Judith Levine and her significant other decided to not shop for a year. She wrote about her trials and tribulations in her book, Not buying It: My Year Without Shopping. She also wrote about it in Washington Post in an article titled, "Don't Buy It." Here's an excerpt: People can…
I spend waste hours each week reading arguments between those who think that science education should be strictly based on science, versus those who think that alternate views (usually Biblical) should be taught along side. This is a skit about a father outraged at the amoral and unlikely (scientific) theory…
This list by Sara Robinson is especially well-conceived and written. Based on my own personal experience, these are, indeed, "Ten Myths Conservatives Believe About Progressives." Here are the myths Robinson tackles: 1. Liberals hate America. 2. Liberals want to leave us defenseless in the face of evildoers around the world.…
I read this post by FriendlyAtheist, and thought that I’d expand on it. It cites an op-ed by Jim Griffith in Georgia:
Thanksgiving must be a terrible time for atheists. They have no God to thank.
They do not have the privilege of gathering with family and friends to express gratitude by saying: “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.”
Think about it. The Pilgrims were indebted to and grateful to the (arguably atheist) Indians for life itself. They couldn’t admit that. So they thanked their sky-daddy instead. This mindset is still here. If something good happens, thanks be to deity. If something bad happened, either it was because of sin, or just Mysterious Ways (woo-oo).
So who do Atheists have to thank for a warm home, loving family, and bountiful harvest?
How about the builders, the farmers, and all the other human agents who work together to make it all happen? We’re thankful for the bounty we have because of human discovery. We honor the massively useful inventions that came about not because of, but in spite of Biblical wisdom. Like plaster walls that finally banished fleas from homes. Like glass that lets in light but keeps out wind. Like cast iron radiators or rolled sheet metal air ducts to keep us warmer than any fireplace, or even for the design of smokeless fireplaces from the 1780’s. Blessed be those warmongers who needed nitrates and financed the research into producing fertilizer from fossil fuels, now feeding millions from …
The "Broken Window" theory of criminality is that when people observe disorder, they are more likely to engage in anti-social acts. Translated into an experiment, the principle was tested by George Kelling and his associates. They asked whether people would litter more where there is illegal graffiti and where others…