http://www.agnostic-library.com/ma ... an agnostic view of the world ... Mon, 05 Jan 2009 03:12:05 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en With the fighting going in in the Gaza strip between Israel and Hamas, it’s time I reviewed the best object-lesson in the dangers of religion that the world has ever seen. The conflict between Israel and Palestinian Arabs is a morass of hyperreligiosity, not only on the parts of Muslims ... http://www.agnostic-library.com/ma/2009/01/04/the-danger-of-religion-the-levant/ Speaking of lawsuits, an atheist soldier is suing the military over its promotion of religion in the ranks and among civilians it encounters:An atheist soldier suing over prayers at military formations claims a larger pattern of religious discrimination exists in the military, citing attempts to convert Muslims in Iraq and ... http://www.agnostic-library.com/ma/2008/12/30/religionazis-in-the-military/ The Washington Post reports that the widely-derided-by-religionazis Michael Newdow — backed by groups such as the Freedom From Religion Foundation — is suing in federal court to keep two pastors off the podium when Barack Obama is sworn into office as president, and to keep him from having to say ... http://www.agnostic-library.com/ma/2008/12/30/clerical-inauguration-lawsuit-filed/ One of the pitfalls inherent in setting public policy according to metaphysical beliefs, is that not only can you screw things up unintentionally, you can thereafter be unable to correct that screw-up, because doing so would run afoul of the metaphysics itself. A great example of this that was recently ... http://www.agnostic-library.com/ma/2008/12/30/abstinence-only-failure/ The Pew Forum recently released the results of a follow-up survey to one they’d released earlier this year, on how Americans view salvation. The first survey had been controversial among evangelicals who were shocked to hear that so many Americans did not view Jesus as the exclusive arbiter of salvation. ... http://www.agnostic-library.com/ma/2008/12/28/american-views-of-salvation-the-bible/ There’s nothing like Christmas to bring out the lunacy of the religionazis. A small daily newspaper here in northwestern Connecticut published a letter-to-the-editor today which exemplifies all the fallacies and false beliefs of the religionists. This guy (Thomas Latina) uses Christmas as an excuse to complain about things ranging from ... http://www.agnostic-library.com/ma/2008/12/25/incoherent-rambling-for-jesus/ I saw one of those standard stories that comes out every year, in which some whiny Christian dares claim to have been persecuted for his/her faith. (Sorry, but this just does not happen in a country which is somewhere in the 80s percentile Christian.) The crap about having to say ... http://www.agnostic-library.com/ma/2008/12/23/disingenuity-over-merry-christmas/ Every year it comes up, the contention over the nature of Christmas. It’s an argument that seems never to end ... unfortunately.On the one hand there are religionazis who claim there’s a war on Christmas (something I’ve blogged about already). On the other hand, there are people who claim it’s ... http://www.agnostic-library.com/ma/2008/12/18/what-is-christmas-really/ Barack Obama’s inauguration, about a month from now, will feature an invocation by evangelical Christian Bible-thumper Rick Warren — pastor of the famed Saddleback megachurch and millionaire author of those cloying “purpose-driven” books — about whom I’ve blogged before. Warren is supposed to be a member of the “new” evangelicals ... http://www.agnostic-library.com/ma/2008/12/18/the-purpose-driven-inauguration/ Yes, it’s true. (Or should I say, they aren’t true!) A lot of things you think about the holidays — even things you’ heard since childhood, oft-repeated maxims that you had presumed were solid and unquestionable — are actually a load of horsehockey! The British Medical Journal addressed some of ... http://www.agnostic-library.com/ma/2008/12/18/holiday-myths-busted/