Last month, Jim Henderson and I taped an interview with a Christian television program, Life Today, talking about our new books. Today, Part 1 (focusing on I Sold My Soul on eBay) is airing across the country. Tomorrow, Part 2 (focusing on Jim’s book, Evangelism Without Additives) will air. If you’d like to check it out on TV, a station guide can be found here.

Better yet, watch the episode online! Once the episode is available for downloading, I’ll update this posting with the link.

(At the moment, our episode is at the top of the page and labeled as “Jim Henderson”… you can watch the episode in QuickTime or Flash. If Jim’s picture is not at the top of the page, just go to the 2007 archives and look under April 30.)

Your thoughts and comments are always appreciated!


[tags]atheist, atheism, Life Today, James Robison, Betty Robison, Jim Henderson, Christian[/tags]

At the American Atheists convention in Seattle earlier this month, I was surrounded by people who were presumably non-religious. But there was a small group (three people?) of Christians who came there as well. They weren’t there to stop the event or protest or anything. But they were questioning a number of people who attended and were willing to engage them. It was slightly annoying to many atheists, gauging from the reactions I saw, but the Christians didn’t seem to be crossing any lines. Still, atheists often go to conventions to get away from those discussions. We tend to have them in so many other areas of life that it’s nice to be free of that for a few days.

I just noticed this now (I’m a week off!), but there’s a writeup about the convention on a Christian website from the person I presume to be the leader of that group, Matt Slick.

You can read the writeup here.

The interaction with AA’s communications director Dave Silverman is worth reading (Dave handled himself well).

Slick also mentions the lack of Christians on a panel dealing with the topic “Does it Really Matter if the Public Doesn’t Like Atheists?” I was on that panel. While I normally advocate having Christians (and/or other religious faiths) represented on panel discussions about atheism, this topic in particular didn’t warrant that. It was a question for those of us who were atheists, about what we needed to do to improve our image (or if we needed to improve it at all). I think there was a strong understanding among those in the room that there are some Christians who aren’t out to condemn us (or “save” us). But there is a general idea about what atheists are like, based on what you hear in the media. And that’s the view that we were questioning. I’m not sure what a Christian could have added to that discussion, not knowing what it’s like to be an atheist in today’s world.

As Slick said, “I couldn’t help notice that there were no Christians on the panel to provide a fair and proper representation of the Christian faith that they were so frequently ridiculing and often misrepresenting.” I don’t recall there being any ridiculing of the Christian faith during that panel. And if we were misrepresenting the faith of the writer in particular, we certainly weren’t misrepresenting the view that is generally accepted by the public.

The most disturbing part of Slick’s writeup is the “Quotable quotes” section. Here are the six quotations as presented on the Christian site:

“Religious indoctrination of children is the cause of mental illness.”
“Supernaturalism leads to brain damage.”
“Christianity created the problem in order to provide the solution.”
“The atonement doctrine has nothing to do with justice.”
“If logic works, then everyone would be an atheist.”
“Atheism is the cure for Christianity the disease.”

Yes, those are disturbing. What is not mentioned on the site is the source of the quotations. Actually, Slick says these are quotations from “various speakers.” That’s not true. The ones in question all came from one man, who gave what many in the audience considered to be the worst presentation of the conference. I certainly thought it was (and not just because of the PowerPoint slides displaying long excerpts from his book– self-published, I think– which he read to us as if we were illiterate).

The presentation was scientifically inaccurate. There wasn’t good evidence to back up his claims. It was offensive to just about everyone. And not a single person I spoke to later on (and that’s a large number of people) agreed with the statements that particular speaker made. Most of us were wondering why he was invited to give a presentation in the first place. (Not to mention that same guy ran long during his talk and cut into my own speaking time… which is really his worst offense )

But you don’t see the audience members’ reactions in Slick’s writeup anywhere.


[tags]atheist, atheism, American Atheists, convention, Seattle, Christian, Matt Slick, Dave Silverman, Does it Really Matter if the Public Doesn’t Like Atheists?, Supernaturalism, PowerPoint[/tags]

There’s an article in today’s New York Times about Barack Obama’s search for faith. It details how Obama came to find the Christian God through the help of Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.

It won’t be long before some atheists use this as another reason to criticize Obama for being too pious.

What might they use against him? Here are some excerpts from the article:

The Christianity that Mr. Obama adopted at [Trinity United Church of Christ] has infused not only his life, but also his campaign. He began his presidential announcement with the phrase “Giving all praise and honor to God,” a salutation common in the black church. He titled his second book, “The Audacity of Hope,” after one of Mr. Wright’s sermons, and often talks about biblical underdogs, the mutual interests of religious and secular America, and the centrality of faith in public life.

