Atheists Are Scary!!!

Yes. We are scary.  At least that's what so many religious individuals think in today's society.  We see evidence of this fear manifest in the world of politics, entertainment, and education.  I saw a poll of sorts the other day referencing some of the most positive and negative traits a presidential candidate could have and guess what was listed as the most negative? Yep non-belief.  This should come as no surprise though because the level of ignorance we seem to see everyday is astounding. 

I can hear the religious-right as we speak... "We can't have somebody run our country who doesn't love god, Jesus, guns, and....Jesus"!

It hurts my grey matter to think that lacking belief could be the most negative trait a presidential candidate could have.  Usually, although not always, having a lack of belief brings with it logic, and reason, and critical thinking skills that are applied to all aspects of life.  I don't know about you but I would damn sure want somebody running this country who had those characteristics.

The world of entertainment is no better at the moment. We have seen a flood (pun intended) of religious movies and television shows this year.  I can't even list them all because I would probably miss some.  Most can be found with a simple Google search.  I can't remember a time when so many religious themed programs have been released in such a short period of time.  This, to me, shows that religion is losing its grip on society and is a manifestation of religion's last ditch effort to keep people from leaving their beliefs.

State education systems seem to be just as afraid of non-belief.  There has been a big push to "put the bible back in school" across the country.  The loudest screams of this nonsense seem to come from many of the southern states but it's everywhere.  It turns my stomach when I see an elected official stand in front of a group of people and say phrases like that.  Its a slap in the face to the validity of the public education system.  There is no room in the public school system of any state for myth. Zero.

So let them be afraid.  They should be.  Not afraid of us as people because generally non-believers seem to be rather decent individuals but because we have a voice that's getting louder and we are cemented in our stance that in order for we as a society to move forward the myth needs to be left behind.

-Zombie

Its Been a Few...

It seems like it's been forever since I've posted anything new.  I've been so focused lately on the podcast and the new website that it seems like I've forgotten about the blog.  This is not the case my friends.  I have several things I've been wanting to write about and the topic number continues to go up.

So this is just a quick note to say that there's a lot of topics I will be writing about in the near future and to say that in the mean time check out my podcast The Heathen Half Hour podcast on spreaker.com and on iTunes and stop by my website ZombieAtheist.com where you can hear the latest podcast episode, get the latest news on whats coming up next with the show, links to other great websites, and you can even pick up a Zombie Atheist t-shirt or two.

Thank you for visiting and check back often you heathens.

-Zombie

Upcoming Guests on The Heathen Half Hour

Pay attention you godless heathens.  Coming up on The Heathen Half Hour podcast with yours truly, The Zombie Atheist:

May 5th: @MamaAtheist and I sit down and chat about child indoctrination.
May 12th: Joey Kirkman and I discuss his new book "Bedtime Bible Stories"
May 19th: Sorry no show this day as we will be attending a lecture by Neil deGrasse Tyson (jealous?)

Also coming up but has yet to be scheduled is a discussion on atheism/secularism in the nursing profession with myself, my lovely bride, and @heartbreakRN.  I have also been asked to be a guest on the The Angry Atheist podcast but that too has yet to be scheduled but I will let you know as soon as I do.

I really look forward to all these upcoming episodes and as always if you have suggestions on topics you want to hear or if you want to be a guest on the show feel free to email me at fortheheathens@gmail.com, message me on twitter @heathenhalfhour @ZombieAtheist42, or visit my website at zombieatheist.com and send me a message using the contact form.

The website is where you can find links to this blog, the podcast, and tons of extras.

Thank you all for listening/reading/following.

-Zombie

She said that? I'm Not Surprised

Wow, if I had a dollar for every time a politician said something insanely stupid I would have been a rich man quite some time ago.  The most recent comes from our good friend Sarah Palin who, quite frankly, has given us a great number of laughs since emerging into the public spotlight.  Her latest "foot in big mouth" moment comes from her speech at the NRA rally in Indianapolis over the weekend. Ready for it? She said:

"If I were in charge....they would know that waterboarding is how we baptize terrorists"

Yep. She said it.  And as disturbing as this is I find it even more disturbing that I am not in the least bit shocked that something so utterly inhumane came spewing from the depths of her delusional mind.  When I first heard of this I thought to myself this must be another hoax like the one floating around the internet claiming she said flight MH370 flew to heaven and got stuck.  Then I saw the video.  Hoax it is NOT!

Here's the link to the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7vdAlzh-jo

Once I gathered that the "waterboarding=baptism" comment was true I began looking for articles referencing this and I came across one which included a reaction from an individual that was just as disturbing.  When referencing Sarah Palin's statement this individual stated that:

 "Joking about baptism in the context of this aggressive action suggests that we don’t think baptism is as life-giving or important as it is."
(http://www.thewire.com/politics/2014/04/sarah-palin-is-not-the-rights-campaign-savior-anymore/361305/)

Is that truly the most logical reaction to have to a statement like that? Seriously? The heinousness of torturing another human being takes a back seat to the "importance" of baptism? The first concern is for the description of a religious ritual and not for the welfare of another human being? You have got to be kidding me!

To say that the United States of America "dodged a bullet" by not having Sarah Palin as the Vice President seems to be quite fitting in this scenario given the event she was speaking at.  What I do find frightening is that a portion of the population decided that Sarah Palin was, at one point, the best fit for the job.

