Atheist Manifesto

Tonight I started reading Atheist Manifesto: The Case Against Christianity, Judaism, and Islam by Michel Onfray. I think I'm going to enjoy it:

No hatred for the man on his knees, but a fierce resolve never to collude with those who urge him to adopt this humiliating posture and keep him there. Who would not sympathize with the victims of fraud? And who would not approve of battling the perpetrators?

I had a really long, tiring day at work today, and yet I have a feeling I’m going to be up half the night, reading…

Tags: atheism, atheist mainfesto, michel onfray, monotheism, christianity, judaism, islam

Tomato, Tomahto...

Potato, potahto... Let's call the whole thing off.

Tags: iraq, vietnam, cnn, oops!

Some thoughts on the 34th anniversary of Roe v Wade

I had to work late today, so below is a snippet of my last year’s Blog for Choice post:

I don’t usually quote bumper stickers, but in this case the expression “Against abortion? Don’t have one” provides an excellent summation of my pro-choice views. To me, choice is simply allowing a woman control over her reproductive life, giving her the freedom to decide when and if to bear children—and what reasonable person would want it any other way?

Tags: roe v wade, blog for choice, pro-choice

A Better Good Book

Here’s an open challenge to any religious people lurking out there: Put away your holy book for 3 months and read Aesop’s fables instead. I contend that you’ll find the fables to be just as useful as, if not superior to, your present text.

Aesop’s fables are morally instructive: They illustrate the foolishness of negative behaviors such as greed and false pride, while promoting honesty and a sense of fair play.

Aesop’s fables are family friendly: They do not contain genocide, infanticide, or rape.

Aesop’s fables are civilized: They do not promote animal sacrifice or slavery.

Aesop’s fables are inclusive: They are not racist, misogynistic, or homophobic.

Aesop’s fables are practical: They do not list any silly rules about what we must wear or eat.

Aesop’s fables are easy to understand: They often conclude with a clearly stated moral, so people are unlikely to argue over different interpretations.

I could go on, but I think you get the idea. So what do you say? Are you willing to take the Aesop challenge?

Tags: religion, aesop, atheism

An olio Exclusive!

Last night I watched George W. on 60 Minutes and was surprised to hear him take sole credit for the new war plan:

“[M]y attitude is if we were to start withdrawing now, we’d have a crisis in our hands in Iraq,” Bush explains. “And not only in Iraq but failure in Iraq will embolden the enemy. And the enemy is al Qaeda and extremists. Failure in Iraq would empower Iran, which poses a significant threat to world peace. So then I began to think, ‘Well, if failure’s not an option and we've gotta succeed, how best to do so?’ And that's why I came up with the plan I did.”

Curious, I searched the Googletubes and found what I believe to be the above-referenced plan:

Jet pilot, cowboy, and now military tactician: The man's a fucking genius.

Tags: george w. bush, dumbass, iraq, 60 minutes

9/11, Terror, al-Qaeda, Brutal Dictator, Justice, Freedom, the Almighty, 9/11

Besides all of the above, I wonder what W is going to say tomorrow? My guess is that he’ll go all balls-to-the-wall “Decider” on us, insisting that an escalation is the only way to win in Iraq. He’ll say this even though he knows that he has neither a real military plan nor sufficient troop levels to implement one—because he also knows that Congress will fight an escalation. It’s a good strategy, really: It will allow him to go to his grave maintaining that he could have won the war, if only those dirty hippie defeatocrats hadn’t stood in his way.

Tags: george w. bush, iraq, troop surge

San Francisco Values

Watch the YouTube embed below, then click here and here for more information about these “San Francisco values” that, oddly, don’t merit attention on FOX News.

Who enables these vile folks

to spew hate constantly?

M-I-C

K-E-Y

M-O-U-S-E!

Tags: hate speech, disney, spocko

He Watches Soaps Religiously

Batshit fundie assaults soap star in order to “exorcise the devil” from him:

Carl Raymond Cheney of Portland, OR came onto [Hogestyn’s] property and ran at his daughter carrying a bible screaming "Where is he? I will cast him out!" Hogestyn says Cheney was "calling me by my stage name... recalling past storylines, especially the demonic possession of several years past. But more important, he thought I was dead, because the show that aired on Friday 12.29.06 left my character John Black shot & presumed dead."

Is anyone not surprised that this poor man has difficulty discerning between fact and fiction?

Tags: religion, fundie follies, wtf?, days of our lives

God is Love, Bitchez!

Except when he isn't, that is:

"Evangelical broadcaster Pat Robertson said Tuesday that God has told him that a terrorist attack on the United States would cause a 'mass killing' late in 2007."

Don’t worry too much, though: “The Lord didn't say nuclear.”

Tags: religion, fundie follies, wtf?

No Atheists in Foxholes?

Apparently not:

"Privates lie beside officers. Soldiers beside Marines. Muslim troops beside Christians and those of other faiths."

I guess the Washington Post has never heard of the MAAF.

And check out this bullshit rhetorical question, taken from an otherwise straightforward article about atheists in the military:

"Would a soldier really die without faith?"

Sigh.

Tags: atheism, military