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The Cheerful Atheist

• So much for freedom of speech…

  26Mar
  Categories: In the News Comments: 55

  This kind of scares me.

  Basically, a bloc of 57 Islamic States are trying to get the UN to criminalize the  “defamation of Islam”.

  “The resolution deems offending Islamic sensitivities a “serious affront to human dignity” which could lead to “social disharmony”, “violations of human rights” and “incitement to religious hatred in general and against Islam in particular”. If passed, the resulting binding resolution would find its way into various UN documents all of which would require that UN member states at “local, national and international levels” start restricting the free speech of citizens to prevent public criticism of religious beliefs, particularly Islamic belief.”

  And this might actually pass. This is ridiculous.

  Ok, first of all, defamation laws protect people, not ideas. If it becomes law that certain ideas cannot be questioned then that is a big leap forward into a rather scary Orwellian society. All ideas should be up for examination and criticism, you can’t just pick a few and put them behind a glass wall, to be admired but never examined for fear of punishment. That just throws the whole idea of freedom of speech out the window. This is not about religion. This is about free speech. Freedom of religion allows people to practice their own religion. It does not protect practitioners from all possible criticism from the rest of the world. You can’t shield ideas under the law. That defeats the whole purpose of thinking.

  Maybe I should try and get people arrested for mocking the existance of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

  Tags: Islam, U.N.

• Ok, so the Pope is an idiot.

  17Mar
  Categories: In the News Comments: 1,245

  This is going to be a not so cheerful post.

  Once again, the supposedly infallible head of the Catholic Church has proven himself to be stuck in the dark ages and completely unconcerned with human welfare.

  He explicitly stated that condoms won’t work and that Africans should just stop having sex instead to prevent the spread of AIDS. Yep. Because that has proven to be so effective.  In his own words:

  “The Vatican encourages sexual abstinence to fight the spread of the disease.

  “You can’t resolve it with the distribution of condoms,” the pope told reporters aboard the Alitalia plane headed to Yaounde, Cameroon, where he will begin a seven-day pilgrimage on the continent. “On the contrary, it increases the problem.’”

  Seriously, what century does this guy live in? People have sex. It’s quite natural. And, condoms work. Condoms greatly reduce the chances of getting the HIV virus and also unwanted pregnancies at the same time. I know that the Catholic Church wants every possible little Catholic baby to exist, but in a part of world heavily troubled by overpopulation, disease, warfare, starvation…it makes sense to have kids you can support and care for, not simply numbers to add to your religion.

  And here is where the Catholic Church fails. They chose potential converts over the health and welfare of the existing human population. And by spreading misinformation about condoms and AIDS, the Catholic Church is causing the deaths of millions.

  I got particularly angry when I read this paragraph:

  The pope also said today that he intends to make an appeal for “international solidarity” for Africa in the face of the global economic downturn.

  He said that while the church does not propose specific economic solutions, it can give “spiritual and moral” suggestions.

  Ok, so he recognizes the huge worldwide problem, that people are unemployed, going hungry, facing enormous issues. And his solution is to tell them to either stop having sex or die and go to Hell. And, in doing so, he claims the moral high ground.

  I laughed when I read that the Pope was “saddened that he was criticized “with open hostility”". Umm, yeah. Because you are killing people with your ignorance. I think that is a damn good reason to be hostile.

  Tags: AIDS, Pope

• Coping Without Religion

  16Mar
  Categories: Random Thoughts Comments: 53

  First of all, I apologize for slacking off with the blog entries lately. I just started a new job and it took over my life briefly. All is settled now and regular blogging will begin!

  I was trying to decide what to write about today and all my ideas seemed to stem for various meetings I have had over the past few weeks.

  I help support a “Coping Without Religion” group that meets every other Sunday. It’s basically a discussion group, held at the Centre for Inquiry Ontario. It’s a group for people who want to talk to other people about life, the universe and everything. It’s mostly composed of atheists and people who are leaving religion and trying to come to terms with atheism. Or people who are been dealing with issues surrounding their atheism and just want to talk with similar thinking people and bounce some ideas around.

  It’s been a fantastic experience so far. We get such a diverse set of people every week - people leaving the faith they grew up with, people curious about atheism, people who are confused about where they stand.  Every discussion has been entirely without fighting - we talk, we discuss, we laugh. Almost every meeting we have had has gone over our scheduled time limit because we are simply enjoying each others company.  Compared to so many discussion groups out there, it’s such a refreshing atmosphere.

  It also helps me to meet so many interesting people from all walks of life. In some ways, I think that people who have left a religion are better at answering some questions than I am. Since I was not brought up under any religion, I have a hard time understanding the thought process of many believers. The god concept is so foreign to my way of thinking, I just can’t relate to it.  In some ways, this makes me very prepared to talk about atheism and answer questions about living as an atheist (such as issues of morality, etc) because  I understand atheism. And I try to understand religion, so talking to people with faith or people who are leaving it have been very useful for me.  I think it’s healthy for me to have different people with different approaches to talk to.

  Talking about religion and god does not have to be hostile. I’m starting to really understand that and it makes me happy.

  That being said, sometimes hostility is a good thing too. And it can be refreshing to read.  Which is why I continue to enjoy reading Pharyngula every day.

  Tags: Coping Without Religion