What better way to brainwash people than to stress them, exhaust them, force them to go without food and sleep? And THEN jump in with your message, the thing you want to force into their unresisting minds, when they’re at their most vulnerable? I’m describing the brainwashing tactics of Stalin, or Mao Tse Tung, right? No. I’m talking about U.S. Military chaplains. I’m talking about the brainwashing of U.S. soldiers to become Christians, and Christian evangelists. All of it paid for, by … [Read more...]
Duh, Idiot Me — or: Why The Catholic Church Soldiers On
May 25, 2012 By 37 Comments
Reading this article on Papal infallibility — Postponing Self-Destruction of the Catholic Church — I just now learned the real reason why the Catholic Church doesn't update its outworn policies on things like contraceptives, marriage, or human morality. Because, really, who hasn't thought about how much good this huge worldwide organization could do if it reversed its stand on condoms and contraceptives? Rather than waiting for tardy governments to act, it could simply began distributing … [Read more...]
Reason Not to Rest
May 23, 2012 By 5 Comments
I'm reading the book American Pandemic: The Lost Worlds of the 1918 Influenza Epidemic, by Nancy K. Bristow. It's pretty good by the way, well worth a read. It's amazing reading about how many people were dying, and how the public reception, including media coverage, was so casual for so long. And really, how the thing mostly vanished from the public mind after it was all over, despite its impact. Wikipedia says "Between 50 and 130 million died, making it one of the deadliest natural … [Read more...]
A Day to Draw Mo
May 20, 2012 By 8 Comments
Speaking of anniversaries (re: PZ's 10 years), today is the second annual anniversary of Everybody Draw Mohammed Day. From the Wikipedia entry, here's a paragraph honoring people who live in some alternate universe in which the concept of freedom of expression is poorly understood: Law professor and blogger Ann Althouse rejected the Everybody Draw Mohammed Day idea because "depictions of Muhammad offend millions of Muslims who are no part of the violent threats." James Taranto, writing in the … [Read more...]
Short Stack #13
May 5, 2012 By 8 Comments
[Apology in advance: Some of these may be repeats.] Jesus praying to God is the same as masturbation. ______________________ New Superstitions for the Modern Age: If your oatmeal has black specks in it, and if you eat the black specks, you will sicken and die. Eight-year-olds, take note. ______________________ Why, yes, you're right. It IS a "mute" point. Probably best to say no more about it. … [Read more...]
Interview With The Blue Collar Atheist
May 4, 2012 By 6 Comments
Sometimes you read something you wrote or said sometime back, and you go "Damn! That was me? This is some really good stuff!" That was my reaction to this post on my old site, shortly after the publication of my book. Anyway, I'm reposting it. ------------------------------ What’s the book about? … [Read more...]
In Case You Missed It …
May 1, 2012 By 4 Comments
This is the piece that appeared in the Albany Times Union newspaper this last Saturday, in the Voices of Faith column on the Faith & Values page. (Interestingly, it used to be the Religion page, and I suspect the change reflects some sort of sea change in understanding that "values" can come from someplace other than religion. Which is progress, and which I attribute directly to newly-vocal atheists making that very point.) The two other main stories on the page were "Pope orders crackdown … [Read more...]
God Without Spellcheck
April 29, 2012 By 12 Comments
I love/hate this kind of thing. Either way, it's often worth a laugh. I'm sure you have your own unfavorite misspelled signs, posters, etc., from the goddy demographic. Send me some links! Let's start a collection. … [Read more...]
Small-Town Blowhard Kills Jesus
April 28, 2012 By 11 Comments
I wrote a piece for my local newspaper some weeks back, and it came out today in the Times Union newspaper of Albany, New York: Atheists Aim for Goodness. Anytime you have a letter or an opinion piece on atheism in your local paper — something well worth doing, by the way — you get a storm of letters in response. Nice Christians diligently explain why you can't possibly be right, and how you have no logical basis for your atheism, and even how there are no such things as real atheists. The … [Read more...]
In Which I Admit to Being Wrong
April 27, 2012 By 9 Comments
Kudos to the lot of you! I’m more than a little pleased with how the discussion worked out in comments to my Liberal Knees post about the burkha. All of the comments were thoughtful, most were lengthy, and none of them were flames against me or the other readers/commenters. Best of all, I learned some stuff, and I hope others did too. There were more nuances in the issue than my simple formulation of “I don’t get to wear a mask in public; I don’t think anyone else should.” Most … [Read more...]
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