I wonder how I come across to all you fine people who read my humble little blog. Do I seem like a nice atheist with a heart of gold? Do I seem like a malignant troll? Evil beyond measure as I try to corrupt impressionable minds and turn them from god? It’s interesting to ponder how others see you.

Anyhoo, enough self-examination. Let’s get on with what I have for you today. Sheer mischievous wickedness, I’m afraid. Please don’t mind the fact that there is also a bit of shameless self promotion. That is quite unintentional. This is really about the mischievousness. And the wickedness. Don’t forget that too.

As you may know, my brilliant husband Butch and I make t-shirts. A lot of them are anti-religious in nature. Recently we made one entitled Slave to Fairy Tales. Here it is on a t-shirt:

Slave to Fairy Tales by SirLeeTees

It says: “Slave to Fairy Tales? Might I suggest something with a better story line and more believable characters, like Mother Goose or Aesop’s Fables?”

I also put it on a sticker: Read more…

If you read the old testament, you will soon come to realize that god was jealous because he hated his competition. This is interesting because he went to so much trouble to be the “one god” for Abraham and his “chosen” people.

Thousands of years later, though, billions of people believe it as gospel truth that there is one god and that it’s always been that way.

As a side note, I also find it irritating and interesting that christians cherry pick so much of what they believe, and conveniently write off the rest of the bible, their one and only book. For example, exodus contains the 10 commandments. So they choose to follow those. And genesis contains the infamous beginnings of the universe and creation of man nonsense. They love that stuff too. But all the ridiculous and petty rules from leviticus are dismissed. Funny how that works.
But I digress.

There are 13 instances in the entire bible that say that there is only one god. Some of those are a bit weak, though. Like Deuteronomy 32:39 - See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me. Read more…

It seems that all major religions share the experience of transcendence. Personally in my religious indoctrination as a child, I never felt it. But lots of people have. It’s a feeling of being one with god where you lose your sense of self. I would guess if you ever felt like you were one with your god, that would strongly increase your faith. Right?

Well, now scientists at the University of Missouri have shown what happens during such experiences. When a person experiences transcendence, there is decreased activity in the right parietal lobe of  the brain. This area has to do with your senses, such as orienting yourself in space.

Note that people who have injuries to the right parietal lobe also report increased levels of spiritual experiences, which would further substantiate the findings of this study. Read more…

I saw this commercial for the PrayerMAX 5000 awhile ago on Pharyngula, but I was busy and never actually watched it. Silly me! This is awesome! I need two of these things!

It’s that time of year, my friends. The Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year for us in the Northern Hemisphere, has arrived.

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