Happy New Year

So yet again the earth was destroyed and all the wacko's are gone.. or are they? :)


I've been busy with everything lately, sorry for no new content. However I am starting to have some free time to sort through my junk mail etc. You can email me at Garrett@eviltheists.com if you would like to help out in any way!

http://richarddawkins.net/news_articles/2013/1/7/pope-says-catholic-church-must-stand-firm-against-intolerant-agnosticism


Thanks
Garrett Fogerlie

Pope says Church must stand firm against “intolerant agnosticism”

by Philip Pullella posted on January 07, 2013 07:52PM GMT 

Pope Benedict said on Sunday that Roman Catholic leaders must have the courage to stand up to attacks by “intolerant agnosticism” prevalent in many countries.

Italian outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti looks on as Pope Benedict XVI arrives to lead the Epiphany mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican January 6, 2013. REUTERS/Max Rossi

The pope and the Church have come under increased attack because of their opposition to homosexual marriage and women priests. The pope has repeatedly denounced what he says are attempts to push religion out of public debate.

The 85-year-old pontiff celebrated Mass on the day Christians in the West mark the Epiphany, and ordained four new archbishops including his personal secretary.

In a homily to about 10,000 people in St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, he firmly rejected suggestions the Church should change to suit public opinion.

"Anyone who lives and proclaims the faith of the Church is on many points out of step with the prevalent way of thinking," he said. "The approval of the prevailing wisdom, however, is not the criterion to which we submit."

In the United States, a group last month started a petition on the White House website asking the administration of President Barack Obama to list the Catholic Church as a "hate group" because of its opposition to gay marriage.

"Today's regnant agnosticism has its own dogmas and is extremely intolerant regarding anything that would question it and the criteria it employs," the pope said.

continue to source article at in.reuters.com

Why Reason Rally? - Ashley F. Miller - ashleyfmiller.wordpress.com

By ASHLEY F. MILLER - ASHLEYFMILLER.WORDPRESS.COM
Added: Sat, 24 Mar 2012 02:03:44 UTC

I have posted so much about the Reason Rally in the last few weeks, but I have one last thing I want to talk about: why I care so much about this event.

Many of my friends talk about this event as a rallying of the troops, a way to build morale and group identity among secular America. Plus, it’s a big party with others like us! This is important, absolutely, and I wouldn’t want to take anything away from those who are going for this reason, but it is not why I am going. I am going to demand a voice.

I came to the atheist movement in a somewhat circuitous fashion. I’ve been a non-believer since I was eight. I found my teeth in my mother’s jewelry box and, having already been quite suspicious of the entire thing, concluded that there was no Tooth Fairy and, therefore, no Easter Bunny, no Santa Claus, no Jesus, and no God.

I didn’t become vocal about my atheism until after reading Hitchens’ “God is Not Great”, but even though I cared deeply about secularism, it was not my primary cause. I was more interested in being an activist, and I didn’t see any opportunities for activism for secular causes. Instead, I spent my time fighting for civil rights for LGBT, women, and minorities. When I lived in California and campaigned against Prop 8, the gay marriage ban, I finally met atheists and skeptics who were fighting, actively, for political change.

Secularists need to join one another, not only to create community and acceptance, but to demand it. I am incredibly lucky that, despite being from South Carolina and the Bible Belt, my family tolerates my non-belief — mostly in the hope that I’ll get over it, but still. There are so many people I know, including those who are active locally, who cannot speak publically about their lack of belief for fear of losing their families and their jobs. There are so many people I know who have been mistreated by the religious, so many children hurt and abused because the law gives special rights to religion, and many others who feel they can never make an impact politically unless they kowtow to the Christian Fundamentalist majority in our state and our country.
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TAGGED: CONFERENCES

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Higgs’ View: The Real Reason People Doubt Richard Dawkins is an Ape - Faye Flam - philly.com

By FAYE FLAM - PHILLY.COM
Added: Sat, 24 Mar 2012 01:58:11 UTC

The latest chatter in the evolution blogosphere is brewing over an unlikely contention that Richard Dawkins is not an ape. Professor Dawkins says he’s an ape, which puts him in the same category as the rest of us human beings. A piece in the Washington Times contends that he’s not an ape and neither are other people who do crosswords and like Shakespeare.  

Higgs has a theory he thinks explains both the Washington Times editorial and the more general problem with acceptance of evolution.

Higgs: While many people have written interesting blog posts here, here, here and here about the ape-hood of Richard Dawkins, I humbly suggest there's one more important point to be made. This  episode has helped confirm my suspicion that you humans are embarrassed by your relatives. You don’t like other apes very much. You think they’re ugly and you imagine they’re smelly even though most of you have never sniffed a gorilla.

Think about it. Animals make one of the most popular monikers for American sports teams, such as, say, the Philadelphia Eagles. But when has there ever been a team named after any non-human primate? Can you imagine the Cleveland Gorillas playing the Chicago Baboons? Not going to happen.

In the Washington Times piece in question, the writer made much of the fact that humans can read, and enjoy Shakespeare, and do crosswords and whatnot. But the DNA doesn’t lie, and it shows people are more closely related to chimpanzees than chimpanzees are to gorillas. So you can’t very well put chimps and gorillas into the same category and not include yourselves, can you?

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TAGGED: EVOLUTION, RICHARD DAWKINS

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