It Was a Typical Monday Morning...

... and then I stumbled upon this:

Don't Read This Blog Entry

I think it's about time for a stupid and rather pointless post to get the weekend going. Don't read it. It's dumb and pointless. Still reading? Okay, here we go...

My Pilgrimage

When I posted My Three Crises of Faith, the 20 page paper which would unintentionally serve as the beginning of this blog, I wrote an introduction to the paper in which I admitted that the essay is "one of the few times I get introspective."

Then I spent the next two and a half years turning Dead-Logic into one of the most introspective skeptic blogs on the Internet. I guess I learned how to open up.

Some Facts About Atheists and Secularists

• Atheists and secularists are less nationalistic, less prejudiced, less anti-Semitic, less racist, less dogmatic, less ethocentric, less close-minded, and less authoritarian.


• Atheists and secularists are more supportive of gender equality than religious people, and are less likely to endorse traditional views concerning women’s roles.


• There is a positive correlation between higher education and atheism, agnosticism, and secularity.


• A 2006 study showed that Americans find atheists to be the most problematic minority group.


• South Carolina and Arkansas ban the non-religious from holding public office.


• Of the 17 countries in the world that have outlawed hitting of children, nearly all are among the most secular nations in the world.


• Secular people score markedly higher on tests of verbal ability and verbal sophistication than religious people.


• Secular people score markedly higher on indicators of scientific proficiency than religious people.
(From http://www.pitzer.edu/academics/faculty/zuckerman/Zuckerman_on_Atheism.pdf)

[h/t beldenandclark]

— Dead-Logic

Laughing With God

Friends of mine can tell you that I have a rather eclectic taste in music, and I tend to gravitate toward musicians who are less than mainstream. Yes, I've been accused of being a hipster. When Clayton and I were roommates he often had this confounded look on his face when I'd sit in the living room listening to The Silver Jews or Vampire Weekend (he's such an uncultured philistine).

I have a special place in my heart for female vocalists who play piano (or female pianists who sing, whichever): Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, Amanda Palmer, Regina Spektor for example. Lately I've been on a Regina Spektor kick, listening to her album Far mostly. The album has a wonderful (and thought-provoking) song called "Laughing With." Have a listen (lyrics are below the video):

Thanks to the Grammys...

... I now understand that domestic abuse isn't such a bad thing if you're a good-looking guy who can dance. And what do Chris Brown's fans think?

Happy Darwin Day!

It's a day to celebrate science!

Who Wants to Keep Talking About Elevatorgate?

I sure as hell don't, but there are people out there still bringing it up, and I found myself dragged back into it again. Yesterday afternoon I checked my blog's stats, and saw that readers had been directed to Dead-Logic via some blog called "ManBoobz." Seeing that this blog drove some traffic my way (and seeing how it has such a classy name), I decided to check it out. I'm always on the lookout for a new blog to read, and if someone's sharing the love with me, I like to try to share the love back.

But I found no love. Apparently Mr. ManBoobz thinks I'm a "decidedly non-feminist atheist" for reasons he doesn't bother to say. Given that he linked to my criticism of Rebecca Watson during Elevatorgate, I get the impression that Mr. ManBoobz thinks I must be a non-(or anti-)feminist because I didn't agree with Rebecca Watson. I don't know for sure, so I posted this response on ManBoobz's blog:

A Magical Definition of Faith

Magic: the Gathering is a competitive trading card game with a fantasy theme: magic, wizards, angels, vampires, dragons, knights, zombies, et cetera. I've been playing this game since it was first released back in 1993. Yes, kids, I'm a long-time geek. Fortunately, I'm not the stereotypical gamer geek: I'm physically active, a martial artist, an avid sports nut, I smell good, and I have sex. Still, I love chucking the Magic cards around with the local geeks at the game store. Don't judge me. I mention all this because I came across this Magic card recently called "True Believer." It's an older card that I've seen before, but just now I noticed the card's flavor text. Here's the card:

Be Not Unequally Yoked With Unbelievers

This is becoming a recurring theme among my Christian friends on Facebook. Here's the latest:

Sam Harris on Atheism

Yeah, more Sam Harris. It's entirely unintentional:

The Eugene Gerber Series

Here are all the relevant entries in what has become the "Eugene Gerber Series" (for those of you who might have missed any):

Taking Down a Billboard

Eugene Gerber – 5 Feb 2012

I first saw the Rivers Church billboard on 26 Oct 2011. Had it not been for an Axe commercial being pulled off air a few weeks earlier by the Advertising Standard Authority (ASA) of South Africa, Rivers Church might well have been allowed to continue disseminating their mindless propaganda. The aim of the ad still eludes me; were they luring hapless infidels into their web of lies, deceit and money grabbing? Perhaps the message was aimed at their devout flock, reaffirming the absurdity of atheism. Regardless, their message would have remained untouched.

