I understand that many of us are struggling but I was touched by a story and request for help posted tonight by Terence Weyenberg.

His car was about to be repossessed and he asked for immediate help to pay the bill to avoid it.  He received a loan from a friend but had to deplete the last $200 he had and has no cash on hand for luxuries like food.  I know we're a skeptical bunch, but I think it's legit, and maybe a few of you will want to throw $5-10 his way to buy him a meal.  Just a good deed for the day, a few dollars to a freethinking brother who could use a hand up.  

MONEY SENT TO THE PAYPAL CHIP IN ABOVE GOES DIRECTLY TO TERENCE (jeweyenberg@yahoo.com) 

Here is the letter he posted on Facebook before he received some financial help (could still use a hand up).

I'm starting this off with a $5 donation, will you match me?

 Chris Hayes wishes you a Merry Christmas or a Happy War on Christmas, whichever you celebrate.

Want to hang out with me for an hour on Friday night (8:30-9:30 EST) to celebrate life, the season, the non-apocalypse, and our heightened awareness?

This Friday on the Winter Solstice and just over 12 hours after the world doesn't end I would like to get together with those who I relate to the most.  Please make sure you add me to your circle, and I'll add you back.  Also RSVP to the event.  If you need an invite please send me a message on Google +.

To keep the party fresh, maybe I'll show a relevant youtube video (or three) if we need.  Do you have a favorite Solstice video?  Maybe a video about the Mayan calender from a skeptics perspective?  

Maybe you have a topic you want to discuss, or a question you want addressed?  Please feel free to post below any videos, topics, questions.

More importantly... please show up.

THE EVENT:

http://plus.google.com/u/0/events/cj8ph6rltv75ud89hf07cqnnus0?authkey=CI2Q_N29_uSftAE

There are a few stories about the amazing teachers who died protecting the lives of their students.  I just wanted to take a moment to honor her.

This is Victoria Soto born 11/04/85. She was killed protecting her students in Newtown. She made her children hide in closets and in the bathroom and in doing so put herself in harms way. I will remember her and I honor her courage and dedication to the well being of her students. And unlike the person who I found out about this story from, I refuse to use her story to make a political point.  I believe she deserves to be honored simply for what she has done.  Her bravery goes above and beyond the call of duty.  

Here is a snippet from the news:

Miss Soto, who had taught at the school for five years was described by one of her deeply distraught 10-year-old pupils as ‘really nice and funny’, was trying to shield her students and usher them into a closet when she came face-to-face with the gunman.
Miss Soto’s cousin, Jim Wiltsie, said: “She put herself between the gunman and the children and that’s when she was tragically shot and killed.

“I’m just proud that Vicki had the instincts to protect her kids from harm. It brings peace to know that Vicki was doing what she loved, protecting the children and in our eyes she’s a hero," he added.
Jacob Riley added that Miss Soto liked to chew gum in class – something not usually allowed for teachers. He said he often teased her about her habit – and she playfully teased him back.

There are some people from the red states that are currently having a public temper tantrum to secede from America.  Why not let them?  The red states are a drain.  They have higher rates of homicide, infant mortality, suicide, and unemployment.  They tend to take higher amounts of federal funds, they are less educated, less diverse, less tolerant, have a lower IQ, and are more religious.  

I'm all for embracing America, I believe we should try to work together rather than divide.  I would never propose a secession for my state when I am frustrated.  When George Bush won as a result of fraud and the Supreme Court selected him in another election you didn't see me proposing we secede.  I knew the damage he would cause, I was disgusted, I lived every day of those 8 years upset at who was in the White House.  I lived every day of those 8 years fearful of what he would do next and sad about the extreme damage he was causing to this country.  I did not propose a secession.  Instead I fought to inform the public.  And in doing so I'd like to believe that I played a very small role in ensuring that we have a better leader now.  Now it's their turn.  

If you're upset about the nomination of Obama I understand that feeling, I lived with that feeling.  During that time I spoke out, it's a right that we get as Americans.  A right that you would probably have restricted by an [almost] theocratic style government that you would slowly move towards in your new red state country.  A petition to secede sent to the White House, does nothing but paint you as unpatriotic immature and butthurt.  Man up.

