Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie is soon to be knighted for his contributions to English literature. Not being a British subject, I don’t care who the Queen knights. It doesn’t affect me, it’s not my call. I’ve never read any of Rushdie’s work–no, not even The Satanic Verses–but if the Queen believes his work isContinue reading “On Salman Rushdie, Knighthood, and Fatwas”
Category Archives: Atheism
On What Atheism Isn't
Yesterday’s Washington Post ran an article in their Metro/Religion section entitled “Is Atheism Just a Rant Against Religion?” With a title like that, and a ginormous picture of God is Not Great author Christopher Hitchens accompanying the article, I had to read the article. The thesis of Benedicta Cipolla’s article? That atheists like Richard DawkinsContinue reading “On What Atheism Isn't”
On Karl Rove's Atheism
I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this–Christopher Hitchens, author of the new book God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, outed senior Bush administration advisor Karl Rove as an atheist. Hitchens said in an interview with New York Magazine: I know something which is known to few but is not a secret.Continue reading “On Karl Rove's Atheism”
On Wiccan Respect
I began writing this post on Monday, and I felt I didn’t have anything interesting to say, that I was just parroting a press release. I saved the draft, and decided I’d think about it, to see if I could come up with a new angle. I’m not sure I really have one. A lawsuitContinue reading “On Wiccan Respect”
On Creationism Nonsense
I wrote recently something along the lines of “Flat Earthers and Creationists know more about science and the way the universe works than Brannon Braga.” Braga, of course, is the long-time Star Trek writer who wrote such scientific howlers as “Genesis” (in which people de-evolve into shrews and spiders, neither of which would be inContinue reading “On Creationism Nonsense”
On Being a Saint
In the annals of the completely random, this surely must be counted. I saw this and thought it was… strange. 🙂 If I were one of the fathers of the early Christian Church, who would I be? (Leaving aside the obvious cognitive dissonance of being an atheist….) You’re St. Jerome! You’re a passionate Christian, fiercelyContinue reading “On Being a Saint”
On a Non-Theist in the House
Congressman Pete Stark of California made news this week as being the only member of Congress to “come out of the closet and [acknowledge] that he does not believe in God.” This revelation came from a survey done by the Secular Coaltion for America. From their press release: Rep. Stark is the first open nontheistContinue reading “On a Non-Theist in the House”
On Ash Wednesday
Today is Ash Wednesday. I hadn’t realized. A few years ago on Ash Wednesday I was out somewhere–a Barnes & Noble, I think, probably the one right near my house–and I saw a woman with the ashes marking her forehead. “Praise Odin,” I said to her. She looked at me oddly, said nothing, and walkedContinue reading “On Ash Wednesday”
On Not the Messiah
First Spamalot. Now Not the Messiah. Eric Idle is bringing a classic Monty Python film, The Life of Brian to a new stage: “the comic oratorio”: “Provisionally titled Not the Messiah (He’s a Very Naughty Boy), in a nod both to Handel and one of the film’s best-known lines, the project will be Idle’s secondContinue reading “On Not the Messiah”
On a Pastafarian Insight
This occurred to me at work today. Might the Flying Spaghetti Monster be one of the Elder Gods? Consider. Pastafarians bless one another with the saying, “May you be touched by His Noodly Appendage.” Conventionally, we think of the Noodly Appendage as, well, pasta. Could it actually be a tentacle? Could the pasta merely beContinue reading “On a Pastafarian Insight”