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Freethought in the light of the sun
• The 29th Philosophers' Carnival will be hosted at Daylight Atheism on May 1, this coming Monday. It's not too late to submit a post - check the carnival home page for the nomination form, or simply e-mail me. Nominations will be accepted through Sunday night. • And soon afterward, on May 10 ...
Marc Gellman, a Jewish rabbi and one-half of the "God Squad", has recently written a solo column titled "Trying to Understand Angry Atheists" in which he takes up one of the oldest religious clichés - that atheists are "angry". It starts out well enough: I think I need to understand ...
While browsing Usenet some time ago, I came across this post on the newsgroup alt.religion.christian. It appears to be an excerpt from the book Drawing Near, a collection of 365 "daily readings for a deeper faith" by Christian pastor John MacArthur, whose ministry Grace to You claims a worldwide ...
Thanks to a Google news alert, I recently became aware that the evangelist Billy Graham has a syndicated newspaper column, entitled "My Answer". Graham addresses both theological queries and requests for advice, both of which he typically answers by quoting Bible verses and ending with a standard ...
Business & the Market In matters of economic organization, as in other areas, atheists should be guided by the evidence. One thing history has shown is that state-controlled economies simply do not work. The Soviet Union, the largest experiment in communism in human history, ultimately collapsed ...
After the vigorous (although, I'm happy to say, civil) debate inspired by the first two Politics of Atheism posts, I figured everyone could use a break. The third and final part of that series will appear shortly. In the meantime, allow me to bring to your attention a story that demonstrates ...
Social Justice As part of the compassion that we as atheists should have for all living beings, I advocate joining in efforts to end poverty. Wealth honestly earned is a powerful incentive for people to work hard and succeed, and it is not intrinsically unjust for different members of society to ...
I recently came across a gorgeous Flash presentation briefly chronicling the history of the universe, from the Big Bang to humanity. Check it out: Evolution - What Next? Click on the red "Time Slider" arrow to get it started, then click and drag the slider along the timeline. I haven't explored the ...
A reader of Daylight Atheism recently made an excellent suggestion via e-mail: As several of your recent posts suggest, it is perhaps time for atheists to unite into a force for change. And in America, that means political change. I welcome this prospect, but believe that we should have some ...
I hope this joyous holiday finds all my readers healthy and well. Allow me to grant a blessing to you in commemoration of this holiest of days. UPDATE: Celebrate Easter with the Carnival of the Godless at A Rational Being.
This blog frequently criticizes the religious right, that group of cultural conservatives and fundamentalists who use Christianity to justify their bigoted, theocratic and anti-humanist views. But this group is so often in the news pushing its agenda, it is sometimes easy to forget that they do not ...
In the United States of America today, Christianity, and specifically right-wing fundamentalist Christianity, is enjoying a resurgence. The religious right controls all three branches of the federal government, commands the allegiance of tens of millions of followers, broadcasts their message ...
In my encounters with religious proselytizers, I have occasionally been told that atheism robs the world of the sense of awe and wonder, that my lack of belief in a god who miraculously created us all must mean that my life is lacking in the intangible qualities that makes it worth living. I have ...
As many others have observed, the right wing in modern American politics subsists in a near-perpetual state of frothing rage. This situation serves the purpose of leaders of the religious right, since after all, angry people are more easily led and less likely to think coherently; and to encourage ...
The last and arguably most important question of free will, one that is closely intertwined with the nature of choice, is the issue of moral responsibility. What is it that makes us responsible for what we do? Most traditional views, especially dualist views, hold that for a person to be morally ...