larva is free to consume the roach at its leisure.

Similar effects occur in human society via a chemical drug used to assist in the rape of women. An extremely strong hypnotic and powerful sedative, (Flunitrazepam) often cited as the ‘date rape drug’ commonly referred to as a "roofie". It's favored because of its high potency, strong effects, and the ability to cause amnesia of events during the aggressor’s ‘activities’.

Religious equivalents of mindless behavior are too numerous to mention. From zombie like praying, to repetition of meaningless statements like “Jesus loves me”, and “God is good”, etc., etc., all to ensure the survival of the parasite. In this case, that requires power, control and money.

However, the religious parasite doesn’t inject or drug it’s victims does it? Well, in a way it does. The simple observance of the acceptance of these actions by other gullible onlookers is laying the seeds for religious replication. Furthermore, the structure of Christianity is such that disobeying the 'venom' that is pumped into a victim’s brain implies rejection from the community, loosing one’s friends, or even the breakup of the family. In Islam, the penalty for apostasy, (departure from one’s religion) is death! From those perspectives, the cockroach doesn’t have it so bad?

I Watch Porn – I’m Sure I’m the Only One?

2010-07-18T16:01:00.000-07:00

Any combination of my two favorite subjects is worth mentioning.

In response to a recent blog about the 15 Sexiest Scientists, http://commonsenseatheism.com/?p=10073, porn star Bree Olsen, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bree_Olson#cite_note-12 was interviewed and, guess what? She’s an atheist! There is a god! Or should I say, there isn’t a god? Whatever.

Quote: -

"Anything to do with [dead] animals makes me sad. People dying. I hate death. I don't like talking about it. I'm atheist. I know that when you die, there's no heaven, so that really bums me out. I wish I could be Christian and say I'm going to heaven but I know I'm not. It sucks to know the truth."

Okay, so her profession doesn’t exactly adhere to the scientific method, (even though I’ve seen quite a few of her videos and, her ‘methods’ are very ‘adhering’), any contribution to atheism from air head (if she is one) to egg head is fine with me.

Religious Parasites - Inception – Leonardo DiCaprio Can’t be Wrong?

2010-07-18T12:43:00.000-07:00

The movie Inception is excellent and I highly recommend it. There are a few references in the movie trailer, and the very first lines that Leonardo DiCaprio says in the movie mention memetic viruses and parasite. Here’s the dialog from the trailer.

“What’s the most resilient parasite? An idea. A single idea from the human mind can build cities. An idea can transform the world and rewrite all the rules.”

I’ve modified the trailer a little, but just the visuals, not the audio. Waddya think?

For those using a browser that can't see the video, here's the link: -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDlvxKxQBGI

Parasitic Fear Reduction - Religion

2010-07-17T10:16:00.001-07:00

A parasite, (Toxoplasma gondii) infects the brain of rats and mice and changes they’re behavior by making them drawn to, rather than fearful of, the scent of cats. This effect is obviously disastrous for the rat but advantageous to the parasite, which will be able to sexually reproduce if its host is eaten by a cat. The infection is highly precise, as it doesn’t affect a rat's other fears such as the fear of open spaces or of unfamiliar smelling food.

A religious equivalent, for Christianity in this case, is the story that a man executed 2,000 years ago can take away responsibility for an individual’s socially unacceptable behavior. Accepting the parasitic meme that a supernatural entity has the capability of ‘forgiveness’ provides stress relief or even elation after immoral actions.

This is primarily advantageous to the religious parasitic meme in this case Christianity, as it will replicate from that individuals brain to other people, specifically that person’s family.

On first observation, it’s also advantageous to the individual as well. However, the impact to that individual in the long run, a wasted life in the service of a delusion, is unfortunate to say the least, but the impact on that individual’s society could be devastating. The damage from the Christian meme today ranges from refusing a woman’s right to choose, discrimination against homosexuals, to the murder of abortion doctors. The damage from the Christian meme today ranges from refusing a woman’s right to choose, discrimination against homosexuals, to the murder of abortion doctors.

In the past it was justification for the Crusades, the Conquistadors, slavery, and the persecution of those advocating scientific advancement, continued today in the case of evolution, stem cell research, etc.

Similarly, this infection is highly targeted in that an individual’s sense of reason allowing them to go about their everyday lives, is unimpaired.

Godless Quotes

2010-07-14T15:34:00.000-07:00

The most curious social convention of the great age in which we live is the one to the effect that religious opinions should be respected.
-- H L Mencken, in American Mercury (March, 1930)

Mind Control - Religious and Biological

2010-07-12T18:26:00.000-07:00

Nature is full of examples of mind control. It’s simple to understand and be repulsed by biological parasites. Here I point out it’s similarities to the parasitic infection known as religious belief. I hope you’ll be equally disgusted.

In ants, the lancet liver fluke, (Dicrocoelium dendriticum) forces it’s victims to clime a blade of grass in order to increase the probability of its being eaten by a grazing animal, where it can enter the animal’s liver and continue it’s life cycle. An ant fungus, (Cordyceps unilateralis), similarly invades an ant’s brain to get it to climb a plant and dig it’s mandibles into the underside of a leaf at a specific location. The fungus then kills the ant, and consumes the ant’s soft tissue but structurally fortifies the ant's exoskeleton to ensue it stays securely anchored to the plant. The fungus then sprouts from the ant’s head releasing spores to re-infect new ant’s located below. And the life cycle continues.

The thorny-headed worm, (Acanthocephala), controls the mind of a blue shrimp, Gammarus lacustris. It latches onto the shrimp and changes its chemistry, possibly affecting serotonin levels. The shrimp looses interest in mating and swims dangerously close to the surface. It will bite onto and cling to plants at the water’s surface, which makes it easy prey for hungry ducks. When a ducks eats the shrimp, the thorny-headed worm has found its home. It lays its eggs inside the duck, continuing its life cycle.

A killifish parasite (Euhaplorchis Californiensis) lives in the gut of shorebirds and produces eggs that are released in the bird’s stool which are swallowed by snails and hatch into larva. Eventually, these larva leave the snail and, finding a killifish, enter it through the gills, and makes its way into the brain cavity. There, the parasite will cause the fish to come to the surface, swim in circles, jerk around and display its silvery underside in an attempt to be consumed by a bird. Once the fish is consumed, the parasite lives in the bird’s gut and the process can begin anew.

An example of repeated service to a parasite is a flatworm larva (Leucochloridium Paradoxum) that uses gastropods (snails and slugs) as an intermediate host. The worm in its larval stage, travels into the digestive system of a snail to develop into the next stage, sporocyst. The sporocyst grows into long tubes to form swollen “broodsacs” filled with tens to hundreds of larvae. These broodsacs invade the snail’s tentacle causing a brilliant transformation of the tentacles, into a swollen, pulsating, colorful display that mimics the appearance of a caterpillar or grub. Infected snails then exposed themselves to predators such as birds. This is unlike most other cases of a parasite mimicking food as only a part of the host resembles the target’s prey. The bird may only eat the snail’s antenna containing the larva, in which case the snail, still infected with the parasite, will re-generate the tentacle and the process will continue until the duped snail’s death.

All these biological parasites control the minds of their victims by injecting chemicals into their brains that alter their behavior. Religion does exactly the same but not by injecting chemicals into the brain, but by injecting ‘ideas’ into the brain which then induce the chemical changes, love, fear, guilt, or any zealous reaction that is in the interest of the religion. If a cultural leader were to tell you that the building was on fire, your wife or husband was having an affair, or your baby child was about to die, if you believed him, that would induce massive chemical changes in your brain no different to that of a deviant neurosurgeon.Of course, the host, be it an ant, a cockroach, a fish, or a human, is completely oblivious and, in the case of the human, may actually believe that their actions are in the interest of the individual and it’s community, and not just the reproductive process that the religion imposes for it’s own benefit and survival.

Celibacy – Religion’s Parasitically Induced Surrender

An ideal example of sacrifice to a religious parasite is celibacy in Catholic priests. Priests willingly commit ‘genetic’ suicide by agreeing to forgo the naturally evolved pleasures of sex as well as the innate desire to reproduce; all in the interest of the Catholic memetic parasite. (However, relatively recent investigations have discovered that sexual gratification was and still is widespread via the rape of young children.)

Catholicism is rare compared to other religious parasites as the reproduction of the individual religious vectors, (a vector is the vehicle of transmission such as a dog or rat in the transmission of rabies, a mosquito for malaria, or sexual intercourse in the case of the HIV virus), such as reverends, pastors, imams, etc. In fact these individuals are known to reproduce more than the social norm as in the case of Warren Jeffs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, currently imprisoned for rape, sex with minors, and incest.

