December 2011
37 posts
vivakafka asked: Have you seen the Hitchens (and Fry) intelligence squared debate arguing against the motion that "the Catholic church is a force for good in the world"?
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This is so freaking cool
I don’t know how accurate this is, but even if it’s only ball park it blows my mind.
http://scaleofuniverse.com/
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Gay community apologizes to Amy Koch for ruining...
Original source here. ~JJ
An Open Apology to Amy Koch on Behalf of All Gay and Lesbian Minnesotans Dear Ms. Koch, On behalf of all gays and lesbians living in Minnesota, I would like to wholeheartedly apologize for our community’s successful efforts to threaten your traditional marriage. We are ashamed of ourselves for causing you to have what the media refers to as an “illicit...
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Happy winter solstice!
I hope the sun-god Mithra is able to fight off the night tonight… otherwise today might just be the last day of the world.
In all seriousness though… I love the holidays and I love celebrating the solstice. I grew up in a Christian household and after I became atheist, I worried that my kids would miss out on all the Christmas traditions that I loved as a child. But creating our...
Angels
My 7-year old son: Mom… Grandma told me angels are real. Are they?
Me: No. There are lots of stories about angels, but there is absolutely no proof that they exist.
My son: Grandma says that angels watch over us and keep us safe.
Me: Yes… she believes that is true. I used to have to say a prayer before I went to bed that said “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord...
“Let us treat men and women well; treat them as if they were real. Perhaps they...”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Yeah, it's going to get complicated
religiousragings:
ohyeabridgetyea:
Religion is so fucking complicated.
Just remember that the whole thing was based on thousands of years oral tradition written down on skins in all capital letters and without spaces and punctuation. They were written by many, many different people, re-transcribed hundreds of times by people with who-knows-what personal agenda, translated dozens of more...
The grave will supply plenty of time for silence.
You will be greatly missed, Hitch. ~JJ
“How dismal it is to see present day Americans yearning for the very orthodoxy...”
– Christopher Hitchens
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“This is what the LORD says:
“Do not learn the ways of the nations
or be...”
–
Jeremiah 10:2-4 God does not like Christmas trees! (via dustinhartley)
I absolutely adore finding passages like this in the bible! ~JJ
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Wait, what?
My son: Mom? Was Jesus a real person?
Me: No one knows for sure… I tend to think he probably was and that’s why there are so many stories about him. But if he was real, he was just a normal guy - he didn’t do any miracles and he certainly wasn’t a god.
My son: Wait, what? A god?
Me: Yeah. In the bible it says that Jesus was a god.
My son: There are two gods in...
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"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you"
nonplussedbyreligion:
blogvader:
I’m not sure about the rest of you, but this Bible verse gives me the fucking creeps.
We see anti-choice people using this verse on the abortion tags in an attempt to convey that their god is opposed to abortion, but, they ignore the other stories. (You know, the one where god aborts the entire world, including children and babies, and the one where he...
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“One of the great virtues of science is that scientists know when they...”
– ~Richard Dawkins (in The Magic of Reality)
Have I mentioned I love this book? Because I really, really do. ~JJ
Horror for the Holidays: Meet the Anti-Santa →
“The Krampus is a character from European Alpine folklore, common in Austria and Switzerland. The creature stands on two hooves and has horns growing out of its skull. An extremely long tongue hangs out of its mouth, and it carries a basket to haul away naughty children.
For hundreds of years, the Krampus and Saint Nicholas have worked a kind of good cop-bad cop routine. Saint Nick rewards...
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Manners
When my 19 month old says “Thank you” it sounds like “Fuck you.”
Is it wrong that I get giddy with anticipation when the grandparents ask her “What do you say?” when they give her something?
Holiday Greetings
Just catching up on this week’s Daily Show and I found a greeting for you, @nonplussedbyreligion: “I wish you and yours a happy and heartfelt, End of the Fiscal 4th Quarter.” (Jon Stewart and/or writers of The Daily Show)
Now that is a greeting I can definitely get behind!
~JJ
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David and Goliath
How the story is told to children (and what most Christians believe):
Goliath was a very large, very mean bully that was terrorizing a town full of nice people. Everyone was afraid of him and wanted him to quit being mean, but no one was brave enough to stand up to him. One day, with God’s gift of courage, a little boy named David decided to try. He bravely confronted the bully, and...
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Pink and Say
We got this book at the local library a few days ago. It’s a true story about an interracial friendship during the Civil War.
This was a tough read. My six year old and I were both crying by the end. But it provided an incredibly poignant inlet into a conversation about war, laws, race, religion, presidents, and morality.
At one point during our discussion, my son said, “War...
Why I love Scooby Doo
abaldwin360:
“Because that’s the thing about Scooby-Doo: The bad guys in every episode aren’t monsters, they’re liars. I can’t imagine how scandalized those critics who were relieved to have something that was mild enough to not excite their kids would’ve been if they’d stopped for a second and realized what was actually going on. The very first rule of Scooby-Doo, the single premise that sits at...
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The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really...
If I had been given a book like this as a child, I believe my life would have taken an entirely different path. It is truly magical (in the poetic sense of the word).
I’m reading it with my 6 year old, but I would say ages 10 on up would be most appropriate.
Sadly, many children (and their parents) will miss out because of Dawkins’ reputation. I think people forget that he is a...
“Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and...”
– Richard Dawkins
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My 6-year-old told high school kids "God is not...
My son came home a few days ago with a huge grin on his face. ”I told the big kids on the bus that god isn’t real today.”
“Oh, really?” I respond. ”What prompted that discussion?”
“I don’t know… they were just talking about it. And then they said that anyone that didn’t believe in god would go to HELL.” He points down...
When you condone atrocities just because they were...
“We all have opinions. We’re all entitled to them. No matter how shitty others...”
– Me in response to a friend asking why Newt Gingrich’s comments are any worse than the things I say about Gingrich. Not the first time I’ve re-evaluated the people in my life lately. Religion can make otherwise intelligent people say and ask the dumbest things. ~ Kim
(via nonplussedbyreligion)
nonplussedbyreligion: Religion Needs To Be... →
nonplussedbyreligion:
“Our gods are dead. Ancient Klingon warriors slew them a millenia ago. They were…more trouble than they were worth.” - Lt. Cmdr Worf
The annual Christmas whine fest has begun. This is in addition to the regularly scheduled whining that believers engage in about being “persecuted in…
Yes, yes and yes. And also yes.
