I missed the Reason Rally, but I’m living it vicariously through the postings of my fellow Freethought Bloggers. Totally ridiculous number of links below the fold. Please add comments to tell me if I’ve missed anything.
Canadians: support Bill C-279 (equal rights for transgender Canadians)
March 23, 2012 By 6 Comments
I don’t know how many Canadian readers I have here, but if you’re Canadian, please support Bill C-279. Call your MP (or whatever they’re called in Canada), tell your friends on Facebook, etc. Natalie has a post on this, but I also think she did a really good job of explaining it in an e-mail [...]
Great quote on “militant” atheism
March 23, 2012 By 7 Comments
Nick Cohen, via Ophelia: If you turn on the news tonight and hear of a bomber slaughtering civilians anywhere from Nigeria to the London Underground, I can reassure you of one point: the bombers will not be readers of Richard Dawkins.
It’s hard to plan 75 years into the future
March 23, 2012 By 3 Comments
Here’s another thing thing to fuels my LessWrong-inspired “trying to think about the future” kick:
Naivete about politicians
March 22, 2012 By 7 Comments
So: a Yemini journalist reports on a U.S. airstrike in Yemen, revealing that it killed 14 women and 21 children. He’s then imprisoned by the Yemini government. The Yemini government faces pressure to release him, and is all set to do so, when Obama calls the Yemini president to “express concern” about the journalist. As [...]
What are the Republicans thinking on contraception?
March 22, 2012 By 9 Comments
So first, the religious right rallies to support Catholic employers who think their religious beliefs should exempt them from following the law. Then Rush Limbaugh called a woman a “slut” for thinking contraception should be covered by health insurance. Oh, and one of the current leading Republican Presidential candidates right now is Rick Santorum, one [...]
On Augustine
March 21, 2012 By 11 Comments
Ed Feser sent me an e-mail asking if I had written this Amazon.com review. I began typing a response, then realized I should really make it into a blog post. So:
What should a book be these days? (Review of Why Are You Atheists So Angry?)
March 21, 2012 By 5 Comments
As with my review of Hank’s book, in this post I’m going to be using Greta Christina’s new book (Why Are You Atheists So Angry?: 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless) as a jumping-off point to talk about writing. But first, lest there be any confusion about this, this is a really awesome book [...]
Instead of “New Atheism,” how about popular atheism?
March 21, 2012 By 8 Comments
I should have included this in yesterday’s post, but here’s an idea: instead of the inaccurate term “New Atheism,” or the in-jokey “Gnu Atheism,” how about “popular atheism”?
The term “New Atheism” is a lie
March 20, 2012 By 52 Comments
After reading this comment on yesterday’s post on Ed Feser’s remarks about the Reason Rally, I decided I’ve heard the phrase “New Atheists” one too many times, especially when there’s an explicit contrast between the “New Atheists” and those better atheists out there. Let me tell you something: the label is a lie. When people [...]
Greta’s book is out!
March 20, 2012 By 1 Comment
Greta Christina’s book Why Are You Atheists So Angry? 99 Thing That Piss Off the Godless is now available on Kindle. I’ve read a draft, so I have a bunch of thoughts on it, but right now I’m too excited to write a real review. So go check it out!
Ed Feser on the Reason Rally
March 19, 2012 By 15 Comments
Ed Feser has a post up denouncing the Reason Rally on the grounds that it is a mass gathering and all mass gatherings are bad. Among other things, Feser wonders if there will be a “Two Minutes Hate” at the rally. I am suddenly eagerly looking forward to his denunciation of the next Catholic World [...]
The problem with Rush Limbaugh’s “slut” comments
March 19, 2012 By 15 Comments
Over at the Center for Inquiry’s blog, Ben Radford decided to use the Rush Limbaugh “slut” incident to tell skeptics not to be dicks. There are so many things wrong with this article, but I’m going to start by saying what I think was wrong with Limbaugh’s comments, so I can then explain where Radford’s [...]
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