This is why Atheists need to advertise. While out on the road I have come across numerous Christian advertisements but so far not a single Atheist advertisement. Today I found the stupidest one so far.
Evolution is a fact of life; whether these people like it or not.
Comedy Central has censored the latest episode of South Park amid fears of reprisal from Islamic terror groups. The shows 200th episode depicts the Muslim prophet Muhammad wearing a bear costume the result of which is a death threat from Islamic Extremists warning that South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone will be murdered.
So much for the “Religion of Peace”
In the 200th episode of South Park, which was broadcast last week, a proposal to bring the Prophet Mohamed to town is met with short shrift at a community meeting. “Are you nuts?” one character says. “If Mohamed appears in South Park we get bombed!” “We don’t know that,” another replies. “Maybe enough time has passed that now it’s OK to show Mohamed.”
As it turned out, that hope was a forlorn one. The American broadcaster Comedy Central this week censored the programme after the episode’s depiction of the Prophet Mohamed dressed as a giant teddy bear drew a warning on an Islamist website that the show’s creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, would be murdered. –The Independant
There seems to be a new trend of terrorism popping up in the western world where anything that might offend Muslims needs to be censored for fear of reprisal. This is by it’s very definition an act of terrorism.
terrorism–noun
1.the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes.
Pope Benedict XVI formerly known as Joseph Ratzinger has been implemented in the rape of children by the Catholic Church. Noted atheists Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens have asked human rights lawyers to produce a case for charging the Pope for for his involvement in covering up numerous cases of children being raped by Church officials.
Should the pope be arrested for playing his part in child rape by the Catholic Church?
The lawyers believe they can ask the Crown Prosecution Service to initiate criminal proceedings against the Pope, launch their own civil action against him or refer his case to the International Criminal Court. –Times Online
Nobody would get away with rape in any other organisation and the Catholic Church should be no exception. Most decent people to have the moral standing to report such matters to the authorities.; unfortunately the Pope is not one of them.
Dawkins and Hitchens believe the Pope would be unable to claim diplomatic immunity from arrest because, although his tour is categorised as a state visit, he is not the head of a state recognised by the United Nations. –Times Online
I have always strongly opposed diplomatic immunity, since no civilised nation would grant criminals a free pass. But regardless it is good to know that the Pope is not eligible to even claim such special status. To me it would seem that the Pope is stuck in a very tight spot; if he travels to Britain he faces possible prosecution, and if he cancels his trip there will be much speculation as to why. Even attempting diplomatic immunity will raise the question of why he needs it if the charges are untrue.
In the case of a guilty verdict I would expect the usual barrage of bullshit excuses from true believers in particular “God forgives those who repent”. How I would love to see that excuse tried out in a court of law.
I’m sure we have all seen this common argument used by Christians to attack Atheists.
Without God in your life, you have nothing to look forward to. Atheism leads to hopelessness and despair. Life for atheists must be depressing and meaningless.
When I was in Melbourne last moth all the Atheist’s seemed very happy; especially in the pub. Hardly anyone attending the convention seemed to think that life was meaningless. In fact this argument would be better applied to a theistic world view. God does not exist so by their own “reasoning” it is their lives as Christians that are worthless and not the lives of the Atheists. Since these people choose to base their lives around the existence of a fictional being; they are the ones who cease to have a purpose when the creature they have devoted their life to is nowhere to be found. So by their own “logic” (not mine) life must be empty and meaningless.
Now you can start to see how foolish that argument really is.
While everyone else was preoccupied a Perth Atheist was grabbing interviews with NonStampCollector, Jamie Kilstein, PZ Myers and finally Reverend Jim Brady from St. Pauls Cathedral.
The interviews were conducted by Kohdi Troy or
Hey hey! So I’m back from the imensely successful Global Atheist Convention in Melbourne, and I had an absolute blast, met up with a few good people, thoroughly enjoyed the event, the speakers were all first rate, even if I was only able to attend the final day (don’t tell anyone but I snuck in to see PZ and AC on the Saturday. I would have been glad to pay but unfortunately tickets had sold out). While I was there I organised a couple of interviews with Youtube Atheist (am I the only one that hates that term?) NonStampCollector, New York Comedian Jamie Kilstein and an impromptue interview with legendary blogger, biologist and all round awesome guy, PZ Myers (whom I’ve since discovered prefers zee to zed). On top of this, I made a mistake with my flight booking and ended up staying in Melbourne a day longer than I expected, which gave me the opportunity to have a chat with one of the preachers at St Pauls Cathedral, Jim Brady (unfortunately not Phillip Freier). –Thought Crime Theater
I was only present at the final Interview with Jim Brady who I found quite interesting. Jim was much more open to discussion than I had initially anticipated. I think it was good that we managed to get an opinion from the “other side of the fence”.
