Category Archives: Atheism

As a comedian, Neville Shah seems to be doing it right. He has the delivery and timing of a good stand-up.

As someone who wants to mock atheists, Shah is just God-awful.

His new special What Are You Laughing At? is now out on Amazon and it include a bit about the problem with atheists.

See if you can spot all the flaws.

Ill lay off on the jokes themselves. I have no problem with him mocking atheists. But when the premises of his jokes are wrong, the set becomes more frustrating than funny.

Here are my concerns:

He claims that atheists are certain about their disbelief. He thinks we said things like There is no God with absolute certainty. We dont. Even Richard Dawkins doesnt go that far.

He says atheism has become a religion. Thats the sort of insult you only hear from religious people. Were not a religion. We dont have a shared belief in anything. We dont all gather regularly. We dont knock on your door. Your salvation doesnt depend on you agreeing with us. As the saying goes, atheism is a religion like off is a TV channel.

He thinks atheists proselytize sometimes violently so. Like everyone else, we believe were right. But unlike religious people, most atheists would fight for church/state separation and refrain from pushing our beliefs on everyone else. Meanwhile, in India, a man was just hacked to death for posting pro-atheism messages on WhatsApp. Were not the ones who kill people who disagree with us.

Ill give him credit for one thing, though, even if it is unintentional. His final joke in that clip is all about pretending to be God when an atheist is on his deathbed. When Shah whispers in the atheists ear, Hi, I am God, the atheist in the story reacts as if God is real.

Which is exactly what we would do if we ever came across proof of Gods existence. It shows that were open to evidence. Shah probably wasnt thinking about it, but that joke contradicts what he said seconds earlier about how atheists have this dogmatic belief in our non-belief.

That concludes this edition of Lets dissect a comedy routine by taking every line far more seriously than intended.

Go here to see the original:
This Stand-Up Comedian Gets Just About Everything Wrong When It Comes to Atheists - Patheos (blog)

The Guardian has reported this, recently:

The secularisation of Britain has been thrown into sharp focus by new research showing that for every person brought up in a non-religious household who becomes a churchgoer, 26 people raised as Christians now identify as non-believers.

The study also shows that inner London is the most religious area of the country, mainly because of its large Muslim and migrant communities. The least religious areas are the south-east of England, Scotland and Wales. People identifying as non-religious are typically young, white and male and increasingly working class.

It paints a picture of a Britain in which Christianity has seen a dramatic decline although figures suggest a recent bottoming out in recent years. The avowedly non-religious sometimes known as nones now make up 48.6% of the British population. Anglicans account for 17.1%, Catholics 8.7%, other Christian denominations 17.2% and non-Christian religions 8.4%.

Between 1983 and 2015, the proportion of Britons who identify as Christian fell from 55% to 43%, while members of non-Christian religions principally Muslims and Hindus quadrupled.

Non-Christian religions have significantly higher retention levels; overall, only 2% of nones were raised in religious homes other than Christian. The nonversion rate was 14% for Jews, 10% for Muslims and Sikhs and 6% for Hindus. The picture is very different for people brought up as non-religious 92% continue to identify as nones as adults. Conversely, the proportions of the non-religious who convert to a faith are small: 3% of cradle nones now identify as Anglicans, less than 0.5% convert to Catholicism, 2% join other Christian denominations and 2% convert to non-Christian faiths.

However, the studys author goes on to mention that the market for nones might have reached saturation, with a stabilisation in the proportion of nones. Part of this comes down to growths in non-Christian religions (and something can be said for Islam with its strong memetic failsafes). As nominal Christianity has fled the scene, we are left with a hardcore remnant that is harder to shift.

There are some interesting comments regarding educational qualifications and religiosity:

Bullivant identifies a generational shift in terms of education and religious affiliation. Among older nones, a high proportion had degree-level education. But the nones above-average levels of higher education fade further down the age groups. Thus the non-religious have the lowest levels of degree-level education among 25- to 34-year-olds and 35- to 44-year-olds. (The proportion of graduates is highest among Catholics and the non-Christian religions, he notes.)

My first-hand experience is that religion simply does not play a major part in so many peoples lives here, unlike across the pond, and where people might have begrudgingly attended church out of nominal Christian duty in the old days, now they simply dont bother. It is absolutely socially fine to admit to not believing. Indeed, these days, in the UK, you are deemed a little odd when you say youdobelieve.

Excerpt from:
Nearly 50% of UK Have No Religion, but Is This Peak? Atheism in the UK - Patheos (blog)

The Soviet Union and its satellites in Eastern Europe strongly enforced the atheism mandated by Communist ideology. They promoted atheism by laws, education, and brutal persecution of religious believers. Schools taught required courses in atheism.

Churches were torn down or converted into movie theaters or (in the case of the Lutheran church in St. Petersburg) swimming pools. Thousands of pastors were killed or consigned to the Gulags. I talked with an Estonian who told me that her son once went inside an abandoned church because he was interested in the artwork. He was warned never to do that again or he wouldnt be allowed to go to university.

But 25 years ago, Communism collapsed in Russia and Eastern Europe. Now those regions are arguably more religious than most of the countries of Western Europe.

A study by Pew Research shows the massive failure of Soviet atheism. In the 18 former-Communist countries surveyed, 86% of the population believe in God.

And yet the temporary loss of a religious history shows. Most citizens associate religious belief with national identity. And they arent necessarily going to church all that much.

Catholics go to churchmore than the Orthodox. Butthe Orthodoxare more conservative morally when it comes to issues like homosexuality.

The Pew study describes religion in the former Communist states asbelieving and belonging, without behaving.

Read about the findings after the jump.