The evolutionary explanation for this is that the Catholic priest vector, not being ‘burdened’ by marriage can dedicate his time to transmission of the virus. Also, the vector’s sacrifice of celibacy contributes to the feeling of awe in the vectors victims and enhances the adhesion due to authority (with the aid of ‘magical powers’ such as transubstantiation).

I’ll be going into more detail and exploring the comparisons between biological and memetic viruses in future posts.

Mom Shows Lilly 'The Light'!

2010-07-10T11:09:00.000-07:00

Praying? And in MY House!

2010-07-10T10:42:00.000-07:00

Just to prove that atheists aren’t intolerant insensitive leathery old goats, here’s a picture of a sheltie puppy my wife bread called Lilly. And she’s praying! Then again, she’s six week old and has the brain the size of a small walnut, so inane behavior such as asking a supernatural being to alter the laws of physics for one’s own benefit can be excused.But what’s the excuse of Louisiana lawmakers? http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/06/20/gulf.oil.spill/index.html

Just in case you're concerned, I had a word with Lilly and now she's and atheist. See below.

Godless Leafleting - Opinions Requested

2010-06-14T15:25:00.000-07:00

Occasionally, after leaving a grocery store, shopping mall, restaurant, etc., I sometimes see a leaflet underneath the windshield wiper of my car advertising a store, restaurant, local business, or whatever. I recall sometimes seeing advertisement for churches and, on one occasion, after leaving a gym I noticed a leaflet advertising a competitor’s gym.

What are the implications if I placed a leaflet similar to my sign, with my email and phone number on it under the windshield wiper of cars in church parking lots during Sunday service?

Some issues to think about are: -

What if I wrote to the church prior to doing this and informed them of my intentions and/or asked permission?
What if I placed these leaflets on cars in business parking lots next to churches during Sunday worship? (I notice that due to the limited parking space in the church lots, people spill over into neighboring business parking lots.)
What if I placed these leaflets on cars in both church parking lots and neighboring non church parking lots such as shopping malls, etc.?
What if I placed these leaflets on cars in the parking lots of religious meetings such as conference centers, festivals, stadiums, etc.,
What if I placed these leaflets on cars in the parking lots of religious meetings/rallies such as an anti-gay marriage demonstration or an anti abortion protests?

Also, what are the legal implications of: -

If (or should I say “when”) the people throw the leaflet on the ground, am I liable for littering? (What if I contact the church or organization and offer to clean up the litter myself?)
Is being on a church parking lot without permission trespassing?
Is touching someone’s car without permission against the law in any way?
From a purely business perspective, could my atheism or simply the presence of an atheist discourage people to attend that particular church, so therefore I’d be liable in a court of law for adversely affecting the church’s cash flow?
Would it make a difference if I gave a bunch of kids $10 each to put the leaflets on the cars for me? (Other than child labor laws, tax evasion, and the inevitable headline, “atheist exploitation and ‘abuse’ of children”.)

These questions lie on the fringe of First Amendment rights, social acceptability, and the local city laws so I can understand their subjectivity.

Doug

P.S. There’s a youtube video of an ex-priest that did something similar at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioIayArNWt4.

Move Along! Move Along!

2010-06-14T10:56:00.000-07:00

I was outside The Healing Place Church, (formally know as the Trinity Christian Center), in Baton Rough this Sunday. The mega church has an estimated congregation of just under 8,000 and it's spectacular! (I have no idea how much it cost to build but I would estimate many tens of millions of dollars.) Check out the web site at http://www.healingplacechurch.org/. Its configuration is also excellent for my needs in that the only two exits are very close together. So my sign, “Hello I’m an Atheists. Do you have any questions for me?” placed just opposite the exits was viewable to everyone leaving the grounds.

I had quite a few people talk to me and, after I bombarded them with more logic, reason, rationality, critical thinking, etc., than they’ve probably ever had in their life, I was informed on several occasions that Jesus still loves me. (Ahhhh.) For the first time, I even got given a bible!

But, alas, as always, I was told to “move along” by the police yet again. There was public road works opposite the exits so, I was asked to leave “for my own safety”. I did converse with the police officer, (who incidentally was very respectful), and asked the obvious question of is my safety the real issue here or is it the message? And of course, I got the usual reply that it was nothing to do with the message.

As I’m over an hours drive away, I have a challenge to anyone in the Baton Rouge area, Christians and atheists alike. How about partaking of a science experiment and standing in the “dangerous construction zone” on Highland Road next Sunday (they also have a service Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m.) and let me know how long your there before you get moved along… “for your own safety”. I’m willing to bet quite a few Hail Marys that you’ll be standing there ‘till the second coming of Christ.

Because of the title ‘Move Along, Move Along, here’s the video of the All American Rejects. I love a song that starts out with the sarcastic lyric, “Go ahead as you waste your days with thinking”. Yes, what ever you do, don’t think!

But Only God (and Craig Venter) Can Make a Tree

2010-06-13T13:18:00.000-07:00

Joyce Kilmer. 1886–1918

Trees

I THINK that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree;

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the sweet Earth's flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God (and Craig Venter) can make a tree.

Check out my new video about Craig Venter’s manufacture of the first synthetic life and the impact it should have on religious belief.

News Flash – God can now “drive out the inhabitants of the valley”, BECAUSE of their “Chariots of Iron”

2010-06-08T05:55:00.000-07:00

Judges 1:19 And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.

While trying to “Spread the Word of Reason” this Sunday, June 6^th, outside the New Covenant Presbyterian Church of Mandeville, 4375 Highway 22, in Mandeville, Louisiana, god cast me out because I have a ‘car’.

As always, I was approached by the Louisiana police and told that my car was parked illegally. This time I was “inhibiting the flow of traffic” by “blocking the driveway”. I was actually parked in the entry road of the First American Bank parking lot… on Sunday? There wasn’t actually a “flow” or even “traffic” as I never saw anyone pass me.

I asked the police officers that maybe the reason they were there wasn’t anything at all to do with my “parking violation”, but maybe it had just a little bit to do with the message? Of course, they denied it. I asked them if they were just passing by and saw me “parked illegally” and they said no. They did tell me that someone had called in to make the complaint. (Hmm? In the interest of science, I think I’ll park my wife’s car in the exact same place and see how many minutes; hours; days; weeks; it takes for someone to make a complaint.) After coaxing them further by implying that they weren’t really being honest with me or even themselves, they put an end to the conversation by telling me that “they were not here to debate with me”. Oh well.

I’ve therefore had a revelation that maybe, after a couple of thousand years, god’s figured out how to drive out the inhabitants of the valley even though they have a chariot of iron. Therefore, next time I’m going to just sit there on an aluminum fold out chair holding my sign. Hopefully god hasn’t figured out how to drive out chairs of aluminum. Even though he knows how to drive out the First Amendment.

Every single church I’ve been ‘godless evangelizing’ outside seems to suddenly have a fascination with safe parking! I knew religion was obsessed with other issues such as, say, sexual oppression. “Problems” such as homosexuality, sex before marriage, non-missionary position, contraception as opposed to abstinence only education, circumcision, and masturbation. But this obsession with ‘parking safety’ is a new one for me.

Texans for Truthful Text Books Rally

2010-05-18T06:54:00.000-07:00

You may be interested in some pictures I took of the Texans for Truthful Text Books Rally on the steps of the Texas Capitol in Austin. Here’s a video of the event. http://atheists.org/events/Texas_Rally

Fun was had by all, both atheists and theists alike. Also, the god’s complied as the weather was perfect. It stated raining after the event was over. There were many great speakers. (The one’s I have pictured are Kathleen Johnson, American Atheists VP and Military Director), Aime Parsons, Director of Camp Quest, and Texas School Board Candidate, and, of Course, Ed Buckner, President of American Atheists.)

Matt Dillahaunty, of the Atheist Experience was there and they recorder a TV show directly after the event. http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6978489 Well, it wasn’t directly after the even because a lot of us (and I mean a LOT of us) stopped by a pub, the Dog and Duck and watched the show there.

My personal thoughts were that Austin is a beautiful capitol, apart from abominations like the Board of Education and this specific monument (pictured) outside the capitol building, (of wich four of the ten “commandments” are unconstitutional, and one is just stupid!) Also, the Austin atheist community has to be one of the best, if not the best, in the country. The friendliness, community, and sheer number of events that they have organized for freethinkers are comparable to any church.

Is my Godless Evangelism too Close to Fred Phelps-ism?

