Athée Canadien
Media
The Ten (Liberal) Commandments – from NYT circa 1951
May 6th
My buddy sent me this. I thank him, for it is truly inspired. I need not add anything; but felt absolutely compelled to share. Take from it what you will:
It originally appeared in the December 16, 1951, issue of The New York Times Magazine, at the end of the article “The best answer to fanaticism: Liberalism.”
Know who else was an atheist??? Hitler! (and other arguments of this type)
May 4th
Irrespective of whether you accept that the earth is getting hotter, you will hopefully find this attempt to argue against it embarrassingly tragic. It’s amazing to see such a blatant and epic ad hominem fallacy in billboard format. I can only hope that, as the Guardian article says, supporters of heartland.org will pull their funding and distance themselves from such idiocy.
Effeminate Children? That’s a paddlin’
May 2nd
Could something this abhorrent have ever come from anything OTHER than a religious figure??
North Carolina Baptist Pastor Sean Harris expresses his belief that parents of soft kids should “man up” and punch them. Wow.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/05/02/north-carolina-pastor-sean-harris-urges-parents-to-man-up-and-punch-effeminate-children/
Five Reasons Prayer is Bad
Apr 6th
If you aren’t familiar with Matt Dillahunty and The Atheist Experience, I highly recommend looking them up. They do a weekly show on public access television in Austin, TX. They also have podcasts of their shows, videos on their website, and many other ways to interact with them.
On January 15th of this year, the hosts were Russell Glasser and Dan Baker. The show was entitled “The Failure of Prayer”. Around twelve and a half minutes in, Dan begins to speak about his “five reasons prayer is bad”, as well as a follow-up example for each. Here are the Coles Notes of what he said: More >
“Attack of the Atheists”?
Apr 6th
Yesterday, April 5, I received this announcement from CFI Canada
CFI’s Justin Trottier will be on Byline on Sun TV tonight (Thursday) between 9-10pm Eastern Time to discuss the effect atheism has on countries. Host Brian Lilley will argue that countries like Canada are doing well because it is a Judeo Christian country, whereas places like China have a lot of problems because they are atheistic. We will, CFI is told, also talk about ‘militant atheism’ (atheists trying to convert others to their lack of belief).
I was not at home to watch Byline last night because I was enjoying an evening with three wonderful people, who are, like me, members of CFI. Fortunately, I was able to access the video of the segment. As CFI’s message says, “Enjoy”!
If, as Brian Lilley says, atheists are on the attack, let’s “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.”
The silliness of multifaith panels
Mar 27th
Hemant Mehta has a suggestion for Kevin Smith, the atheist on the weekly religious panel for the Ottawa Citizen.
Just submit the same response every week:
Did you READ what the others wrote? You’ve got to be kidding me… Here’s some honesty for you: They don’t know the answers any more than I do. The difference is that I tell you the truth while they make stuff up and pass along the nonsense. Just skip down to my post each week. I got your back.
The same thing goes through my head every time I read the column. The stupid responses by the religious repeat every week.
Yet if the religious responses fly over my head, wouldn’t the atheist response also be equally ignored by our opponents? If so, what’s the point to these religious panels? Having an atheist voice is important but like debating creationism in science class we risk giving the other side false legitimacy when we pretend to engage them on equal ground.
Can these types of panels have other uses? More >
New series on religious freedom
Feb 22nd
Maclean’s magazine has launched a new series devoted to debating the federal government’s newly created Office of Religious Freedom.
What’s the proper place of religion in Canada’s foreign policy? Is it in Canada’s national interest to promote religious freedom abroad? Will all religions receive equal protection? Will other types of rights have to take a back seat?
First up is Clifford Orwin who argues for the office because he sees religious coercion as a special case: More >
Atheist cinema, part 1: for apostates
Jan 9th
I’m hoping to have a regular series of posts of film recommendations for atheists and nonbelievers. Feel free to give some suggestions in the comments!
A couple weeks ago Café Apostate took our usual monthly meeting to the movies, and we watched the film Higher Ground. Here’s the trailer.
