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Evolutionary Psychology and Political Incorrectness

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 19:54:09 GMT

I found this gem of an article while perusing Psychology Today, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite magazines. I won't reprint the entire thing here, since it is long, but here's the link.

Quote:

Ten Politically Incorrect Truths About Human Nature
Why most suicide bombers are Muslim, beautiful people have more daughters, humans are naturally polygamous, sexual harassment isn't sexist, and blonds are more attractive.
Alan S. Miller Ph.D., Satoshi Kanazawa Ph.D.

Quote:

The implications of some of the ideas in this article may seem immoral, contrary to our ideals, or offensive. We state them because they are true, supported by documented scientific evidence. Like it or not, human nature is simply not politically correct.

Glory hallelujah! Finally, somebody is willing to tell truth even if it hurts somebody's feelings.

Quote:

Men like blond bombshells (and women want to look like them)
...

Men prefer young women in part because they tend to be healthier than older women....

Men also have a universal preference for women with a low waist-to-hip ratio. They are healthier and more fertile than other women; they have an easier time conceiving a child and do so at earlier ages because they have larger amounts of essential reproductive hormones....

Harvard anthropologist Frank Marlowe contends that larger, and hence heavier, breasts sag more conspicuously with age than do smaller breasts. Thus they make it easier for men to judge a woman's age (and her reproductive value) by sight—suggesting why men find women with large breasts more attractive.

Alternatively, men may prefer women with large breasts for the same reason they prefer women with small waists. A new study of Polish women shows that women with large breasts and tight waists have the greatest fecundity, indicated by their levels of two reproductive hormones (estradiol and progesterone).

Blond hair is unique in that it changes dramatically with age. Typically, young girls with light blond hair become women with brown hair. Thus, men who prefer to mate with blond women are unconsciously attempting to mate with younger (and hence, on average, healthier and more fecund) women....

Women with blue eyes should not be any different from those with green or brown eyes. Yet preference for blue eyes seems both universal and undeniable—in males as well as females. One explanation is that the human pupil dilates when an individual is exposed to something that she likes. For instance, the pupils of women and infants (but not men) spontaneously dilate when they see babies. Pupil dilation is an honest indicator of interest and attraction. And the size of the pupil is easiest to determine in blue eyes. Blue-eyed people are considered attractive as potential mates because it is easiest to determine whether they are interested in us or not.

The irony is that none of the above is true any longer....Men can cognitively understand that many blond women with firm, large breasts are not actually 15 years old, but they still find them attractive because their evolved psychological mechanisms are fooled by modern inventions that did not exist in the ancestral environment.

This goes against everything that the femi-nazi PC police want you to believe, but it is entirely accurate.

Quote:

Humans are naturally polygamous
The history of western civilization aside, humans are naturally polygamous. Polyandry (a marriage of one woman to many men) is very rare, but polygyny (the marriage of one man to many women) is widely practiced in human societies, even though Judeo-Christian traditions hold that monogamy is the only natural form of marriage. We know that humans have been polygynous throughout most of history because men are taller than women.

Among primate and nonprimate species, the degree of polygyny highly correlates with the degree to which males of a species are larger than females. The more polygynous the species, the greater the size disparity between the sexes....

Relative to monogamy, polygyny creates greater fitness variance (the distance between the "winners" and the "losers" in the reproductive game) among males than among females because it allows a few males to monopolize all the females in the group. The greater fitness variance among males creates greater pressure for men to compete with each other for mates. Only big and tall males can win mating opportunities. Among pair-bonding species like humans, in which males and females stay together to raise their children, females also prefer to mate with big and tall males because they can provide better physical protection against predators and other males.

In societies where rich men are much richer than poor men, women (and their children) are better off sharing the few wealthy men; one-half, one-quarter, or even one-tenth of a wealthy man is still better than an entire poor man....

Gawd's perfect plan involves polygyny...hmmm. We won't even mention the thousands of biblical instances since we already know that they just make shit up at random.

Quote:

Most women benefit from polygyny, while most men benefit from monogamy

When there is resource inequality among men—the case in every human society—most women benefit from polygyny: women can share a wealthy man. Under monogamy, they are stuck with marrying a poorer man.

The only exceptions are extremely desirable women. Under monogamy, they can monopolize the wealthiest men...However, the situation is exactly opposite for men.

Take that, every person who's ever criticized us for stating that being pretty is evolutionary advantageous. After all, what do we know?

Quote:

Most suicide bombers are Muslim

According to the Oxford University sociologist Diego Gambetta, editor of Making Sense of Suicide Missions, a comprehensive history of this troubling yet topical phenomenon, while suicide missions are not always religiously motivated, when religion is involved, it is always Muslim....
The surprising answer from the evolutionary psychological perspective is that Muslim suicide bombing may have nothing to do with Islam or the Koran (except for two lines in it). It may have nothing to do with the religion, politics, the culture, the race, the ethnicity, the language, or the region. As with everything else from this perspective, it may have a lot to do with sex, or, in this case, the absence of sex....

The other key ingredient is the promise of 72 virgins waiting in heaven for any martyr in Islam. The prospect of exclusive access to virgins may not be so appealing to anyone who has even one mate on earth, which strict monogamy virtually guarantees. However, the prospect is quite appealing to anyone who faces the bleak reality on earth of being a complete reproductive loser.

I love this guy. Seriously. Can he confirm everything that I already thought was true?

Quote:

Having sons reduces the likelihood of divorce

The continued presence of (and investment by) the father is therefore important for the son, but not as crucial for the daughter. The presence of sons thus deters divorce and departure of the father from the family more than the presence of daughters, and this effect tends to be stronger among wealthy families.

I was about to say that one didn't work in my case, since I am divorced and have 3 sons, but thankfully he added the "wealthy families" part. *pshew*

Quote:

Beautiful people have more daughters

(The biological mechanism by which this occurs is not yet understood.)

Yeah--where are my daughters? Although, it's probably better for me to have boys. Mothers tend to pass on their body image issues to their daughters, and that would not be good.

Quote:

The midlife crisis is a myth—sort of

Many believe that men go through a midlife crisis when they are in middle age. Not quite. Many middle-aged men do go through midlife crises, but it's not because they are middle-aged. It's because their wives are.

Geez...we women are the masters of our own destruction...

Quote:

It's natural for politicians to risk everything for an affair (but only if they're male)

Let's Bill Clinton off the hook...and the countless other philandering leaders throughout history.

Quote:

Men sexually harass women because they are not sexist

An unfortunate consequence of the ever-growing number of women joining the labor force and working side by side with men is the increasing number of sexual harassment cases. Why must sexual harassment be a necessary consequence of the sexual integration of the workplace?

Psychologist Kingsley R. Browne identifies two types of sexual harassment cases: the quid pro quo ("You must sleep with me if you want to keep your job or be promoted&quot and the "hostile environment" (the workplace is deemed too sexualized for workers to feel safe and comfortable). While feminists and social scientists tend to explain sexual harassment in terms of "patriarchy" and other ideologies, Browne locates the ultimate cause of both types of sexual harassment in sex differences in mating strategies.

Studies demonstrate unequivocally that men are far more interested in short-term casual sex than women. In one now-classic study, 75 percent of undergraduate men approached by an attractive female stranger agreed to have sex with her; none of the women approached by an attractive male stranger did. Many men who would not date the stranger nonetheless agreed to have sex with her.

The quid pro quo types of harassment are manifestations of men's greater desire for short-term casual sex and their willingness to use any available means to achieve that goal. Feminists often claim that sexual harassment is "not about sex but about power;" Browne contends it is both—men using power to get sex. "To say that it is only about power makes no more sense than saying that bank robbery is only about guns, not about money."

Sexual harassment cases of the hostile-environment variety result from sex differences in what men and women perceive as "overly sexual" or "hostile" behavior. Many women legitimately complain that they have been subjected to abusive, intimidating, and degrading treatment by their male coworkers. Browne points out that long before women entered the labor force, men subjected each other to such abusive, intimidating, and degrading treatment.

Abuse, intimidation, and degradation are all part of men's repertoire of tactics employed in competitive situations. In other words, men are not treating women differently from men—the definition of discrimination, under which sexual harassment legally falls—but the opposite: Men harass women precisely because they are not discriminating between men and women.

I quoted that whole section because it the most difficult one to wrap my head around. I find that fascinating and I venture to guess that most have not considered it from that angle. Of course, men still need to learn how to behave in the work environment, but at least the concept of a man's brain being taken over by his penis is still undeniably true.

Psychology Today Magazine, Jul/Aug 2007 Last Reviewed 20 Sep 2007 Article ID: 4359

Christians in Texas Command Hurricane Ike to Stop

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:41:30 GMT

A group of Christians from Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas, has decided to call upon the Almighty to stop the advancement of Hurricane Ike into Houston. By beseeching the assistance of Jesus, the alleged son of God, they have "power and authority to affect the weather," says one churchgoer upon questioning. When asked how it came to be known that they possessed this extraordinary ability, the answer was simple: faith. While it may seem absurd to claim any knowledge of this power since it has not been borne out by evidence of any kind, faith is all the evidence these believers need. Rev. Caldwell, pastor of the church, says, "It is definitely by faith that we know that we have an impact." Their church recently held a prayer meeting in order to officially command Ike to cease and desist its approach into the Houston area. Some participants claimed to have calmed Edouard and sent hurricane Gustav into southern Louisiana. No explanation was given for the Almighty's lack of regard for the residents in that area.