Here are the interviews conducted by
You can also download all four interviews in a .zip file here.
Following on from a Blog post by Jin-ohchoi
To all the Atheists, Rationalists, Sceptics, Free Thinkers and other like-minded people.
With The Rise Of Atheism | 2010 Global Atheist Convention only days away. I wanted to pose a question to those attending and not attending.
What outcomes do you hope will come from the convention? –Jin-oh – Atheist|Geek|Nerd|Social
I feel that since the Atheist Convention is now over we can answer another important question and that is. What was the best thing to come out of The Rise of Atheism?
For me the convention was not just about the presentations, although they were well worth crossing the country for on their own. I feel the greatest value in the convention comes from uniting Atheists who are notoriously disorganised, possibly because we won’t burn in hell for it. With Atheists all over the country having now met and begun the formation of new alliances a new wave of reason is sweeping across society and organised ignorance cannot easily escape it. The convention is appropriate named “The Rise of Atheism” because now Atheism is beginning to take center stage away from the Stupid, Ignorant and Deluded masses.
Atheism is on the rise and this is one ball that won’t stop rolling…
Religious people like to accuse Atheism of being a religion, despite the fact that we have no scripture to follow, no god to worship and no messiah to listen to. At least until PZmyers shows up. Just wait until the “Atheism is a religion” crowd get hold of this one.
Photo courtesy of @pcostley
Not only do we have PZmyers doing the perfect messiah pose but we also had a standing ovation for the arrival of Richard Dawkins, before he had even spoken. With this type of response it should not be much of a surprise when the religious mistake atheism as another form of religion.
Where: Lygon Court Food Court off Drummond St, Carlton
Date: Thursday, March 11, 2010
Time: 8:30pm – onwards
Since many of us are arriving in Melbourne on thursday we have decided to hold a meetup before the convention. So far approximatly 60 Atheists are planning to meetup in Carlton for food and Drinks.
Hi All,
With 2010 having hit and The Rise of Atheism Convention fast approaching, it’s high time for Atheists from across the country/world to get together for a few drinks to kick off the weekend.
“World-renowned philosopher A.C. Grayling will be in conversation with Russell Blackford on Thursday 11 March, 6.30pm, Cinema Nova. Free, but please book on (03) 9347 6633.”
Following the launch, we will gather in the food court at the far end (Drummond Street) of Lygon Court, adjacent to the Borders Books coffee bar. Usually, there is plenty of room there, and it’s not noisy. It is projected that this would be around 8:30 for those of you who are unable to attend the launch.
From here it’s off into the night to decide where is looking good for a feed and drinks etc. If this is much earlier or later I will be contactable by phone please feel free to message me for this number if you plan to meet up at 8:30 or later.
Really looking forward to getting to meet a lot of people from all over the place and putting a few faces to names.
– Ben Turner
Special thanks to fellow atheist Ben Turner for arranging this meetup.
The 2010 Global Atheist Convention is almost here, in only a few days time myself and other atheists from all over Australia and the world will be descending on Melbourne for “The Rise of Atheism” convention.
Such a large gathering of free-thinking individuals is bound to attract some attention, and indeed it has the convention is already sparking a considerable backlash before it has even started. But the convention is going ahead no matter how much the creationists attempt to disrupt things. It is time for human civilisation to move on from the darkages and now Science and Reason are pushing back against religion that has always dominated main stream society, Atheism is on the rise.
Why do creationists insist that every disaster is proof of gods existence?
Right now in Haiti Christians are rushing in to spread the gospel to the Haitian people with solar powered bibles. But how is this a positive promotion for God. If anything I would expect disasters like this to turn the deluded masses against god rather than towards him. Patt Robertson is even claiming that the people of Haiti where punished by god for their sinful ways. However this is not the consensus of most Christians who believe God is there to help. My question is “Where was he earlier?” surely an all powerful being capable of being everywhere at once would not have simply gone out on other errands.
This promotion for god is not a new phenomena Christians have been doing it for years, every time there is a disaster the God Squad is there to promote “God’s Love” without recognising his obvious absence and reluctance to answer prayers.