2010-05-12T10:56:00.000-07:00

It like your comments on whether my Godless Evangelism has gone too far. My weekend activities ended up with a couple of very angry Catholic Priests calling the police.

I’m interested in social psychology, especially when it involves religion. I’m hoping to start an MA in the subject at an online university that may eventually lead to a Ph.D. I’m specifically interested in why religious belief has a free pass in society. My theory is that just as genes are analogous to memes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme as biological and cultural replicators, the biological phenomena known as ‘allelopathy’ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allelopathy, where plants emit toxins that inhibit the growth of other plants, religion emits ‘toxins’ into the cultural system that ‘inhibit the growth’ of reason by making it ‘uncomfortable’ to dismiss or even question the irrational beliefs.

Anyway, I thought I’d do a social experiment where I ‘plant a seed’ of atheism in ‘soil’ where, one would have thought, it had no chance to ‘grow’. That’s outside a Church after Sunday morning worship.

I made up a sign that said “Hello, I’m and Atheist. Do you have any questions for me?” I had it fit over the roof of my car for three reasons. One is that I thought it looked less intimidating than me holding a sign. http://friendlyatheist.com/2009/02/26/atheist-proselytizing-it-leads-to-boobies/boobies/ The second is that I knew I would be around people that were getting into their cars and I wanted to look as much like them as possible. (I also dressed in my ‘Sunday best’.) The third reason was because I wanted to show off my license plate with my phone number. http://friendlyatheist.com/2009/07/01/an-atheist-license-plate-story-with-a-happy-ending/

My criteria for selecting a church were primarily the size and lavishness of the structure and its subsequent popularity. Secondly, finding a location to park my car and display the sign that was both visually accessible to the congregation, and also legal. I knew parking on the church property was defiantly not appropriate. This turned out to be a more difficult task than one would imagine. However, I found a few, The New Covenant Presbyterian Church, and The Pentecostals of Mandeville.

However, I decided to start with the largest Catholic Church in my community Mary Queen of Peace Church. (Also, due to the recent actions of the Pope, I have a special ‘fondness’ for the Catholic religion.)

I sent the following email to the Pastor, Rev. Ronald L. Calkins and copied Msgr. William Bilinsky, http://www.maryqueenofpeace.org/contact.html : -

Pastor Calkins

I’m an atheist. www.godlessevangelist.com. I’d like to give the people that visit your church the opportunity to hear the alternate point of view

I’m planning on standing outside your church after Sunday mass with a sign that says, “Hello, I’m and Atheist. Do you have any questions for me?” I also have some business cards with contact information and tracts to hand out to anyone that would take them.

I’d like to ask your advice on where I can stand and park my car so I’m not seeming too assertive or violating any laws.

If you would like to meet me prior to the event, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Thanks,

Doug

Doug Stewart

Home: (985) 792-7229

Cell: (504) 676-0536

To his credit, he did get back to me: -

Mr. Stewart,

I have received your e-mail. You are not welcome to be on the church property for the purposes of handing out literature or espousing your views.

Father Ronald Calkins

(Maybe I could have worded my email better but I had no intension of standing or parking on church property.)

I parked my car on the side of the road near the exit of the church’s parking lot. I was acknowledged by, I would guess, the majority of people leaving. Some honked their horns; some slowed down to stare at me and did the sign of the cross on their bodies; and some just waved. I didn’t witness any angry behavior… And then the Priests came out.

Two Priests confronted me, Ronald Calkins and William Bilinsky, (I think), together with two church officials in plain clothes. Ronald Calkins said abruptly, “We want you to leave”. My immediate thought was that there were many things that I ‘want’ as well. (Being massaged with exotic oils by the Los Angeles Laker Cheer Leaders sprang to mind, but I didn’t think that reply would have been appropriate – Besides, they never return my calls.) I, as politely as possible, replied with something like, “well, I’m here because I’m concerned about the power of religion in this country”. (Next time, I’ll remember to record any conversations.) With that, Calkins demeanor changed to what I can only explain as extreme anxiety, frustration and even anger. He’d obviously never experienced such outright disobedience. So much so that he seemed to back off in despair. Bilinsky then took over and said that I can’t be where I was because I was “causing an obstruction”. I agreed with him and asked if there was anywhere he could recommend I park my car. His repeated reply, together with that of Calkins was to just “go away”, “why can’t you go away”, “just go away”. They said it so often that I didn’t even have an opportunity to reply.

Note: This is evidence for the memetic allelopathy of religious belief in culture. Not even the religious leaders themselves know why it exists or how it works; just that society should never confront religion. Why shouldn’t society confront religion? I don’t know, it’s just that society should never confront religion. (Repeat ad infinitum) In the very rare event that religion is confronted, the only defense mechanism is to repeatedly ask that religion not be confronted. (?!?!?!?!)

I was then given the ‘ultimatum’ that if I didn’t “just go away” they would call the police. I agreed. The police car came almost immediately. The officer asked me to stay with my car and spoke to the church officials first. He was with them for about 10 to 15 minutes. Then all the church officials returned to the church and the police officer, who was very congenial and understanding explained to me that even though I wasn’t causing an obstruction, the hard shoulder was reserved for broken down vehicles and I should move, which of course I had no problem with. He even pointed out that if I just pulled forward about 50 feet I could park in the lot of the neighboring business. He also said that he explained to the Priests that I had every right to display a sigh that said just about anything. (Wow! A cop that understands the First Amendment – What a concept!) He took my driving license and returned to his car to run my ID which took what seemed to be nearly half an hour! However, that was a good thing because having a police presence together with a couple of priests and a small crown meant that I had my sign seen by even more people.

My question to you is, am I no better than the Westboro Baptist Church ‘God Hates Fags’ members? I did try to make my sign as civil and unassertive as possible. And I couldn’t have been any more polite. Do you think this is a positive, negative, or neutral reflection on atheism in general? Should I do it again? If so, should I rotate churches and religious denominations? Should I be in a more person-to-person location, like parked in a neighboring lot in order to encourage discussion?

Not meaning to have the arrogance of over exaggerating my actions, but I do believe that there are parallels with the Greensboro Sit-In during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensboro_sit-ins (There are differences in that unlike the Sit-Ins wanted to share the restaurant with white people, I don’t want to ‘share worship’, I want to shine the light of reason on their belief systems to undermine, if not completely irradiate, their supernatural belief.) Note that the four protesters were not heroes to all African Americans. One black woman, a dishwasher behind the counter was heard shouting that they were “stupid, ignorant . . . rabble-rousers, and troublemakers.” (Probably because they risked her loosing her job.) Am I similarly at fault?

P.S. If anyone’s under the impression that evangelizing isn’t imbedded in religious doctrine, I took this picture (see Photo 8) on the exit of a Pentecostal church’s parking lot. I’m thinking of standing next to it with my sign in an attempt to get people to missionize me. Waddya think?

Doug Stewart – “Political Lobbyist”… Eh?

2010-05-10T18:58:00.000-07:00

I recently visited Washington DC to attend the ‘Civic Days at the Capital’ event put on by the Center For Inquiry’s Office of Public Policy. The Center for Inquiry advocates for science, reason, freedom of inquiry and humanist values and the Office of Public Policy hosts Civic Days to bring non-believers, secular humanists, and skeptics from across America to Washington DC to engage in citizen lobbying on important issues, and also to have a little fun!

I flew in to DC the afternoon of Saturday April 24^th and met that evening with all the CFI staff over pizza, salad and beer. Matt Sapara, CFI Policy Analyst gave a Welcome to DC presentation, and the Director of Public Policy, Toni Van Pelt gave us an overview of the lobbying we were to be doing the following Tuesday. An added bonus was that a friend I met in New Orleans, Sean Faircloth, the Executive Director of the Secular Coalition for America was in attendance. Sean was the guest of honor at the New Orleans Secular Humanist Association’s 10^th Anniversary Banquet last year.

The following Sunday and Monday were packed full of things to do. With interesting presentations by people such as Maggie Garrett of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, Marissa Brown from the Alliance for Justice, and Dr. Stu Jordan, CFI’s Science Adviser. CFI also had ‘real live politicians’ come speak to us like Doug Crandall, Director of Legislative Affairs for the US Forest Service and now Acting USDA Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional Relations for the Obama Administration, who told us how Washington really works. (The quote, “There are two things you will never wish to watch: the making of sausage and the making of legislation”, is really true.) Also, the very charismatic, likable, and advocate for church~state separation, Congressman Brian Baird, (D-WA) http://baird.house.gov/ talked about The Importance of Citizen Involvement in Government.