Sam Harris on Faith

I admit it's taken a while, but Sam Harris is starting to grow on me...

One Reason Why Religion Persists...

... in my not-all-that-humble opinion:

Atheism in South Africa

Eugene Gerber – 31 Jan 2012

Dictionary definitions aside, the diversity of opinions on atheism in South Africa is second only to our menagerie of 11 official languages and the associated cultural splendor. Confusion abounds – atheism vs agnosticism; atheist vs antichrist – chaos in the minds of the masses.

Koinonia

Koinonia (κοινωνία) is a Greek word that means "communion by intimate participation." If you are or were a Christian, chances are good you've heard this word. English counterparts include "fellowship," "participation," and "communion." Koinonia implies not only fellowship, but a joint venture, teamwork for the greater good. This κοινωνία is the very thing I said I missed about being a Christian in my previous post. A few folks posted comments reminding me that I am part of a new koinonia of freethinkers here on the wild world wide Internet. Seriously, go read the comments. I am humbled and grateful to be part of a group of such insightful readers, fellow bloggers and critical thinkers.

And while this online koinonia isn't quite the same, in a lot of ways it's even better, and way more meaningful. Sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised by it. Consider South Africa resident Eugene Gerber. I wrote a blog entry about him not too long ago in which I pretty much threw everything at him: sarcasm, tongue-in-cheek insults, even sparkly animated gifs, and after all that, he had the strength of character to engage me in discussion and present his side of things. Our discussions went from here on the blog to one-on-one via email, and now, per my request, Eugene submitted a short write-up about atheism in South Africa, which will be posted here at Dead-Logic tomorrow.

This is the kind of koinonia I want and need, where we can challenge each other - even somewhat acrimoniously with egregious displays of glittery animated gifs (if one is so inclined) - and still come out of it with respect for each other. I'm not sure how to end this except by saying that you guys rock.

My Christian Friend

I have brief moments every once in a while when I wish I could go back into Plato's Cave, get plugged back into the Matrix, so I can wake up one day and be able to step inside a church and actually believe in all of it again. Like I said, those moments are brief, and they are few and very far between. What I really want - or I should say what I really miss - is the feeling of acceptance. I miss the feeling of family that comes with the comfortable bubble of Christian culture. Still, life is more fulfilling now, though I still long for the type of community my former religion provides. Even in those brief moments when I wish I had never taken the red pill, I know I can never go back, and deep down I would never want to go back. The images I saw there were shadows, illusions, deceptions. I was a Christian who wanted answers - real answers - and when I applied logic and reason in search of those answers, the whole thing collapsed.

Bonus Facebook Fun!

Another one of my Christian friends on Facebook (who's neither Clayton nor Mutual Respect Guy, FYI) shared this image he found on a Facebook page called "I Just Want to Praise You, Jesus":

Out of curiosity, I clicked on it and read the responses to this picture. I couldn't help myself. I trolled. Just a little...

Last Night on Facebook

A good friend of mine who is a Christian (and who's not Clayton, FYI) posted this status update on his profile:

Being a Christian with a bunch of atheist friends is a difficult thing. As an atheist, you have to believe that the Bible is a pack of lies, and people who believe it's true are fools.

As a Christian, how do you maintain a friendship with people who hate what you believe, and think your an idiot for believing it? How can there be any kind of mutual respect in a situation like that?

Compelled to respond, I posted a comment which led to an interesting discussion between my friend and me. Much of my conversation with my friend is below. I cut out comments by other people for the sake of length, and because they don't directly affect our conversation (although I chuckled a bit at my friend's mother-in-law, who, rather than actually contributing anything meaningful, trolled the thread by posting random Bible verses and lyrics to old hymns). Enjoy:

Who Am I?

I woke up Sunday morning feeling really sick and kinda melancholy. I spent most of the day in bed eating soup and watching both Boondock Saints movies. When I wasn't being a huge baby (which was most of the day), I spent some time writing this blog entry. I have to warn you: I ramble on a bit, and I reference philosophers and concepts without explaining or defining anything, and in the end I never really answer my initial question. I blame it on my illness and severe dehydration. I would understand completely if you didn't read it. For those of you who choose to skip this entry, I offer you this awesome image I created as compensation:

Amazing!

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