Tag Archives: Atheism
“We are a thinking species”: Carl Sagan on creationism, skepticism, and why science is the birthright of everyone
In 1981, Carl Sagan — astronomer and science educator par excellence — was named Humanist of the Year by the American Humanist Association, and delivered his acceptance speech at the association’s annual conference in San Diego. The AHA has now … Continue reading
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“Do you believe in a secular America?”
Yes, I do. This video, by Jared Scheib, is one of the finalists in the “Ten Point Vision of a Secular America” contest held by the Richard Dawkins Foundation. Here’s another one, by Ben Stacey (click to enlarge to see … Continue reading
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God, atheism, and what it is to be human
Kenan Malik expands on his previous talk on religion and atheism: There are three kinds of arguments that an atheist can make in defence of the insistence that no God exists. First, he or she can argue against the necessity … Continue reading
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“Band together in order to be different. That’s a much harder thing to sell, but it’s all that matters.”
An amazing, amazing rant by Penn Jillette. Worth watching in full (note: language NSFW). Politically, perhaps the most interesting bits are where he explains the recent history of the umbrella term “Christian,” his preference for straight-up truth-telling over building consensus … Continue reading
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Not what you think it means, cont’d
So this happened. From an atheist perspective, I think Cee Lo Green has been sufficiently ridiculed here and here. And a bit of advice for Mr. Green: if you want to completely overwrite John Lennon’s clearly atheist message, it’s not … Continue reading
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Tim Minchin is Jesus
Or so Jonathan Ross tries to get him to admit, anyway, at the end of this video. Naturally, Tim/Jesus ducks the question. Brilliant. Minchin tells the story behind the song, which was eventually cut from the program: [Director] Peter Fincham … Continue reading
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Farewell to Hitchens
Christopher Hitchens has died. It seems appropriate to quote here, as I’ve done earlier, something he said in one of his many debates against religion and unreason: I don’t know if you really think that when you die you can … Continue reading
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Falling upward
In her marvelous essay “The Wetfooted Understory,” written for the collection The Joy of Secularism, Rebecca Stott examines the idea of “transcendence” and how to approach it from a secular perspective. A key passage: [I suspect] that the idea of … Continue reading
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Why atheists are angry
Greta Christina gets angry, and funny, and magnificent. It’s a long talk but well worth your time, whether you’re an atheist or not; and if you’re about to bring up the usual objections like “Nonbelievers do terrible things too” or … Continue reading
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