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You can support this site by making your Amazon purchases via the links below even if you don't buy these books! (it costs you nothing extra)

What I'm reading now:
The God Virus: How religion infects our lives and culture
God Hates You, Hate Him Back: Making Sense of The Bible by CJ Werleman
Microcosm: E. Coli and the New Science of Life (this is excellent. Well written and fascinating. Highly recommended)
God Is Not Great (Hitchens is extremely erudite but I agree with him a lot here. Excellent so far)
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark (Listening to the audio version. Excellent!)


What I just finished:
Nonsense: Red Herrings, Straw Men and Sacred Cows: How We Abuse Logic in Our Everyday Language
Atheist Universe: The Thinking Person's Answer to Christian Fundamentalism (Recommended. The first half is a great read. Thorough and detailed but easy to understand.)
Letting Go of God (I listened to the audio version. It was poignant and funny. Highly recommended!)
His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass) (best trilogy I've ever read!)

Series

Happy Atheist Love

What’s Going On!?

Remember the other day I told you I was working on my computer, installing some hardware upgrades? That saga continues and is yet to be resolved. Sigh! Unfortunately I know just enough about computers to get myself into trouble and not be able to fully get myself back out again. So I’m telling you because it’s taking up a lot of my brain power, trying to figure out how to get everything to play nice. So that’s that!

Also, I don’t often talk about politics, but I told you about the federal funding of religious schools bill that Joe Lieberman was pushing. I thought you might like an update. In this case, secular values won! Woot!

Here’s what the Secular Coalition for America said about the victory:

Two weeks ago, we alerted you to Sen. Joe Lieberman’s proposed amendment to the Senate jobs [...]

Your Two Cents About the Faith Based Initiative Program

The Secular Coalition of America sent me a request a few minutes ago, asking me to write a letter to Obama about the Faith Based Initiative Program. I pretty much keep my nose out of politics, but I thought I’d pass this along because I firmly believe in the Separation of Church and State as my God Given Right! :P

Seriously, this country was founded on the incredibly important idea of religion and politics being separate. If you want to see a country where there is no separation, just go to Iran. I’m pretty sure they are a theocracy. Don’t hold me to that, though. My world politics skills have never been very sharp.

Anyway, I think letter writing campaigns work best when the people or organization targeted gets absolutely inundated from all over the place with the same request. Here is what the [...]

Don't Give Up!

treeofknowledge2009To the Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia, don’t give up! Fight the good fight!

I just read an article by Staks Rosch in the Philadelphia Examiner about the FSGP and their Tree of Knowledge. It’s an evergreen tree decorated with book covers (how shocking, how impudent!) from books representing knowledge, education, science, philosophy, morality, diversity and curiosity. (I am so offended! What? No Twilight?! No Dan Brown?!) Here is a complete list of the books represented.

Staks makes some points that I really like: “[The Tree of Knowledge]  is not an attack on religion, but rather an expression of an alternative set of values (i.e. knowledge and reason).”

How horrific! Now I understand why the good christians of the area are so up in arms, vandalizing the tree and organizing call campaigns [...]

Atheists, It's Time to Stand Up to Jesus

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By Russell Blackford and Udo Schuklenk, Comment Is Free.

Civility has its uses, but atheists should not be afraid to mock faith to undermine religious [...]

Participate in Atheism and Secularity Research

1008I can’t remember who twittered this yesterday, but I noticed this site: The Center for Atheist Research.

Want to help researchers learn about atheists, brights and humanists and how we think? I took the atheist survey yesterday and it was quite thorough. It took about 25 minutes at the most, and I felt like I was being counted, so to speak. As a housewife activist atheist, I really don’t fit what people think “nones” are, so it’s nice to share my worldview with people interested in looking at such things.

Oh, it’s completely confidential. They don’t take any personal information so if you’re in the closet don’t worry, you’re secret is safe with them.

Here’s what they say on their home page:

Atheists and other secularists who have a naturalistic worldview (a philosophy of life that does not involve a belief [...]

Are You Rapture Ready?

coming soonI found a site last week that I thought I really must share with you. It’s called Rapture Ready. The page I really want to share is The Rapture Index, which apparently is “the prophetic speedometer of end-time activity”.

With Sarah Palin and other fundie believers out there trying to bring on Armageddon, I figure this site is incredibly important.

There are numbers listed for 45 things like 1. False Christs, 29. Liberalism, and 38. Wild Weather. These numbers seem completely arbitrary. But according to the site at the time of this post, the Rapture Index is 165. That’s a net change of +1 so you’d better be ready!

Now, as a godless heathen, I am pretty sure if the Rapture happens, I’ll be left down here on Earth with all the cool people. Fun times will be had by all, and life will improve [...]

Should Religion Be Taught To Minors?

ruppy as canvasI don’t have children, but this issue is still very important to me because I care about kids being indoctrinated and screwed up by their parents and role models.

But as an atheist, freethinker, or skeptic, what do you teach kids about religion? Maybe because I’m removed from the issue it seems rather easy to me. Teach them the same thing about christianity, islam, judaism and all the other active religions that I was taught about Greek Mythology.

I think religion plays such a huge role in the world today, you can’t ignore it. But you don’t have to believe it to share it with young people any more than my teachers believed Zeus threw lightning bolts at people when he was mad at them. I don’t feel religion is helpful in any respect except as a cultural phenomenon. The big three certainly don’t have good moral values. So [...]

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