Monday, August 9, 2010

Wilson's worthy witticism.

At times I wonder whether everything that can be said from the atheist and theist viewpoint has already been articulated. Of course, you hear this frequently as a criticism of new music; there is no new music because all the new genres are references to the old ones.

As a good friend of mine observed to me: We view ourselves as being at the end of time.

I'm guilty of this thought crime, particularly during my daily trawl through blogs and web articles as I look for some new witty thought or reasoning on atheism. On rare occasions I strike gold.

The atheist philanthropist Robert Wilson, who recently and oddly donated unbelievable sums of money to Catholic schools, is quoted second-hand as uttering what I consider to be one of the most subtle, non-compromising and thoughtful atheist retorts. It's almost like a shaggy dog tale; while you have to endure a tedious story you're rewarded with a cracking punchline. Here's the last two paragraphs of the article:
Wilson’s philanthropy produced an unlikely friendship with Cardinal Egan. Both opera and classical music buffs, they have dined together and discussed an array of topics, including the second movement of Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony, Egan said. Divine matters and Wilson’s lapsed faith also turn up in their conversations.
“I’ve told him I look forward to the day when you’ll say that you’re not an atheist,” Egan said. “He said, ‘And if you succeed, you’d be out of a job.’”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-09/atheist-robert-wilson-gives-n-y-catholic-schools-5-6-million.html
 

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Christopher Hitchens still can't say no to an interview

As sick as he his, Hitchens is still going about his core business. Articles, interviews and opinions. Four items you should not miss.

This is a transcript to a long interview that I really wish was available in audio. In fact, I printed the 32 pages and read it in installments over a few days! The blogosphere has dissected plenty of this already.

http://www.hughhewitt.com/blog/g/3979a77d-720a-4853-8890-1fc4f22c23cb

Hitchens writes about cancer and these subjects you'll then see repeated in the following two interviews.

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/09/hitchens-201009

Interview with Anderson Cooper of "360" (CNN):

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2010/08/07/video-extended-interview-hitchens-on-cancer-and-atheism/

A weathered looking Hitchens in interview with The Atlantic. Martin Amis turns up, but it's the same old questions. The interview is most entertaining in the last couple of minutes:

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2010/08/hitchens-talks-to-goldblog-about-cancer-and-god/61072/

Thursday, July 29, 2010

E.T.'s probably just lost our number

A thoughtful article by Edward T. Oakes, S.J.which ponders why extra terrestrials aren't knocking down our door or why SETI has come up empty handed.

http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2010/07/et-phone-here

While clearly Oakes is arguing for a God, he covers some interesting points. However, he's guilty of pushing the tired old argument that the earth is so perfectly endowed for life that it must be a one-off. In an unimaginably enormous universe and given that we can see but a tiny part of it, the assertion that we're unique holds for only a moment of consideration.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Searching for a new idol?

Have you found yourself searching for a new champion in the absence of Christopher Hitchens? Hitchens has missed a number of publicity events recently due to family illness, perhaps more likely related to a seriously unsubstantiated report that he's not well.

Never fear, this well researched article on hot atheist women gave me plenty of consolation and certainly took my mind off Hitchens.

Just to make this blog seem slightly in tune with what the kids are doing, soccer, excuse me, football, has its own declared atheist on one of the more unlikely teams to see anyone admit it. Bellissimo!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Touch of God

Recall that God often strikes out against civilisations who displease him. It was a common sight in the old testament and we've seen recent examples of it in the form of a Haitian earthquake and an Asian tsunami.

Well here He is again, sending a clear message to somebody about something.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/16/touchdown-jesus-statue-burns-down

Not a fan of football or over-sized novelty statues. What I was particularly drawn to was this quote:

Some people were scooping up pieces of the statue's foam from the nearby pond to take home with them, said Darlene Bishop, a church co-pastor. "This meant a lot to a lot of people," she said.
Having had a short and miserable time with economics at University, I couldn't help but wonder just how much meaning "a lot" really was, you know, in dollar terms. I found my answer pretty quickly:


So, somewhere in the region of 99 cents to $15 then. Only time will tell. Let's see if eBay's servers survive the next electrical storm.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Hitchens on Hitch-22 on Daily Show

Hitchens is still doing the publicity rounds for Hitch-22. I had wondered whether Hitchens would be invited back (or even accept an invitation) to the Daily Show after this spot-on article.

The episode is good entertainment...

http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/tue-june-8-2010-christopher-hitchens

... but skip to the last third if you want to head straight to the interview.

Florida's wet season pt. II: The full story begins to emerge?

Turns out that the two teachers involved were more likely stood down for off-colour comments about Haiti than sprinkling around some holy perfume.

http://www.sfltimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4576&Itemid=1
Rainer and Robinson, who profess that they are Christians, were initially accused of sprinkling holy water onto fellow teacher Schandra Tompkinsel Rodriguez, an avowed atheist. School officials backed away from that allegation last week.