Many of the people signing these petitions on the White House website to allow X state to secede from the Union are not from the states that are asking for a way out.  I am one of them.  That's right, I signed every single petition asking for a red state to secede.  If they want to play 2 year old I'll let them.  Let them taste what it would be like to be without the strength of the collective America.  They claim patriotism?  I think not!

I suggest you sign all secession petitions for states that went red in the last election.

Let's give the whiny unpatriotic traitors what they want!

If you don't want to sign those petitions maybe you'd rather sign the petition to strip the citizenship from everyone who signed a petition to secede.  Or you can sign the petition to deport everyone who signed a petition to secede.

I'll leave you with a blurb from Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris.  He paints a picture that talks about the weaknesses of the red states as well as referring to higher levels of religiosity:

By the way, The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1869 that states cannot unilaterally secede from the union. The position the court took was "once in (the union), always in"

 I recently had an exchange with a Christian friend who was "disgusted" at the states that approved gay marriage.  He believes the people who voted for it are "disgraceful." Christian disapproval of gay marriage was the impetus behind this open letter that will hopefully open the eyes of a few of my Christian readers.

Marriage was initially created by men many years ago to control women, at a time much more archaic than the time we live in now.  It was created at a time that we would stone someone for being gay as well as for cursing at their parents.  Many things have changed in society since marriage was first created.  We now are able to traverse the planet to find a mate and no longer need to claim one within walking distance as our property.  Today marriage is viewed much differently… so is stoning.   In fact we are so far away from the original reasons behind the creation of marriage that nowadays it can feel like marriage is a means for women to control men.  

Marriage today is considered a formal legal agreement.  An agreement that governments have decided warrants some special privileges.   Sure, I get that your religion defines marriage as between a man and a woman but governments founded on principles of equality realize they must define it as an agreement or contract between two people to live as a married couple.  This contract allows two people that are in love to unite in a lifelong bond that affords them certain rights they would not otherwise be afforded.  Governments throughout history have slowly moved away from biblical interpretation of the law as it is outdated and irrelevant.  We no longer allow slavery, we recognize it as inhumane… the men who created your silly bible story apparently didn’t.  Your argument that we should embrace the definition of marriage that religion has set forth is a poor one considering how far we've moved away from religious law, it's time to grow in this area too.  We choose to live in a world governed by sanity and fairness, not a 2000 year old book that condones slavery and violence. Do you want peace and equality or not?

When you complain about gay marriage, even consider it "disgraceful" you are taking a stance against a couple that wants to proclaim their love for life and wants the same benefits that married couples receive.  They receive certain health care benefits, tax benefits, and the ability to visit their partner’s deathbed. 

Your stance is uniquely anti-human if you aren’t willing to afford gay couples the same rights that you receive as a heterosexual couple.  Your discrimination and hate is defended by using a book written by ignorant drugged up lunatics in an attempt to monopolize power and profit over the even more illiterate masses. 

Your god is supposed to be all knowing and all powerful.  He knew this day would come.  He knew a time would come where decent people would be forced to take a stance that allows this "sin" or be forced to face the fact that they have an indecent opinion.  Your anti-gay stance is indecent, it is shameful and sad that it is based on a book full of contradictions and mistakes; a book that any reasonable intelligent person who is honest with themselves must admit is nonsense.  You might as well base your opinions on Peter Cottontail. 

As a straight man that loves women and couldn't possibly ever envision myself with another man I have a hard time relating to someone who would.  Frankly it’s not my thing.  But a homosexual person may feel the same way about my heterosexual preferences.  I understand that as a decent citizen of this planet I am no more entitled to the legal advantages of love as someone who falls in love with someone of the same sex.  And you might say you think being gay is a choice, but we do have scientific reasons for believing people are born gay.  The science leads us to believe that homosexuals don't make a choice to be gay.  There are countless examples of gay acts in the animal kingdom, did they have peer pressure or learn it on TV?  One further scientific reason to believe that people are born gay: ask gay people all over the globe if they chose it! I should not be granted rights that I would discriminate away from someone else.  You don't deserve the special rights you are afforded through marriage if you are unwilling to accept others who want the same.   

