Tuesday 29 May 2012

President Obama lays it on the line . . .

"In a secular society the religiously motivated must translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific values. Their proposals must be subject to argument and reason, and should not be accorded any undue automatic respect".

~ President Barack Obama

Monday 21 May 2012

41% of UK don't think God made the Universe

From New Humanist Magazine:-

A press release reaches us from Premier Christian Radio with the headline "UK's belief that God created the Universe at an all-time low". It reports the findings of a study conducted by ComRes for PCR (2054 were polled online across the UK in April), ahead of the conference , called "Unbelievable 2012" PCR are holding in London on May 26 at which "academics and scientists" from the US and UK will be arguing that contemporary cosmology indicates that God created the world.

The headline findings of the survey are that only 26% believe that God created the world, 41% said they didn't believe this and 23% didn't know or didn't want to say. In what the press release describes as a "strange twist" fully 25% of those who identified as "Christian" did not believe that God was the cause of the Universe.

So, why would a Christian outfit be trumpeting numbers which show that the idea of a God-created universe is in decline, even amongst their own gang? Read on . . . 

41% of UK don't think God made the Universe - highest ever

Saturday 19 May 2012

Women

"Here and now, everywhere, those with eyes to see can see for themselves that religion has for thousands of years perpetuated the oppression of half our species. Half of the great minds our peoples have produced have lived and died unknown and forgotten, their educations neglected, their lives spent doing laundry and other menial tasks for men — their merits unrecognized and buried under lies promulgated by religion, in cultures soaked in the destructive myths of faith which codify misogyny and give it a godly blessing.

Isn’t that reason enough to tear down the cathedrals — that with this one far-reaching, difficult change to our cultures, we double human potential?"~ P Z Myers

Wednesday 16 May 2012

Religion & Power

It is not necessary to destroy religion, but it is necessary to destroy any vestige of power that religion wields. We cannot have religious practitioners claiming authority or privilege on the basis of a funny hat and having a special relationship with an Invisible Magic Sky Daddy. ~ quedula.



Saturday 12 May 2012

Bible bullshit.

"We can learn to ignore the bullshit in the Bible about gay people. The same way we have learned to ignore the bullshit in the Bible about shellfish, about slavery, about dinner, about farming, about menstruation, about virginity, about masturbation. We ignore bullshit in the Bible about all sorts of things." ~ Dan Savage

Tuesday 8 May 2012

Scouting for God?

Guest post by Jessica Redding.
A survey which was conducted by the Humanist Society in Scotland has seemingly found that there are many Humanists who have admitted their sons have joined the Scouts and made the “God Pledge” despite not having any real belief. One member who was surveyed claimed that her son had taken the pledge, sworn his allegiance and later revealed his “God” was Slash from Guns N Roses. Depending on your viewpoint on matters of humour and atheism, this is either hugely funny or not (especially if you prefer Bon Jovi).