10 myths -- and 10 truths -- about atheism

Sam Harris sets out to set things straight:

10) Atheism provides no basis for morality.

If a person doesn't already understand that cruelty is wrong, he won't discover this by reading the Bible or the Koran — as these books are bursting with celebrations of cruelty, both human and divine. We do not get our morality from religion. We decide what is good in our good books by recourse to moral intuitions that are (at some level) hard-wired in us and that have been refined by thousands of years of thinking about the causes and possibilities of human happiness.

We have made considerable moral progress over the years, and we didn't make this progress by reading the Bible or the Koran more closely. Both books condone the practice of slavery — and yet every civilized human being now recognizes that slavery is an abomination. Whatever is good in scripture — like the golden rule — can be valued for its ethical wisdom without our believing that it was handed down to us by the creator of the universe.

Virgin Komodo Dragon Prepares To Give Birth

http://www.sci-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=113006DYE9QO

In an evolutionary twist, Flora the Komodo dragon has managed to become pregnant all on her own without any male help. She is carrying seven baby Komodo dragons.

"We were blown away when we realized what she'd done," said Kevin Buley, a reptile expert at Flora's home at the Chester Zoo in this town in northern England. "But we certainly won't be naming any of the hatchlings Jesus."

Other reptile species reproduce asexually in a process known as parthenogenesis. But Flora's virginal conception, and that of another Komodo dragon earlier this year at the London Zoo, are the first time it has been documented in a Komodo dragon.

I, for one, welcome the arrival of our new Komodo Jesus overlords.

And Merry Christmas! Peace to all men of good will... except the obtuse people who either try to glorify their own petty sacrificial religion on the back of our holiday, and the seculars who refuse to celebrate it. Christmas is our holiday, a holiday about pagan rituals and symbols, about food and plenty, about winter, about gifts, about commercialism, about celebrating and joy. You can stay grumpy, I'm celebrating.

Final Atheist Christmas Podcast of 2006!

A Krampus Kristmas

Scientology videos

Atheism Online 2.0 is Launched!

Great news everybody! Atheism Online 2.0 is launched! It's back, with a vengeance.

Black Sun Journal, Kill The Afterlife, The Evangelical Atheist, 10,000 Reasons to Doubt the Fish, and Goosing the Antithesis are the new sponsors.

Sean Prophet has taken the lead and done amazing work on the new site. I invite everyone with an atheism-related site, blog, or forum to head over there and register in the directory, even if your site is already listed on the blogroll. If you did so before in the past, please do so again. It will generate more hits for you, and make you look really snazzy. We also have cool new buttons for you to put on your site. Visit the Black Sun Journal link at the top of this post for all the details.

Among other things, the new and improved site has a blogroll, directory, news feeds, FAQs, articles, links, and even a discussion forum! A few of these features are still undergoing a little tweaking, but the progress is coming along quickly and they will be fully functional very soon.

So what are you waiting for? Visit the site, check out all the great links and resources, and get yourself listed!

The New Life Church Needs Your Help!

Things have taken a turn for the worse at New Life Church. First, it was the explosive revelation that Ted Haggard partook in gay sex and hard drugs.

Shortly thereafter came a new revelation that another pastor at New Life Church, this time one who "taught leadership skills to young adults," Christopher Beard, also dabbled in "sexual misconduct." I may be going out on a limb here, but I am willing to bet that Mr. Beard enjoyed some gay anal and/or oral sex.

And Mr. Beard has a degree from Oral Roberts University. I shit you not.

So where is New Life Church now? Well, they've begun an internal witch-hunt of massive proportions. They are calling on anyone and everyone who has first hand knowledge of any shenanigans by any church members/leaders to report it via a convenient web form on their site (provided that you keep the communication to 500 words or less).

I hope that all the Denver area male prostitutes and drug dealers have Internet access. They need to get their butts online and fill out that goddamn form, pronto!

Reports of deliveries of dump trucks full of pitchforks and torches to the church's shipping and receiving department could not be confirmed.

Blasphemy Challenge - Zach

...in which I respond to the the same "Blasphemy Challenge" as Aaron.

Creationists Suck at Lying

Look at the shenanigans creationists are up to lately. Its absolutely despicable to see this level of misrepresentation by IDers/creationists. This is quote mining at a rather severe level, something that even I've had to deal with in the past.

But the pathetic part is that this IDer quickly got caught. They usually do, just like Paul Manata did.

I Denied the Holy Spirit

I'm going to Hell!

Another Hellbound Holiday

The Hellbound Alleee Network


Listen and Burn!


Mondo 29: Now That''s What I Call Mondo Diablo!






Enjoy! -- Hellbound Alleee

Christian anti-materialism

Perhaps the only thing that Christians are good at, is identifying the fundamentals of a situation, and complaining loudly about them. This reactionary attitude of theirs is great, because it permits us to understand those fundamentals and know what to defend.