From Jeremy Weber,Pew: Heres How Badly Soviet Atheism Failed in Europe | Gleanings | ChristianityToday.com:

The comeback of religion in a region once dominated by atheist regimes is striking, states Pew in its latest report. Today, only 14 percent of the regions population identify as atheists, agnostics, or nones. By comparison, 57 percent identify as Orthodox, and another 18 percent as Catholics.

In a massive study based on face-to-face interviews with 25,000 adults in 18 countries, Pew examined how national and religious identities have converged over the decades in Central and Eastern Europe. The result is one of the most thorough accountings of what Orthodox Christians (and their neighbors) believe and do. . . .

Across countries, solid majorities say that in order to belong, one must identify with the majority religion. For example, most say being Orthodox is essential to truly being Russian or Greek, while being Catholic is essential to truly being Polish. The close connection between religious and national identity is stronger for Orthodox than for Catholics (regional medians: 70% vs. 57%)

However, observance is a different matter. Relatively few Orthodox or Catholic adults in Central and Eastern Europe say they regularly attend worship services, pray often, or consider religion central to their lives, Pew researchers stated.

Catholics are twice as observant as Orthodox when it comes to weekly church attendance (medians: 25% vs. 10%). In addition, Catholics in Central and Eastern Europe are much more likely than Orthodox Christians to say they engage in religious practices such as taking communion and fasting during Lent, Pew researchers stated. Catholics also are somewhat more likely than Orthodox Christians to say they frequently share their views on God with others, and to say they read or listen to scripture outside of religious services.

Across the 18 countries, medians of 86 percent believe in God, 59 percent believe in heaven, and 54 percent believe in hell. Half also believe in fate, as well as the existence of the soul. Fewer than half pray daily.

Catholic-majority countries are more observant, but Orthodox-majority countries are more conservative on homosexuality and other social issues.

[Keep reading. . .]

For the Pew study, go here.

Propaganda drawing of Communist workers dumping icons into the garbage by Staff of Bezbozhnik (1929 issue of Bezbozhnik, via NYPL) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Read more:
The religious comeback after Communist atheism - Patheos (blog)

Believing and belonging, without behaving.

This is how the Pew Research Center summarizes the surge of Christianity in Europe around the fallen Iron Curtain roughly 25 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The comeback of religion in a region once dominated by atheist regimes is striking, states Pew in its latest report. Today, only 14 percent of the regions population identify as atheists, agnostics, or nones. By comparison, 57 percent identify as Orthodox, and another 18 percent as Catholics.

In a massive study based on face-to-face interviews with 25,000 adults in 18 countries, Pew examined how national and religious identities have converged over the decades in Central and Eastern Europe. The result is one of the most thorough accountings of what Orthodox Christians (and their neighbors) believe and do.

Pew surveyed citizens in Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, and Ukraine. (Pew did not survey citizens in Cyprus, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovakia, or Slovenia.)

Religion has reasserted itself as an important part of individual and national identity in many of the Central and Eastern European countries where communist regimes once repressed religious worship and promoted atheism, Pew researchers stated. Today, solid majorities of adults across much of the region say they believe in God, and most identify with a religion.

While a minority in the region, Protestants are strongest in Estonia, where 20 percent identity as Lutheran; Latvia, where 19 percent identify as Lutheran; Hungary, where 13 percent identify as Presbyterian or Reformed; and in Lithuania, where 14 percent say they are just a Christian.

Only the Czech Republic remains majority religiously unaffiliated (72%), followed by a plurality in Estonia (45%), then Hungary and Latvia (21% each).

However, while citizens in once atheist countries are increasingly Orthodox, those in Catholic-majority countries are increasingly secular.

Across countries, solid majorities say that in order to belong, one must identify with the majority religion. For example, most say being Orthodox is essential to truly being Russian or Greek, while being Catholic is essential to truly being Polish. The close connection between religious and national identity is stronger for Orthodox than for Catholics (regional medians: 70% vs. 57%).

However, observance is a different matter. Relatively few Orthodox or Catholic adults in Central and Eastern Europe say they regularly attend worship services, pray often, or consider religion central to their lives, Pew researchers stated.

Catholics are twice as observant as Orthodox when it comes to weekly church attendance (medians: 25% vs. 10%). In addition, Catholics in Central and Eastern Europe are much more likely than Orthodox Christians to say they engage in religious practices such as taking communion and fasting during Lent, Pew researchers stated. Catholics also are somewhat more likely than Orthodox Christians to say they frequently share their views on God with others, and to say they read or listen to scripture outside of religious services.

Across the 18 countries, medians of 86 percent believe in God, 59 percent believe in heaven, and 54 percent believe in hell. Half also believe in fate, as well as the existence of the soul. Fewer than half pray daily.

Catholic-majority countries are more observant, but Orthodox-majority countries are more conservative on homosexuality and other social issues.

Citizens of Orthodox-majority countries are more likely than those in Catholic-majority countries to believe that their governments should fund national churches (medians: 56% vs. 41%) and promote religious values and beliefs (medians: 42% vs. 28%).

Surprisingly, this holds true regardless of church attendance. For example, in both Russia and Serbia, half of respondents favor state funding for the national church even though only 7 percent attend weekly.

Pew also examined the deep regard for Russia, whose 100 million Orthodox believers make it Eastern Orthodoxys largest homeland by far.

Pew explained:

While there is no central authority in Orthodox Christianity akin to the pope in Catholicism, Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople is often referred to as the first among equals (in Latin, primus inter pares) in his spiritual leadership of the Greek Orthodox and other Orthodox Christians around the world.

But only in Greece did a majority of Orthodox Christians view the patriarch of Constantinople as Orthodoxys highest authority. Instead, substantial shares give that honor to the patriarch of Moscow.

Pew noted that this includes roughly half or more not only in Estonia and Latvia, where roughly three-in-four Orthodox Christians self identify as ethnic Russians, but also in Belarus and Moldova, where the vast majority of Orthodox Christians do not self identify as ethnic Russians.