Other incredulous residents have demanded proof. "If they do have this power, then they should be using it for the good of all, possibly even 24 hours a day for weather all over the world," says one of these skeptics. Another person suffered mild oxygen deprivation and was nearly hospitalized after hearing the news due to sanguinea, or excessive laughter. Overall, the reaction has ranged from anger to hilarity. Some are simply curious. In order to quell the doubts of the faithless, it is the responsibility of the members of Windsor Village UMC and all others who feel that they possess this power to gather en masse and put this argument to rest.

Staying in the Houston area and commanding this "satanic" storm to stop is not only the right thing to do for the sake of all of the residents of this heavily populated area, it will also prove the veracity of their claims. The existence of such a power could have life-saving potential for people all over the world, and the brave men and women here should do all they can for the benefit of humanity--gather together on the beaches of Houston, Galveston, wherever this storm is predicted to make landfall, and push it back with the power of prayer. With more knowledge of this phenomenon, we can all look forward to a future free from natural disasters and other, shall we say, acts of God.

(portions of the above are parody)

If you are interested in helping to stop Hurricane Ike, the following prayer is the official "Severe Weather Prayer" being used:

Quote:

Dear Believer,
Stand in your front or back yard, extend your hand in the direction of the Gulf of Mexico and speak to Hurricane Ike.
Pray with the authority that has been given to you in Jesus Christ and pray in faith. Please pray this prayer out loud and with fervency and determination. God has placed His power in our verbal expressions so lift up your voice. Believe that your prayers will produce results in Jesus’ name.
Please pray this prayer 1-2 times per day.
Thank you, in advance, for standing on the wall for Houston.
A Prayer Against Hurricane Ike
Father, there is none like You. You are great and Your Name is great in might. Who would not fear You, O King of the nations? This is Your rightful due. Among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like You. We acknowledge You as Lord over the United States. Thank You for blessing our great city. Thank You for Your continued love, grace, and provision.
Using the authority given to us in the Name of Jesus, we speak to Hurricane Ike and we command the winds and storms to dissipate. We command the peace of God to be still within Hurricane Ike and we declare that Ike will not bring harm or devastation to Houston and the surrounding coastal areas.
Lord, we ask You to touch the heart of every believer in this area to pray against this hurricane.
Father, please forgive us for our many sins. Please forgive disobedience, rebellion, unbelief, forms of idolatry, shedding of innocent blood, and the rejection of Your Son, Jesus Christ. God have mercy on the Houston Metropolitan Area.
Lord, help us to overcome our temptations and deliver us from this impending destruction. We ask You to destroy every satanic assignment against us.
Now to You, the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, to You who alone is wise be honor and glory forever and ever. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Scripture References for the Written Text: Jeremiah 10:6-7, Mark 4:39, Matthew 6:13, I Timothy 1:17

THE NON-PARODY RESPONSE:

For the full story from the weather channel, click here.

September 11, 2001 - A Reflection after 7 Years

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 04:36:02 GMT

Everyone should take a moment to reflect ne the fact that 7 years ago, 2,974 people lost their lives due to religious belief (theism in general). Just a reminder as to why such irrational delusions need to be removed from the planet.

Car Vandalized Over Darwin Fish

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 21:23:42 GMT

So I get out of work today and as always I walk across the busy intersection to get to my car. As I pass by several cars and come up close to one truck, I note there is something oddly familiar about the step to get into the truck's bed. I recognized it upon closer inspect - a Darwin fish placed, upside down, lazily on the back of the truck. Gah, damnit! I knew exactly what happened when I got back to the car and saw the glue residue from the fish. Some Christian, probably in a fit of that good Christian lovin', decided to dispose of my heathen fish by tearing it off my car and sticking it somewhere "obscure". They probably assumed that when the truck drove off, the fish would fly off the step and get run over a bunch of times somewhere out in the middle of the street and I would be none-the-wiser until I got home. Luck, or perhaps their stupidity, happened to side with me. I managed to get enough of the glue residue to "sticky" status so I could push it back into its place and hopefully it wouldn't be torn off again later.

Talk about Christian values - what the hell gives them the right to violate my personal property? How about I go to their house and rip off all their crosses from the wall, and toss them in the dumpster.

Presentation in NYC, August 10

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 06:41:12 GMT

Here are some of the details of the lecture.

Title: Spoken by the Prophets: How Interpretation of Jewish Scripture Created the Character of Jesus.

Topic: Hawkins will discuss the conflict between historical Jesus scholarship versus the use of literary criticism and how a better, more probable explanation can be given for the existence of the legend of Jesus. Offering a new interpretation of the Gospels, Hawkins will explain how the Gospels are not representations of a unique form of Greco-Judaic biography that came about sui generis; instead, the Gospels better express the genre of the Jewish Fiction novel. Hawkins will show this by presenting cases in the Gospel narratives where literary allusions take place not only between the Gospels and the Old Testament, but between the Gospels and Greco-Roman literature. The question of 'why' fictions were written, 'where' the character of Jesus fits in, and 'why' this genre strains the case for a historical Jesus will all be discussed.

Sapient and Explorologist reach a settlement agreement

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:31:31 GMT

Sapient and Explorologist Settle Lawsuit

Explorologist Ltd. and an online critic have settled their legal battle over a YouTube video challenging Uri Geller's claims about his mental powers.

EFF and Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis, LLP, represent Brian Sapient, who uploaded an excerpt from a documentary that critiqued Geller's performances and abilities to YouTube. Explorologist claimed the clip infringed its copyrights. More information about the case is available here. Here is a previous post from Sapient on the court case.

The agreement should allow the healthy debate about the existence of 'supernatural powers' to continue without interference. As part of the legal settlement, Explorologist has agreed to license the disputed footage under a non-commercial Creative Commons license, preempting future legal battles over the fair use of the material. A monetary settlement was also reached.

Atheist Nexus Controversy?

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 08:00:50 GMT

I recently read a few blog posts regarding Atheist Nexus, a social site on the Ning platform for atheists. Apparently, not everybody agrees with some of the decisions made by the operators of this group. Sound familiar? It's nice to know that some people have their noses up everybody's asses and not just ours...but I digress. We set up a group there months ago which hasn't been utilized since the main site serves a similar function, but if you are into that format, please feel free to register at rationalresponders.ning.com. If there proves to be enough interest, we would be willing to spend the money necessary to improve the format over there. If you have already registered at Atheist Nexus, you can use the same login info.

Kelly

Reviews of my Lecture at NYC

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 04:56:29 GMT

Here are some of the reviews I have received from some of the 40 or so wonderful people who attended my lecture in New York City yesterday afternoon.

From LorMarie (a Christian):

Quote:

In addition to church, I attended a lecture by Rook Hawkins of the Rational Response Squad. His presentation focused on how OT texts created the “character called Jesus.” I of course do not agree with his assertion but I have to admit one thing. He’s well read, serious, and dedicated to his cause. I was impressed.

From Harry at the NYCA Meetup Site:

Quote:

The speaker's thesis is not highly original, but I think he has contributed to the scholarship on the subject. We'll just have to see what the peer reviewers say.

From Jane Everhart:

Quote:

Big crowd, nice people. The talk by Rook Hawkins of Philly's Rational Response Squad was informative & deeply researched. It was surprising to see that this young man, one of Atheism's "Bad Boys," turned out to be a nice, respectable, well-informed, gracious young man who was accompanied by his Dad. Viva the Nice Bad Boys!

From Serge Ledan at the NYCA Meetup Site:

How many of you play golf? (and my own brief golf story)

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:36:29 GMT

When I was younger I was a professional golf hopeful. Of the roughly 30 matches I played in my high school career I was undefeated, and my first job out of school was at a well known golf learning center in my area. This was the job that got me through the first year or two of my sons life, forgoing the end of college so that I could earn a living to support my little man. I recognized around that time frame that if I were to be a golfer on any pro tour I would need to practice everyday in place of a career or family, and just accepted that turning pro would be too tough of a feat. I dramatically reduced the amount of golf I played due to it's expense, and concentrated much more on work. When I was 16 I was able to play 200-350 rounds of golf per year, by 25 I was lucky if I played twice per year.

Just recently Kelly has taken an interest in golf. We hit the course recently and she was impressed. I still have the muscle memory from childhood and shot 3 over par. Kelly is so flexible and athletic that she shows natural ability, but like any new golfer needs a bit of practice before developing a level of consistency. My son reminds me of myself, he is a natural and at a young age can really wallop the ball, I'm sure he'll end up being quite a golfer himself as his muscles develop. My father, anonymous house investor, and close companions are always urging me to get outdoors, get some exercise, spend time with Kelly and my son away from the home, and we're all very content with the idea of playing a round of golf every few weeks to enjoy some family time together.