The day after the party for Mr. Wright, Mr. Obama stood in an A.M.E. church pulpit in Selma, Ala., and cast his candidacy in nothing short of biblical terms, implicitly comparing himself to Joshua, known for his relative inexperience, steadfast faith and completion of Moses’ mission of delivering his people to the Promised Land.

“Be strong and have courage, for I am with you wherever you go,” Mr. Obama said in paraphrasing God’s message to Joshua.

In “Dreams from My Father,” Mr. Obama described his teary-eyed reaction to the minister’s words. “Inside the thousands of churches across the city, I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion’s den, Ezekiel’s field of dry bones,” Mr. Obama wrote. “Those stories — of survival, and freedom, and hope — became our story, my story.”

Mr. Obama was baptized that year, and joining Trinity helped him “embrace the African-American community in a way that was whole and profound,” said [Maya Soetoro-Ng], his half sister.

In the 16 years since Mr. Obama returned to Chicago from Harvard, Mr. Wright has presided over his wedding ceremony, baptized his two daughters and dedicated his house, while Mr. Obama has often spoken at Trinity’s panels and debates. Though the Obamas drop in on other congregations, they treat Trinity as their spiritual home, attending services frequently. The church’s Afrocentric focus makes Mr. Obama a figure of particular authenticity there, because he has the African connections so many members have searched for.

Yes, Obama is religious. That’s not a surprise. But we cannot forget that he was also a constitutional law professor who understands and respects the necessity for separation of church and state. He shares the values that most atheists hold and he’s not about to kowtow to the Religious Right.

Before attacking him for allowing a church to play such an important role in his life, don’t forget these passages from the same article:

While [Obama] has said he shares core Christian beliefs in God and in Jesus as his resurrected son, he sometimes mentions doubts. In his second book, he admitted uncertainty about the afterlife, and “what existed before the Big Bang.” Generally, Mr. Obama emphasizes the communal aspects of religion over the supernatural ones.

As a presidential candidate, Mr. Obama is reaching out to both liberal skeptics and committed Christians. In many speeches or discussions, he never mentions religion. When Mr. Obama, a former constitutional law professor, does speak of faith, he tends to add a footnote about keeping church and state separate.

Mr. Wright, who has long prided himself on criticizing the establishment, said he knew that he may not play well in Mr. Obama’s audition for the ultimate establishment job.

“If Barack gets past the primary, he might have to publicly distance himself from me,” Mr. Wright said with a shrug. “I said it to Barack personally, and he said yeah, that might have to happen.”

I’ve written before that Obama may be the best candidate that atheists have had in recent history. It’ll be some time before we have one of our own able to run for such a high office, but Obama isn’t one to condemn. We’re not at the point where we can criticize someone for simply being religious. As long as our rights are respected, scientific progress is prioritized, and critical thinking is favored over religious intuition, we’re going to be better off than where we are now. And Obama embodies all that.


[tags]atheist, atheism, New York Times, Barack Obama, Christian, God, Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., Trinity United Church of Christ, The Audacity of Hope, Dreams From My Father, David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, Maya Soetoro-Ng, Harvard, Religious Right[/tags]

According to the BBC, Turkey is adamant that church and state be kept separate:

[Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal] Ataturk was determined that this mainly Muslim nation would be a modern, secular country, and he introduced wide-ranging reforms, including the emancipation of women, the introduction of western dress, legal code and alphabet, and the abolition of Islamic institutions.

Turkey’s ruling elite and the powerful military have seen it as their job to protect what Ataturk set up.

Even politically Islamic parties maintain a secular government:

The [Justice and Development] party has its roots in political Islam, but insists it respects the secular principles of the constitution.

…

The staunchly secular elite of Turkey believes a president whose wife wears an Islamic headscarf would have Ataturk turning in his grave.

Ok. That’s all well and good.

Can someone please explain, then, why Turkey is the only nation worse than us in this survey of people’s attitudes toward evolution?

It’s hard to believe religion is so pervasive in the Turkish culture to the point that evolution is regarded as false by over half the population… and yet the people would vote to elect representatives who maintained secular values.


[tags]atheist, atheism, BBC, Turkey, church, state, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Muslim, Islam[/tags]

The new Carnival of the Godless is at Klaas Acts. Go check it out!

The next CotG is at The Atheist Experience in two weeks.

Submit your entries here!