Meanwhile, five countries had pluralities favor their own national patriarch. Armenia was evenly split.

Many also believe it is Russias duty to protect Orthodox Christians worldwide, both against terrorism as well as the West (and its liberal values).

In every majority-Orthodox country except Ukraine, most people agree that Russia has an obligation to protect Orthodox Christians outside its borders. Nearly 3 in 4 Russians agree.

However, Pew also found that just 44 percent of Orthodox Christians in Russia say they feel a strong bond with other Orthodox Christians around the world, and 54 percent say they personally feel a special responsibility to support other Orthodox Christians.

Pew summarized the differences in the return of religion to the regions predominantly Orthodox and Catholic countries:

In the Orthodox countries, there has been an upsurge of religious identity, but levels of religious practice are comparatively low. And Orthodox identity is tightly bound up with national identity, feelings of pride and cultural superiority, support for linkages between national churches and governments, and views of Russia as a bulwark against the West.

Meanwhile, in such historically Catholic countries as Poland, Hungary, Lithuania and the Czech Republic, there has not been a marked rise in religious identification since the fall of the USSR; on the contrary, the share of adults in these countries who identify as Catholic has declined. But levels of church attendance and other measures of religious observance in the regions Catholic-majority countries are generally higher than in their Orthodox neighbors (although still low in comparison with many other parts of the world).

The link between religious identity and national identity is present across the region but somewhat weaker in the Catholic-majority countries. And politically, the Catholic countries tend to look West rather than East: Far more people in Poland, Hungary, Lithuania and Croatia say it is in their countrys interest to work closely with the U.S. and other Western powers than take the position that a strong Russia is necessary to balance the West.

The survey, part of the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Future project, was conducted from June 2015 to July 2016.

CTs previous reporting on Eastern Orthodoxy includes its humbled yet historic council in Crete and how Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill made Christian history in Cuba.

Read this article:
Pew: Here's How Badly Soviet Atheism Failed in Europe - ChristianityToday.com

Christians have a message.

But the beautiful message is often lost in the public market place of ideas due to the Christians increasing need to defend the truth against the ultimately hollow and literally hope-less philosophy of humanism.

We become expert at communicating what sins we are against but not what and who we are for. This is understandable, but not acceptable.

I wonder could I just present a positive case from a Christian perspective, mentioning three short matters.

Firstly the universe and human life have meaning because they are created and not mere accidents.

Surely we agree with the best science that the universe will come to a close; but just not in the way scientists may imagine. God will bring history to its end.

The human experience isnt a tale told by an idiot it is all going somewhere, it has meaning and value and purpose (even if we cannot understand everything that happens; and why should we think we could explain everything anyway?).

Secondly let me remind Christians and the public at large that God is love. Let me point out that God loves humanity. He does not discriminate. He loves and calls straight and homosexual people to be reconciled to God. Just as he loves and calls both male and female, black and white, Catholic and Protestant to himself to receive the forgiveness, and hope and free gift of eternal life all by his grace through faith in Jesus.

Our God died for all on the cross so that sinners can be saved, the lost found, the broken fixed, the hurting healed. Does God hate gay people? No. He loves all, thats the Christian starting point.

The homosexual debate can often mean that homosexuals never hear the Christian starting point; God loves you, Jesus died for you. And you can be set free from the penalty of sin in Christ.

Finally Christians have a message of hope. Atheism and humanism offer no real meaning or hope for the human with eternity in their heart. It offers no justice either. In a world of current misery and seeming injustice Christ offers sure and certain hope.

The resurrection means that death is not the end. It means that God has the power to offer eternal existence and can keep such a promise even if we die.

The resurrection also means that God is bringing final justice to this universe. In the end God will see to it that for those who seemingly havent had justice in this life will find justice to be done in the end.

Meaning, love, hope and justice. All things atheism cant offer, but only Christ can.

Thats what Christians are for and even more!

Mark Taggart, Fermanagh

Read the original post:
Atheism does not offer hope but Chistianity does - Belfast Newsletter

Atheists: Growing band of non-believers are finding a stronger voice

Independent.ie

Brian Whiteside can barely keep up with the demand. In January and February - the time of year when loved-up couples start to plan their weddings - this humanist celebrant estimates that he has to tell six of them that he won't be available for their special day. That's six couples every single day.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/atheists-growing-band-of-nonbelievers-are-finding-a-stronger-voice-35681621.html

http://www.independent.ie/life/article35681620.ece/345fc/AUTOCROP/h342/2017-05-06_lif_30877078_I1.JPG

Brian Whiteside can barely keep up with the demand. In January and February - the time of year when loved-up couples start to plan their weddings - this humanist celebrant estimates that he has to tell six of them that he won't be available for their special day. That's six couples every single day.

"There has been a huge rise in the numbers of people seeking non-religious ceremonies in the past few years," he says. "I've scaled back a bit, but some of my colleagues would do 80 weddings a year. And the demand keeps going up."

Last year, the Humanist Association of Ireland officiated at 1,500 weddings. A further 6,500 were civil ceremonies. "There were 12,000 Catholic weddings last year," Whiteside said. "That's 53pc of all weddings. Just 10 years previously, in 2006, there were 16,000 Catholic weddings here - 73pc of the total. And the figures for 10 years before that again, in 1996, were overwhelmingly religious - just 6pc were non-religious. Today, that figure today could be as high as 44pc."

For Whiteside, such evidence points to the huge rise of atheism. "It's a sign of society growing up, of people deciding that they don't need to keep up the pretence of being religious when they felt no religious devotion."

The figures are borne out in the latest census. Some 468,421 people - roughly one in every 10 men, women and children in Ireland - indicated 'no religion'. It's a 73.6pc increase since 2011.