When I was younger I had a whole fleet of folks that I'd play golf with. My father was a member at a country club and there would always be two adults looking to play with us. Now, ten years removed from that era, and in a career that would freak out many of the jews I once played with, I'm out of the golf companion loop. I thought, I wonder if there are members of this community that would like to play a round with Kelly and I at some point. If you're a golfer and want to spend 4 hours with us out in the open, and can play in the Philadelphia area we'd be interested in taking you up on it. Especially if you're willing to cover our greens fees. (we'll buy the drinks on the 19th hole)

Aside from looking for the next atheist hopeful willing to play me in a $1 per hole match (I'll give you strokes), who plays golf here? How often? How good? Any good golf stories? (I'll save some of mine for later)

PZ Myers, "Wafergate", and Christian Ignorance

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:48:39 GMT

[UPDATE - 8/2/08] Cory has since adjusted his perspective on this. He has shown once more why he is to be respected, despite his beliefs. Although we disagree, the fact that he continues to show honesty and cordiality, and our continued success at finding some common ground, he has great quality. I hope one day he will find that to be completely honest he needs to drop his belief in superstition, but until that day (if it comes) I hope to continue being his friend. (And, as Cory should know, as his friend, I will continue to try to help him free himself of his God addiction, which I think hinders him mentally and physically) Please read his blog and comment there as a sign of appreciation for his honesty at least in adjusting his position and recognizing his emotional reaction.

------------------------------------------------------

New Shows Coming - 6/11 [Updated]

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 20:52:14 GMT

Hey friends,

This Wednesday night, 6/11 our prospective guest is Philip R. Davies, a Hebrew Bible scholar and member of the prestigious Copenhagen school, who will discuss some of the many reasons why the Hebrew Bible is fiction as opposed to history, and explain a bit of the minimalist position.

All quests and inquiries for these two guests may be posted in this thread, and the best will be asked on air. Remember the show starts promptly at 8pm EST in stickam, which can be accessed from this link.

[UPDATE] Because of time zone restrictions, this show will have to be taped early and played for the room later that evening, normal time. Philip is 5 hours ahead of me, and that means that calling him at 8pm EST is 1am for him. Because of my respect for him, I have agreed to record the show ahead of time. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but still promise a great show! Looking forward to seeing you all there.

NOTE: This is why it is important to get your questions in NOW. Ask all your questions in this thread! Only two more days until show time!

Atheist Alliance International Convention tickets now available!!!

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 21:19:47 GMT

“Unsinkable Atheism,”

14^th Annual Atheist Alliance International (AAI) Convention

September 25—28, 2008 - on the historic Queen Mary, in Long Beach.

Featured Guests include: Michael Shermer, P. Z. Myers, Michael Newdow, Eddie Tabash, Julia Sweeney, Herb Silverman, Mikey Weinstein, Jeremy Hall, Lori Lipman Brown, and Ellen Johnson.

Get all the details and register here.....http://www.atheistalliance.org/

Space is limited and last year sold out FAST!

Summary of events....

Thursday night

A secular wedding and reception featuring DJ Kelli G. and Professional dancer John Edwards

Friday - “Atheists In Foxholes”

Margaret Downey (AAI president)

Herb Silverman (President of the Secular Coalition for America)

Carlos Bertha (associate professor of philosophy - US Air Force Academy),

Kathleen Johnson (American Atheists Military Director),

Jason Torpy (president of Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers)

Mikey Weinstein (founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation and

Specialist Jeremy Hall will receive the first “Valiant Atheist Medallion of Honor.”

Late-night concert of “Freethinking Music” featuring original music by Joel Pelletier.

Saturday workshops....

Jennifer Bardi ~ Editor of Humanist magazine

“Anchoring Your Atheist Story”

August Berkshire ~ President of Minnesota Atheists

“Catching the Wave: Start Your Own Atheist Radio Show”

M. J. Christensen ~ Co-Founder of Scouting for All

“Throwing Prejudice and Bigotry Overboard”

James Underdown ~ Executive Director of the Center for Inquiry-Los Angeles

“Navigating the Media”

Lori Lipman Brown & Sasha Bartolf ~ Secular Coalition for America

“All Hands on Deck for Political Tempests”

Troy Conrad ~ Comedian

“Manning the Humor Lifeboat”

August Brunsman ~ Executive Director of the Secular Student Alliance

“Singing your Siren's Song on Social Networking Sites”

Ellen Johnson ~ Executive Director of the Godless Americans Political Action Committee

“Let’s Weigh Anchor and Start Using Our Power as Secular Citizens”

Cathe Jones ~ Writer and Humorist

“Atheists and Loss: Navigating Grief”

Saturday Afternoon and Evening...

Julia Sweeney will give the 2008 Richard Dawkins Award to a secret person.

Jill Sobule will sing a special song to the honoree.

Michael Shermer ~ Publisher of Skeptic Magazine

“Chicken Soup for the Atheist’s Soul: Finding Spirituality in a Godless Universe”

P. Z. Myers ~ Biologist, University of Minnesota

“Science as an Instrument of Change”

Michael Newdow ~ Attorney and Physician

“Establishment Clause: Floaters and Sinkers”

Eddie Tabash, Esquire (who made a gallant run for the California State Assembly in 2000) “Electing Atheists to Public Office.”

Video presentation of Congressman Pete Stark accepting the first annual AAI “Freedom of Conscience Award

After the formal speeches, stay for a musical presentation of Religiomania by Michele Rundgren, Debra Ryll, and Wanda Plimmer.

Sunday Morning

Annie Laurie Gaylor, Margaret Downey, Kathleen Johnson and Bobbie Kirkhart present opinions about why women must be encouraged to be from religion.

You Can Bring the Kids....Mini - Camp Quest – on site!

Chris Lindstrom and Amanda Metskas will run a Mini Camp Quest for the children of conventioneers. Reservations are required and can be done at the AAI website. Children ages 6—13 are welcome.

Get all the details and register here.....http://www.atheistalliance.org/

The original debaptism challenge

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 22:16:33 GMT

One of the projects we've been stewing is a debaptism challenge. Ex-Priest Dr. Stephen Uhl has committed copies of his book Imagine No Superstition as prizes as we gather more info on how we want to run it. While researching the idea I came upon this video series of a Sally Jessy Raphael episode from 1988 featuring the St. Louis Rationalists and a few fundies. As for our own debaptism challenge, we're still a while away. If anyone who participated in or led a debaptism with the St. Louis Rationalists is reading this please drop me a line, I'd like to have you on our radio show.

Check out this show, I think you'll enjoy.

Expelled Exposed

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 02:10:10 GMT

Let's get ahead in our knowledge of the movie expelled before it actually comes out...

Keep checking Expelled Exposed for the National Center for Science Education's official response to the Ben Stein movie Expelled; for now, we hope you will find this collection of resources helpful. (all info from ExpelledExposed)

Reviews of Expelled from those who have seen it

Other News Coverage of Expelled

Biologist PZ Myers expelled from Expelled screening

For more information on creationism and evolution, see NCSE's main website at

www.ncseweb.org

. Questions? Email

expelled@ncseweb.org

The Blasphemy Challenge Continues...

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 14:53:50 GMT

www.blasphemychallenge.com

The DVD's are gone. The challenge is not.

See this video.

Calling all rich people and degenerate atheists (funds needed)

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 02:24:22 GMT

Quite a few fundraisers...

I say degenerate atheists in the title, in the sense that one is a degenerate gambler. I know you're out there, I am one of em. I'll keep throwing money at this until I'm out of it, and I know there are quite a few of you in the low end of the tax bracket that are forking over the dough, believe me it's appreciated. We're working hard right now to get two years worth of site improvements and fund raising out of the way so we can revive focus on our show and other bigger projects we're working on. We certainly have been asking for and receiving a lot of help in the process, sometimes we can't help but feel like televeangelists. Thanks so much everyone for getting us this far.

Let me break some need areas down as fast as I can...

Advertising the site. I've changed course and entered into an outside contract to receive 200-300 visits a day at $10 and about 100 of those visits to be Christians. I'm also paying for about $15 a day in google adwords, although I tend to jump ship as soon as money starts dwindling. The money for advertising has dwindled, we're committing what would be considered our own dollars. And we'd love your help to lighten the load. Here again is the link to contribute to advertising. To put it into perspective, we're looking at about a $9,000 per year advertising budget. So when you see $560 on the chip in, please don't think we've got it made. And like I said, we are going to be completely transparent on the advertising expense sheets.