I had been really looking forward to the film, especially after reading the book it was based on, This Dark World by Carolyn S. Briggs. I’m always on the hunt for apostate stories, and I wasn’t disappointed in this one. Granted, not everyone could relate to the main character’s story, but so much of her experience rang true for me, a fellow defector from evangelicalism.
What I liked most about the film is how it showed the intense internal struggle that can take place for some people when it comes to rejecting faith. It’s not as if someone wakes up one day and just drops everything he or she has believed. It’s often a long walk away — and some of the walk is in dark places.
For me, it wasn’t an easy decision to drop my belief, and there were times when I wished — even pleaded to god — that he would magically appear, so I could have that certainty of faith again. But, that didn’t happen. And once you turn a certain corner away from belief, there’s no turning back.
Which leads me to my second film choice for apostates: The Truman Show.
The Truman Show is the story of a man who has lived his life in a false reality. Everything in his life is staged for the reality-TV show, from mundane traffic he encounters on the street to the intimate relationships in his life. One day he starts to see the cracks in the facade of his life, and he’s faced with a choice: does he keep pursuing knowledge about the unknown, even if it could jeopardize the safe and happy life he’s always known?
By the end of the film, everyone is rooting for Truman to make the choice that is best for him.
If there’s a metaphor for apostates, I think The Truman Show is it. Doubt is an inevitable part of faith, and there comes a point in a believer’s life when you’re at a crossroads: keep believing or dare to challenge?
That’s it for this month’s atheist cinema! Pop some popcorn and enjoy!
Nate vs Hate
Nov 25th
CFI:Calgary director Nate Phelps is the subject of a documentary that needs your help:
‘Nate vs Hate’ is a documentary about the life of Nate Phelps, the son of Pastor Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church. Nate escaped the church and family on his 18th birthday, and spent the next few decades adjusting to life and his place in it. This film follows Nate as he travels back home to Topeka for the first time in 30 years. On his arrival he gives an emotional speech to hundreds in Topeka, many from the LGBT community. Later in the film Nate even has an opportunity to confront some of his siblings who are still a part of the church and openly speak out against him.
They’re a long way from their goal and they only have three days to go so cough up if you can. They’re giving out incentives depending on your donation level.
See the film’s website for more information.
h/t Good Atheist
Humanists on TV!
Oct 14th
For those of you who still watch TV through cable, I have good news.
Humanist Canada is taking to the airwaves with a weekly TV series called Being Human (not to be confused with the sci-fi show Being Human, which was based on a BBC series). The show debuts on Monday, October 17th at 1:30PM (EST) on Vision TV. Here’s their description:
Being Human addresses social, political, economic and health topics in a lively talk-show format. Both entertaining and educational, it is produced by Humanist Canada and presents a common-sense perspective on important issues that affect everyone.
Their initial line up has already been announced and sounds pretty good:
Monday, Oct. 17, 2011 – Mary Beaty – A Humanist in Action
Monday, Oct. 24, 2011 – Matt Cherry – International Humanism
Monday, Oct. 31, 2011 – Jason Wiles – Understanding Evolution
Monday, Nov. 7, 2011 - Chris diCarlo – Good and Evil : How science helps us understand human values and actions
Monday, Nov. 14, 2011 – Agathe Gramet-Kedzior – Reproductive choice
Monday, Nov. 21, 2011 – Mike Nickerson – Sustainability: Living on the Earth as if we want to stay
Monday, Nov. 28, 2011 - Suzanne Peters – The Social Determinants of Health
Monday, Dec. 5, 2011 - Chris di Carlo – We are all African – Racism is a human invention
Monday, Dec. 12, 2011 – Keith Garebian – Humanism and the Arts
Being Human follows Pat Robertson’s 700 Club and Vision is the same network that carries James Randi’s old nemesis Peter Popoff.
There’s no official website for the show yet, and Vision doesn’t have anything about it other than the schedule listing. Let’s hope they post episodes online, or else those with cable will have to set their PVRs.
Comments