Michael Nugent, head of Atheist Ireland, says the figure is likely to be far greater. "We're asked a leading question: 'What is your religion?' It should be, 'Do you have a religion?' A lot of people put down the religion they had when they were children out of habit, and then you have the head of the house filling out the census and sometimes assuming that family members have a religion simply because they were baptised."

Nugent is hopeful that the wording will be changed for the 2021 census which, he says, "would truly reflect how many atheists there are in Ireland right now".

The atheist lobby has made its presence known over the past few weeks. First, there was the controversy surrounding the proposed move of the National Maternity Hospital to the St Vincent's Hospital campus, and to land owned by the Catholic nuns order, the Sisters of Charity.

Then, this week, there's been the contentious vote in the Dil which would compel all TDs to stand for daily prayer and would insist that the Ceann Comhairle be the one to deliver it, irrespective of his or her views.

For John Hamill, such official secularisation can't come soon enough. "Ireland has changed enormously in the past 20 or 30 years and there's a huge cohort of people who do not believe in religion of any description."

He has been atheist for as long as he can remember. "People sometimes say to me, 'Are you angry with the Church? Is that why you don't believe?' It's nothing to do with that: I merely look at Catholicism - and any religion you could care to mention - and think, 'It's simply not true'. I just don't believe in a higher being or a God, call it what you will." Hamill is originally from Belfast but lives in Castleblaney, Co Monaghan, with his wife and four children. They attend the local Educate Together school and he says they are fortunate to have one nearby. "A lot of people feel they have to baptise their children in order to get them into school, because so many are Catholic-run, and I think that's the next big thing that has to be tackled.

"I'm not saying there shouldn't be religion. It should be a personal choice. I would be just as opposed to a school telling children there is no god. I want our kids to be able to make up their own minds."

It's a philosophy espoused by Helen O'Shea (pictured), a mother-of-five from Ardee, Co Louth. "I want my children to make up their own minds," she says. "I don't want to be dogmatic about what I do or don't believe. That sort of freedom was denied to many people of my generation. Growing up, it felt as though the Catholic Church held huge sway over the country."

O'Shea's upbringing was normal for the time, right down to the "obligatory uncle who was a priest", but she started asking questions. "I don't know if I ever believed it," she says, "and I was about 12 or 13 when I decided that I didn't want anything to do with it. The communion thing, I just couldn't get my head around, and I had a fundamental problem with the concept of confession."

Her first child, David, was born in 1990 and she had him baptised because she didn't believe there was much choice at the time, and because she thought it could be difficult to find a school that would enrol a non-christened child.

But none of her four subsequent children - all born much more recently - have been baptised. "The Ireland of the past 10 or 12 years is a very different place to what it was like in 1990," she says. "Societal norms have changed hugely and there are a huge number of people who have no religion. Their voices are being heard now. For too long, we had to keep silent."

But some believe old habits die hard. Hamill says an article he was commissioned to write about his atheism by a regional newspaper was pulled when the editor disliked his reference to the Virgin Mary as "a carpenter's wife", although as Hamill points out, such a description is to be found in the Bible.

For another non-believer, a self-described "virulent atheist", it's time to stop the politeness. "For years, we've had to kowtow and listen to celibate men in dresses telling us what to do when it comes to sex, abortion and so on," he says.

"Well, those days are now in the past and even those who say they have belief tend to pick and choose the parts that suits their lifestyle or agenda.

"Would it not be best to simply say, 'Look folks, it's all rubbish and your faith is simply down to a fear of death.' You want to think there's some other magical existence out there, but you're wrong."

Helen O'Shea sees the message as far less confrontational.

"I know some atheist parents mightn't want to tell their children that they don't believe heaven exists, but what my husband and I do is reinforce the fact that we get one life and we should make the very most of it."

Indo Review

Read more from the original source:
Atheists: Growing band of non-believers are finding a stronger voice - Irish Independent

Featuring UK events etc announced by members & supporters of Atheism UK.

Chris Street (President) invites paid-up members of Atheism UK to join us in Central London at 1.30pm for our quarterly Council meeting. Contact: president@atheismuk.com for an invite.

Continue reading Whats On?

Update 9th April 2017: The on camera interview with Ahlulbayt TV lasted 90 minutes. I spoke about many of the points raised by the twenty supporters/members of Atheism UK who emailed me or left comments on this post. Thanks all, for your comments. If any ex-Muslimswould like to give their views about the failures of organised religion, let me know and Ill put you in contact withAhlulbayt.The documentary will be aired on Sky 831 channel during Ramadan (27th May 25th June 2017) Ill add the precise date when known.

**********

Atheism UK will be interviewed by the Islamic channel Ahlulbayt TV (Sky 831 channel) this Wednesday morning (22nd March 2017).

Id be interested in any comments (today or tomorrow, 20-21st March) from Atheism UK members and supporters about What are the failures of organised religion?

Continue reading Atheism UK to appear in Islamic documentary. What are the failures of organised religion?

Norman Bacrac (1) has been a member of the Council of Atheism UK since 2011 and is a former editor of the Ethical Record (2).

This edited article, first published in the Ethical Record (3), refutes the first of William Lane Craigs eight reasons for God. In further articles, published at Atheism UK during 2017, Bacrac will refute Craigs seven other reasons for God.

In the Philosophy Nowmagazine, William Lane Craig (4) wrote in The God Issue, Does God Exist? (5). In this article, Craig argues there has been a resurgence of interest in natural theology.

Continue reading William Lane Craigs First Reason for God Refuted by Norman Bacrac

The first time I set eyes upon the glorious House of Lords chamber, in the summer of 2013, I was an ignorant tourist in the UK. With blissful awe I gazed on the golden decorations, the wooden benches, the leather seats, the red armrests. The red armrests which only seemed to be added to one bench. But the question why did not race through my fifteen-year old mind. Only much, much later did I find out the Bishops were granted those seats. The Bishops? Yes, the Bishops.