Server fee expenses. We just bought one server and have all sorts of advantages now as to speeding up the site and they'll all be coming soon. The guys working on it are doing an incredible job all as volunteers. The work they've given for free would cost thousands elsewhere, and these guys feel so good about what they're doing. The work on our server impacts quite a few other atheist sites, and we're looking to expand on the speed of how our sites run as well as how many sites can share the same name/password on our network. At least one of the very hard workers would warrant some financial assistance (about 20% of his expenses) to get to the AAI convention this year. I'd love to not have to bat an eye if I help him. The server we purchasesd, if all goes as projected will need a sister server soon to increase site speed and it's ability to handle the traffic on the sites we host. Hosting other sites that need help just seems like the right thing to do in a group of folks having a hard time getting the world to overcome it's archaic past. For comparison FFRF brings in over $400,000 in memberships a year and only has to expend enough money to maintain a site ranked about 100,000 (80,000 behind us). Way of the Master was able to raise around $400,000 in 3 months in donations to run their TV show for two seasons. This is in addition to the suspected million dollars in merchandise sold by Way of the Master, and yet their site is 160,000 on a 1 week average. I feel that for all of our areas of expertise RRS is the most highly accomplished per dollar spent. RRS will be lucky to bring in $50,000 this year and needs to maintain server(s) capable of handling all of the following sites:

rank refers to amount of page views averaged with amount of unique visitors (alexa.com)

http://www.rationalresponders.com 21,176 1 week avg rank

http://www.celebatheists.com 310,619 3 mos avg (recently gifted to us due to our abilities and dedication)

http://www.margaretdowney.com 104,434 1 week avg rank (fyi: Margaret draws no salary from her activism)

http://www.asktheatheist.com 343,273 1 week avg rank (previously got less attention due to weak server capabalities)

http://www.briansapient.com 527,758 3 mos avg

http://www.fsgp.org 714,219 3 mos avg (not yet on server)

http://www.GreydonSquare.com 901,313 3 mos avg (previously got less attention due to weak server capabalities)

http://www.freethinkingteens.com 1,597,845 3 mos avg (previously got less attention due to weak server capabalities)

http://www.atheistvolunteers.org 919,045 1 week avg (previously got less attention due to weak server capabalities)

http://www.prayerstojake.com 2.3 mil mos avg (previously got less attention due to weak server capabalities)

http://www.rookhawkins.com 3.6 mil 3 mos avg (previously not on server due to weak server capabalities)

http://www.mrgawn.com 2.8 mil 3 mos avg (previously got less attention due to weak server capabalities)

http://www.christianpwnage.com 1.7 mil 3 mos avg (not yet on server)

A new site for affiliates and activists related to RRS will be imperative to put money and time in, if it's going to be right. Additionally to speed up this site we really want to make it completely ad free so that people can spend more time on activism.

And at least 10 more sites that want and need our help.

Please consider helping with the server expenses here.

BUT WAIT...

SUBSCRIBE MONTHLY. If you 'd like to take advantage of the higher end features we'll have for subscribers coming soon please consider a monthly subscription. This helps us determine how much money we'll have for longterm projects. Even $3 per month for bronze membership helps out and will give you all the site benefits you need. $10 and more gives you downloads and $25 per month or more gives you hidden features that we're unwilling to divulge unless you're willing to take the plunge. So feel free to skip the other fundraisers and just chip in a little monthly for the longterm, it'll really help more than you can imagine. We make every penny count.

Please subscribe monthly

The Jake Fundraiser has finished!? Thanks for the help!

The most viewed posts of 2007 on RationalResponders website

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 14:18:03 GMT

The following pages are some of our most viewed pages of '07. If you have yet to see these pages, check them out. Most of them got big because they are on sites like Reddit, Digg, and Stumbleupon. If you visit the pages, please bump them up on those social networks if you have yet to do so.

39,274 views ---- CHRISTIAN POWNAGE 101 Kudos to Rich! We attained www.christianpwnage.com as a result.
26,391 views ---- Response to Dr. Roger Olson
21,974 views ---- Still Don't Think that Theism is a Mental Disorder?
20,079 views ---- RRS Webcam Room
13,594 views ---- Our Team
12,772 views ---- News story from Belgium that further demonstrates the idiocy of Islam
10,541 views ---- Purchase Shows
9,816 views ?---- The official RRS defeats Way of the Master thread
9,724 views ?---- How many did God kill vs Satan?
7,097 views ?---- Kent Hovind Creation Science Evangelism Ministries Videos
6,753 views? ---- Why are Atheists So Angry?
6,380 views? ---- Am I agnostic or atheist?
6,326 views? ---- what faith you
5,715 views? ---- James Randi Debunking the Paranormal
5,486 views? ---- So...religion is harmless, huh?
5,000 views? ---- Kelly and Sapient strip for shirt sales...

Some of our favorite posts that didn't make the top posts of the year category, but are close behind.

3,547 views? ---- D'Souza - Nothing to Refute Here
3,031 views? ---- The Infallible Pope Benedict Releases Bigoted Encyclical Vilifying Atheism
2,852 views? ---- A Response to the American People...
2,780 views? ---- The only Frank Walton post you will ever need to read
2,377 views??---- Atheist Divisiveness and Dogmatism

Just spent the first 4 hours of my day on dishonest Christians here on RRS

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:32:54 GMT

What is with the dishonest Christians? Today I wake up and have to deal with Joshua Ryan Dellinger and then another dishonest Christian who has gone by several names on our site: Voice of Reason, Bryan Cox, and Riverwind. When I say deal I mean "moderating."

Here's where you'll see the first character exposed: http://www.rationalresponders.com/Joshua_Ryan_Dellinger

For the record, Kelly and I have been doing this for a long time, while Joshua Ryan Dellinger didn't say he was a Christian, his argumentation resembles that of a Christian perfectly, and he's become a Christian pawn at the bare minimum.

The second character was exposed in a post by me on this page: http://www.rationalresponders.com/damn_right_im_angry_part_two?page=2

You win Christians... 4 hours of my day was just wasted researching and keeping dishonest people in check, when instead I could've been proactively fighting the concept of religion, instead of the personalities who embrace it. How ironic that your arguments almost beg us to deal with the concepts rather than the personalities. I'll try to find some solace in exposing you to others but it's not as useful to me as the 4 hours you stole... terrorists.

Go fuck yourselves. (that's not an ad hom dickfaces, the arguments against you are in the posts above... it's more of a command or an order, than an ad hom.)

Speaking of dishonest Christians, the guy holding my funeral this week from the new god hates fags type site is a dishonest man, although I don't even know if he is a Christian. Here is his expose, his name is Steve Buchanan previously of the clone "Righteous Responders." Steve Buchanan (or his lackey) still has a valid account but hasn't posted once since I exposed him, he has decided to hold a funeral for me this week though.

I wrote this shortly after alerted to his new scheme...

Here is the thread alerting you to his disgusting activity

(the emails that have Steve Buchanan saying he isn't even a Christian are still private)

He now redirects his website through "King of Terrors" and he's got youtube channels. He's also interestingly enough found another way to copy the letters RRS, before it was Righteous Response Squad now it's Reality Radio Special (show, station) and RRS is a keyword on the vid. Not that I care, but I happen to know from one time that I parodied him using a variant of our name he actually had the stones (or the utter stupidity, possibly just a scare tactic) to send me a letter telling me not to say I'm a "Righteous Responder" or his lawyer will sue. It was a rather funny moment from a guy who cybersquatted and copied everything I did, right down to the "RRS." By the way, I am a totally Righteous Responder, duuude.

So, he agreed to leave because he defraded redsky out of thousands of dollars? And he's come back with a more than fred phelpsian style of Christianity? And he's not really a Christian? Is the other guy a christian or maybe his father or uncle?

Here's the youtube channels: http://www.youtube.com/user/realityradio

http://www.youtube.com/user/preachingyourfuneral

There's Steve Buchanan formerly of Righteous Response Squad, now utilizing a new form of terrorism to preach the word... that he doesn't believe in? Is he a con man? An enterpreneur? A fraud? A bad christian? Someone help me out here.

ANOTHER POST ON THE ISSUE, HE NEVER CAME BACK...

Is this Steve Buchanan himself? I saw you in your Dawkins funeral video.

You're seriously trying to post my real last name on my site? Do you have any idea on the private letters I have from people about you which I have permission to make public but decided not to publicly make you look stupid?

Aren't you the asshole who isn't a Christian, yet you're terrorizing them with a Christian message? Is the dipshit in your videos even a real pastor? He comes across like an inbred moron, is he your convicted felon uncle or brother or something?

What is the deal with your operation? When do the donation requests go up? In two weeks once you've got all of the atheist sites posting shit about you that you dont even believe?

Fraud games are bad, fraud games involving religion are for the low of the low. I believe you, Steve Buchanan to be one of the most disgusting humans on this planet. You're a disgusting despicable human, asshole.

The Stephen Buchanan response? Hold my funeral. Scary...... not.

Check out Kelly in Dailykos, Rook on Atheist Viewpoint

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 20:55:07 GMT

Kelly is now featured on Dailykos: http://kelly-oconnor.dailykos.com/

The subject of Kelly's most recent blog is Marty Fields.? If you're viewing this thread while the post is still hot, google "Marty Fields" to see where the post comes up in google.? When I checked it was 7th, and the first listed refutation.? Marty Fields is posting in the thread as "Pastor McFly."

Today Rook taped with Ellen Johnson, President of American Atheists.? He's a guest on their TV show Atheist Viewpoint.? More details will be posted in this thread soon.

