Reddit popularity surges and a new meme

The atheism “subreddit” has skyrocketed in popularity because it was moved to the main page of www.reddit.com. /r/atheism as it’s called now boasts over 200,000 subscribers! To commemorate this milestone the subreddit changed its background at the top to a space theme with the same teapot alien in the foreground to represent Russell’s Teapot. Many sites have congratulated the resource, but there has been an influx of Christian and theist participation. Hopefully, this increased involvement from theists will challenge them, but some content of /r/atheism might drive them toward the conclusion that atheists are close-minded and rude. This conclusion might come despite the many posts on the site explaining succinctly the atheist position and why atheists act and feel the way they do. Many of these new critics might question the effectiveness and usefulness of /r/atheism, but defenders of the subreddit also cite all of the thank you messages that the site gets on a regular basis.

At the same time, by coincidence, a popular meme is circulating on the site. The new meme is “Good Guy Lucifer.” The take is that many atheists have commented, perhaps even since the Bible was written, that Lucifer actually seems more like a protagonist compared to God than an antagonist. This might add fuel to the fire to some of the more ignorant Christians who claim atheists are Satanists, but the literary point should not be ignored — Satan kills less people and, paradoxically, seems to do good in the Bible at times.

You can visit the atheism subreddit here. You can also see more Good Guy Lucifer memes here.

Update: Read More

Recovering from Religion organization announces new executive director

Darrel Ray started a group in 2009 called Recovering from Religion. The aims of the group are to:

…provide support to each other as we uncover myths and superstitions that have governed so much of our past thinking and behavior. Our purpose is NOT to convert anyone to any organization or group, but to question superstition and irrational ideas when we encounter them.” Source

The new executive director is Jerry DeWitt. DeWitt was formerly religious and has been heavily involved in helping others make the transition to non-believer as safely and gently as possible. DeWitt, for example, has been one of the members in the forefront of the Clergy Project. You can read more about the Recovering from Religion group here. You can also listen to our interview with Darrel Ray here.

Thanks to the FriendlyAtheist for the story.

Richard Dawkins & Bill O’Reilly, Again

Richard Dawkins made another appearance on the Fox News program The O’Reilly Factor to discuss his new children’s book, The Magic of Reality.

As expected, O’Reilly’s ideas were superficial and incorrect, conflating religion with morality and violent political philosophy with atheistic philosophy.

It is, nevertheless, enjoyable to see the two personalities spar:

“I know you are but what am I?” says God.

Recently I came across a facebook discussion that revolved around this quote:

Sometimes I would like to ask God why He allows poverty, suffering, and injustice when He could do something about it. But I’m afraid He would ask me the same question. – Anonymous

The quote was posted by The Christian Left, and the comments that followed were pretty much what you would expect – expressions along the lines of “how true!” and “we are so prepared to point fingers, but never ask ourselves what we can do.”

So alright – I am all for calls for social justice. Really. In fact the one other topic that takes up as much of my mental time and energy as atheism is social justice. And I am also for Christians not being on the right – regardless of whether the historical Jesus was really this super peaceable guy (which he probably wasn’t), the Jesus depicted in scripture tends to say some pretty clear things about the poor being blessed and the greedy being sinful. So I appreciate Christians who take their faith and put it towards making our society better, rather than spreading prejudice and tribalism.

But of course the logical side of me has to take serious issue with this clever way of getting around the question of evil. For sure, we all bear responsibility for social injustice – atheists would be the last people to deny this, believing as we do that this world is only what we make of it.[1] But if we are positing an all-loving, all-powerful God – as even liberal Christians continue, by and large, to do – the question of evil still remains. All this comforting quote does is distract us from the problem by chiding us not to be too self-righteous – in fact, it is as if God is employing the old school-yard taunt, “I know you are but what am I?” That is not a valid or logical response.

Much more similar nonsense rests at the deeply contradictory core of liberal Christianity. On the upcoming podcast, we discuss the old accusation that atheists only focus on the Fundies because the Fundies are the easiest to criticize and ridicule, and we ignore all those nice, liberally Christians out there because they would seriously complicate our view of what religion is. Of course, this is a flawed argument, for several reasons we discuss on the podcast; however, it is not totally without merit. I would hazard to say that it would be a worthy project that we do in fact talk more often about liberal theology and liberal Christianity – if for no other reason than this kind of logical fuzziness is extremely frustrating.[2]

—————————-

Can belief kill? - Exploring the mind-body connection

Several years ago, I was dozing in and out of an afternoon nap in the back of my car. While chatting away with the endless dialogue that often typifies my dream experience, I realized that my eyes were open, and I could see my arm and my hand and the back of the front seat in front of me. I tried to move – but nothing happened. I tried again, and yet I remained unable to budge. It felt as though I was trapped inside a rock.

My first thought was that I was dying. For a brief moment this seemed like a mere interesting observation, “Huh, maybe I’m dead” but then as the seconds ticked away my inability to move started to build up panic inside me. Finally, I focused all my energy on being able to move and in one final push, was able to suddenly burst awake, sitting straight up. That was my first experience with sleep paralysis.

Visitations from witches are another traditional interpretation of sleep paralysis.

Anyone who has experienced sleep paralysis knows it is a deeply terrifying experience, especially the first time it happens. However, once I looked up what had happened to me, and learned it is a universal, and perfectly normal, experience, my future encounters with sleep paralysis were not nearly half so bad. True, they were still frightening and frustrating, but at least I could think calmly to myself in the midst of them, “this is sleep paralysis, and it will pass.”

But what if you didn’t know what sleep paralysis was? And even worse, what if the explanation you did have understood sleep paralysis as a visitation from an evil spirit, or a demon? Traditionally, this is how cultures of various stripes have accounted for sleep paralysis – in the Christian tradition it is often known as “the devil sitting on your chest.”[1] Now this is an explanation that is likely to make the experience of sleep paralysis not less, but considerably more horrifying. Indeed, perhaps this could even contribute to your horror so much, that it might actually kill you – that, at least, is the argument of a new book by Shelley Adler, called Sleep Paralysis: Night-mares, Nocebos, and the Mind Body Connection.

Continue reading…

Creation “Museum” opens in San Diego County

Creation “Museums” are popping up like toadstools all over the country, the latest of which has sprouted in San Diego County, California, and appears to be wasting no time in its effort to lower the nation’s collective IQ through its administering of antiquated blarney, despite the fact that their ideas have been old hat for well over a century.

Religious beliefs tend to not be very concerned with whether or not ideas are true, but rather how tenacious they are. One comes to this realization while reviewing the current religious explanations for myriad phenomena only to discover that, despite having been completely and utterly refuted for decades or even centuries, they remain completely unchanged or merely redressed in freshly creased slacks, hoping you won’t discover that they’re still wearing the same skidmarked undies beneath a new fashionable pretence.

Continue reading…

Offenders can choose between church or jail time

Beginning next week, Operation ROC (Restore Our Community) will have a city judge offer those found guilty of misdemeanors the choice between working off their offenses in jail and paying a fine or attending the church of their choice every week for a year. WKRG-TV in Mobile, Ala., reported 56 churches in North Baldwin County are participating in the program.

Read more