Losing My Religion

Mike Pence and I have something in common. We both attended the now-defunct Christian rock festival Ichthus (“the Christian Woodstock” or some nonsense like that) in Kentucky and had significant experiences in our religious development there. For Pence, Ichthus was formative in becoming an evangelical Protestant. Pence was raised Catholic, his siblings remain Catholic toContinue reading “Losing My Religion”

A Christmas Song I Love

I love “O Holy Night.” I write that unironically. I’m not a Christian. Heck, I’m even skeptical of the historicity of Jesus, and even if he were historical I doubt there’s any truth to the Nativity story as related in Christian mythology. Yet, in the pantheon of Christmas songs, “O Holy Night,” a song explicitlyContinue reading “A Christmas Song I Love”

On the Year that Was

With 2016 drawing to a close and 2017 about to begin, I decided to take a look back at 2016 and spotlight the best (or most significant) blog post of each month. Some months — July, quite notably — were more difficult that others; there were a few months, like March and August, where IContinue reading “On the Year that Was”

The Non-Faith of Christopher Hitchens

Several years ago, riding Baltimore’s Light Rail to work, I was reading Christopher Hitchens’ God Is Not Great. A group of black teenagers boarded the train and took seats near me. One asked what I was reading. I handed him the book. He almost physically recoiled at the title, black block letters on the yellowContinue reading “The Non-Faith of Christopher Hitchens”

Link Round-Up: December 20

A couple of links for you kind readers today. Mostly I spent the day baking cookies and finishing the first season of Star Wars Rebels. Which ends, by the way, with a pretty intense three-part story. And the droid, Chopper, remains a psychopathic asshole. Irish Whiskey Cookies, Perfect for Christmas – Science! A friend postedContinue reading “Link Round-Up: December 20”

Link Round-Up: December 15

Our second link round-up! These are things I read today that interested me, with some commentary on what I read and what I thought. BBC World Service: Space – The BBC World Service has begun an occasional podcast series of podcasts on an astronomy/space exploration theme. As of right now, there are four episodes, rangingContinue reading “Link Round-Up: December 15”

Link Round-Up: December 14

I am inaugurating a new blog feature — a mostly-daily link round-up of things I read and found interesting. It’s primarily as much for my benefit as it is yours, the reader’s. I see something, I have thoughts, and then I forget about it or, worse, post a Tweet with the link and then neverContinue reading “Link Round-Up: December 14”

America’s Increasing Secularism and Its Personal Aspect

This morning, on my way into work, I heard a segment on NPR’s Morning Edition about how a new Pew survey indicates that Americans are becoming less religious, and this decline in religious belief has happened over a short frame of time. The share of Americans who say they are “absolutely certain” that God existsContinue reading “America’s Increasing Secularism and Its Personal Aspect”

The Jerks of the Atheist Movement

I am sometimes asked what I think of today’s leading atheists, people like Richard Dawkins, Bill Maher, Sam Harris. I am saying this as someone who doesn’t own a Bible (I suspect the Smithsonian’s replica edition of The Jefferson Bible doesn’t count), but does have copies of Dawkins’ The God Delusion and Hitchens’ God IsContinue reading “The Jerks of the Atheist Movement”

Answering the Ten Questions for Atheists

I saw a link to this on Twitter — Today Christian posted 10 Questions For Every Atheist with this challenge: “Some Questions Atheist Cannot Truly and Honestly REALLY Answer! Which leads to some interesting conclusions…” I look a good challenge. Let’s take a look, shall we? 1. How did you become an atheist? I wasContinue reading “Answering the Ten Questions for Atheists”