To a Dutchman, the notion of an unelected body of Parliament was a strange one although after moving here, I have grown used to it but the right of senior clergymen to help decide laws that apply to everyone, including non-Anglicans, is one I still cannot get behind. And I know Im not alone. This tradition is but one of the examples that show faith, not just the Church of England, but faith in general, is still paid extraordinary deference in twenty-first century Britain, and beyond.

Moreover, in a type of Americanisation and a bad type at that we seem to be stuck with leaders who claim to feel inspiration from God; although, if the recent past is anything to go by, it could be argued Gods sense of direction is about as bad as the average tourists in Birmingham. Especially to relative newcomers like myself the strange and worrying excess of respect paid to bringing ones religion into public life is an inexplicable concept.

The twenty-six Lords Spiritual, as the aging Bishops given the privilege of attending Parliament are called, have been in the House of Lords since its early days. One of them opens the House with prayers every day perhaps an interesting, objectionable notion for another piece of writing and their role in the Lords is, thank God, non-partisan. Although, perhaps the party of God is more limiting than any political grouping we know.

Interestingly, the Church of England website states the bishops represent all people of faith. Im positive most Muslims would disagree. As a matter of fact, when Henry VIII founded the Church of England and allowed Bishops to remain in Parliament, he inevitably set the precedent for an inherently divisive Parliament. Putting representatives of the cult that burned multiple people alive on unprovable claims in your legislative is in itself a rather extraordinary move, but there we are.

Moreover, the Bishops intelligence, and their ability to govern us, is questionable. I would not want to insult any fellow primate, but when the Archbishop of Carlisle claimed the 2007 floods were Gods punishment for the moral decadence of our country, I cant but doubt his judgement. Gods aim must have been slightly off, though; why else would these floods have hit largely rural areas, and not major cities, the centres of arrogance and greed? I dont think Worcestershire is a hot-bed of explicit homosexuality, after all. But the Archbishop can dream. As can anyone. But dreamers should not decide matters of national importance.

When Parliament came to represent not just the English and Welsh, but also the Scottish and Irish, the Anglican bishops were already stuck in the limbo of having to represent a multi-denominational country. With the influx of migrants with other beliefs in modern times, no one can seriously argue the Bishops are in Parliament to make the case for people of faith. Religion is divisive, as we have seen countless times again. In Northern Ireland, people killed each other and each others children for what kind of Christian they were for decades. Do you think any Irish Catholic would be happy to have an Anglican bishop speak on behalf of them? What about our fellow Muslim citizens? And, more to the point, what about the most important minority in British society today: those of us who do not believe? Are we even a minority anymore?

I think it is more than evident these Bishops, however well-intended they may be, do not deserve to have a special say in how our laws are made. Not a bigger say than the rest of us, anyway. The refusal of successive governments to reform this antiquated arm of our legislative is worrying, and is yet another example of how religion still very much has its own way in this country.

The annual ceremony held at the Cenotaph in honour of military dead is, to any benevolent human being, a worthwhile cause and something we must continue to adhere value to. Unfortunately, this occasion, too, has been poisoned by Gods meddling finger. In remembrance ceremonies around the world, the dead are remembered and their names passed on to posterity in a secular way. But not here.

The Cenotaph ceremony is enriched by the presence of a squadron of patriarchs, priests, bishops, imams, rabbis, and other religious prelates who seem to convey a general aura of look at us, were so co-operative. Lets not mention the fact that presumably each one of them believes servicemen belonging to any of the other representatives religions are now in their imaginary hells, but oh well. Moreover, the service is partially led by the Bishop of London, surprise surprise.

The main issue with this, of course, is one of inclusivity. Not only are not all religious denominations represented at the Cenotaph I bet Scientologists would love to commemorate the dead but far more importantly, there is no secular presence attending. When the Cenotaph was built in 1920, King George V intentionally refused to add religious symbols to the statue. It was designed to be an irreligious monument, commemorating servicemen and women of all faiths and, importantly, none. Why have our leaders forsaken the intended sentiment of this national monument?

Here, too, Gods breath seems to infect our national ceremonies without anyone except the religious themselves having any say in it. I would ask him to eat a mint or spray some mouth freshener and allow us to conduct our memorial services, and our state politics, taking everyones views into account. Not just those of a limited amount of religious people. War dead commemoration is too much of an important issue to be left to religious men.

A rare interview opportunity by the Sunday Times exposed Prime Minister Theresa May as a theist stateswoman. I am a practising member of the Church of England and so forth, that lies behind what I do, the woman in charge of Britain during one of its most turbulent times in recent history claimed. Whatever one might think of Brexit the beauty of atheism is that it rises above politics as far as issues like this are concerned I dont think God is going to have a positive influence on the exit process.

Interestingly, the Prime Minister then went on to say about decisions she makes with help of her God Hotline: Ill think it through, have a gut instinct, look at the evidence, work through the arguments. The evidence? I dont want to claim Mrs May is unintelligent, but stressing the importance of evidence whilst being a practising Church of England member is one of the most self-imploding and self-refuting positions I have ever heard.

The idea of having a Church of England-inspired government is in itself a rather scary one. The church founded on the family values of Henry VIII, as Christopher Hitchens aptly put it, isnt one I would base my morals off. God sending himself as his son down to earth to be hideously maimed doesnt provide a decent example to our politicians. Nor, more to the point, does the man who was prepared to viciously murder his own child to show devotion to a deity (Genesis 22:2-13). Will the divine injunctions to murder entire peoples guide our negotiations with the EU? (Genesis 19:24-5; Exodus 14:28; Numbers 11:1-2-33; 16:35; 49; 1:7; 25:8-9; Joshua 10:10-11; I Samuel 6:19; I could go on, and on, and on)

Many heads will roll before Article 50, it seems, if Gods example is anything to go by.