Tree of Knowledge video

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:28:05 GMT

More Tree of Knowledge coverage:

THE BOOKS ON THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE

Tree of Knowledge on Fox

Christ out of Christmas article featuring Margaret Downey

Information from the creator of this video:

The Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia erects its Tree of Knowledge display in front of the Chester County Courthouse in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Filmed as part of my forthcoming documentary on atheism. See more interviews and additional footage on his youtube channel or at http://www.gregorywalsh.net

Tags: tree knowledge atheism atheist activism Margaret Downey church state religion government war on christmas freedom speech constitution first amendment ten commandments courthouse west chester county freethinker humanist humanism freethought xmas holiday

Voices of Disbelief (the book)

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 17:44:37 GMT

Voices of Disbelief will likely be available around August of 2009.

The contributors are as follows:

1. Peter Adegoke
2. Athena Andreadis
3. Julian Baggini
4. Gregory Benford
5. Ophelia Benson
6. Russell Blackford
7. Susan Blackmore
8. Damien Broderick
9. Lori Lipman Brown
10. Sean M. Carroll
11. Thomas W. Clark
12. Austin Dacey
13. Edgar Dahl
14. Jack Dann
15. Margaret Downey
16. Taner Edis
17. Greg Egan
18. Nick Everitt
19. Prabir Ghosh
20. A.C. Grayling
21. Joe Haldeman
22. John Harris
23. Marc Hauser
24. Philip Kitcher
25. Miguel Kottow
26. Stephen Law
27. Dale McGowan
28. Sheila A.M. McLean
29. Adèle Mercier
30. Maryam Namazie
31. Kelly O’Connor (yours truly)
32. Graham Oppy
33. Christine Overall
34. Sumitra Padmanabhan
35. Tamas Pataki
36. John P. Phelan
37. Laura Purdy
38. James Randi
39. Michael R. Rose
40. Julian Savulescu
41. J.L. Schellenberg
42. Udo Schuklenk
43. Michael Shermer
44. Peter Singer
45. J.J.C. Smart
46. Victor J. Stenger
47. Peter Tatchell
48. Emma Tom
49. Michael Tooley
50. Ross Upshur
51. Sean Williams
52. Frieder Otto Wolf

Russell Blackford (co-editor) says "When it appears on the shelves, you'll see that it has something for everyone, from austere philosophical articles to relatively lighthearted biographical pieces - to some not-so-lighthearted ones! Some authors have encountered religion at its best; some have encountered it at its worst; none actually sees any good reason to believe its supernatural claims."

The announcement and more details are available here.

Responding to Stan Sheridan stating we are SO UNPROFESSIONAL

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:58:43 GMT

I received an email recently that illustrated an abnormally high amount of hypocrisy and illogical douchebaggery. I will respond bit by bit below and then send a note to Stan so he can see how foolish he has made himself out to be.

Quote:

From: stansheridan@hotmail.com
Sent: Friday, October 10, 2008 12:26 PM
Subject: [General Question] the dateline debate
stan sheridan sent a message using the contact form at
http://www.rationalresponders.com/contact.

i wanted to state a quick evaluation of your presence on Dateline.

The show was called "Nightline."

Quote:

Both of your parties, especially "Kelly" was SO UNPROFESSIONAL that I quickly decided that whatever you had to say, I was not interested in.

If you are going to speak about professionalism as if it adds strength to an argument you should start by illustrating your own professionalism. By starting your email with a lowercase letter in the first word of the first paragraph, you have exposed your weak grasp of English grammar, which is not professional. If I were to utilize your own logic I should stop reading your email at the first word. Your apathetic stance towards putting your thoughts down on paper is not only unprofessional, it clearly suggests you don't even respect what it is you want to say. If you did, you would have taken the time to write in a manner that best reflected proper English language maxims. What you have shown here is a lack of professionalism by stating we "was SO UNPROFESSIONAL" instead of stating we "were" unprofessional. Capitalizing words mid-sentence is unprofessional. Additionally you should note that being unprofessional or professional does not make an argument stronger. A brilliant hobo who is well versed at physics is likely to win an argument about physics against a person of low intellect in a 3 piece suit who has never picked up a book on physics.

What about us was "SO UNPROFESSIONAL?" If it was our attire, I should note that the attire was discussed and agreed upon by all parties before the trouncing we laid on Kirk and Ray. If it was our language, please point to specifics, if you can lay them out in a proper sentence. If it was something else, explain what it was.

Quote:

As a professional, man of influence and business, why would I take your advice on anything.

Here's some advice: complete questions with a question mark, not a period. You also didn't need a comma in between ‘professional’ and ‘man’. Now that we've got that out of the way, you should understand the reason why you should take my advice in regards to religion. The reason you should take my advice is because it holds up to reason. The advice I dish out is not an opinion or an interpretation of a 2,000 year old book. My advice is testable, logical, and repeatable. Because my logic falls into these categories, the logic is nothing short of scientific.

Quote:

Even if I didn't believe in God, which I do, I would not look to you for any advice.

We have something in common. Even if I believed in God, I would not look to you for advice. I steer clear of clueless hypocrites.

Quote:

You appeared angry, rebellious, and way too young and immature to listen to anything you had to say.

I am angry and rebellious. I am pissed off that I live in a world with so many people that have bought into the retardation that theism offers. I am agitated that religions grow because brainwashed people brainwash their kids. I am pissed off that people who have shut off the switch to critical thought push the same noncritical thinking methods onto their children without a clue as to the harm that has been caused to them and the harm their causing to their children. I am pissed off that people like you, Stan, have such weak, docile, and inane arguments against mine and actually think they've doled out something reasonable. Are you fucking kidding me? I wasn't in a suit and I looked young so I must be wrong right? Have you ever seen a spelling bee with a bunch of 12 year olds in sneakers and casual clothing spelling words way above your head? Was your gut reaction to fire an email off to them telling them how UNPROFESSIONAL they looked and how you refuse to trust their spelling? I am pissed off that god belief has embedded itself so far in your head that it rests in a place well past anything reasonable, it makes you do things you wouldn't do otherwise. I am angry and pissed at the people who created these myths. I'm angry at you for not thinking your way out of it. Wake up, read some Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins if you want. They say the same things, they're older, and they wear the suit you so vitally need to listen to someone.

Quote:

work on your appearance if you want to reach the world of influence.

Capitalize the first letter of every sentence if you don't want to look like a second grader.

For the record, our group caters to common people; we don't care to cater to the elite and the world of influence. We don't care to cater to people who need a suit to trust an opinion. We cater to the majority, the common folk, also known as the people who run the world. We don't cater to the 2%, we cater to the other portion.

Quote:

And, of course, I hope you change your mind. There really are people like me and my world that loves God and people. Hope you find the truth.

Unfortunately I am well aware that there are quite a few people like you.

UPGRADING SITE LATE NIGHT FRIDAY FEB 22nd [updated]

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:49:45 GMT

Just letting you guys know that every site on the network will be down today for about 3 hours, probably beginning in the late afternoon. The new server should be arriving at the location and up and running by tonight. Yay!

For more info, see this post and this one .

UPDATE FRIDAY FEB 1st 11:48 pm est. RRS site and network sites will go down for several hours starting soon. The final stages of prep are being complete, final tests being run, and we're ready for lift off within an hour or two. All of the data will be transferred to our new home. Some sites around the world will get the site online before others. The whole process may keep your particular area out of the loop for up to a day, but normally isn't longer than several hours.

UPDATE FEB 2nd 5:31 pm est. RRS site and it's sister sites are now at their new home, a new server paid for by Sapient(Lori with assist), and currently being reimbursed by the generous donors of this community. Agent J stayed up all night with Agent X (who must be sleeping at his desk) migrating all of the data over properly after a day worth of work with DNS changes and mail changes that it seemed like everyone was pitching in on. Agent T was chipping in all night as well, and a new agent, M has helped with a ton of css work on the new look for our site. Currently 10 highly trained volunteers are busting their butts making this place run in top shape. From 7am-5pm est you should have seen an increase in speed on our website merely by virtue of being on new technology, new computing strength and actual caching abilities (finally). At 5:15pm est a major upgrade was installed to the site increasing the speed in which content is delivered. We are at phase 1 of at least a ten phase program to increase speed on the site. And this time it should be considerable.

Within a few minutes we will make yet another change that could take the site offline for hours and will result in probably at least a 10% increase in site speed. Look for more changes on the way. I called out a few stand out guys, but really this whole project has been a success due to the collective brainwork of these talented men.

Atheism and religion in the news VII

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 05:09:02 GMT

Here we go again, hope you are finding these links interesting.

Religious tolerance not the answer?

An op ed on teaching religion in schools.

Quote:

In a nutshell, the OSCE advises that teaching about religions while taking care not to misrepresent, teach or favor any doctrine will foster a culture of mutual understanding and respect. The idea is that this will help children understand what belief systems represent real threats and which ones are innocuous. Essentially, the OSCE is hoping that its 10-point, detailed guide will enable public schools to provide religious sensitivity training that will ameliorate the range of religion-based discrimination and fighting. Haynes stated that "...ignorance about religions in religiously diverse societies is a root cause of intolerance and discrimination." It would be wonderful if the problem stemmed solely from such ignorance since it would be simple to address the problem in the manner proposed. Unfortunately, the cause is not so much pervasive insensitivity to the beliefs of others, but rather a general oversensitivity that the majority of humans harbor regarding their own religion. For that reason, the OSCE solution may actually exacerbate hostility.