Let’s pretend for a moment that the inconceivably ridiculous god concept you believe in is true, then we must admit that God created people knowing full well that they would be biologically predisposed to attraction to people of the same sex.  He knew full well before he created a single atom that he would bring people into existence that was biologically born gay and therefore born with the purpose of “letting him down.”  He knew he had the power to stop it and was supposedly all loving.  He didn't change his plan nor did he stop this injustice before it happened.  He created people in such a way that he knew they couldn't possibly fulfill his plan and would serve an eternity in the hell that he allowed to exist.  And don't say that stopping this "disgraceful" gay person from being born this way would have taken away free will.  It wouldn't have removed free will any less than him not granting you certain other biological traits have.  Do you have the ability to shoot laser beams out of your eyes or jump 50 feet high?  No.  Apparently god has limited your ability biologically.  Why didn’t he limit us (and all the other animals) biologically to be heterosexual?  Why did he let gays exist even though he considers it "sin?"  Why?  I know why, BECAUSE YOUR GOD DOESN'T EXIST.  It's time for you to leave the bronze ages and accept gay marriage.  And if my arguments didn’t persuade you, keep in mind that if you don’t accept gay marriage gay men will marry your girlfriends.

Luke 17:34-35 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 

The atheist community is firmly united in assisting a young girl who was brought up in a religious home that seeks to keep women uneducated and in the kitchen.  Despite her parents refusing to help in any way she has dedicated herself to getting an education and saving her siblings from the same fate.  Please "vote" for her essay about this to help her get a scholarship.  As of my writing of this blog post she has twice as many votes as the second place entry, let's keep it up!

In her essay she states:

This is an appeal to those not planning on voting. Please vote! When polled those who claim they are not voting, if they had to vote would vote Obama 3:2. You (the non-voter) are the biggest voting block. Go to the polls non-voters! 

"I can't promise you that your life will get better, easier under Barack Obama. I do think he cares and I know for sure that if the other guy is sitting in the Oval Office, I can guarantee you that not only will your life not get better, it will get much, much worse. Don't take my word for it. Just ask your parents what life was like before a 30-year pillage by the Republicans of the middle class. Your parents bought a house and eventually owned it outright. They weren't in debt. College was free. They bought a new car every 3 or 4 years. They took vacations and were home for dinner by 5 or 6 PM. They had a savings account in the bank. They didn't live in fear of not knowing if they'd even have a job next year.

That's all gone. I don't know if we can get it back, but I do know that Mr. Romney would love the chance to complete the final elimination of the middle class and the American Dream. " - Michael Moore

Read the entire appeal from Michael Moore to urge you to vote Obama.

Darden Restaurants has gotten involved in politics. They claim they're testing an idea to reduce the amount of full time employees so they can avoid giving benefits that are required under Obamacare to full timers. Not only is their test unnecessary, it is presenting a dishonest viewpoint of how Obamacare works.

The Democrats (as usual) have done a horrible job explaining the benefits of Obamacare and answering the objections. While Obamacare isn't far reaching enough, it is abundantly better than the abundantly more expensive ER plan that Mitt Romney claims to back (even though he created an Obamacare-like plan in his state as Governor).

For companies like Darden that hope to reduce the amount of full time employees in an attempt to avoid giving benefits to full timers, they will be subject to a penalty. I work at a business in which we should have 4 full time workers at my position, but my company has always had 6-8 part time workers at the position to avoid providing benefits. As a result all of us are less informed and aren't as productive at our job as we could be. Obamacare fines businesses "that have workers who are not full-time employees, where a combination of employees working 120 hours per month (around 30 hours per week) count as one employee. "

In this situation more businesses will be encouraged to hire more full time employees, and provide benefits for more part time employees. Republicans and right wing media would like to skew the facts to lead you to believe that Obamacare helps create a nation of part-timers. No. The current landscape creates a nation of part-timers, Obamacare seeks to make an impact in that area.

Disclosure: I have been without healthcare for almost 10 years now.

 David Siegel of Westgate Resorts doesn't need to wait for Romney to get elected to start laying people off, he can start now. Plenty of people will boycott Westgate Resorts as a result of his ridiculously stupid and improper email.  He's a billionaire who clearly is so self absorbed he cares little of his employees who he strikes fear into in an attempt to coerce them to voting for Romney.  