[tags]atheist, atheism, Carnival of the Godless, Klaas Acts, The Atheist Experience[/tags]

I’m not an anime fan, but one film called Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, came to my attention:

[Director Mamoru] Oshii also explores what Richard Dawkins calls the extended phenotype, structures that are genetically encoded, but external to the body. The beaver’s dam and the spider’s web are natural illustrations of this, and, in the film, memory itself has become externalised in this manner.

And judging by the picture, The Selfish Gene also comes into play.

I need to start watching this stuff…


[tags]atheist, atheism, anime, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, Mamoru Oshii, Richard Dawkins, extended phenotype, Selfish Gene[/tags]

The first ever Humanist Symposium can be found this week at Daylight Atheism. Go read it!

The next HS is at Confessions of an Anonymous Coward in three weeks.

Submit your entries here!


[tags]atheist, atheism, Humanist Symposium, Daylight Atheism, Confessions of an Anonymous Coward[/tags]

Mojoey (of the fantastic Atheist Blogroll) has a great review of I Sold My Soul on eBay up at his site.

Forget the review itself for a moment. Mojoey tells of the perils he endured while simply in possession of the book at an airport:

[Hemant's note: A few corrections have been made by me]

I was singled out to go through the sniffer, which was followed by a manual check of my bags. The lady who checked my bags pulled [I Sold My Soul on eBay] out and looked at it for a moment.

“Are you an atheist?” I answered “Yes.”

She pointed to the tables at the end of the line. “Step over there.”

15 minutes later I was cleared to enter the airport. Note to self – next time say “huh – what?”

So much security… and Mojoey’s white! Man, that’s just scary.

It didn’t stop there. As he waited in line to board his flight, someone else noticed the book:

A funny little man was collecting newspapers to read prior to boarding a flight. My computer bag was resting where my ass had been a few minutes before. Hemant’s book was on top. The newspaper man reached down and picked it up (which pissed me off).

“Why would an atheist care about faith – that’s stupid, why are you reading such a stupid book?”

I am defiantly not the Friendly Atheist, I’m more like the really big scary man you never want to piss off – my response to the newspaper collector is not printable. The newspaper man dropped my book, tripped over a chair in his haste to depart, while loudly proclaiming “I’m sorry man, I’m sorry.”

Security came over to talk to me, they asked what happened. I said ‘”huh – what?”

Mojoey finally boarded the plane. But his adventures with the book didn’t stop there…:

One of the flight attendants was passing out the little indigestible snack boxes filled with dried fruit can cookies. She paused and looked at the back of the book. Her face screwed up like a prune as she read the words “Unique insights from an atheist’s Sunday-morning odyssey.” I turned the cover toward her, she recoiled like a vampire from a cross. I never got a snack box.

I owe Mojoey a snack box the day we meet in person.

With all the craziness my book put him through, he still gives it a very kind review.

I should also give a mention of the best line in the posting, one that the book’s marketing team will surely enjoy:

I hate to say it, but I Sold my Soul on eBay made me want to go to church.

Not necessarily for the same reasons as a Christian would… but still

I’m loving these stories of people having scuffles or interesting conversations because of the book. Please keep sending them along!


[tags]atheist, atheism, Mojoey, Atheist Blogroll, I Sold My Soul on eBay, Friendly Atheist, Christian[/tags]

If anyone is in Chicago tomorrow and would like to hear Indian people talk about writing, stop by the Kriti Festival tomorrow morning at the University of Illinois at Chicago! Tickets for the entire day are $20 for adults and $10 for students.

The Kriti Festival is sponsored by DesiLit, which “works to build support for South Asian and diaspora writers.”

I’ll be on a non-fiction writers panel at 10:00 am (local time) which will be followed by a book reading (which, if allowed, will be me telling stories instead of doing an actual reading).


[tags]atheist, atheism, Kriti Festival, DesiLit, Indian, University of Illinois at Chicago[/tags]

They know I’m part of the “evil atheist conspiracy.” And I was so trying to keep my atheist agenda hidden. Alas. I guess I must tell the truth now…

Everyone, I’m an atheist. And I would like others to understand what that entails.

*phew* I actually feel much better now.

Here’s what Tristan writes:

PERSECUTOR We at STR.com have been the victims of persecution. This man who calls himself “The Friendly Atheist” has written shocking things about our own dear Shelley. He is part of the evil atheist conspiracy which aims to destroy our ability to reveal the truth about what is happening in America.

So I’m the persecutor. Who’s being persecuted? Apparently, Michael Behe, Tom Delay, and Shelley the Republican.

I should just surrender, them figuring me out and all…


[tags]atheist, atheism, evil atheist conspiracy, The Friendly Atheist, Michael Behe, Tom Delay, Shelley the Republican[/tags]