But that was just the half of it. CFI organized a tour at the Smithsonian Museum Hall of Human Origins where I got to meet all my distant cousins, my favorite being ‘Lucy’, otherwise know as Australopithecus Afarensis. It had been about 3.2 million years so we had a lot to catch up on. This was followed by an exhibition in honor of Charles Darwin called The Evolution of Evolution that focused on the significant role that Darwin’s theory has played in explaining and unifying all the biological sciences. The last “museum” I visited was the Creation “Museum” in Kentucky. (I apologize.) Believe me, the science, evidence, reason, and absence of the supernatural in explaining our history was refreshing to say the least.

A very entertaining walking tour was provided by Steve C. Lowe, a Director of the Washington Area Secular Humanists (WASH) on ‘The Great Agnostic’ Robert G. Ingersoll. He was the best-known orator and a political speechmaker of 19th-century America on subjects such as politics, ethics, human freedom, and he spoke against slavery and opposed the Religious Right of his day. Part of the tour involved reciting some of Ingersoll’s quotes. My favorite was “Is there an intelligent man or woman now in the world who believes in the Garden of Eden story? If you find any man who believes it, strike his forehead and you will hear an echo. Something is for rent.” Information about the walking tour can be found at http://www.ingersoll.wash.org/.

There was also a guided tour of the Capitol Building, which included both the United States House of Representatives and the Senate. It was quite awe inspiring.

The Monday evening culminated with a formal dinner attended by Dr. R. Elisabeth 'Liz' Cornwell, Executive Director of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science. http://richarddawkinsfoundation.%20org/foundation,RDFRSstaff.

Tuesday April 27^th was lobbying day! CFI had previously instructed us on how to set up appointments with the Legislative Offices of our choice. I chose Congressman Steve Scalise, representing the 1^st District of Louisiana, (Northshore, where I live), and Louisiana Senator David Vitter. David Vitter’s office never even acknowledged my emails and voice mails, (hmm?), but I did get an appointment with Scalise’s Legislative Assistant, Caitlin Songy. Assisted by CFI’s Matt Separa we discussed a number of issues, starting with the Louisiana Science Education Act, something dear to my heart, which allows school teachers to teach creationism along side evolution in schools. I tried to point out the national embarrassment that this Bill spotlights on Louisiana. I was told that this was a gubernatorial issue, but I did ask that my impression be conveyed to the Congressman. Other issues ranged from the Faith Based Initiatives to repealing the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy concerning gays in the military. Congressman Scalise has a 100% ‘pro family’ (read ‘pro religion’) voting record, so there is little or no hope of budging his opinion. However, being able to vent my point of view so close to his ear gave me a real sense of achievement.

However, I would say that the highlight of the visit was when I went to the National Archives Building to see the actual Constitution of the United States of America. I approached the Bill of Rights and, leaning over the casing (you’re not allowed to touch the glass), I put on my reading glasses and read out loud, slowly and clearly the complete First Amendment. It bought a tear to my eye. I now have personal proof that it exists! This is in spite of legislation such as that for the engraving of “In God We Trust” at the Capitol Visitor Center. (See Photo 7.) In July 2009, the House and Senate overwhelmingly approved a resolution (Senate by voice vote and in the House by 410-8) to compel the Office of the Architect of the U.S. Capitol to prominently engrave this religious motto at a cost of about $50,000 of tax payers money. In addition to being discriminatory against me, it’s in direct violation of those ten tortured words, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”. Maybe the politicians in Washington should do as I did and read them?

Another Approach to Rebut the Resurrection Story

2010-05-06T08:32:00.000-07:00

No doubt you’ve been given the endless drivel of reasons why the resurrection of Jesus Christ was true, the Bible no doubt? Well there’s a book with the credibility of a used car salesman with a crack addiction.

I was recently corresponding with a theologian on the subject and decided on another approach. This is my email. What do you think?

To [Theologian]

I won’t bore you with the multitudes of Biblical contradictions about the resurrection (and everything else for that matter). Just Google, “contradictions in the bible - resurrection” and reach out to your intellectual honesty.

I’d like to approach your belief from the angle of what’s going on in your head. The relatively new subject called the Cognitive Science of Religion, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_science_of_religion, had identified naturally evolved thought processes, (Note: By the way, if you don’t accept evolution, I’m afraid we’re a non starter), that religion has hijacked. This coupled with the transfer mechanism of ‘memes’, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme, shows that we’re pre-programmed to believe.

The HIV virus is
exquisitely evolved with receptors, chemical signals, physical structure, etc, to invade cells, specifically those of the human immune system. How did it get to do this I hear you ask? It evolved to do it. All the other viruses that morphed to have different infection techniques that weren’t as good as HIV, simply didn’t survive. Similarly, the memetic virus known as the story of someone that died unjustly 2000 years ago and, because he came back to life, he took away all the responsibility for all the bad deeds, not just done by you, but for all of humanity, has exquisitely evolved ‘receptors’, pleasing ‘signals’, and ‘physical evidence – the Bible' (in your mind anyway), that this story is actually true.

For example, if I told you 1.) there was a tree in my back yard, you’d say, “so?” If I told you 2.) there was a tree in my back yard that turned invisible every second Wednesday, you’d say, “Doug, go and get some therapy.” However, if I told you 3.) there was a tree in my back yard that, due to it being next to the pond, and the sound of the fountain, and the pleasant greenery of Louisiana, etc., etc., if you sit down underneath it and watch the ducks gently swimming about their own business, you can maybe feel the weight of the world lift from your shoulders. Occasionally you can even hear the breeze blow through the trees branches and, if you listen carefully, sometimes they speak to you and provide ideas and direction that can aid you and your loved ones in the future.

Now, ‘meme’ 1.) is boring. Enough said. Meme 2. is stupid. Enough said. But meme 3.) is what’s called ‘minimally counter intuitive’. It’s initially believable in that who on this planet doesn’t have problems, concerns, and worries? Furthermore, who wouldn’t appreciate a beautiful scene with a pond, a fountain, ducks, greenery, etc.? But then it slides very slightly and slowly into the supernatural, but that’s okay because you get something out of it. You get your psychological stress relieved and what’s more, you get answers for the future. Also, using the words ‘occasionally’, 'sometimes' and ‘maybe’ implies that even if it doesn't happen all the time, it doesn't mean that it's not true. This is exactly the same as the resurrection story.

To the New Orleans Theological Baptist Seminary’s credit, they had a theologian, Dr. Michael Murray come speak about this very subject. http://www.epsapologetics.com/sessions/sessions.asp?mode=detail&sid=17. Of course, he ended the lecture by saying “it’s all God’s will”, but up to that point, his presentation was excellent.

I don’t know if you have an interest in social psychology, and more specifically, cognitive evolution, but that’s where the answers to religious belief are.

Doug

Extreme Makeover - Home Edition is Immoral

2010-05-05T15:28:00.000-07:00

What are we told to do when we see a panhandler in the street? The official answer is point them in the direction of a charity aided center and then go home and make a donation to that charity.

What does the ABC show, Extreme Makeover effectively do? They scour the country for the most pathetic family in America that are in genuine need of help, and turn them into a Barnum and Bailey emotional side show. Let me ask you another question. What about the ‘second’ most pathetic family? O the third? Or the fourth? They get nothing, and they’re still out there in the real world.

Wouldn’t it be great if all the corporations, companies, and people donated to organizations that helped ALL families in need, not just the most photogenically pitiable? This approach may be accused of being “socialist”, (shhhhh! – who said that word?), but the blatantly capitalistic approach of ‘winner takes all” is immoral.

What the programs fail to tell their audience is that the ‘lucky’ recipient’s home mortgages are adjusted based on the lavish new property, which has resulted in several of the families not being able to keep up with the payments. As a result, many are now facing foreclosure.

This has many parallels with organized religion and the Faith Based Initiatives. They take all the credit for charitable giving, but of course as long as you’re not homosexual, a woman in need of certain legal medical help, (contraception, abortion), or simply don’t believe in the same invisible man in the sky that they do, or don’t believe in ANY invisible man in the sky for that matter, then everything’s fine! Isn’t this more a display of the failure by our secular government than the ‘success’ of religions?

I was in Washington DC recently and went to the National Archives Building and read the 1^st Amendment out loud. It said, “Congress shall make no law respecting and establishment of religion”. It didn’t say, “Congress shall make no law respecting and establishment of religion unless Congress can’t be bothered to help its people – then its okay”.

What is Religion?

2010-05-05T14:45:00.000-07:00

My personal observation is that religion is ‘the terrible feeling that someone somewhere is happy’.