In short, the obviously fake guidance from God some politicians seem to enjoy, and the privileges they demand from it, should be met with strong opposition. Are there any reasons that prevent politicians from saying theyre not religious? From saying they derive their decision-making from factual evidence, from experience, from learned instinct? I cannot think of any. Religion, therefore, seems to still enjoy this special status in the minds of most people. Extraordinary deference is paid to those who claim to be inspired by blood myths and masochistic worship. By slaughter, murder, torture, and belief without evidence. This is the twenty-first century. It is high time to stop this medieval chain of thought and focus on the material world, which is the only world we have.

Should faith schools be able to select up to 100% of pupils based on their faith?TheCatholic Education Service (CES) has proposed that the current 50% cap be scrapped.

In September, TheresaMay announceda consultative Department for Education (DfE) Green PaperSchools that workfor everyone.For Faith Schools, the DfE say they intend to deliver more good school places, while meeting strengthenedsafeguards on inclusivity.

The Green PaperconsultationCLOSES 12th December 2016. Please send your comments (see below) before that date.

Chris Street, President of Atheism UK commented:

It seems to me that the Green Paper gives some spurious arguments for changing the 50% cap on selection in faith schools. If you are concerned about social integration and inclusive childrens education, I urge you to complete the Department for Education feedback form before 12th December.

Continue reading Catholics lobby for state funded faith schools to select 100% pupils on faith

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Atheism UK - Challenging Religious Faith

Why Millennial Women Are Embracing Atheism

Danielle Schacter never thought she would become an un-Christian. "I slowly became more and more disgusted by the way I saw people treating others," says the 32-year-old, who was raised Baptist. "I didn't want to be associated with a religion that preached so much hate."

Danielle Schacter, who identifies as agnostic, is one of a growing number of people who identify with no religion. Photo courtesy of Danielle Schacter.

Schacter, like so many millennials, has chosen a secular life, and she's not alone: according to the Pew Research Center, only four in 10 millennials say that religion is very important to them, compared with six in 10 Baby Boomers.

The numbers of religiously unaffiliated support this, too: 23 percent of the population identifies with no religion. This number is up from 2007, when it was only 16 percent. Of older millennials, 35 percent are religiously unaffiliated and they're driving the overall growth of the nonreligiously affiliated in America.

Kayley Whalen, a queer transgender Latinx woman who identifies as "a humanist and an existentialist and an atheist." Photo courtesty of Kayley Whalen.

What's fascinating is that while millennials are moving away from religion, they are moving toward spirituality. This demographic considers itself just as spiritual as older demographics, even as they represent an exodus out of organized religion and into the throes of secularism. When you consider the issues facing young people today, the reasons for the exodus are easy to understand. In rejecting religion, millennials are asserting their progressive attitudes and passion for social justice. They're committed to the idea that they don't need religion to know the difference between right and wrong.

Perhaps no one represents this cultural shift better than millennial atheist women. While they may sit at the most extreme side of the nonreligious spectrum, atheist women are fueled by the same concerns plaguing millennials in general: a quest for independence and a rejection of the status quo.

Lauryn Seering, 27, has never been religious, but she found atheism in high school in reaction to mainstream fundamentalist Christian ideas that condemn her lesbian mother. "Millennial women want autonomy over their own bodies," says Seering, communications coordinator for the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which is dedicated to protecting the separation of church and state.

"They recognize that all the arguments against this autonomy (contraception, birth control, marriage) are religiously fueled," Seering continued. "Women aren't being pressured by society anymore to get married at a young age, have children right away, and tend house while their husbands work."

Lauren Seering, an atheist who works for the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Photo courtesy of Lauren Seering.

Schacter identifies as agnostic. She's based in Kansas City, MO, where she founded a digital marketing agency called Boxer & Mutt. To her, growing secularism is a sign of independent women. "It's becoming more socially acceptable for women to think for themselves and really question why things are the way they are rather than blindly accepting them," she says.

Kayley Whalen, 31, is a queer transgender Latinx woman who identifies as "a humanist and an existentialist and an atheist." These different identities certainly influence how she approaches the world. "We have ethical values without the need for the supernatural," Whalen says. "We believe in social justice, that we can live a life with meaning, purpose, and dedication to social justice without the need for supernatural guidance." Unsurprisingly, Whalen's beliefs are tied up in her activist work: she's the digital strategy and social media manager for the National LGBT Task Force and is on the board of directors for both the Secular Student Alliance and the Trans United Fund.

As Whalen epitomizes, many young women who do not believe in god share a point of view that goes beyond just being atheist or just being a woman. The two are intertwined identities oppressed similarly in the United States.

Blackwolf's concerns hint at societal assumptions about atheist women, which every woman we spoke with touched on: being a woman who isn't religious breaks away from the social norms that frame femininity. Emily Greene, an artist and activist working in promotional marketing in Augusta summed it up best. "You're probably seen as less feminine," the 32-year-old said. "You're definitely judged, looked at more harshly. It's an assumption that it's a negative thing."

Ironically, being atheist can mirror being religious, as it plays a role in many aspects of young life. "That was very important to me in choosing a partner," says Katherine, a 32-year-old HR manager in California. "I have gotten into some debate with friends before where they're like, 'If you're an atheist, why do you care if the other person is of faith?' I'm like, 'You as, say, a Christian person would not want to marry a non-Christian person."