These are the resorts you can start boycotting now: http://westgateresorts.com/  No need for a timeshare with Westgate... why line this jerk-offs pockets?   

David Siegel's self indulgent actions follow after he took credit for earning 2,000 votes for Bush in the 2000 election...

This is the full letter that David Siegel sent...

In an attempt to raise money to help cover costs associated with our network of atheist sites I have decided to sell some of my personal collection of autographed books and items.  Everything is priced very fairly compared to other similar items on Ebay.  Thanks for looking, and thanks for any purchases you make.  Most of the items were signed in my presence.  If they were not, they were sent to me directly by the person who signed.  This is a great way for you to donate to RRS and the upcoming Atheism United and get something back for your donation.  Other atheist books are available at our Amazon store.

All items are currently at Amazon warehouse and will be fulfilled and handled by Amazon's excellent customer service. 

God Who Wasn't There Movie signed by filmmaker Brian Flemming $39.99

The Ancestors Tale autographed by Richard Dawkins $49.99

I sold my Soul on Ebay signed by Hemant Mehta (First Edition) $24.99

The Blind Watchmaker autographed by Richard Dawkins $39.99 sold

Atheist Universe autographed by David Mills for "Friends at RRS" $19.99

The Scientific Worldview autographed by Glenn Borchardt $24.99 and $34.99 (two variations)

End of Faith autographed by Sam Harris on 9-11-06 $49.99 sold

The Selfish Gene autographed by Richard Dawkins $49.99 sold

Dialogue with a Christian Proselytizer autographed by author to RRS $15.99

The Way Of The Master Evidence Bible autographed by Ray Comfort to Brian Sapient $89.99 sold

The X-Rated Bible a gift from Ellen Johnson to Kelly O'Connor $19.99

 Christians don't want their money going to contraception yet they wont fight to remove "In God We Trust" from the money that atheists must use. They wont ensure that atheists don't have to give their tax dollars to faith based spending groups. It doesn't even dawn on them that atheists might be offended at the notion that our tax dollars go to a faith based group.

They are out for self. They don't truly embrace their fellow man. They tend to be pro war, and pro death penalty. They are against YOU having an abortion even if you know you will not be able to provide a good life for your baby. They want you to have that baby even if it is the product of a rape. The money that you put into the pool to save their life is willingly accepted by them, the money that you might need to save your life is fought tooth and nail by them. About 20% of people are on contraception for health reasons not related to purposes of avoiding a pregnancy. They don't care.

Engaging in the Rush Limbaugh debate over the last few days shows me that many people support what he said. In fact they're more mad that he apologized than they are that he made dishonest arguments in a vile fashion. How many of the Rush Limbaugh supporters are disgusted at Rush and his perverted idea that he should be allowed to watch video of women having sex because they need contraception?

We as a society would be better and stronger without their views yet you don't hear about the army of atheists who want to refuse them the right to the funding that might save their life. That despicable quality is reserved for the religious person, and in this country predominantly the Christian.

Their ignorance and hypocrisy are disgusting. Even though they are a waste of air, I'd rather fight to educate them than to take away the funds that could save their life. Even though I know that educating someone that is as brainwashed as many of them are is nearly an impossible battle, I choose education over denial of funds, denial of life, denial of pursuit of liberty and happiness. They would deny you of all of those if they could, and they do try! They choose denial of funds. They choose the selfish route. They are out for self, they are a disgrace to the human race. Religion is a vile and evil concept that has corrupted the mind of man for far too long.

Poor critical thinking is the root of all evil. Religion is a byproduct of poor critical thinking, deceit, and a wee bit of evil. Today religious people have been hoodwinked by an archaic concept that contributes to many of the worlds problems. They don't apply critical thought to their politics and their religion. They allow Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and other scumbags to represent them and worse... convince them of nonsense without cross referencing any of it. They are sheep. They are dangerous to humanity, and I STILL WOULD SAVE THEIR LIFE! But they wont save yours.

Worst of all, they harm society in this way, all while claiming oppression.