The allegations stemmed from a March 11 incident in which Rodriguez was in her classroom with students, discussing the fact that she does not believe in God or the Bible, according to confidential sources and McCray
Too late for the truth though, the public will remember this as the Holy Water case where Christianity was the real victim.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22, interviews

Hitchens is promoting his autobiography Hitch-22 at the moment. Although not an atheist publication, I still think it's worth mentioning some links here.

Be aware that the following links may not stay active for very long.

Audio - Radio NZ, National (New Zealand)

http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/sat/sat-20100522-0910-Christopher_Hitchens_contrarian-048.mp3

Audio - ABC (Australia)

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/latenightlive/stories/2010/2910872.htm
http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2010/05/lnl_20100527_2205.mp3

Also The Guardian article is worth reading and somewhat of an eye opener although at the same time offering little surprise. You'll see what I mean:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/may/22/christopher-hitchens-decca-aitkenhead

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Tuesday, May 25, 2010

The Lord God Made 'em All...

...even if it's beyond our comprehension as to why.

http://www.examiner.com/x-25060-Fort-Worth-Christianity--Culture-Examiner~y2010m5d20-Information-and-photos-of-what-a-brown-recluse-spider-can-do

It turns out that God's 8 legged avenger actually has a poisonous bite for self defense, rather than for stunning and chowing down on prey:
"Somehow, in God's infinite wisdom, every animal and insect on this planet has a purpose. Most have been given a method of self-defense and the brown recluse spider is no exception. It has a poisonous bite that is so dangerous, you should make every effort to avoid any contact with this little monster."

Florida's Wet Season

http://www.sfltimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4489&Itemid=144

Here's a case worth keeping your eye on. When I first saw this reported in South Florida Times here I saw it as a stoush between a few people who just didn't like each other. Hard to know really what the true story is behind the incident.

The gist of it is that a couple of teachers sprinkled holy water over an atheist co-worker.

But the rhetoric is ramping up. Looks promising:
“We need to know why one teacher is allowed to teach our children there is no God and nothing is done,” said the Rev. Willie J. Rainer, husband of one of the accused teachers and  an associate pastor of Hopewell Baptist Church in Pompano Beach. “But the Christian teachers have been removed from the classroom even though nothing has been proven.”
An example of oppressed Christians in a Southern State?
"It is totally unfair to remove the two teachers, and allow the other teacher to remain."
Yeah, totally unfair to stand down the two accused of assault, while the victim walks free.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Why atheism grows faster than religion

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-human-beast/201005/why-atheism-will-replace-religion

A dry but short article restating ideas behind why the more economically developed a society is, the fewer the number of believers.

The article's usefulness lies in a few stats and a quick run over those aforementioned ideas. Unfortunately, it contains no counter to those who would point out that religious societies are growing at a faster rate than non-religious ones. One would have to assume simply from this article that religion's greatest enemy is economic growth and education, which is perhaps a too simplistic viewpoint.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

atheistvault.com launched

Welcome to the companion blog for the website Atheist Vault (www.atheistvault.com). Let me explain what it's all about.

I tend to skim through a lot of articles these days related to atheism. I search for thought provoking and fresh articles specifically referencing atheism. Eventually it occurred to me that I was reading a lot of articles that other people would be interested in. So rather than shelving them in my browser's bookmarks, I've decided to share them via Atheist Vault.

I aim to add links to Atheist Vault that have a specific and useful contribution to atheist discussion. You won't find items of whimsy there unless it really gives the reader pause for thought. I'd like for people to find that Atheist Vault to contain only the stuff really worth reading. To be clear, I'm specifically interested in atheism, not humanism, although I have nothing against the latter

If you're looking for whimsy and general entertainment, you need to find the blogger most suited to your taste. For example, I really enjoy reading PZ Myers' Pharyngula blog, but I'm probably not going to post much of his stuff to Atheist Vault because if I linked to one of his posts I might as well link to all of them because they're punchy and rather good. If you're interested in a daily news update of something completely random, but also entertaining or current, check out http://www.antitheistdaily.com/. If you're a US citizen, pay attention to the Freedom From Religion Foundation.


Atheist Vault isn't here to find you frivolous entertainment or random news articles. That's already done quite well elsewhere. I want to link to items that represent the most interesting moments in the atheist/antitheist world. It's difficult to find fresh and interesting material when it hits the web, so let me do that for you.


Note that I finished the Atheist Vault website about the start of May 2010, so if you're wondering what happened in the world before then you'll have to google it!

Only after starting that site up did I realise that I was probably going to need a companion guide, to explain the intention of Atheist Vault and add a few links that didn't make the cut. The links I post to this blog may have some light entertainment value or they may need a background explanation that the format of the Atheist Vault website is, by intention, not designed to provide.

I hope you enjoy it. I invite you to leave comments or suggestions on this blog. Any ideas or suggestions about the layout would be gratefully received.