Link

Another missing link in evolution found.

Science continues its good work, hopefully one day god and jeebus will run out of gaps to hide in.

Quote:

HUMANS could be closer to pond life than had been realised. Researchers have linked a raft of our anatomical and genetic features with fishy ancestors that lived hundreds of millions of years ago.

They have found that the origin of human hands and fingers could lie in the emergence of a finned fish 365m years ago. Similarly, the sophisticated joints that give us the ability to run, grip and turn may owe their existence to a sea creature known as the tiktaalik that lived in the Arctic 375m years ago.

Link

How to help my agnostic boyfriend become christian?

A christian girl ponders the above question, feel free to weigh in and answer her. J

Quote:

m asking this again in another category...because it isnt freakin showing up and its very important to me...so: Well I was talking with my guy. I asked him if he believed Creation or Evolution. You know what he said? He said Evolution. That just crushed my dreams.

Link

A history of Al Qaeda.

One mans analysis of the ?war on terror?.

Quote:

The threat of an Al Qaeda ?Attack on America? is being used profusely by the Bush administration and its indefectible British ally to galvanize public opinion in support of a global military agenda.

Known and documented, the ?Islamic terror network? is a creation of the US intelligence apparatus. There is firm evidence that several of the terrorist ?mass casualty events? which have resulted in civilian casualties were triggered by the military and/or intelligence services. Similarly, corroborated by evidence, several of the terror alerts were based on fake intelligence as revealed in the London 2006 foiled ?liquid bomb attack?, where the alleged hijackers had not purchased airline tickets and several did not have passports to board the aircraft.

Link

Rook Hawkins gives a lecture. Click on the link for details.

Quote:

Join us on Tuesday, February 5, 2008 for a presentation by Rook Hawkins, historian of Classical Civilization and comparative religious studies and co-founder of the popular internet radio shows, The Rational Response Squad and Rook's Nook. Hawkins is currently undergoing the process of Peer Review for his upcoming book, Discovering the Gnostics: A Look at the Evolution of Mystery Cults in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods.

Link

Differences between French muslims and other religions in France.

Apparently, everyone but the muslims are getting more secular.

Quote:

A growing number of French Muslims say they are practising believers, according to a survey for the Catholic daily Le Croix made public on Thursday.
In the poll, 70% of respondents said that they adhered to the Islamic laws on fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. In 2001, the figure had stood at 60%.

Link

How AL-Jazeera reported on Bushs visit.

Interesting how Bush deals with a hostile medias questions. Also, I wonder how many people realize that his comments were mostly meant for an American audience?

Link to youtube video

Humans Do Not Need to Comfort Themselves With Fairy Tales

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 09:14:34 GMT

A response to Peter Bowden?s ?God, Atheism, and Human Needs?

Kelly O?Connor

Jan. 24, 2008

The idea that human beings universally need some form of mythological belief has been one of the mainstays of the defenders of faith for centuries. They claim that even if god doesn?t exist or religion causes violence and hatred, it?s acceptable because it makes some people feel better about the harsh realities of life. This is a multi-pronged deceptive ploy used to abdicate themselves from any responsibility for those actions and to keep people thinking that their assertion is correct.

Many people have either been raised without theistic belief or have abandoned theism and discovered even greater meaning and value for their lives. Peter Bowden assumes in his article ?God, Atheism, and Human Needs? that proponents of atheism such as Dawkins, Hitchens, Onfray, and Dennett must provide ?deeper insight into ourselves, our needs as human beings, and ways to conduct our lives.? In essence, a replacement for, rather than the elimination of, religion. Life does seem much simpler when all of the answers are handed to you on a silver platter (or aged papyri), but it eliminates the worthwhile exercise of introspection and discovery that one must engage in to formulate their own self-concepts, needs, and morals.

This makes Bowden?s claim that atheists are ?[avoiding] a fundamental quest of the human race? even more absurd. Figuring these things out for oneself is infinitely more important, and difficult, than accepting an ancient dogma in its stead. Perhaps the reason why so many are opposed to self-examination is because it is exactly as I described it?exercise. It can be excruciatingly difficult to step outside of yourself, examine your beliefs, and dissect that which lies beneath your exterior. If one has been inculcated with the notion that whatever resides in there is dirty, depraved, and evil, that urge to integrate your beliefs and behavior will be furiously resisted and likely satiated with religion.

Being told that your worldview is incorrect and that it?s going to be a difficult process to regain your bearings once you realize that there is no grand plan for your life will often be interpreted as an attack. Even if doing nothing more than pointing out the harm that has been done under the auspices of piety, the news will not be received with accolades from the religious. Compartmentalization and rationalization (as in the psychological phenomenon) are fundamental aspects of maintaining any faith-based belief in the face of contrary evidence. Despite the common perception, it is not viciousness which compels us as atheists to speak out against religion. It is with the hope that we can help those who live under the ever-looming spectre of god?s presence to stop accepting the illusion of freedom and truly experience it.

Bowden points out that one of the charges frequently leveled against religion is its bellicosity. The reason that argument is so oft-used is because it is true. Religion has been the impetus for more violence than any other single reason throughout history. Was the acquisition of territory, resources, and power often a corroborating justification? Of course. Religion is unique, though, in the sense that it literally dehumanizes those with different beliefs, similar to the way that racism does. The adherents of a different religion are literally inferior to their opponents, and too often the drive to appropriate their land or wealth is intensified and rationalized by the division between the two groups. Evangelism has long been used as a cover for the usurpation of power from native inhabitants. After all, god would want to civilize the savages, now wouldn?t he? Certainly, religion is not the sole force, but it is definitely a contributing factor, and one that could be eliminated.

The two arguments that can be proposed to counter the case that the hazards of religion outweigh the benefits are the comfort and meaning it supposedly provides people and that religious groups may help less fortunate people. The latter is true, but only within certain confines. Missionaries who traverse the globe ?helping people? often do little more than proselytize, and their aid may depend on your acceptance of their doctrine or willingness to attend church services. In the case of the catholic church in sub-Saharran Africa, it can actually be detrimental. Soup kitchens and homeless shelters may have similar prerequisites, although not all do.

Bowden asserts that ?atheists are not into helping others in any organized way.? This is demonstrably false as there are more and more secular charities arising every day, but why would one expect there to be large charities funded by what essentially amounts to a non-group of people? Atheists are individuals with no churches and, until recently, little social networking. On an individual level, though, atheists are some of the world?s largest contributors to charities around the world. In fact, the number one philanthropist on Earth is an atheist. Ever hear of Bill Gates? How about Warren Buffet? That being said, I would encourage people to gather together and contribute in whatever way they are able, not to promote a group or a name, but to create a better world for every person. We are all united in the sense that we are humans sharing this planet, and that is infinitely more important than allegiances to imaginary dictators.

Bowden then comes full-circle back to the comfort/meaning/reason for living argument by claiming that we need a reason for being, that reason must be something ?beyond the normalities of our daily lives?, and that religion provides it. First of all, I don?t know that making the claim that needing a reason for being is a fundamental attribute of human beings is entirely accurate, but it is plausible that most people desire that kind of affirmation.

This argument falls on its face in the next two steps, though. Why must this meaning be something greater than the daily activities in which we engage? Is life not made up of a series of days filled with these ?normalities?? Normalities such as pursuing a career or education, caring for children, or just making it through this existence? What if there is no ?greater purpose?? Will civilization suddenly vanish or will people adapt to being the agents in their lives instead of the pawns in a cosmic chess match? Furthermore, I will submit that religion only provides a fa?ade of fulfilling either of the preceding ?needs?.

Whether religion is an evolutionary adaptation making sense of a discordant existence or a spandrel of such processes, coming to terms with reality would only be the next step in our development. Holding on to the crutches that we once needed after the cast has been taken off is counter-productive, and as long as we do so, we will never run. Life can be frightening, bewildering, wonderful, and tedious. It can be mysterious, magical, and ordinary. It can be all of those things at once. Making up answers where there are none is not the solution, and in fact, prevents one from seeking answers themselves. Atheism is not the destruction of the quest for meaning?it is the necessary starting point for the journey.

Atheist Volunteers
http://www.earthward.org
Atheists for Autism Research
Online atheist community raised $3,555 in the last few weeks for a family in need.

?-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Blog Info: READERS ARE HIGHLY ENCOURAGED TO PROMOTE THIS BLOG ON THEIR SITE FOR ONE YEAR. Give Kelly a year and she'll give you major media theism debunked!

Subscribe (free) to our onsite feed : http://www.rationalresponders.com/blog/428/feed

Please support this project and make a widget to put Kelly's feed on your site.

