Or on top; anything that gets you off really. That's because the Madonna of Orgasm Church is a step closer to becoming officially recognized as a religion in Sweden. This particular church actually worships the orgasm, which they consider to be God himself. Although I've heard his name being called out on occasion (I'm patting myself on the back as we speak), I never actually thought anyone would take that ...

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 ...

When trying to explain the origin of religion, we must answer the question of how it came together, since although human beings are social animals, the act of creating a stable institution is an extreme rarity. Consider how many cults come and go; obviously, even if there is a fundamental need to be religious, there must be some explanation as to why humans would continue to participate and develop their re ...

I came across this website, Charter for Compassion, which is the latest attempt by religious moderates to extend an olive branch to other religions in the hope of curbing fundamentalism. The site asks people to discuss stories of compassion that they have experienced in their lives. I believe it is their hope to communicate through these stories the idea all people share the need for acts of kindness regard ...

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 ...

(This is a response to this video) Imagine every Nobel winning scientist went on record to say a giant asteroid was headed for planet Earth, and in 30 years, it would impact, killing all life on the planet. How many people would go on television and say more data needed to be collected before we took action? How many would claim asteroid impacts are a natural part of the Earth's history and not an issue for ...

I've written on the subject of an organized atheist movement for years now. The response so far, overwhelmingly from many atheists, is such a movement would violate the notion atheism is not a religion, but rather a particular viewpoint about the non existence of God. Over this same period of time, however, a number of individuals have emailed me expressing their feelings of isolation and loneliness at not ...

I frequently use Digg.com. I'll admit I am partial to the left wing slant 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 a large proportion of Digg users appear to be atheists, but so what? Is it some dark agenda, or m ...