Atheism, Activity and Apathy

Since the death of Christopher Hitchens I have to admit to completely ignoring AtheistVault.com. In truth this was not so much due to his death as to other duties in my own life taking greater priority. The duties are still there, but maybe I can get myself back into a better balanced routine. I'm hopfully able to regularly update the site now and I aim for one article a day.

Hitchens was a tremendous voice in modern atheist discussion, in fact arguably the most important voice since Bertrand Russell. Russell and Hitchens created new arguments for old philosophies. Both appearing at difficult but important times for modern Humanism and Atheism.

As with Russell, Hitchens' direct, unflinching and tenacious work continues to inspire.

RSS now available on AtheistVault.com

I finally found some time to work out how to write XML RSS Feeds. So now Atheist Vault (the site http://www.atheistvault.com/, not this blog) has an RSS subscription option.

I've also had Mojoey's Atheist Blogroll link changed to Atheist Vault instead of this companion site. Atheist Vault gets regularly updated, this blog doesn't.

Mojoey reported to me the following about the Atheist Blogroll:

I am sorry to say but blogrolling.com stopped service a few months ago. The Atheist Blogroll is now simply a badge showing membership and a link to the blogroll, which I maintain as a list here http://atheistblogroll.blogspot.com/2010/04/full-list.html.

 I notice now that other Atheist blogs run their own "Blogroll". Although the Blogrolls are less roll and more bog.

Atheist Vault still alive!

Although I have posted to this blog infrequently, the Atheist Vault site is still alive. I did take a break earlier this year while I had to concentrate on another project. My goal is still to get at least one new item up on Atheist Vault a day. Although, I really need to work out some kind of RSS feed so that people can follow it (rather than this blog).

There has been fewer and fewer worthy atheist related articles recently to link to. Some of the good authors have gone quiet, while most of the blogosphere continues to churn out the same ideas over and over.

My major problem is that google hates Atheist Vault. It's a combination of having few links to the site and that my site looks partly like a content farm. Well maybe it is a content farm. All I am doing is linking to articles, and sampling the text from the article as a teaser. In that sense, with no original content Atheist Vault actually fits the definition of a content farm quite neatly.

It's likely that I am going to have to write my own teaser for each article now. That's a little disappointing to me, simply because I am trying to link to articles without appearing to give it an editorial spin, or tell the reader whether they should agree or disagree, in part or in the entirety, with the article.

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
 

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/

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.

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!