This piece is part of a year long series (ends Oct 31, 2008) that Kelly of the Rational Response Squad will be writing to address theist talking heads in the media. Kelly is a Psychology major, co-host of the RRS Radio show, and has been featured on ABC debating Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort. All articles may be reprinted in any major media publication or any blog. All articles will be submitted by Kelly or an assistant to the major media outlet that initially published the story as well as to the author of the original piece(when possible). Reprints are encouraged in blogs and must link to source. Reprints in media will be thanked in our book, so please alert us if you repost any story. Media outlets may shorten articles if necessary without removing context. Upon completion, a book and documentary will be made about the year (ending Oct. 31, 2008) and our plight to have dishonest argumentation countered with rational and factual answers in the press. If you would like Kelly to address any major media story from a theist talking head, please post a link to the article in her blog. We welcome messages from leading atheists asking us to refute stories attacking them and their views. At the end of the year the writings will be given some bulk, some supporting citations, and edits from a publisher to be compiled in a book. The book will include a documentary DVD shot from Sapient's vantage point as he works alongside Kelly, asking her questions about the project as it moves along.

Atheism and religion in the news. VI

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 07:22:37 GMT

Hello all once again, Number 5 was eaten by my evil computer, so I am just jumping ahead to no.6

It makes sense if you have bothered to keep track.

More news regarding the blocking of an atheist website in turkey.

A short update about this story.

Quote:

One disturbing aspect is that the founders of Ateizm.org are at a great disadvantage. They cannot fight this effectively in the Turkish legal system because they have what appears to be a well-justified fear of the consequences if they reveal their true identities. As the individuals responsible for the most extensive criticism of Islam on the internet in Turkey, they may well be targets for attack by extremists - and they are clearly in no position to hire expensive security for themselves as Ayaan Hirsi Ali is forced to do outside of the Netherlands.

Link

A change in direction for France?

It would seem France?s latest prime minister wants to see some change happen regarding France as a secular republic.

Quote:

In a speech to foreign ambassadors in Paris, Mr Sarkozy said the ?return of religion in most of our societies? was a reality and that ?only sectarians do not see it?. The difficulty, he said, was ensuring that a religious revival did not come in the form of fundamentalist, closed and exclusive faiths.

Link

And in another article

Quote:

Nicolas Sarkozy?s speeches on religion, last month in Rome and last Monday in Saudi Arabia, fuel a lot of controversy. In his Rome speech the French president defended the notion of a ?positive la?cit?,? and recognized the importance of religion in the daily lives of men who continue to hope and to aspire to a transcendent meaning of life. In Saudi Arabia he hailed Islam as ?one of the greatest and most beautiful civilizations the world has ever known? and said that France and Saudi Arabia ?share the same objectives of the politics of civilization.?

It is as hard to know how much of what Mr. Sarkozy says he believes himself as it is to define his terms. The total confusion in which the French find themselves on the question of religion and state confirms the belief held by some that the 1905 law separating Church and State is more of a handicap than an asset, now that Islam is one of the religions that has to be accommodated by ?la?cit?,? a legal structure originally meant only to separate the Catholic Church from the State.

Link

Abuse by catholic priests

The catholics are up to their old damn tricks again.

Quote:

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland is discouraging its employees and volunteers from making anonymous reports of sexual abuse of minors, a policy change that appears to be unique among U.S. dioceses and has outraged church watchdogs. However, it has the support of the local prosecutor's office.

Link

Religious fight over a corpse.

Still think religion is reasonable? Read on.

Quote:

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A Malaysian has won a battle to give his dead wife a Christian funeral after Islamic religious authorities dropped their claim to the body on the grounds of her conversion to Islam.

Link

A blogger tells a christian about the effects of religion.

I found this personal story interesting.

Quote:

This last week I had an interesting conversation with one of my coworkers. He was talking about his church and its importance in his life. I demurred, preferring not to get into a long theological conversation at work. He would not let it rest. After about five minutes of conversation, he let one drop which I could not let pass ? ?Religion has never done anyone any harm.? I actually laughed in his face.

Link

Religion of peace MY ASS.

The title speaks for itself.

Quote:

Twice in three days, PA religious leaders have openly called for the genocide of Jews. Broadcast on official PA TV, both called for the murder of Jews until the Jewish people are annihilated. Both presented the killing of Jews not merely as the will of Allah, but also as a necessary stage in history that should be carried out now. To support these mandatory killings, both cited the same Hadith - Islamic tradition attributed to Mohammed - expressing Allah?s will that Muslims will kill Jews, before the ?Hour? of Resurrection.

Link

Survey: Unchurched Americans say church is full of hypocrites

From the horses mouth, so to speak.

Quote:

WASHINGTON (RNS)?Almost three-quarters of Americans who haven?t darkened the door of a church in the last six months think it is ?full of hypocrites,? and even more of them consider Christianity to be more about organized religion than about loving God and people, a new survey revealed.

Almost half the people surveyed?44 percent?agreed with the statement: ?Christians get on my nerves.?

Link

Atheism and religion in the news.IV

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 07:09:59 GMT

Hello all,

I have returned, my computer has been fixed and I can start bothering you all with these posts once again.

I have several days worth of links I?ll be adding asap.

As always, if anyone has any comments, plz let me know. I appreciate feedback.

I would like to make one point clear; I don?t agree with everything that every author quoted here has to say about the world. I like contrasting opinions from many different sources. Just FYI.

I intend to start mentioning why I read what I do and how I interpret it after I clear this backlog.

Apparently, ?New Atheism? has had a schism.

Apparently, these guys don`t like the RRS much.

Quote:

The new atheism, so-called, provoked widespread discussion because of the publication of several new books denying the existence of God--by Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and Victor Stenger--all contributors to Free Inquiry. Their views were not new to readers of Center for Inquiry or Prometheus Books publications; but for the first time they were presented to a broader public. They were praised by supporters and were criticized by conservative commentators who believe that the world is going to hell in a hand-basket, blaming secular liberals, notwithstanding the fact that the number of pro-God books published far exceeds those by unbelievers.

The new secularism, launched by Free Inquiry, is likewise skeptical of the claims of theistic religion, though it has a more comprehensive agenda for people who do not practice religion. It focuses primarily on: (1) the separation of church and state; (2) the secularization of ethical values; and (3) inspiration drawn from science, reason, philosophy, literature, and the arts--rather than from the books of Abrahamic religion. It appeals to large numbers of the unchurched worldwide who prefer secular, rather than otherworldly, values and who are indifferent to religion.

Link

World War IV?

I can?t say I agree with his premise. But like I said I find all viewpoints interesting.

Quote:

Prolific author and time-tested conservative Norman Podhoretz describes why the current global struggle is in fact World War IV. What happened to WWIII? Podhoretz says we are now engaged in the third conflict in a succession of conflicts against totalitarianism. We took on Nazism in WWII, communism in the Cold War (which in retrospect Podhoretz labels WWIII), and now Islamofascism in WWIV.

Link

Arguing with christians.

I found this funny as hell.

Quote:

I grabbed my half-full (always the optimist) bottle of Red Hook ESB and went to the door. I opened it up to find two women standing on the porch, smiling warmly, clutching Bibles. I could see their black Lexus parked at the curb at the foot of my driveway. Great, I thought. The freakin? neighbors have turned me in. Found out I was an atheist and sicced the Christians on me.

Link

Free Speech in Canada.

Apparently some muslims in Canada think it?s a violation of their human rights to publish pictures of their prophet.

Quote:

In the last few days, both Ed Brayton and Glenn Greenwald have written about the story of Ezra Levant, a Canadian conservative who's currently under investigation by the Alberta Human Rights Commission. Levant's "crime" was republishing the Mohammed cartoons first printed in 2005 in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, which spurred the filing of a complaint by a Canadian imam named Syed Soharwardy.

Link

Ex-congressmen indicted in terrorism case.

I can?t make this shit up.

Quote:

Siljander has a long, and often bizarre, association with religious groups in the U.S. He was initially elected to Congress thanks to the support of fundamentalist Christian groups. Upon taking office, he said he had been elected "because God wanted me in." Just two years later, in 1983, he claimed that "Arab terrorists" planned to kill him at a pro-Jewish rally, a claim the FBI and Secret Service discounted.

Link

The Fundamentalist mindset.

A completely unsurprising response to anyone who has actually debated with a fundie before.

Quote:

Some time ago I began to engage a few fundamentalists with some critical questions about some of their claims. I know, many will think I was wasting my time and in some ways I was. But one charge these folk raised against me a number of times was revealing. They accused me of ?attacking Christianity?. At the time I tended to brush aside the charge or at most offered a simple denial. It should have registered with me at the time that by raising this accusation against me they were in fact informing me why it would be a waste of time continuing any attempt at a critical discussion with them.

Link

Harry Potter and Limbo for babies.

Once again the Vatican changes its position, they have obviously been doing a lot of fine-tuning of their theology recently.

Quote:

The Vatican's position on Harry Potter has changed considerably over the years. Pope John Paul II once praised both the author and the book series, saying that the leading character was fighting against Satanism. Pope Benedict XVI doesn't accept this; even while still Cardinal Ratzinger he once wrote a letter attacking the series and it appears that he may continue to hold this position.

Link

An Iranians view on Bush?s recent trip to the middle east.

Once again, I try to show people opinion from outside North America, this time a seculat Iranians POV.

