The slur du jour aimed at atheists appears to be that of "militant atheism." While we in the atheist community know full well that there is no such thing as a militant atheist, the Christians who use this phrase remain willfully ignorant or are simply so used to distorting reality that it no longer bothers them. Make no mistake - this is a form of anti-atheist bigotry and should be treated as such. Atheists need to have a plan for responding to the charge of militancy. To do so, we must... Read Full Story

Tom is out in the back yard with his 12-year-old son, Evan. He pitches the baseball to Evan, who whacks it hard with the bat, sending it soaring over the side fence. Tom hears the sound of his neighbor's window shattering. Oh crap! Tom and Evan head inside so that Tom can comb his hair and put on something more presentable than the faded concert t-shirt he's wearing. But just as they are about to head over to their neighbor's house, they hear an approaching siren. Tom's thoughts race as he... Read Full Story

Faith, in the religious sense of the word, refers to maintaining belief in something for which there is insufficient evidence to justify holding the belief. Where the evidence is sufficient, we have no need for faith. But when we want to believe something for reasons other than because the evidence warrants our doing so, faith enters the equation. And yet, nothing about this definition explains why faith is commonly regarded as a virtue, a form of strength, and something for which individuals... Read Full Story

I am branching out by visiting the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Oxford, which is the first non-Christian church that I have visited. Their creed is that they have no creed. For this reason alone I would like to return. In May, vjack floated the idea of atheist churches. If you read through the comments (all 79 of them), the response was mixed: some liked the idea, some didn't, some said that science class was good enough, and a few suggested UU churches. UU is a church for atheists... Read Full Story

You are out on a first date, and the person mentions that they attend church every Sunday. Is this a deal-breaker? How do you respond in such a situation? I usually try to stick to topics I feel like I know something about, but when a reader e-mailed me with the suggestion that I address some of the dating-related challenges atheists face, I couldn't resist. Don't get me wrong - it is not that I have no dating experience as an atheist. It is just that this has not been part of my life for... Read Full Story

The 98th Carnival of the Godless has been posted at Letters from a broad... in plenty of time for your Sunday church replacement. My post about the DNC's interfaith service was included. I suppose this may seem silly since we are clearly running out of time, and plans are in place to go through with the religious service. Still, I wanted to make sure that everyone knew this was happening and had the opportunity to express the displeasure. Tags: Carnival of the Godless, atheism, blog carnival... Read Full Story

I assume our friends in Alabama are mobilizing over this one. Covington County Circuit Judge Ashley McKathan stands accused of violating judicial ethics for ordering a group in his court to pray together. This is the same judge who once wore a robe with the Ten Commandments embroidered on it. Understandably, the ACLU has filed a complaint. The Associated Press reported the following:The ACLU complaint said McKathan dropped to his knees and prayed aloud during a court hearing in February. He... Read Full Story

If you have an opinion on this (and I suspect you do), head over to MSNBC to cast your vote in this unscientific poll. I realize this will not change government policy, but it cannot hurt to show people that there is a difference of opinion on the practice of promoting theism on our currency. Subscribe to Atheist Revolution Tags: MSNBC, poll, currency, theism, church and state Read Full Story

The Atheist Spot Blog is doing a series of interviews with assorted atheist bloggers. This gives us the opportunity to learn more about the authors we read. Craig A. James of The Religion Virus was first, and they just posted the interview they did with me. I thought they asked some good questions, and it will be neat to follow the series and see how others respond to similar questions. Subscribe to Atheist Revolution Read Full Story

The 2000 presidential contest between George W. Bush and Al Gore thrust a new phrase into the consciousness of the American public: culture war. The media ran with this story, using maps filled with red and blue to promote the idea that our country was increasingly divided along cultural lines. Some argued that the differences were mostly urban vs. rural, and others cited differences such as education or income. But everybody seemed to agree that religion was at least relevant in the divide... Read Full Story