I frequently use Digg.com. I’ll admit that I am partial to the left wing slant that most of the articles seem to have, but if I am to believe the LA Times, the site has some kind of atheist agenda.
Call me crazy, but since when has expressing your opinions become equivalent to trying to spark a revolution. Yes, it’s true that a big proportion of Digg users appear to be atheists, but so what? Is it some dark agenda, or more symptomatic of the type of people it attracts (technically minded young people who turn out to be, you guessed it, mostly non-religious)?
Here’s a quote from someone they interviewed for the piece that shows just how poorly researched and thought out this whole article is:
“Just as religious people want to convert people to their perspective, atheist people want to convert people to their point of view,” Winston said. “The irony here is that atheism is a form of religion. You’re still in something.” - Diane Winston, professor of media and religion at the University of Southern California
I guess this goes to show that even a professor of religion can still be pretty damn clueless as to what Atheism actually is. So, if religion mean being “into something”, does this signify that my love affair with Pink Floyd mean that I’m part of a cult or something? Shit, I better be more careful! Last year I was part of a softball team, without realizing that it’s actually a religion.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how bigotry, homophobia and racism are often hidden in plain sight, often under the guise of religious faith. This video should galvanize any American to take the issue of Prop.8 very seriously, and how religion is attempting to usurp the rights of others in order to fulfill their dogmatic convictions.
Words alone cannot describe how fucking stupid this woman is. I’m angry enough that she would so poorly mask her racism in supposed concern over Obama’s religious beliefs, without compounding how little she understands her own ignorance.
Who says Americans get to have all the political fun? At a federal election debate held at a Sudbury high school, independent candidate David Popescu shared some of his extreme religious views. From the Edmonton Sun:
Popescu introduced himself with a public prayer, blaming environmental damage and economic unrest on the wickedness of society. His comments were met with silence as some students grimaced and shifted in their seats.
Near the end of the more than two-hour event, students were invited to ask the candidates questions. As a long line of pupils waited to speak, Popescu told a young female student who asked about stem cell research that, “God would hurt” those who had an abortion.
The crowd jeered and many rose to their feet in protest after Popescu answered another teenager’s question on gay marriage.
During a telephone interview later in the day, Popescu reasserted his view. “A young man asked me what I think of homosexual marriages and I said I think homosexuals should be executed,” he said. “My whole reason for running is the Bible and the Bible couldn’t be more clear on that point.”
Yep, it’s banned book week, and one person who has an opinion on the subject is author Philip Pullman, who’s book Northern Lights (turned into the movie The Golden Compass) is high up on the list of books in the crosshairs of religious institutions. Here’s his thoughts on the subject, care of the Guardian:
In fact, when it comes to banning books, religion is the worst reason of the lot. Religion, uncontaminated by power, can be the source of a great deal of private solace, artistic inspiration, and moral wisdom. But when it gets its hands on the levers of political or social authority, it goes rotten very quickly indeed. The rank stench of oppression wafts from every authoritarian church, chapel, temple, mosque, or synagogue – from every place of worship where the priests have the power to meddle in the social and intellectual lives of their flocks, from every presidential palace or prime ministerial office where civil leaders have to pander to religious ones.
My basic objection to religion is not that it isn’t true; I like plenty of things that aren’t true. It’s that religion grants its adherents malign, intoxicating and morally corrosive sensations. Destroying intellectual freedom is always evil, but only religion makes doing evil feel quite so good.
Keats’ conception of that idea took shape as a two-story building complete with stained-glass windows patterned after cosmic microwave background radiation and a liturgy based on the sounds of the Big Bang. The Atheon opened Sept. 27 at the Judah L. Magnes Museum in Berkeley, California.But, could science replace religion?
The question has intrigued both rationalists frustrated at the persistence of what they see as superstitious dogma, and religious believers — as well as all-purpose skeptics — unwilling to promote science, with its mixed and messy history, to a position of absolute authority.
Keats doesn’t claim to take sides, but says he just wants to give people a chance to think. In December, he’ll host a public discussion at the Atheon, with people invited to bring their own models. “It’s important that this Atheon not be seen as the only model. It’s one possibility. The best thing would be for people to engage these questions, and consider what form religion could take as science.”
If you’ve ever wondered why some people get hard core into their church weirdness, witness if you will how eerily similar these services are to raves, complete with the few guys who just take that shit too far.
Jake caused quite a stir with the concept of Atheism as an organized religion (a much better article than my random link posts). Now an artist in San Francisco is converting a building into something of an Atheist church as part of an exhibition for the Judah L Magnes Museum. From Boing Boing:
Instead of telling the story of baby Jesus, the Atheon’s stained glass windows will show cosmic microwave background radiation made from NASA satellite data. And since the interior of the building is still under construction, templer-goers will have to either pray from the sidewalk or in front of a glowing web site from their computers at home. Keats even made a song of worship; he collaborated with Virginia astronomer Mark Whittle to come up with a canon of sounds from three hypothetical universes called Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?
The first project in the Windows series will be The Atheon: A Temple to Science, an installation by Jonathon Keats that calls forth the fusion of science and religion by building a temple for scientific worship—an Atheon. Look into the large vaulted windows of faux stained glass and see the universe as you listen to the accompanying sounds on your cell phone.
It’s funny that the idea of atheists getting together a la religion is so wacky it’s basically being portrayed as novelty art. I’ll take what I can get, though. Once this thing opens I’ll try and get some pictures and more details.