Phil Zuckerman, professor of sociology and secular studies at Pitzer College, believes that young people are turning away from religion as a result of how closed-minded and conservative many congregations can be, particularly when they are responsible for enabling xenophobic and queerphobic mindsets. For instance, many churches reject the idea of same-sex marriage, while 71 percent of millennials support it (in comparison with only 46 percent of Baby Boomers).

"A lot of young people are being turned off of by that brand of Christianity," he explains. "They're just seeing religion as an institution and saying, 'Ah, screw it.' Even though that brand of Christianity is not the majority most Christians are decent, kind people who aren't anti-gay and aren't racist and aren't anti-Islamic. But they don't make the headlines. They're not dominating the news."

Emily Greene, an artist, activist, and atheist. Photo courtesy of Emily Greene.

The internet is also serving as a conduit for less religion. As technology occupies more of our time, says Zuckerman, it chips away at "religion's ability to maintain a monopoly on truth . . . It's really corroding religion's ability to dominate our culture and dominate people's lives."

While there have always been religious skeptics the farthest back is believed to be the Charvaka movement in 7th century BC the present shift away from religion is notable because the numbers of religiously unaffiliated and atheists are way up. Although the movement is still predominately male and white, more women are stepping forward as religion reveals itself to be optional in their lives and sometimes to stand in the way of their independence.

Zuckerman believes this has to do with traditional organized religions' male-centrism: teaching women that they're second class, must remain virginal, and must stay out of leadership positions. Pair this with the amount of women in the workplace rivaling men, and the group doesn't need to turn to a church for social or financial support that churches typically offer.

Molly Hanson grew up in a Catholic household but has always been skeptical of the "invisible man in the sky" who tells people what to do. The 23-year-old Hanson, like many atheists, finds that questioning faith and religion makes people wonder if something is wrong with her womanness.

"If a woman doesn't bow down to this god and lord, she must have an issue with that god or lord," says Hanson, an editorial assistant at the Freedom For Religion Foundation. "She must have been damaged. There's a reason why she decided to leave that god. She might have been morally corrupted by another man or might have I don't know been wronged."

This issue isn't confined to religious communities. One woman a 30-year-old Indian American writer in New York who declined to give her name finds this flaw in atheist leaders, too.

"The movement itself is really alienating toward women," she says. "Leaders like Richard Dawkins are pretty sexist and condescending and talk down to women. Women have been left out in those major discussions of atheism."

For women who are atheists, discrimination is complicated further by the many ways their identities intersect. Gender as it relates to religious affiliation is complex, and it's even more complicated as it relates to black female atheists, as Blackwolf can attest. "A lot of black atheist men are often heard saying, 'Black women sure do love them some church!'" she says. "When we start having a discussion, there are implications about where my place in the community should be, and that's behind the man.'"

In speaking with young atheist and secular women, some through lines appear, among them a hope for equality that could be stymied by religion's grasp on society. There is a desire to normalize differing points of view, from LGBTQ people to atheists.

Katherine sees public events like the inauguration of President Donald Trump as a perfect example. "I was really struck by so much praying happening," she says. "I'd like to see us move kind of away from that and use logic and science and that holistic definition of freedom."

The nonreligious believe that, once the church is taken out of the state, equality can be achieved. Hansen believes these roadblocks arise as the result of unequal representation. "Women understand what it's like to be oppressed by laws that are rooted in religious ideas that oppress women and their sexuality," she explains. "To get more women in government positions is going to be a challenge, especially right now."

When women hold elected office, it inspires more women to run and more women in government has a powerful trickle-down effect on women as a whole.

But what if these women leaders were atheists? Would they still succeed?

Surveys have shown that atheism is one of the traits in a leader that Americans are most biased against. "I cannot imagine a president who identifies as an atheist," says the Indian-American writer in New York. "I'm a woman and a person of color: a female person of color who is an atheist could never be the president of the United States. It feels like another barrier."

Others, like Whalen, see these many layers as vital to change: "I want a woman politician to run and say that she's an atheist and that she's for reproductive justice, that she's for transgender rights, and win. I want a transgender woman to be able to do that."

Ultimately, for atheist women (and atheists in general) to succeed at changing society, they need to continue on the path they are on and not settle for being silenced. Zuckerman draws parallels to the LGBT community. "Coming out does have an effect," he says. "More and more people feeling comfortable saying 'I'm not that religious' has an effect." Atheists just want to be seen as starting from the same place as any other decent American.

Greene sums it up nicely: "We want to get up, go to work, and enjoy our friends and families and our lifestyles just the same way as the person who gets up on Sunday and goes to church. We have our own ways of self-care. A lot of people find religion and that's how they take care of themselves and that's great. We just do things a different way and that's OK."

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What Is Atheism? - POPSUGAR

(Cranach, Agony in the Garden, 1526; Wikimedia, PD-Old-100).

Today is something called National Reason Day, on the atheist calendar. The National Day of Reasoncommittee describes their goals in this apocalyptic register:

Now, more than ever, America needs a Day of Reason.

With the religious rights influence in Congress, and with the threat to our Judiciary looming large, there has never been as important a moment in which to affirm our commitment to the Constitutional separation of religion and government, and to celebrate Reason as the guiding principle of our secular democracy.

During the past year we have witnessed the intrusion of religious ideology into all spheres of our government, with such assaults on the wall separating church and state as:

As in previous years, this years National Day of Reason coincided with the Congressionally-mandated and federally-supported National Day of Prayer on Thursday, May 4, 2017. We thank all who value the separation of religion and government & joined us in commemorating this years Day of Reason, and in building awareness for this important cause.

How can a body supposedly devoted to reason make such unreasonable claims?

For example, there has never been a separation of religion and government in the United States. This is a total myth, more strongly, a lie.The wall between church and state was intended to protect the former, rather than the latter. Furthermore, not only has the US favored religion in the public square, but it has tended to favor certain particular manifestations of it (Mainline Protestant) against others. The whole dirty story can be found in Sehats The Myth of American Religious Freedom. Im not trotting this out because it favors me, being Catholic and all its quite the opposite, but because thats the truth about American politics, not the Reason Day alarmism.