But the experts in the field of psychology called the Cognitive Science of Religion, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_science_of_religion, such as Pascal Boyer, David Sloan Wilson, Justine Barrette, Jesse Baring, Scott Atran, Stewart Guthrie, and many more are debating the whether religion is either: -

An evolutionary adaptation ~ vs. ~ A byproduct or ‘spandrel’

However, people such as Richard Dawkins, (Evolutionary Biologist), Daniel Dennett, (Philosopher and Evolutionist), and J. Anderson Thompson, (Psychiatrist), and Darrel Ray, (Psychiatrist), believe that religion is a cultural parasite that has hijacked normal cognitive mechanisms for it’s own ends, which, like any viral infection is to survive and multiply. To me, this sounds just like religion, so I’m going with it.

As purely an academic exercise, it made me think of trying to group the human thought processes that contribute to religious belief into the adaptation or byproduct categories. Even though the religious mental pathogen infects all of them, this is what I came up with.

Religion’s Cognitive Mechanisms that are primarily an adaptation:

Minimally Counter Intuitive (MCI)

Hyperactive Agency Detection Device (HADD)

Theory of Mind

Decoupled Cognition

Cognitive Dissidence

Altruism

Reciprocal Altruism

Altruistic Punishment

Childhood Credulity

Deference to Authority

Attachment Systems

Love

Sex

Relationship Transference

Kin Psychology

Morality

Mirror Neurons

Empathy

Sympathy

Guilt

Shame

Debt

Ego

Religion’s Cognitive Mechanisms that are primarily a byproduct:

Anthropomorphism

Dealing with Death

Dualism (Soul)

Intuitive Reasoning

Motivated Reasoning

Bias

Confirmation Bias

Familiarity Bias

Memetic Replication (Transfer)

Memetic Allelopathy

Contagion Interference Systems

Flawed Recollection

Perception of Design

Quest for Purpose

Need for Explanation

Causal Determinacy

Intuitive Reasoning

Motivated Reasoning

Confirmation Bias

Familiarity

Belief in Belief

Attitude Inoculation

Reactance Theory

Elaboration Likelihood Model (Peripheral route)

Costly Signals of Commitment

Mere Messenger Strategy

Naïve Group Psychology

In Group/Out Group Psychology

What do you think?

Daniel Dennett & Percy Sledge?

2010-05-02T19:41:00.000-07:00

Daniel Dennett, when interviewed by BeliefNet, http://www.beliefnet.com was asked:

You write that loyalty to religion is a bit like falling in love, and that's why people take such great offense when you try to counter their views. How are they similar?

The emotional passion with which people declare their love for their religion should be taken very seriously. Whenever there is a love object, whether it is another person, or a nation or a religious creed or the Boston Red Sox, there is a built-in, outraged response to anything that threatens or demeans or is even skeptical [of that love object]. If you start saying something skeptical of my loved one, my dukes are up. That's a response which I'm quite sure is genetically favored in our species, in the same way it's favored in mammals in general to protect their young.

This reminded me of the song by Percy Sledge, ‘When a Man Loves a Woman”. Read through the lyrics and replace “woman” with “Jesus”, and, ‘voila!’, you have a religious fundamentalist.

When a man loves ~~a woman~~ Jesus
Can't keep his mind on nothing else
He'll trade the world
For the good thing he's found
If she's bad he can't see it
She can do no wrong
Turn his back on his best friend
If he put ~~her~~ him down

When a man loves ~~a woman~~ Jesus
Spend his very last dime
Tryin' to hold on to what he needs
He'd give up all his comfort
Sleep out in the rain
If she said that's the way it ought to be

Well, this man loves ~~a woman~~ Jesus
I gave ~~you~~ everything I had
Tryin' to hold on to ~~your~~ precious love
~~Baby~~, Jesus, please don't treat me bad

When a man loves ~~a woman~~ Jesus
Down deep in his soul
She can bring him such misery
If she plays him for a fool
He's the last one to know
Lovin' eyes can't ever see

When a man loves ~~a woman~~ Jesus
He can do no wrong
He can never own some other ~~girl~~ God
Yes when a man loves ~~a woman~~ Jesus
I know exactly how he feels
'Cause ~~baby, baby, baby~~, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus you're my world

When a man loves ~~a woman~~ Jesus.....

Don't you think the expressions “Love is Blind” and “Blind Faith” go together?

Christian Indictment

2010-04-23T14:03:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine, Jim Dugan, a PhD Student and part time lecturer in Anthropology at Tulane University, and a fellow atheist on the panel at the UNO dialog wrote this article. It thought it was a great summing up of religions, or more specifically Christianity’s failings.

Christianity: An Indictment

There's plenty of evil in the world, some of it done by members of one religion, some by members of another, and some by people with no religion at all. Neither religion nor its absence is any guarantee of good behavior, peace and justice, or civil orderliness. The question before us is not whether believers behave better than non-believers, or vice-versa, but why people do the things they do. Which stance, which world-view, causes more or less sociable behavior.

I will approach this in terms of the religion best known to me, Christianity. But many of these remarks apply equally to other religions, at least to those that believe they have an exclusive claim on ultimate truth. I am not claiming that Christians do bad things, or that non-Christians behave better. I am saying that Christian doctrine leads people, actively gives them impetus, to do evil things. I realize there are differences from denomination to denomination, but all of the problems I'll mention here are widely distributed throughout Christian institutions.

•

The belief in absolute and exclusive truth is incredibly divisive. The endless splitting of schisms, heresies, and denominations, often over obscure doctrinal details, would be an amusing oddity to the outsider if it didn't spill out of the churches and into civil society. Too often these trivial differences are used by one group to denigrate another, to oppress or subordinate another. In extreme cases, these differences are used to market or justify violence, including witch hunts, inquisitions, and crusades. These happen less often today, not because churches have gotten better behaved, but because civil society has wisely limited the power of religious institutions.

•

Christianity too often resists normal and positive social change in favor of the status quo. Who's in charge and how things are run have changed often over the last 2,000 years, but too often with the churches mounting fierce resistance, slowing the process down, and adding to the associate levels of violence.

Christianity has been there to resist every major expansion of civil liberties in the history of Europe and its former colonies. Churches have supported the right of the Pope to make and unmake kings, the divine right of kings to rule, the colonization of Africa and the Americas, have supported the scripturally approved institution of slavery, and have resisted the secularization of governments around the world.

•

The entire mindset of Christianity seems designed to prevent human beings from solving real human problems in the here and now. It encourages people to focus on an imaginary afterlife instead of the world they and their children actually live in. It reserves to an imaginary god the right to structure and order society, convincing most people not even to try. It detours, misdirects and misguides those who would take action by channeling them into prayer and Bible reading instead. Whether its conservation of natural resources, economic justice, or political equality, the churches are there to tell people to accept their lot in life uncritically.

•

Christianity interferes with the full equality of women in civil society. The role of women inside any particular denomination is, of course, its own internal affair. But denominations don't keep their backwardness internal, trying instead to inflict it on the broader society around them. Christianity stands for the limitation of women to roles defined by tradition rather than reason. Respecting the full legal and ethical rights doesn't stop with voting rights, equal opportunity and equal pay. It includes every woman's right to control if, when, how, and by whom she becomes pregnant, and whether or not she remains pregnant.

•

Similarly, Christianity interferes with the full equality of gays, lesbians, and other sexual minorities in civil society. Again, they fail to keep their backwardness contained within their own institutions, trying instead to drag the rest of society down to their level. Whether or not any individual or denomination considers one or another kind of sexual behavior to be a sin is not a relevant factor determining the equality of individuals in civil society. Churches try to interfere with protections of sexual minorities from hate crimes, equal opportunity in employment and housing, and access to civil marriage. This is divisive and evil.

•

Christianity interferes with the advancement of science. This is understandable, since the expansion of scientific knowledge leaves less and less room for belief in a miraculous and intervening deity. But its not excusable. Whether threatening

Galileo with torture for teaching that the earth goes around the sun, continuing to argue about Evolution a hundred years longer than any logic or reason could permit, or actively resisting stem cell research, religion constantly tries to make a stumbling block of itself.

•

Missionizing outside of one's own immediate society is an unspeakable evil. Peoples everywhere have their own cultures, histories, social orders, ethics, and religions, and white, middle-class; North American Christians are arrogantly disrespectful of all of it. It's understandable if some groups want to help a community in a developing country to build a hospital or a road, but the price missionaries ask is far too high: stop being you and become one of us.

•

Christianity is bent on making people feel guilty about sex. There is no logical reason for this obsession with normal, healthy, bodily and social functions, so I agree with Darrell Ray that this is a very self-serving game. The church sets itself up both as the instigator of guilty feelings and the only institution that can expiate that guilt, guaranteeing a revolving door of sinner-patrons.

