Reading Time: 4 minutes Shortly before my mother went in for surgery to correct an issue with her bowels, I drove up to her rural northern California home to help her prepare. I sat on the piano bench in her living room and waited for her to retrieve something she just had to show me. She returned from her […]
atheism
Posted inLeaving Religion
‘A new kind of atheism’ already exists in America (if you look closely)
Reading Time: 6 minutes In an essay for MSNBC’s website, columnist Zeeshan Aleem calls for a “new style of atheism” that could address both the growing threat of Christian nationalism and the decline in community that’s been hastened by people leaving organized religion. The first point, about Christian nationalism, has been repeatedly discussed on this site. It’s a very real, […]
Posted inComedy
‘Paper straws are replacing white Americans,’ warns Marjorie Taylor Greene
Reading Time: 2 minutes Far-right Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene warned hundreds of supporters that, “Paper straws are replacing white people Americans.” She was speaking at the Nathan Bedford Forrest County Fair. Many in the crowd commented they came to enjoy the pig races as well as hear what Greene had to say. Greene, who represents Georgia’s 14th district, […]
Posted inParenting & Family
Why thanking those who offer their prayers isn’t always the best idea
Reading Time: 4 minutes Earlier this week, OnlySky contributor Kristen Chase offered her take on how we should respond when well-meaning religious people offer their blessings and prayers to atheists. She suggested nonbelievers such as myself respond with one simple phrase: Thank you. I partially agree, while pointing out Kristen’s essential qualifier: well-meaning. Yes, when well-meaning, not passive-aggressive, people […]
Posted inRacial justice
‘The Great Replacement’: How New Atheists legitimized and spread a white nationalist conspiracy theory
Reading Time: 17 minutes A string of deadly far-right attacks across the globe in the past decade or so had one thing in common: a white nationalist conspiracy theory known as The Great Replacement. From Utoya, Norway in 2011 to the Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, El Paso, Texas and Christchurch, New Zealand in 2019, to the […]
Posted inLeaving Religion
Meet Sam Francis, a 230-year-old London atheist
Reading Time: 3 minutes Samuel Francis wrote a work called ‘Watson Refuted‘ in 1791 London. Here are select quotes that may yet be pertinent 230 years later: The need to challenge religion: “As a member of the community I find myself called upon to expose your reasoning and stop the career of error.” On those wishing that Thomas Paine […]
Posted inBooks
Mark Twain sums up the absurdity of God in a single quote
Reading Time: 2 minutes As I meander along the sometimes remote byways of the nonreligious environment, I frequently come across some lovely sunlit glens. I recently found one in the form of a quote posted by someone named u/Lazy_boa in Reddit’s r/atheism tributary, titled “Mark Twain summed up the absurdity of God over a century ago.” This quote submitted […]
Posted inEthics
Is ‘sentientism’ really better in practice than humanism?
Reading Time: 5 minutes Imagine a world where all sentient beings – human or otherwise – have recognized and protected rights. That’s sentientism. But is it better?
Posted inComedy
Florida man marries the Bible
Reading Time: < 1 minute Blountstown, Florida – Lifelong resident and Florida man Nathan Bedford Forrest IV married his King James Bible in a small ceremony earlier today. The ceremony was held in the Chateau de Schlitz function room at the Pig and Whistle Bar on Route 20. Pastor Nathan Bedford Forrest III officiated the event. Friends and family gave […]
Posted inReligion
So long and farewell to angry atheism
Reading Time: 3 minutes Angry atheism is as old as atheism. It’s as old as theism itself. Let’s imagine that thirty thousand years ago, one of our bent-over prehistoric ancestors, with grunts and flailing gestures, motioned to the sky as if gods were in residence there. And surely some surly prehistoric irreligious dissident raised an immediate hue and cry. […]