Once we sincerely and reasonably acknowledge this most of the other objections (no matter how silly some of them are theologically) fall away. Both bad religion and good religion have always heavily influenced American politics and learning.

European theory usually does a better job of explaining American experience. Which is why were going to try something completely different now.

There are atheistphilosopherssuch as Marcel Gauchet (The Disenchantment of the World) andJean-Luc Nancy (The Dis-Enclosure of Christianity) who argue theres a reason why atheism could only develop within the bosom of Christianity. Namely, because Christian mercy permits the persistence of that which is not God, namely, sinners. The communion of sinners is just as much a part of Christianity as is the Communion of Saints.

Even stranger, we find atheists trying to recover religious language for their own purposes, because they admit they cannot gain legitimacy for themselves on purely atheist footing. On a crassly popularizing level you have someone like Alain de Botton (Religion for Atheists: A Non-believers Guide to the Uses of Religion) and on a much more sophisticated level there is someone like Simon Critchley The Faith of the Faithless: Experiments In Political Theology.

These two groups of thinkers make me wonder whether their explorations are what Simone Weil meant about atheism when she said in Gravity and Grace:

Religion in so far as it is a source of consolation is a hindrance to true faith; and in this sense atheism is a purification. I have to be an atheist with that part of myself which is not made for God. Among those in whom the supernatural part of themselves has not been awakened, the atheists are right and the believers wrong.

The Evangelical salvation-language Bill Nye used during the March for Science confirms all this, although hes has as much nuance as the National Reason Day. It makes you want to throw your arms up in frustration. Sometimes you want to give up, butwhen you dodont forget even those trulylazydisciples of Jesuseventually woke up. Be patient, wait for the godless, and dont lose your religion over National Day of Reason.

The symmetry between low church Evangelical pietist enthusiasmand the enthusiastic science pietism of Nye and the Reason Day crowd fits into a larger historical pattern of atheist protest mirroring the practices and ethics of predominant religious cultures in the regions where the atheist movements emerge.That pattern isdiscussed in detail inAtheists: The Origin of the Species, a book by Nick Spencer that Ive feature in Atheisms Ancient Creation Myth.

Hope you enjoy people emoting in the comments section since it only proves my point.

See also: 2 Reasons Why the March for Science is a Losing Strategy.

Please also make a donation to this blog through the button on the upper right side of this page to help keep it going.

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Atheists Have National Day of Reason, But American Atheism is Irrational - Patheos (blog)

Updated May 05, 2017 10:52:26

She walks the corridors of power, but Lee Rhiannon's focus is the green spaces she glimpses through the windows.

The Greens senator from NSW still reads botany books in bed and keeps a list of the species of birds she spots from within the walls of Parliament House (she's just reached double figures).

For her, the fascination with the natural world has a spiritual dimension.

Rhiannon is a firm atheist her parents were atheists and told her school she wouldn't be going to religious classes.

But she says she has a strong sense of wonder at nature and believes in "non-god-centred spirituality".

"I really want to use the word 'spirituality' carefully, because for a lot of people it does mean spirits, like things out there," she says.

"I don't see the world at all like that.

"I find it hard to find the right language but particularly for my love of the environment, my fascination with people, you do feel a deep connection, you do feel these extraordinary bonds."

But she says she learnt to respect other people's beliefs from her parents.

"I grew up in what I suppose these days might be an activist household."

Senator Rhiannon and her parents would discuss the state of the world around the dinner table.

Even years later, when her father was suffering Alzheimer's, her complaints about the local pool brought him a moment of clarity.

"All of a sudden he said to us, clear as a bell, 'And what are you doing about it?'," she says.

"It was sad in one way, but it made me laugh as well because it was like all his brain cells or whatever goes on in your mind all lined up.

"And that was like how I grew up."

Rhiannon's parents campaigned on issues such as Aboriginal rights, the Vietnam War, anti-Apartheid and women's rights.

But during her political career, the focus has often been on the fact they were Communists.

She says it reminds her of McCarthyism.

"Some of the things that go on these days do actually remind me of the Cold War that I grew up in, where people throw around names, throw around slogans, and they don't actually look at what people did," she says.

"I've seen my parents vilified, but that doesn't mean they did bad things."

Senator Rhiannon travelled to Russia with her then-partner in the 1970s and studied political economy, philosophy and Marxist philosophy.

She said it was an enlightening time experiencing life under Brezhnev.

"We were in the middle of the Cold War, remember," she says.

"And this is a country that's been invaded so many times and that rigidity, in terms of how they interact with their own people and the world, I think is explained by that.

"It was a rigidity I found I could understand, but I was pleased I lived in Australia."

She says she's learnt over time not to be too trusting of the media.

One example of that was the reporting over the years on the reasons for her chosen surname.

She decided on "Rhiannon" with the help of friends, as an alternative to returning to her maiden name.

But somewhere along the line various reports emerged it was based on the Fleetwood Mac song, or styled after a Celtic goddess of wetlands.

"None of them are true," she says.

"My friends were very helpful and I wanted to change my name."

Despite the frustrations, she says politics has brought a "richness" to her life and a sense of hope.

"When I was growing up, I never thought the Vietnam War would end, I never thought Apartheid would end," she says.

"When I talk to people these days who often feel quite hopeless about whatever their campaign is, I give those examples.

"You never know you do your little bit in life and you can have a breakthrough."

Topics: government-and-politics, parliament-house-2600, nsw

First posted May 03, 2017 06:02:38

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Keeping the faith: Lee Rhiannon on balancing atheism and spirituality - ABC Online