If you missed the Chicago Bears game yesterday, it was awesome.

(Oh wait… we’re mostly atheists here. We don’t follow sports.)

Short recap: Devin Hester returned a punt and a kickoff back for touchdowns. Bears had a blocked punt near the end of the game and a last-minute touchdown to tie it. They won in overtime on a field goal.

Back to Hester for a moment…

The Bears have a 5-6 record but they’re still in the hunt for a playoff spot. I’d argue the main reason is because Hester has kept them in games they would have otherwise lost. He provides sparks when the team needs them the most.

It’s interesting to see where the praise for yesterday’s victory is going, though.

Devin, the humble guy he is, thanks God. That’s not unusual for a superstar athlete. Hester’s not hiding his faith, either. He has tattoos of a “biblical verse on his back and the artwork on his arms.”

But it’s strange to hear others say the same thing.

David Ramsey of the Colorado Springs Gazette throws in some religious imagery (with Hester’s help):

Still, this quiet man is blessed with a massive reservoir of self-belief. Hester had just shredded the Broncos, delivered a victory for the ages to throngs of Bears fans, but he didn’t surprise himself. He expects to arrive in the end zone.

“I’m just playing with God-given talent,” he said, “and God blessed me with a lot of great things.”

Amen to that, Devin. Amen and amen.

The headline of Chicago Sun-Times‘ Jay Mariotti‘s column today read this:

Devin from heaven saves Bears again

Head coach Lovie Smith said this last night:

“We were saying a lot of prayers [during the game]… Thank God they came through.”

Can’t we just give credit where it’s due?

Hester is a great player who works hard in practice and never feels like the game is over. It’s not a divine gift. It’s just a damn good athlete.

At least the Chicago Tribune‘s David Haugh managed to get it right with his response to Smith’s comments:

“We were saying a lot of prayers,” Lovie Smith said. “Thank God they came through.”

For Devin’s sake, don’t forget to thank Hester too.

[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]

The Creation Museum is “evolving” and getting 663 new parking spaces as part of a $500,000 upgrade.

The museum will add 663 parking spaces, outdoor canopies and a maintenance building and will move its main entrance as part of a $500,000 upgrade, according to a report in The Kentucky Enquirer.

They’re not adding anything science-related, of course… there’s no room for any of that heresy in the building.


[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]

When it comes to the largest Facebook groups about The Golden Compass, the numbers speak for themselves:

Let’s see the other side of the issue (this is the largest group I could find):

I think it goes to show that many Christians are making a mountain out of a molehill. It’s not like atheists are holding parties across the country over this. It’s just a movie written by an atheist author. And, yes, it includes religious themes. But that’s about it.

As a volunteer and member of a number of atheist organizations, I have yet to receive any emails telling me to go see this movie. I’ve only received messages about the boycotts and responses to them.

In any case, the atheist “support” is nothing like the support that Christians gave a movie like The Chronicles of Narnia.

Random eerie note: Had I not moved when I was 14, I would’ve attended the same high school as the creator of the 45,000+ pro-boycotting group. Scary.

Daniel, who submitted the links, asks this:

… From what I’ve seen, [the largest group on the list is] full of misinformation, and, even worse, an insistence that there be no debate about the subject. I myself have received invitations which, when I refused, were followed up with the sort of attitude we’ve seen in the past, where the fact that an opinion is religiously based makes it immune to criticism.

…

What can be done to dispel all the misinformation out there? Is it even possible to do so when the boycotters are dead-set on not even looking at the books themselves?

(Thanks to Daniel for the link!)


[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]

A new study on “innovative bereavement care service at Dublin’s Beaumont Hospital” was recently conducted by Trinity College, Dublin.

The results:

The survey found that a third of people mourning a loved one turned to their family, with a quarter relying friends and one in five getting support from children.

Lower down the list, pets ranked ahead of priests and spiritual advisers, books, films and professionals.

So when things are in doubt, the priests get shafted.

I wonder why that is…

Do they talk too much (compared to silent pets)? Do they say the wrong things? Do religious people simply not rely on them as much as they say they do publicly?

(Thanks to Joe for the link!)


[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]

It’s kind of like the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour, and The Original Kings of Comedy tour…

Except this group has some diversity.

What a novel approach…

A Muslim, a Hindu, a Christian, a Jew and an atheist walk into a comedy club. It’s not the beginning of a joke, but it is the start of an evening of holy – or unholy – humor.

(Atheist) Keith Lowell Jensen began the group along with the help of his (Hindu) friend Tapan Trivedi:

Jensen said, “I was hanging out backstage at a comedy show one night, chatting with my buddy Tapan, and we were laughing that here we were, an atheist and a Hindu, about to go onstage before a roomful of Christians and tell jokes.

“It hit us what a cool thing that actually was.”

Now, the group is five strong, including (Christian) John Ross, (Jew) Chad Lehrman, and (Muslim) Tissa Hami.

So far, they’ve been a hit, selling out multiple shows in California.

I like (atheist) Jensen already:

As the atheist, Jensen said, he enjoys the opportunity of “destroying their sacred cows – figuratively, but sometimes literally” – although the real purpose is not to ridicule another’s religion so much as to try to understand it.

“It’s kind of an interfaith thing,” Jensen said. “You don’t see a lot of atheists being invited to interfaith meetings, and it’s true that we’re not a faith, but we do have something to contribute to the discussion.”

I also really like the atheist knock-knock joke at the 2:50 mark of this clip

(You can check out clips from everyone in the group here.)

If you’re in the Sacramento or San Francisco area, you can get tickets to upcoming shows! Or just join San Francisco Atheists and watch the group when they perform at the upcoming Solstice Party


[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]

There’s always talk about what atheists don’t believe. But what do they believe?

A reader named Steve has a website where he lists 17 “propositions” that he feels non-believers should follow.

A few examples:

2) Do not attempt to impose belief systems on others.

…

12) Do not denigrate believers.

…

15) Do not search for a meaning to life.

Some seems obvious. Some seem dead-on. Some need some serious rewording.

At times, it sounds like he is saying that we can’t learn anything from religious people, though I don’t think that’s his intent.

Granted most atheists would not write a list like this at all (there’s no need to codify non-belief), are there any general rules of thumb non-religious people should follow?


[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]

The new Carnival of the Godless is at The Sexy Secularist. Go check it out!

The next CotG is at The Jesus Myth in two weeks.

Submit your entries here!

…

The Humanist Symposium can be found this week at The Greenbelt. Go read it!

The next HS is at Evanescent in three weeks.

Submit your entries here!


[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]

Whenever Dorid finishes her “Atheist’s Holiday coloring and activity book,” it’s going to sell like hotcakes.

That picture above is a draft, but the one below is finished:

Hotcakes, I tell you.


[tags]atheist, atheism, squid, cephalopod[/tags]

It’s a side comment, but it makes so much sense…

Keith Olbermann, talking about Karl Rove and the George W. Bush Presidential Library:

OLBERMANN: Yes, I understand that. You know, one of the other you‘s in there is Karl Rove that story about him possibly being in charge of the presidential library, the creation museum of presidential libraries then. What does this tell us about the relationship of the truth to now not the administration of George W. Bush but the legacy of George W. Bush?

(via Evolution Blog)


[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]