And yes, I know these are generalizations. I know not everyone falls into this box, but many do. And the ones that do are the target of these statements.

This hypocrisy and lack of critical thought must stop. You must stand up and educate. Many of you do, you are my heroes, and my partners.

The theory of inherent dishonesty in theism can be seen whenever a theist defends belief in god.  The theory explains that while defending belief in god a theist must act ignorant dishonest or both.  

There has never been an honest and intelligent defense of theism.  This theory has been observed in every atheist/theist debate since the theory was originally coined around the year 2000.  This page will be updated if an argument arises on behalf of theism that is both honest and based on factual data.  If you think you've found an argument defending belief in god that is neither ignorant or dishonest please submit it via the contact form.

Please link to this page when referring to the theory of inherent dishonest in theism.

UPDATED: Speaking of boycotts, most of you are already boycotting Chris Brown for brutally beating Rihanna.  The NBA felt it was appropriate to hire Chris Brown to perform at it's recent All-Star game.  Is there a vortex of stupidity at the NBA now?  This decision was made by NBA management.  It's just one more reason to boycott the NBA.

 Groundhogs around the world are in an uproar as conflicting nonsense reports are issued by humans who pretend to believe that a Groundhog can predict seasons. (do they actually believe this shit?)  The original groundhog (Phil) indicates 6 more weeks to winter.  But some copy hogs don't agree. 

 I've been working with a friend on a logo for the new website.  I've done tons of tweaking on this and really like where it's at.  I would like to know you're thoughts.  It might be more appropriate to refer to this as a header design for the site.

Rational Response Squad website and affiliate sites are in a black out on Jan 18 to draw attention to SOPA and PIPA which threatens our existence...

Have you noticed how some of our members like to cut and paste news articles for discussion on our forum?  Did you know that in many cases you're not supposed to do that?  Did you know that it's not always easy to tell if you can or can't because of tough to understand copyright rules and potential for fair use treatment since the post is being used for critique, parody, or criticism?  What do you think would happen if corporations and the government worked together to control the copyright problems on the internet?  

For the last few years some companies have been fighting for a bill that protects against online piracy.  They pushed for a bill to come along that they could support.  Many of those same people today are leading the charge against SOPA and PIPA which go too far, give the government too much control, put too much fear into the webmaster, and should put fear into everyone talking about anything on the internet. These rules would stifle internet development.  The next big thing will not happen, it'll cost too much in legal fees for the start up.  Only mega-corps will stand a chance at innovation.  

Maybe you kept quiet over the last 10 years as our Constitution has been trampled on by our government.  Maybe the Iraq War built on a lie didn't bother you because it was so far away.  Maybe you let the Patriot Act slide because you didn't think they'd torture you.  This time you should not be quiet.  This time you have to speak up... or you may not be able to later.  

The internet and the free exchange of information that we have been afforded has helped catapult our society into a much more knowledgeable one.  A more efficient society that is more informed about anything it chooses to be informed about.  SOPA and PIPA help put the control of our information in the hands of government officials and massive corporations.  It is an attack on the grass roots nature of the internet.  As an atheist site webmaster it is the biggest fear I have today.  

Let me run you through what would happen if a bill like these get passed...

There are probably thousands of instances of people posting trademarked or copyrighted information on our site.

When SOPA and PIPA are passed I will have a team of mods scour over 100,000 pages to censor, delete, or eliminate conversations that have any possible violation.

I will instruct my team that if it's borderline, delete it.  

We might find that the problem is too rampant, so we may choose to simply delete everything that has ever been written on any of our sites, and start over.  (you may know that maintaining our old information is about the most important task I have put on myself... this would be devastating to me personally)

During this process we may find that the laws are too restrictive or too scary, or too costly to fight.  We may at that point decide to close our doors for community posts. 

Internet dark ages... here we come... unless you speak up.

