The headline would have been more effective as "finally, someone from Florida shows common sense", but the joke had to be sacrificed for the importance of this ruling. The Miami Judge found there was no rational basis for denying adoption rights to gays, and in the light of the tough times the homosexual community has endured, it's good to see positive news for once. There's undoubtedly going to be legal sa ...

I was asked a few days ago by the Colorado Gazette do do a series of email interviews on a variety of subjects. They wanted an Atheist's perspective on a number of issues ranging from gay marriage to Internet access, and I was happy to oblige. The responses I wrote were probably too lengthy and detailed for them to be able to publish, and so I asked if I could post them up on the site for you who may find s ...

People who live in a bubble of delusion have a difficult time getting in touch with reality. Michael Jackson is the poster boy for delusion; this was the same man whose home was called 'Neverland', and who arrived at the Grammy Awards with a 12 year old boy as a date. In order for Mike to find redemption and hopefully lose his leper status, he's decided to convert to Islam, and Al-Qaeda sees this as a sign ...

I've always found it amusing when studies are performed on religion. Most of these consist of finding if religious people are happier, and now, there's a new one that came out saying if you subscribe to religion, you'll live up to 20% longer. Before I tear down how specious this line of reasoning is, I'd like to point out the sentence "can cut your chances of dying by 20%" sounds impressive, but like all go ...

There was a comment that appeared in one of my articles which I felt needed to be personally addressed, due mostly to the fact I've been asked similar questions before. These questions usually devolve into simply "why do you have to pick on MY religion", and I thought it might be fair to answer it as candidly as I can, to avoid looking as though I may be unfairly picking on one specific religion. Here is th ...

I mentioned before that many individuals believe in religion because of what they perceive to be logical reasons, and it is often based on the illusion of design, both here on earth, and in the cosmos in general. The universe, as far as we can observe, seems to be both extremely complex and mysterious at first glance. Here on earth, the complexity of life is staggering; in a handful of dirt, there are milli ...

In today's culture, things change rapidly. We almost seem to take it for granted that something you know today will be different tomorrow, maybe radically so. But human beings historically haven't been accustomed to rapid change for very long. It used to be what your father knew, and what his father knew, wouldn't be different from what you knew too. There were certain ways of doing things, and that's all t ...

Yesterday, I argued the selective advantage of belief was too attractive for individuals in a community not to partake. But this advantage, as humans became more prosperous in the West, became increasingly marginal. In the 15th century, Europe began to experience newfound prosperity from the most unusual source: the aftermath of the Black Death. Over a third of the population is estimated to have been kille ...

This isn't the first time we've heard of religious figures using their influence to promote their political agenda, but it certainly is unique that Father Newman asked his parishioners to repent if they voted for Obama. He's been able to get away with this by citing Obama's pro-choice policy as the reason for his discontent. It's a divisive thing to do, and I hope the people of Greenville, South Carolina ki ...

A few weeks ago, Penguin Publishing sent me an email offering a free copy of Andre Comte-Sponville's The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality. Not being one to turn down anything free (I'm poor, what can I say?), I gladly accepted. When it was finally delivered, I was anxious to see if this book would provide new insights on the subject of atheism. I've read all the works of the four horsemen of the atheist ...