Shame, the UK used to be such a safe space to visit.

Officers say that they have not told John Richards he is committing an offence for displaying the poster but said he could only face arrest if he causes offence and refuses to take the poster down when they ask.

In a statement Lincolnshire Police said the 1986 Public Order Act states that a person is guilty of an offence if they display a sign which is threatening or abusive or insulting with the intent to provoke violence or which may cause another person harassment, alarm or distress.

The statement adds: “This is balanced with a right to free speech and the key point is that the offence is committed if it is deemed that a reasonable person would find the content insulting.

A sign saying “religions are fairy stories for adults” is guaranteed to offend someone. I’m guessing Mr Richards won’t be getting any invites to skeptic conferences any time soon either.

Kevin Smith’s tongue-in-cheek answer to the Ottawa Citizen‘s “Ask the Religion Experts” question, “How does your faith regard inter-religious dialogue?” deserves a response.

Kevin says,

feel some sympathy for me. Maybe even say a little prayer. The odd complaint I receive is not always from the religious. It’s not God I’m worried about; the extreme atheists are a much more frightening force to be reckoned with.

In 1966, John Lennon remarked that The Beatles had become “more popular than Jesus”; on Sunday, June 3, Kevin Smith implied that atheists are scarier than God.

Well Kevin, God is only one person¹, and there are, as you point out, millions of Canadian atheists.   Atheists are not monolithic. We are as different as the contents of a box of Smarties; in fact, we are not always in the same box.  Furthermore, many of us are extremely critical.  Sometimes it appears that the only thing we have in common is atheism.  However, while we won’t “say a little prayer” for you, we do “feel some sympathy for” you.  Participating in inter-faith discussions is a tough job: you feel you have to please everybody.  So Kevin, here is some advice from Ricky Nelson:

You see you can’t please ev’ryone so
You got to please yourself

Veronica

The Friendly Atheist posted this Christina Rad video; Jerry Coyne reposted it, and I’m posting it here for your enjoyment.  My favourite line comes around 3:58 when Rad discusses the fact that people make assumptions about atheists just because they are atheists, “but that’s their own damn fault.”

Losing one’s faith can often be very traumatic for people, and no small part of that is dealing with loved ones who might not understand or approve. But even harder, what if religion is your job? Then its not just you, and your personal life, but also your career, maybe your life’s work, that you’re giving up.

Then she took a deep breath and said, “My name is Teresa. And I am an atheist.” As the room exploded with cheers, Teresa MacBain wiped away tears.

MacBain, 44, is the latest “graduate” of The Clergy Project, an online support network for pastors who, like her, have lost their faith and found atheism.

I posted about this earlier. Just going to leave this here…

More important, that way you could have spared yourself the high probability that your name will become a Canadian byword for grinchdom, incivility and disrespect for the real suffering of the millions of people in this world who can only dream of the joy of sitting at such a table as you were at, and listening to any blessing whatsoever.

Mr. Solo, meet Jabba-the-Hut.

I’ve been accused of being an accommodationalist, and I accept the label, even though I often have problems spelling it. See, I believe when you’re dealing with people one on one, you should try and be civil. I’m often sarcastic, and I make jokes, but I try and avoid insulting people directly, because once you go there, the rational discourse is over, you’re just a monkey flinging poo.

I also think that as a society, we should make ‘reasonable’ exceptions to societal norms for minorities, including based on religion(atheists too), because freedom of choice is something I value, and the societal norms that exist where I live are based on all sorts of arbitrary ideas, some of them christian, some of them generally superstitious and some of them ideological(rather than rational).

We do have to maintain some societal standards, but this is always a negotiation, based on the values and interests of, often, very different people. Even atheists disagree on all kinds of things.

Recently, a male friend of mine shared this ‘rant on religion’, by a comedian call Jim Jefferies. Now, it is not civil. It’s vulgar, insulting and not really safe for work, unless you have headphones.

Jefferies is over the top, and I laughed. Would I be surprised if religious people were offended? Not at all. Can what he does be described as poo flinging? Sure, some of it. But we all get frustrated with other people, with the things they value, with the unwanted influence they have on us. And venting about it, can be healthy.

Now, if you are an atheist, you probably enjoyed that. But some atheists are getting offended by Jefferies when he talks on other subjects. In the following case, sexual foreplay.
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Does a fear of death make you more skeptical of religion?

Are you sure?

A recent study suggests while fear of death may make atheists more consciously skeptical, our unconscious isn’t so sure.

Not that this should make you question your unbelief, our subconscious does lots of things that aren’t necessarily welcome. But as the researchers point out, it does point to why religion may be so pervasive.

“These findings may help solve part of the puzzle of why religion is such a persistent and pervasive feature of society. Fear of death is a near-universal human experience and religious beliefs are suspected to play an important psychological role in warding off this anxiety.

So, when thinking about or being faced with death, be extra cautious about your unconscious motivations… you may be less skeptical than you think.

… to other atheists who are grieving.

I don’t think there is any simple answer here, but Greta Christina has a few good places to start.