EXTERNAL LINKS 

http://my.americancensorship.org/

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-57329001-281/how-sopa-would-affect-you-faq/

http://gizmodo.com/5870405/sign-this-sopa-petition-to-get-obamas-attention

http://americancensorship.org/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2012/01/13/wikipedia-mulls-sopa-blackout-as-other-sites-join-in/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2011/12/20/official-veto-sopa-petition-gets-25000-signature-in-two-days/

http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/design/how-sopa-pipa-can-affect-you/

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

I recently updated the server fundraiser thread to ask for a few last minute donations because after a week of hits to the wallet I was only prepared to cover $5,000 of the $6,000 server I was about to buy.  I had almost $2,000 of unexpected expenses in the last week, half of which was a new computer, the one I'm typing this on.  The one that will make it all happen in the next 5 yrs.  I posted on the forum asking for help and got a $25 donation instantly.  I called my rep at Dell and worked some magic on him... some jedi secret atheist stuff... and he brought the final cost down to $5,000.  I did the Tebow!  

We should have it before Feb 1.  Not sure how long it'll take for us to get it up (hopefully by Feb 15), I do know that site building wont be anywhere near complete until March.  Much of the configuration is actually going to happen after we go online.  We'll be online before we're fully configured. 

For the daily Rational Responder reader, you can expect the site to handle our text exchanges without problem.  You'll have an easy to understand forum, a better forum, and a place to exchange ideas on day one of the new site.  Many of the other details will be added slowly over the following 2 months, like color scheme for example that may be tweaked after the fact.  Speeds of course will be lightning fast.  As I have always said, I place a very high importance on maintaining our old discussions.  Care will be taken in that regard.  

We have had year over year growth for atheism.  As information spreads freely online, people are able to look up that religion is lying or ignorant.  In each consecutive year on the internet atheists have had an increasingly more visible voice.  Here's to a good 2012 for atheism on the internet.  Not just for the projects coming out of our recent server upgrade, but to the various conventions, gatherings, billboards, and efforts of many other atheists.  This is going to be a good year.  

Happy New Year and as Hitch would say, "don't keep the faith."

 Check out this video by Cult of Dusty in which he tears religion apart.  He talks about the inevitable end of Christianity and how the internet has caused religion to become a mocked and laughable idea.  The internet has made it possible to look religion up on a google search and find out that it is full of lies.  The internet has shown that atheism is the only logical position, and that using logic is a powerful weapon.

Cult of Dusty comes across like a cross between Christopher Hitchens, Penn Jillette, and George Carlin...

Jesus was simply a copy of other gods before him. If you accept the bible as true then you'd believe Jesus was born in the spring months. There is not enough historical proof of Jesus Christ in order to warrant belief in him. There isn't a single source or witness of his life that wrote about him within 30 years of his death. If he did exist, he was nothing more than an ordinary man, who might have been a narcissistic pot head. He probably didn't exist. And if that idea has you shaking your head in disbelief then you need to do more research. Do it.

Because of how similar his story is to other myths before him it leads one to believe that he likely was just another figment of our imagination. The feast and gathering that Christians enjoy on December 25th is a tradition based on a gathering celebrated by Pagans called Saturnalia. Today it makes more sense to celebrate a Winter Solstice, in which we gather with family and friends, enjoy the last harvest of the year, and unwind together as we prepare for a new season.

Please share this message of reality. Clarity and education is the best gift you can give on this day full of sharing.  

The God Who Wasn't There Movie on Amazon.com

We lost Christopher Hitchens last night.  Many of us have a feeling of emptiness today, we know how amazing he was.  Many of us have been influenced by his style, and because of this he will live on.  Because we read his books and use his arguments, quote him in arguments, and are influenced by him, he will live on.  Christopher Hitchens seems irreplaceable.  It's only in the strength of our collective voices do we consider the notion that we could possibly fill his shoes.  And we will try, this is obvious to us, all of us had a collective atheist head nod today.  We know we must pick up where he left off.  

I would like to recognize for a moment a new blogger on our website.  He reminds me a little of Hitchens, and ironically Hitchens is his greatest influence.  I posted this on Facebook an hour ago, but thought I should make a blog post for it.  

The winner of the most Hitch like new blogger on RRS for 2011 is Louis Cypher! 

Hitch lives on!  He lives on in all of us, but please check out Louis Cypher.  He's making waves, he's intelligent, known to curse from time to time, and not scared to confront any aspect of religion.  I'm so happy he's posting here and going to be an Atheism United blogger.  You can follow Louis Cypher via RSS feed if you want, or just go to Louis Cypher's Blog.