•

Christianity is a morally bankrupt religion. It's obsession with sex reduces the question of morality to whether somebody's zipper is up or down instead of whether there's justice or suffering in the world. You can be the CEO of a corporation that strip mines Brazilian rain forests or pays Vietnamese children 15 cents a day to make somebody's sneakers, but as long as you keep your pants on and pay your tithe nobody's going to criticize you. Christianity claims the moral high ground, but can do so only when it gets to define morality, circularly, as Christian belief itself, rather than the sociability of rationally determined action.

Does Christianity do enough good in the world to cancel out the negatives? Certainly not!

It might be argued that fear of hell deters some from committing horrendous acts, and that might occasionally be true. But for the most part well socialized individuals behave well and poorly socialized individuals behave badly, regardless of their religions or the lack thereof. Religious proponents like to raise the specter of social chaos, which they claim will arise without morality, which they also claim can only come from religion. More realistically, we now have, and have always had, good systems of secular ethics. Every system of ethics we've ever had was invented by human beings, since it is mythology to claim that some god wrote the rules on stone tablets, or an angel whispered them into some prophet’s ear. The difference is that when we admit that our ethical systems are human inventions, we can take responsibility for them, we can adapt them according to the real-world sufferings and injustices we can observe. And when we deny the humanity of our ethical systems, we reduce them to arbitrary, non-adaptive platitudes, obeying them because they're old, or because some people say they are divine, rather than because they make sense.

Christianity is still hopelessly trapped in the Middle Ages, while the rest of the world marches on. As a personal matter, every individual is entitled to his or her beliefs, and churches can assert whatever truths the wish to claim. But the tendency of religious institutions to interfere with social progress, to slow down scientific advancement, and to justify intolerance is a problem for our entire society. net-net, Christianity does a great deal more harm than good.

Version of 16 April 2010, by Jim Dugan

University of New Orleans Atheist~Theist Dialog Event

2010-04-21T13:20:00.000-07:00

The University of New Orleans student group, Campus Freethought Alliance is having another Atheist vs. Theist discussion on Thursday 22nd in the Kirshman Hall, KM 122 titled “Is Religion More a Force for Good or for Evil in the World Today?” There’s going to be a long and interesting Q&A session, so please encourage your congregation to attend. Here's the flyer.

I'm on the atheist panel, (surprise, surprise) so I hope to see you there.

Godless Evangelism Presentation at LSU

2010-04-03T12:07:00.000-07:00

I’m doing a presentation at LSU about atheist proselytizing next Monday April 12^th. Here's the flyer.

Please spread the word around to anyone that may be interested in attending.

Inciting Religious Fear and Hatred

2010-04-03T08:14:00.000-07:00

I found this short movie very disturbing, but not for the reasons others would. The worst, most divisive, destructive, and scary part was at the end where the guy said “As believers, we call upon you to join the effort, to share the gospel message with the changing world. This is a call to action.”

Note: The video can only be viewed on http://godlessevangelist.blogspot.com/. Click on the blog title to view.

Basically, the Christian religion is scaring people by saying the Muslim religion is coming. Can you think of any worse reason to have a baby than to beat the other ‘kind’ of people that are having more babies than you? Religion is just like a virus that infects the minds of otherwise sane people to make them swarms and multiply, just like bacteria in a laboratory Petri dish.

I don’t care about what flavor of delusional invisible man in the sky people pray to. I care about human rights. I don’t care if someone’s of Muslim heritage, as long as he doesn’t think that if a woman tries to get an education she should have battery acid thrown in her face, or if he flies a plain into a building he gets 72 virgins in paradise. Just as I don’t care if someone’s of Christian heritage, as long as he doesn’t think it okay to shoot abortion doctors, persecute homosexuals, inhibiting condoms in AIDS rampant Africa, teach ‘god-did-it’ creationism instead of evolution in classrooms, or to allow Priests to fuck little boys up the ass. To think otherwise is simple minded racism.

The good news is that the video isn’t true. Islam isn’t the fastest growing religion. Secularism is the fastest growing ‘religion’. As people are getting better educated, and this includes immigrants to western democracies, their critical thinking skills are forcing them to leave their religious beliefs behind. However, even though things are getting better, mankind’s technological advancement is far out pacing our social advancement. Mixing medieval thinking with scientific advances like the human DNA gnome, protecting the planet’s ecosystems, nuclear bombs manufacture, and yes, overpopulation, is a recipe for disaster.

The best thing that the USA has is the sentence in the First Amendment that advocates the separation of church and state that says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”. That’s saving us from a religious war that this video is promoting.

Let firebrands be firebrands, and to let diplomats be diplomats

2010-03-29T19:57:00.000-07:00

Greta Christina, the popular lesbian atheist blogger has a great article titled ‘Good Cop, Bad Cop: Atheist Activism’. You can find it here: -

http://gretachristina.typepad.com/greta_christinas_weblog/2007/09/good-cop-bad-co.html

She also recently drew a very good comparison between the LGBT and atheist movement, here: -

http://gretachristina.typepad.com/greta_christinas_weblog/2010/02/what-can-the-atheist-movement-learn-from-the-gay-movement.html

Her basic advice is that atheists should encourage, ‘coming out’ as much as possible, but follow it up with support, not just on line, but by actually joining a freethought organization, going there and meeting new ‘out’ atheists.

The biggest downer she advises against is to ignore the non male, non white community. It’s excellent advice and worth the read. So, hug all atheists, but especially female, black, hispanic and aisian atheists. If you are a female, black, hispanic, or aisian atheist, then hug yourself. But not too much because you know every time you do, god kills a kitten.

Godless Evangelical Humour – Australian Style

2010-03-24T07:25:00.001-07:00

The following is a link to a long email conversation between a ‘School Chaplain’ and a very sarcastic and hilarious parent in response to the below request.

http://www.27bslash6.com/easter.html

Trust me, if you enjoy laughter it’s worth the read.

I’m On Another Blog!!!!!

2010-03-21T13:19:00.000-07:00

My experience at the Westboro Baptist Church anti-protest is on Hemant Mehta’s blog, the Friendly Atheist. Check it out:

http://friendlyatheist.com/2010/03/20/peaceful-high-school-protest-against-westboro-baptist-church/

The Religious Just Don’t Get the First Amendment

2010-03-19T19:28:00.000-07:00

On Thursday March 18^th, Westboro Baptist Church protesters of ‘God Hate’s Fag’ fame were to picket a play at Dutchtown High School in Louisiana about the story of Matthew Shepard, a gay student who was brutally beaten and murdered in Laramie, Wyoming.

They didn’t show up… But 500 anti-protesters, including myself, did.

What was most amazing wasn’t merely the number of (mostly student) anti-protesters, but the sense of enjoyment, fun and frivolity that their signs portrayed. I applaud the brilliance of counteracting the hateful and nonsensical signs of “Fags Die, God Laughs”, “God Hates America”, “9-11 Gift from God”, “God Blew Up the Shuttle”, and “Pray for More Dead Soldiers”, with equally nonsensical but hilarious signs such as, “God Hates Signs”, “God Hates Homework”, “God is Lady Gaga”, “God Hates Fat Free Mayonnaise”, and “I was Promised Donuts”.

However, many of the anti-protesters didn’t get the point. Signs such as “God Bless Our Soldiers”, “Who Would Jesus Hate”, and “Love God, Love Your Neighbor”, legitimizes the Wesboro message as there’s just as much evidence for “God is Love”, as there is for “God Hates Fags”. The gay Big Easy Metropolitan Community Church lead by the Rev. Clinton Crawshaw were displaying logical and reasonable statements such as “Equality for All”. But this was NOT an event for logic and reason. The objective was to swamp the hateful Westboro message, one they’re fully entitled to make, with silliness, not an opportunity for debate.

The religious can’t help but take advantage of an opportunity to spread their religious beliefs of ‘stealth hate’ due to imposing their dogma of self loathing and dependence. Alas, even though I got the point and had nonsensical and funny statements, as a Godless Evangelist I also took advantage of the opportunity to make a ‘stealth hate’ dig at religion. See my pictures.

I’m Famous! Well, as Far as the Christian Fundies are Concerned

2010-03-13T13:24:00.000-08:00

My Christian Funda-mental-ist friends made a video of me contradicting their vile message of “do as we do or be dammed” during Mardi Gras. I’m on YouTube here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVtByqYzKg4 (I love how they got my teeth showing on the video still.)