Another great attitude of Christians is their utter inability to argue by anything but projection. This is wonderful for us because it tells us immediately what their "sins" are. If a Christian accuses you of having no basis for morality, for example, you know for sure that the Christian is covering up for his own repulsion of the morality of the Bible. This is a uniformly true fact that applies to any theological discussion I've ever seen.

For these two reasons, it's very interesting to see Christians argue against materialism and determinism, because these are usually concepts in the background, not really talked about. And yet they keep putting it in the fore. Why? Our old friend Paul Manata can tell us:

http://www.presstheantithesis.org/blog/2006/05/dark-providence.html
"I also rejoice, at times like this, that the promulgations of materialism are false and that there is meaning to the universe, rather than the forces of chance or fate handing us our blows."

http://presstheantithesis.blogspot.com/2006/03/illogic-of-pro-choice.html
"Remember, it's atheists who claim that we are nothing but accidents,"
"Remember it's atheists who claim that truth and reason are meaningless,"

http://presstheantithesis.blogspot.com/2005/09/you-shouldnt-play-with-adults-you.html
"given what evolutionists and materialists say about their own worldview, why trust our cognative apparati (sic)"

This is more than enough, as it represents the depth of reasoning of about 99% of Christians on the question.

The Real Meaning of Christmas

Wise Words About The "War On Christmas"

Craig Sowder of "Autonomy is Madness" has shared his thoughts on the "Happy Holidays"/"Merry Christmas" question from the Christian perspective. Unlike most Christians (or those who claim to speak for them in the media) Craig acknowledges the pagan origins of the holiday and the lack of any Biblical imperative to celebrate it. He even points out that there have been (and continue to be) theologically consistent Christians who decry the celebration of Christmas as immoral. He says,

it only stands to reason that, if the celebration of holidays is an area of freedom, rather than obligation, in the realm of Christian ethics, then non-Christians are doing nothing wrong by ignoring the religious side of Christmas altogether, and observing only the "secular" side (e.g., Santa Claus, presents, and all that stuff). My conviction is that Christians really have no business trying to force anybody, including non-Christians, to celebrate Christmas or any holiday if that person does not want to celebrate it. And if a person wants to say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas", let them say it. Most of the offense people take at these types of expressions are just evidences that people need to stop behaving like children and grow up anyway.

I couldn't have said it better myself. Thanks Craig, and Merry Christmas to you too!

Hellbound Christmas 2006 Part 3

Mondo Diablo Episode 28: Christmas? That''s Unpossible!






Enjoy! -- Hellbound Alleee

Anti-Gay Prejudice Bites CheneyCo. in the Ass

Oh man, is this good. As you may already know, Vice President of the Amerikkkan Empire, Dick Cheney, has a lesbian daughter by the name of Mary. Mary has a partner by the name of Heather Poe, and they have been together for 15 years. They live in Virginia, which has probably the most Jim Crow, and anti-gay laws in the entire Fatherland.

And Mary is pregnant!

John at Ameri[kkk]aBlog.com elaborates:

Virginia had already set up new Jim Crow laws targeting gays two years ago. Those laws may vitiate any legal agreement between the two, period, about anything. The law ensures that Mary's partner has no legal rights whatsoever in their child, or in what happens to Mary (or vice versa), such as if one partner has to go the hospital, the other can't visit. The law may even nullify any wills that Mary and Heather write regarding each other, and it may make it impossible for gay people to go to court to resolve any difference about anything - the courts can't recognize gay unions, so they can't make any decisions that would imply recognition (custody, hospital visitation, wills, etc.) It's beyond ironic that Virginia's new law, one of the most hateful, bigoted laws on the books, is now targeting the vice president's own daughter and soon-to-be new grandchild.

My irony meter is off the charts. These Christianity-based laws sure did fuck up the Cheney family image, as well as the security of Mary's incoming child. Heather doesn't even have a right to be in the hospital for Mary's delivery. I wonder if the hospital staff will call the cops to have Heather removed, or if the Cheneys will pull a few strings to let her attend the delivery anyway? I suspect the latter. Lawmakers usually don't bind themselves to the laws they pass anyway. Ugh, the hypocrisy is so disgusting!

Christians pass these laws because they are anti-gay. These same Christians, who claim to be all about "family values," pass these anti-gay-family laws because the think that gay people can't have decent, stable families. Well, they sure can't if you make it legally impossible for them to do so! That's a self-fulfilling prophecy if I ever saw one.

But now what are we left with? The right-hand man (Dick Cheney) of the guy who tried to pass an anti-gay Constitutional Amendment (Bush) now has an unmarried, lesbian, and pregnant daughter living in the heart of Gaykillville.

And her name is Mary of all things. Holy shit.

Mind Control Cults