"But it was his out front, wholehearted and passionate stance on religion and theistic chicanery that captured my unabashed admiration for the man.  His no prisoners,  confrontational approach was a breath of pure oxygen. His skills at both lecture and debate were astounding in their clarity, wit, and sheer persuasiveness.  His presence alone on the stage was enough to make the most outspoken theist cringe in fear.  He stood astride the once safe harbour of rhetorical discourse like a veritable colossus, wielding his enormous intellect like a club." - Louis Cypher on Hitchens

Quotes from Louis Cypher

"My ethics and morality derive from the culture in which I was raised and reinforced by the pressure of my peers. As I grew, I incorporated much of what in had been taught into my world view, rationalizing and reasoning out the purpose and place of the various ideas, making them part of my essential character. On top of my personal ethic, we have laws, society's way of codifying a common ethic. Even if one lacks an ethical stance on certain issues, the fear of societal retribution tends to keep most in line.

Morality is mutable, changing with time and custom. I knew several people in my youth who were only a generation removed from slavery. Once slavery wasn't immoral, it was in fact validated by the holy scriptures as right and moral. Once, a wife could not refuse her husbands sexual advances, the concept of marital rape was unimagined. We've changed, we've grown as a people.

Christian morality doesn't exist. Yes, they have rules and a huge litany of sins, but most are for the purpose of pointing out the failings of others, many are outdated, barbaric and non nonsensical." - Louis Cypher, The Myth of Christian Morality

"Unless of course, we are talking about the human sacrifice that is the root of our most prominent western religion, Christianity. Then it becomes a beautiful and moving act. One that essays, books, even entire careers have been built around, extolling the virtue of a death on a Roman torture device. A favorite of the artist, thousands of paintings have lovingly detailed the blood and gore, the sense of suffering. Millions of little children wear the image of this near naked man hanging in torment, dieing on a torture device, around their necks." - Louis Cypher, It has to be blood

"Faith is a mental defect made into a virtue by those with an agenda to fleece the gullible. Faith isn't sloppy reasoning, it's no reasoning at all by simple definition. There is a lot of equivocation about the word, other than 'spirit' I can think of no other word more horribly abused from a semantic standpoint. Faith is belief without evidence. If you have evidence, you don't have faith you have a reasoned belief. How hard is that to grasp?" - Louis Cypher, Faith is a mental defect

Notable Louis Cypher threads

Belief is Irrational

Evidence, please.

Faith is a mental defect...

A blog was written today on the implosion of CFI Canada.  As long as we keep having these accomodationist vs confrontationalist arguments we will continue to have implosions. Frankly, it disgusts me that we have done this. I felt the wrath of the accomodationists when I was known for being a confrontationalist. I probably will still have the perception of being one. Even though I am creating a feel good project that supports all atheists.  I think I am a blend of both.  I hope you are too.  

Being able to adjust your method depending on who you interact with is a strong suit.  And if someone sees you are confrontational, why must they label you as always confrontational?  It is also highly hypocritical to be an accomodationalist but be confrontational on the issue of confrontationalists.  It's time for us to elevate our game.  This division has gone on long enough.  We must think critically and with reason.

Wow Darrel Ray is brilliant. He nails it on "First generation leadership." Because of my type-a personality and my inability to trust easily I was unable to spot future dedicated activists when they aligned with me early in their activist "careers." Ashley Paramore and Shelley Mountjoy were by my side at the beginning. If I could have known to expand their leadership role early enough, they might have never needed to go become superstars elsewhere. 

Check this article out if you would like to learn more about how atheist groups function, and how we can improve them.

Further, he talks about how groups led by charismatic leaders suffer when the external environment changes.  The decision to start atheismunited.com was born from that change in environment.  The atheist world is much different today than 6 years ago.  RRS is still needed, but atheism united will be more current and relevant.  The project was born from the idea that we didn't care what banner we impacted the world under, we just wanted to have the biggest impact possible.  We decided it was necessary to create something different.  How justified Darrel Ray makes us feel.