Religious belief breeds this kind of backwards thinking and statements like these highlights the importance of secular activism to build an indestructible wall separating church and state.

-Zombie

 

Unreasonable Generalizations

I think at one point or another we are all guilty of making gross generalizations about a certain group or action that are based on nothing more than emotion.  Usually this comes during our younger years when we have yet to grasp the concept of research or that old saying "Think before you speak".

Unfortunately this has not changed.  Although we live in an age where a world of information that sits at our finger tips, this still happens and surprisingly from individuals we all would consider intelligent and educated. As an atheist I frequently debate individuals of various religious beliefs and one of the staples of any of my discussions is when I introduce information I know is fact or I counter a religious persons myth with science I always follow up the discussion with telling them not to take my word for it but to go and research the information themselves.

But what does this have to do with making generalizations?

Have you not heard somebody say in some form or fashion that "religious people are stupid" or "If you believe in the bible then you're stupid"? I have.  Several times.  That would be a gross generalization about a demographic that quite simply isn't true. Holding a religious belief is not a reflection of one's intellect.  There are a multitude of factors that can go into why people hold religious belief.  The reason I implore the individuals I debate to not take my word for what I say but to go out and verify it is because most people I have legitimate debates or discussions with are very intelligent.  I may find the myth to be stupid or ridiculous but not the individual.  I may find the person to be ignorant of certain facts but rarely do I find the person stupid or pathetic.

Now here's my issue.  There are some individuals I interact with that seem to forget the above when it comes to topics other than religion.  It is asked of the religious to use logic, reason, and critical thinking and apply it to their beliefs but when it comes to any other topic I see some atheists failing to apply the same logic and reason.

What about generalizations about other groups of individuals? Gamblers? Drug addicts? Is it logical to conclude that these groups of individuals are "pathetic"? I would say no. Why? Because that is a generalization that is based, not on facts, but on personal opinion or feeling, which is subjective.  It is easier to say that a drug addict is "pathetic" than it is to research the factors that go into addiction and to pass on ways to help fight said addiction.  What about a gambling addict? Sure it's easier to brush it off as ridiculous or to say "just stop wasting money" but there is a real difference between somebody buying a few scratch-offs and somebody spending the entirety of their paycheck at a casino without regard for how said person will provide food for their family.  There are psychological factors that have to be taken into consideration when addressing these types of questions.  The answer is never gross generalizations about these individuals.  Those are just two examples of what could be an endless list of examples.

The point is this.  Everybody has an opinion on things.  Every has a right to state their opinion and in the same breath nobody is immune to correction.  In order to grow and learn one has to be open to the possibility that their opinion could be wrong.  I'm wrong on a lot of things and I am grateful and become more intelligent when these things are pointed out to me.  We all ask the believers to apply logic when speaking about religion so we should also expect each other to do the same when the topic is something else. 

-Zombie

Another Feeble Attempt...

Well the religious are at it again.  This time in an upcoming documentary "The Principle" which is a documentary about geocentrism (earth being the center of the universe, sun revolves around the earth, and other such garbage).  In the trailer for the film it appears to have interviews with several well known scientists in what I can only describe as a feeble attempt to give this idea of geocentrism a level of respect.  However this is not the case.

What appears to have happened with this film is the creators purposefully misrepresented what this film was about to these members of the scientific community or simply used clips from previous interviews and chopped them up to their satisfaction.  They were even able to get Kate Mulgrew to narrate the film. Here is her response to the film via Facebook:

"I understand there has been some controversy about my participation in a documentary called THE PRINCIPLE. Let me assure everyone that I completely agree with the eminent physicist Lawrence Krauss, who was himself misrepresented in the film, and who has written a succinct rebuttal in SLATE. I am not a geocentrist, nor am I in any way a proponent of geocentrism. More importantly, I do not subscribe to anything Robert Sungenis has written regarding science and history and, had I known of his involvement, would most certainly have avoided this documentary. I was a voice for hire, and a misinformed one, at that. I apologize for any confusion that my voice on this trailer may have caused. Kate Mulgrew"   

Dr. Lawrence Krauss, who also appears to have been misrepresented in the film, stated via a SLATE article that had he known what the film represented he would have refused.  (For the entire article, click below)

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/04/08/lawrence_krauss_on_ending_up_in_the_geocentricism_documentary_the_principle.html

So the question boils down to why make a film that deliberately misrepresents well known members of the scientific community in order to push an idea that was debunked centuries ago? In my opinion its because religious belief and all of its dogma are on the way out and films like this are religion's last stand.  We live in an age where information is at our fingertips.  Access to a world of information can be found in that smartphone in your pocket.  The need for religious belief has long since past and we are starting to see more and more people dismiss their religious beliefs when faced with facts and evidence.  So I think this film and films like it are, in part, a cinematic representation of the last ditch effort of religious belief.

-Zombie

Questions for upcoming guests

Upcoming guests on The Heathen Half Hour podcast:

@jen_august 

@DIYThinking 

@MamaAtheist 

If you have a question you want asked to one of these awesome guests, submit them to the right or email them to fortheheathens@gmail.com

Get your questions in quick. The shows are coming up quick.

-Zombie