Quote:

I was contacted by Aljazeera English TV for an interview request on reaction to Bush's visit and to the Iran-US boat incident from an Iranian point of view. I declined the interview at first thinking they are looking for some expert on international relationship, which I am not, but when they insisted they are just after a lay man's view, I accepted the offer.

Link

Hindus vs. the RRS?

A hindus thoughts on the nightline debate, with links to google video of said debate in case anyone reading this hasn?t seen it yet.

Quote:

I happened to be watching a debate between The Rational Response Squad versus the Way of The Master (Ministries). They had a televised debate on ABC Nightline, some american tv show. And my Dad popped by and watched most of it with me. The best part is that he seemed to mostly agree with what "the atheists" were saying throughout the debate although when it went in the evolution/creationism, christian god/other gods and similar arguments, he popped "Why don't they have a Hindu on the show?".

Link

We're winning!

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:44:29 GMT

This post, written by Sara Robinson, originally appeared on Orcinus

I've been saying for a while now that the religious right in America finally and firmly jumped the shark over the past few years. But now that that big ol' shark's behind them, there's another bunch of critters looming ahead that may prove to be even more damning. It's that whole big flock of chickens that are finally coming home to roost.

I don't know how long they thought they were going to go on that way, all self-righteous and judgmental, blaming homosexuals and feminists for everything from 9/11 to the price of gas, ignoring the interests of the poor in favor of those of big business, and dismissing any kind of environmental stewardship as nothing more than a way to waste time until the Rapture comes. Clearly, the didn't see anything at all wrong with elevating the most spiteful and amoral among them as their national spokespeople, and rewarding them in direct proportion to the heat of their rhetoric. No, these folks were on fire (we're still not sure if it was Jesus or heartburn), and they weren't afraid to let their bilious light shine on the TV, in the streets, all the way to the White House. They did their best to set it high above the rest of the culture, where none of the rest of us could miss it if we wanted to.

And now, a new study reveals that young Americans, both inside and outside Christianity, have indeed taken note of this righteous spectacle-- and a large and growing majority of them are absolutely revolted by what they've seen.

A study released last week by the Barna Group, a reputable Evangelical research and polling firm, found that under-30s -- both Christian and non-Christian -- are strikingly more critical of Christianity than their peers were just a decade ago. According to the summary report, Barna pollster David Kinnaman found that the opinions of non-Christians, in particular, had slid like a rock in that time frame. Ten years ago, "the vast majority" of non-Christians had generally favorable views of Christianity. Now, that number stands at just 16%. When asked specifically about Evangelicals, the number are even worse: only 3% of non-Christian Millennials have positive associations with Evangelicals. Among the Boomers, it's eight times higher.

When Kinnaman asked senior pastors if they were seeing this too, half of them told him that, yes, they are finding their work to be an uphill battle -- "because people are increasingly hostile and negative toward Christianity." And his research bore this out. When he ranked young non-Christians' most common perceptions of Christianity, nine of the 12 most common attributes they named were negative ones. According to the study, "Common negative perceptions include that present-day Christianity is judgmental (87%), hypocritical (85%), old-fashioned (78%), and too involved in politics (75%)."

And this wasn't just ignorance talking. The people interviewed had an average of five Christian friends. Eighty percent of them had spent at least six months attending church themselves in the past; and half of them had considered becoming Christian, but rejected it. Familiarity with the faith, it appears, has bred quite a bit of contempt:

"As we probed why young people had come to such conclusions, I was surprised how much their perceptions were rooted in specific stories and personal interactions with Christians and in churches. When they labeled Christians as judgmental this was not merely spiritual defensiveness. It was frequently the result of truly 'unChristian' experiences. We discovered that the descriptions that young people offered of Christianity were more thoughtful, nuanced, and experiential than expected."

Some of the young adults' disdain for Christianity is the result of another new wrinkle that was nowhere on the scene a decade ago. The study found that 91% of non-Christians in America -- joined by 80% of the their peers in the pews -- now believe that Christianity is "anti-homosexual." (Gee. I can't imagine where they got that idea.) And no, they don't mean that in a good, God-fearing, General-JC-Christian sort of way. In the Barna summary, Kinnaman says, "Non-Christians and Christians explained that beyond their recognition that Christians oppose homosexuality, they believe that Christians show excessive contempt and unloving attitudes towards gays and lesbians. One of the most frequent criticisms of young Christians was that they believe the church has made homosexuality a "bigger sin" than anything else. Moreover, they claim that the church has not helped them apply the biblical teaching on homosexuality to their friendships with gays and lesbians."

Yeah, well, it's hard to find a practical way to apply a contradiction like "hate the sin, love the sinner" -- especially when everybody who isn't an ideologue knows that the "sin" is a pre-determined biological trait.

Roughly a quarter of both the Christians and non-Christians in the under-30 group also mentioned -- without being prompted -- that "Christianity has changed from what it used to be," and that it "no longer looks like Jesus." Their sheer frustration level over how far the modern Christianity had deviated from its roots took Kinnaman by surprise:

In our interviews, we kept encountering young people - both those inside the church and outside of it - who said that something was broken in the present-day expression of Christianity. Their perceptions about Christianity were not always accurate, but what surprised me was not only the severity of their frustration with Christians, but also how frequently young born again Christians expressed some of the very same comments as young non-Christians."

And, to top it all off, Kinnaman found that the American population as a whole is on a long-term trendline that's moving the country away from Christianity. "This is not a passing fad wherein young people will become 'more Christian' as they grow up," the Barna report states. "While Christianity remains the typical experience and most common faith in America, a fundamental recalibration is occurring within the spiritual allegiance of America's upcoming generations." This trendline points to a far more diverse -- and possibly more secular -- nation in the decades ahead:

(click for larger version)

This study is prompting quite a bit of soul-searching among Evangelicals. Some feel this study verifies things they've long suspected; others are just stunned. Maybe it's the way everybody's always ignored their persistent conversion efforts -- they just got so used to being tuned out by the mainstream culture that it never occurred to them that anyone might ever take anything they said seriously. And now, they're genuinely surprised to find out that yes, we were listening -- and yes, we did take it all very much to heart. And, furthermore, what we've heard has deeply damaged our opinion of them.

It seems likely that this study will trigger the persecution reflex among the more reactionary and defensive factions of the religious right. They've always felt like an embattled minority; and this report just proves what they've always intuited, which is that they're living amid a dominant culture that's increasingly hostile to their beliefs. (Some groups seem poised to honestly examine their own role in fostering that hostility; however, the more radical a group is, the less likely they are to bother with this.)

But at least it will be harder now for them to delude themselves that their efforts to drag us into theocracy are succeeding. The Barna numbers clearly show that the goal of making America a Christian nation is actually receding into the distance as successive generations turn away from the faith -- in no small part because they're gagging on the overwhelming authoritarian stench that's seeped in from the extremist edges toward the great middle.

But the study also opens the way for new developments that may prove to be very positive -- both for Christians, and for secular America.

-- There's a surprisingly unified sense between young adults, both inside and outside the faith, that the divisive, judgmental authoritarianism that's dominated Evangelical Christianity for the past 30 years has run its course. Furthermore: the "insiders" (as Barna terms Christians) see the same issues and agree with many of the criticisms as those on the outside -- and are openly talking about taking their theology in some new directions. There's an emerging sense that it's time to let go of the harsh legalism that's defined American Protestantism for the past three decades, and return to something more like the Social Gospel that demanded more of Christians than merely passing judgment on the details of other people's lives.

-- With the publication of this study, homosexuality's long, mean run as the hot-button issue that reliably rallies the faithful is probably finished. When even the next generation of Christians thinks their elders' behavior on this issue is useless and shameful, even the most die-hard culture warriors will be forced to admit that this battle is finally over -- and they lost.

As more and more Evangelical groups read the writing on the wall and back away from the issue, it may mean that full equality for gays comes considerably faster and with far less resistance than it has in the past.

-- This study gives lots of ammunition to would-be reformers within the Christian movement, and will thus hasten the demise of the old-guard leaders who built vast empires on gay-hating and abortion-baiting. Last year, Rev. Joel Hunter resigned as the head of the Christian Coalition after just three weeks after being hired because the board refused to let him back away from abortion and homosexuality as their key issues, and re-orient the group toward issues like social justice and the environment, which he argued were more interesting to younger Christians. This report gives strong support to reform-minded leaders like Hunter, so we may see more of them emerging to take the Christian right in new directions over the next few years.

-- The long-term trend toward a less Christian nation is probably good news for liberalism in general. If there are comparatively fewer Christians, there will be more people of other faiths -- though other Barna studies have found that the biggest gains of all are being made among atheist and agnostic free-thinkers, who are also the most likely to be political liberals. This, in turn, bodes well for the various scientific fields that have come under attack by the religious right; and it opens the way for Christians and non-Christians to find some fresh common ground on issues like social justice and the environment as the religious leadership changes.

Overall, the new Barna study seems to offer some hopeful prospects for a more generally liberal and diverse America in the decades ahead. Evangelical Christianity won't go away -- but there's a shift in its essential character afoot, which may even reverse the trend toward minority status over time. And it seem likely that big changes are coming that will not only make it more progressive in its view of its own mission; but will also make it a much better friend to democracy than it's been in recent years.