Notice we go on and on and on and…. about whether the holy babble say’s the world is flat or a sphere. They say “it’s in the book of Isaiah”. I assume they’re referring to Isaiah 40:22 which says:

(Isa 40:22 NRSV) It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live in;

The classic Christian argument is that the word “circle” implies sphere where anyone thats got past third grade could see that “circle” means “circle”. (I’ll pause for a while for the Christian fun-dim-mentalists amongst us to catch up.) Their excuse was that the Hebrew language didn’t have a word for sphere. However, there is a word for ball, that is used elsewhere, so wouldn’t that have been more appropriate than “circle”?

For an excellent in depth analysis of the babble’s flat earth philosophy go to http://www.goatstar.org/the-bibles-flat-earthsolid-sky-dome-universe/ .

Anyway, I have to admit the error of my ways… That is to get wrapped up in a useless meaningless argument with a bunch of common sense denialists. Their technique is to simply disagree with ‘everything’ to distract one from the obvious inanity and hurt of their religion. For example, see the following video.

I should learn to focus on religion’s problems such as instigating most wars, The Crusades, The Conquistadores, The Inquisition, condoning slavery, witch burning, oppression of women, (denying the right to choose while simultaneously opposing contraception), discrimination against gays, Priest child abuse, distortion of science, (imprisonment of Galileo, evolution denial, stem cell research, etc.), delusional ideas, (world created in seven days, Noah’s arc, born of a virgin, the resurrection and atonement), the right of death with dignity, anti-condoms even for disease prevention, and the child abuse of indoctrination and the threat of hell.

Did I miss anything?

Lastly, I’d like to point out that I resigned as one of the Directors of NOSHA due to personal reasons and also NOSHA, existing primarily for providing a community for free thinkers, was uncomfortable with ‘promoting’ atheism. As you can see, I don’t have that problem. I consider NOSHA to be an outstanding organization and thoroughly recommend anyone attending it’s monthly meetings. As it happens, Professor Peter J. Brancazio, author of The Bible From Cover to Cover, is presenting this month. Go to www.nosha.info for more information.

Godless Evangelism at the Highest Level

2010-03-11T06:53:00.000-08:00

Sean Faircloth, the Executive Director of the Secular Coalition for America said that this is “Our Secular Decade” and has laid down his goals and tactics to achieve this end.

http://americanhumanist.org/HNN/details/2010-03-our-secular-decade-goals-and-tactics-of-the-nontheist

These include: -

1. Expand our issue base;
2. Increase our lobbying efforts in Washington;
3. Produce communications materials that connect emotionally;
4. Engage in more robust networking of secular and nontheist Americans;
5. Undertake a "50-state strategy" in which we spark a grassroots effort leading to active volunteer advocacy networks in all fifty states before December 2019;
6. Seek out the "apatheistic" and the functionally secular, expand outreach to women and younger people and bring our message to other potentially sympathetic groups, such as scientists, libertarians and LGBT nontheists (this effort will increase membership for our ten member organizations and strengthen our coalition);
7. Hold a secular policy summit that is narrowly tailored to policy and leadership strategy; and
8. Institute an internship program on Capitol Hill.

I personally don’t have any problems with these steps as my motto is “over, around, under, and through” as far as Spreading the Word of Reason.

I particularly liked his pep talk like statement at the end: -

This is our decade. 2010 is an exciting year, but 2019 will be even better because we will have achieved the secular goals that we have set for ourselves today. We believe strongly in a rational worldview, and our compassion and decency mandated by that worldview leaves no one out--even those with whom we disagree. This plan will lead Secular Americans to our rightful national leadership role.

Sean Faircloth and me at the NOSHA Banquit, New Orleans, September 18th, 2009.

Religious - No Longer a Protected Class

2010-03-01T13:23:00.000-08:00

The following comment by Daniel Dennett appeared in the Washington Post on January 12th, 2010. I think it not only says it all but is an indicator that godless evangelism is making headway.

Q: Is there widespread media bias against Christianity? Against evangelicals such as Brit Hume and Sarah Palin? Against public figures who speak openly and directly about their faith? Against people who believe as you do?

There is no media bias against Christianity. If it appears to some people that there is, it is probably because after decades of hyper-diplomacy and a generally accepted mutual understanding that religion was not to be criticized, we have finally begun breaking through that taboo and are beginning to see candid discussions of the varieties of religious folly in American life. Activities that would be condemned by all if they were not cloaked in the protective mantle of religion are beginning to be subjected to proper scrutiny.
There is still a lot to accomplish however. We need to change the prevailing assumptions in the same way that public opinion has been reversed on drunk driving. When I was young, drunk drivers tended to be excused because, after all, they were drunk! Today, happily, we hold them doubly culpable for any misdeeds they commit while under the influence.
I look forward to the day when violence done under the influence of religious passion is considered more dishonorable, more shameful, than crimes of avarice, and is punished accordingly, and religious leaders who incite such acts are regarded with the same contempt that we reserve for bartenders who send dangerously disabled people out onto the highways.
I also look forward to the day when pastors who abuse the authority of their pulpits by misinforming their congregations about science, about public health, about global warming, about evolution must answer to the charge of dishonesty. Telling pious lies to trusting children is a form of abuse, plain and simple. If quacks and bunko artists can be convicted of fraud for selling worthless cures, why not clergy for making their living off unsupported claims of miracle cures and the efficacy of prayer? The double standard that exempts religious activities from almost all standards of accountability should be dismantled once and for all. I don't see bankers or stockbrokers wringing their hands because the media is biased against them; they know that their recent activities have earned them an unwanted place in the spotlight of public attention and criticism, and they get no free pass, especially given their power. Religious leaders and apologists should accept that since their institutions are so influential in American life, we have the right to hold their every move up to the light. If they detect that the media are giving them a harder time today than in the past, that is because the bias that protected religion from scrutiny is beginning to dissolve. High time.

Why isn’t the DMV, “GODLESS”?

2010-03-01T12:22:00.000-08:00

I moved to Louisiana from California early 2007 and duly registered my car in my new home state. There’s a Department of Motor Vehicles website, http://www.expresslane.org/, where Louisianans can request a personalized license plate. The requested wording of the customized plate can be typed in and it immediately lets you know if the plate is available or if it is considered “inappropriate”.

I typed in the following personalized license plates and found that they had been taken and were therefore presently driving the roads of Louisiana. GOD4ME, ME4GOD, 4GOD, ALL4GOD, GOD4ALL, GO2GOD, 1WTHGOD, LOVEGOD, GOD4U, GOD, 4JESUS, JESUS4U, JESUS, CHRIST, and many more I’m sure. I just ran out of ideas. I’ve been an atheist all my life and coming from the very un-religious England to the very religious Louisiana, I thought I’d have some fun. I typed in, GODLESS, saw that it was available, and filed the application.

I received the following short email: -

“Your plate request cannot be approved.”

This made the secular hares on the back of my neck stand up. “Is this not blatant bias on the side of religion by the government run Department of Motor Vehicles of Louisiana, and therefore a violation of the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment and the Louisiana Constitution” I hear you cry? Bearing in mind the enactment of the Louisiana Science Education Act which is effectively a back-door attempt to include creationism in the science curricula, I’m sure the DMV’s answer would be, “Yes… so what’s your point?”

I wrote back to the DMV explaining the inequality of the situation. I also mentioned that I was a member of NOSHA. To my surprise, and I must admit, a little disappointment that the fight was over so soon, I received the following email: -

Your request for the prestige plate, "GODLESS", has been reconsidered and will be approved.

So, I’ve paid my SIXTY FIVE BUCKS, and after waiting the required SIXTEEN WEEKS, (I guess that’s par for the course for a government organization), I recieved my GODLESS plate. Three cheers for NOSHA and also for, if not a separation of church and state, at least equal treatment for theist and non theist alike. One would have hoped that all government organizations would be secular, but from the license plates stated above, that ship has long sailed.

I’d like to throw down the gauntlet to my fellow freethinkers and ask them to apply for similar theistically un-flattering license plates. You don’t have to buy them; just push the edges of the DMV’s religious tolerance envelope.

Some relatively tame and cryptic ideas are, OVERGOD, 4GETGOD, (forget god), ENUFGOD, (enough god), WHY GOD, Y JESUS, YY4 GOD, (too wise for god), 26E4GOD, (too sexy for god), 2QT4GOD, (too cute for god), GOD LOL, (god, laugh out load). Some more radical plates could read, I H8GOD, GODH8R, H8JESUS, H8FAITH, GODSBAD, GOD SUX, MAD GOD, CRZYGOD, CYCOGOD, DAMNGOD. Some suggestions that would probably be rejected on the grounds of vulgarity are are, FAWQGOD, FCK GOD, 4Q GOD, FU GOD, GOD WTF, (god, what the f***), GOD BFD, (god, big f****** deal), DOGKCUF, (read it backwards), but, what the hell?… I mean heck.

Or, if you can perform miracles, like getting the DMV to do the right thing, how about, I AM GOD?

Friendly Atheist Blog Appearance

2010-03-01T08:23:00.000-08:00

My Mardi Gras activities are also on Hemant Mehta’s blog, friendlyatheist.com. Check them out at: -

http://friendlyatheist.com/2010/03/01/atheist-hits-the-streets-of-new-orleans-during-mardi-gras/

Atheist Proselytizing: A good thing or a bad thing?

2010-02-23T12:55:00.000-08:00

Just like last year, http://friendlyatheist.com/2009/02/26/atheist-proselytizing-it-leads-to-boobies/ motivated by Omar Call, http://friendlyatheist.com/2008/12/26/anti-preaching-should-atheists-proselytize/ I took to Bourbon Street, New Orleans during Mardi Gras to provide the alternative point of view to the Christian Fundamentalists.

The response again was overwhelmingly positive, even more so than last year. The majority of people didn’t concern themselves about religion at all and just wanted to have a good time. (They were in New Orleans during Mardi Gras – Duh!) However, I was bought many beers and even, for the first time, I was also offered money which I politely refused and ask them to turn it into a beer instead. One has to be careful to not let the atheist side down and get drunk. Luckily, I had a rigorous year long alcohol consumption training regime prior to this event. (I’m so dedicated to the cause!) Also, being seen with a beer in my hand and a smile on my face made me more approachable than the loud Christians with their megaphones and message of ‘fire and brimstone’. I was also given many beads, showed many boobs, (even though I would say that’s more to do with Carnival than atheism), and had hordes of hot babes throw themselves at my feet and demand sexual favors. Okay, I exaggerated a little on that last one, (especially as my wife was with me) but there were many women that complemented my being there and wanted their picture taken with me. So much so that one of the fundamentalists accused me of “not really being an atheist and just doing it for the attention”! WTF?

For the conversations I had with the general public I went out of my way to not be pushy with atheism. I never stopped anyone and I would definitely never use a megaphone. There were a significant number of people that approached me and mentioned they were religious but didn’t appreciate the way the Christian fundamentalist were trying to shove religion down their throat. If the conversation seemed appropriate, I took the opportunity to inquire about their religious beliefs and ask, as politely and unassertively as I could, why they believed what they believed. Then, if the person seemed interested in the conversation, I would bring up questions like, if your religion is right, then is everyone else’s wrong? What about all the inconsistencies, contradictions and abominations in the Bible/Koran? Do you really believe the irrationalities like original sin, being born of a virgin, 72 virgins in paradise, etc.? And why does god allow suffering such as Haiti? etc., etc. I would try to finish the conversation by suggesting that they may be interested in attending a freethought group meeting, and if they were local, specifically the New Orleans Secular Humanist Association, NOSHA, http://www.nosha.info/ .

For my "interactions" with the ‘Fred Phelps/God Hates Fags-ish’ (see photo) Christian fundamentalist however, I had a completely different strategy that basically consisting of accusations of harm caused by religion, allegations of ignorance, and, my favorite, ‘ridicule’! I was sometimes joined in this endeavor by the general public as almost always the conversation/argument drew a crowd. Did I think I made a difference in the fundamentalists thought processes? Almost certainly not. Maybe I did in the minds of the onlookers, but anyway, I enjoy it! Is that wrong?

This year I was joined by some people I didn’t even know. One guy had a megaphone that was just yelling “blah, blah, blah, blah, blah” over everything the Christian was yelling, and some had make shift signs that said, “This Guy Sucks!” and “Who Invited This Guy?” pointing to the fundamentalists. As these weren’t positive messages, I wouldn’t have approved them, but there was one sign that said, “And Jesus said, Show Your Titties – John 3:15”. I loved it! It gave me an idea for a competition for you blogers. I got the slogan, “Atheism: All of the Mardi Gras and none of the Lent” from a comment on http://www.friendlyatheist.com/ by Siamang. I only have a message on one side of my sign and would like ideas for the other side. It would be great if it had something to do with Mardi Gras, New Orleans, Louisiana, Hurricane Katrina, whatever, but above all it has to be pro atheism instead of anti-religion. The ‘prize’ would be me displaying it next year. Waddya say?

Only The Murderer was found Guilty

2010-02-01T06:51:00.000-08:00

The jury took all of 40 minutes to find the fundamentalist Christian, Scott Roeder guilty of the murder of Dr. George Tiller the Kansas City physician that was one of the few that performed late term abortions.

My question is, why isn’t the cause of the problem ‘religion’ being addressed? If a kid steals a car, it’s blamed on the video game Grand Theft Auto. If a bar tender serves excessive alcohol to someone knowing that that person is going to drive, don't they share some of the blame? Why aren’t the accessories to the murder, everyone from Operation Rescue to Bill O’Reilly of FOX television being implicated?

My First Blog

2009-12-22T06:57:00.000-08:00

Hello. This is Doug Stewart, the Godless Evangelist, Spreading the Word of Reason.

I differ from most atheists in that I’m in favor of atheist proselytizing. I assume this puts me somewhere to the more extreme than Richard Dawkins. The main objection I get from my fellow atheists is that religion’s okay, as long as it doesn’t “interfere”. Well, it’s ALWAYS going to interfere. I’m not just talking about the occasional airplane flying into a building or the murder of an abortion doctor. I’m talking about the average pious moderate that keeps pretty much quiet about their beliefs and then every four years votes for the most religiously flamboyant political candidate because “god will know the way”. Ergo, eight years of arguably the worst president in American history, and, un-arguably, the worst vice presidential candidate in American history.

Lastly, this is not a political blog in that any subjective issues will be discussed. Subjects such as the economy, the size of government, and even global warming (that unfortunately is almost entirely a political discussion now), are as individual as say, one’s opinions on sport or how beautiful one’s kids are. Therefore, it’s a waste of time.

Let the journey begin.

Cheers.

Welcome to my new blog!

2009-12-21T12:14:00.001-08:00

I'm starting a blog to share my observations and experiences. I do hope you will be entertained and enlightened.

So stay tuned. More to come!

The Godless Evangelist

Godless Evangelist

Catholic Priest vs. “silly” Stephen Hawkins on Science

My First Mega Church

Personal Info

NFL Player Gives Up Football for Jesus

I Get YouTube Comments

A "Viral Memetic Infection" Victim

What "Cult" Size Fits You?

Feed The New Zealand Christian Virus

Religion vs. Dungeons & Dragons

Godless Quotes

Jesus is a Professional Wrestler & God (or himself) is his Fight Promoter

Zombies in Biology and Religion

I Watch Porn – I’m Sure I’m the Only One?

Religious Parasites - Inception – Leonardo DiCaprio Can’t be Wrong?

Parasitic Fear Reduction - Religion

Similarly, this infection is highly targeted in that an individual’s sense of reason allowing them to go about their everyday lives, is unimpaired.

Godless Quotes

Mind Control - Religious and Biological

Mom Shows Lilly 'The Light'!

Praying? And in MY House!

Godless Leafleting - Opinions Requested

Move Along! Move Along!

But Only God (and Craig Venter) Can Make a Tree

News Flash – God can now “drive out the inhabitants of the valley”, BECAUSE of their “Chariots of Iron”

Texans for Truthful Text Books Rally

Is my Godless Evangelism too Close to Fred Phelps-ism?

Doug Stewart – “Political Lobbyist”… Eh?

Another Approach to Rebut the Resurrection Story

Extreme Makeover - Home Edition is Immoral

What is Religion?

Daniel Dennett & Percy Sledge?

Christian Indictment

University of New Orleans Atheist~Theist Dialog Event

Recommended Reading

Godless Evangelism Presentation at LSU

Inciting Religious Fear and Hatred

Let firebrands be firebrands, and to let diplomats be diplomats

Godless Evangelical Humour – Australian Style

I’m On Another Blog!!!!!

The Religious Just Don’t Get the First Amendment

I’m Famous! Well, as Far as the Christian Fundies are Concerned

Godless Evangelism at the Highest Level

Religious - No Longer a Protected Class

Why isn’t the DMV, “GODLESS”?

Friendly Atheist Blog Appearance

Atheist Proselytizing: A good thing or a bad thing?

Only The Murderer was found Guilty

My First Blog

Welcome to my new blog!