Parent Claus is bringing the kids presents?  Don't want to hear O Holy Night while you shop for those gifts?  Want to help support online atheism while buying Grandmom a necklace for the Winter Solstice?  

Please shop at Amazon and they will help pay for our new server!  This really works and it's a huge help.  We are on the cusp of something great, help push us over the edge.  This is a great way to help the cause while buying stuff for yourself.  The customer service at Amazon is incredible, they won't let you down. 

Please make your purchases by clicking any of these links and starting your Amazon shopping experience there.  As long as you start shopping by going to Amazon from any of the links on this page, we will get credit.  If you are concerned about giving us credit, you can strip the amazon link to it's simplest form and add this code to the end after a slash: ?tag=httpwwwration-20

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I saw someone ask a facebook group to state when they became agnostic/atheist.  First of all, please feel free to answer the question yourself, in the comments below.  I responded, and then I expanded on it briefly for facebook.  After 30 minutes it's got a bunch of likes and comments, I realize it's a moving story to some and so I'll expand just a little more about it here.  But I also ask that anyone who has a similar story share it below.  I know I am not unique, religion has caused the destruction of millions of relationships over time.  

I was born an atheist,  at 5 I was sure God existed because I was told by the person I trusted the most that God existed.  As I learned about the bible and started to understand the world I became a little more agnostic on the idea and was an agnostic catholic at 8.  At 13 my mother decided the Catholic Church wasn't exciting enough and we joined a born again Christian Church, I was 13.  I said the special password prayer you need to say to let Jesus know you want in to heaven.  Literally, this was the argument and justification, say this prayer and you won't burn in hell, you'll go to heaven.  What 13 year old that still trusts his mother wouldn't do that?  I did it... I was an agnostic Born-again Christian.  I talked to Jesus at night before bed, and I tried to get my father on the proper path as well.  I was tortured over the thought of him going to hell.  

As I learned about science I leaned towards being an agnostic deist.  This process lasted several years and I happily with any type of theistic belief.  I was living with a non-practicing Jewish father who I thought of as very "Jewish" and now know him as someone who believes in Spinoza's God or Einstein's deistic leanings.  When I was about 20 I looked up atheism for the first time on the internet, I found Jake who helped me think myself out of my deism.  I was able to call myself an agnostic atheist less than a week later.  For the first time I was able to call myself an atheist without thinking I was evil because of the word that my mother brainwashed me about, that was 14 years ago. It was at that point I decided to spend my life correcting the wrongs of religion.

Mom, if you're reading this... keep in mind, your completely ridiculous religion helped cause our family breakup.  Religion kills families.  My efforts come in large part because of how religion was forced on me as a child, but also because of all the other people who have told me about their upbringings, some of whom can use the word "Cult" to describe how they were brought up.   I was about 14 when you started praying for me to want you in my life, it's been 20 years, where is that getting you?  

I just had the chance to listen to the new Syqnys album.  I was surprised to see I could listen to the whole thing free online.  That's smart, it made me buy it.  His messages we're on point.  He said lots that made me think, and lots that made me want to go back and hear it a second time.  Syqnys once wrote a song called "I am Rational Response Squad."

Syqnys had all kinds of original thought in his album, which usually makes it one of those albums that you can listen to over and over.   You should check it out, listen to it... then buy a hard copy for $10, once you buy the hardcopy you get the download for free. He also allows individual downloads for $1. I told Syqnys that my readers would want to know more, so I asked him a few questions and here is what he had to say:

What is the main theme of your new album?

Syqnys: The album is called "Hypatia's Reign, which is a reference to the fourth century philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria, who was brutally murdered by a Christian mob for reasons that mainly had to do with her ungodliness and general lack of docility. This album represents the hope the secular community has for an era where rationality and reason dominate our public discourse. Where religion and other “conversation stoppers” have become as antiquated as alchemy is to modern medicine. “Hypatia’s Reign” is what the “Age of Enlightenment” was supposed to be.

By no means is the era a reality at this moment, but that is the point; it should be! It would be the ultimate historical irony, or rather justice, if the image of Hypatia came to represent the “Death” of unreason. The following line from the intro song sums up the idea perfectly, “Welcome to the Reign/come and feel the pain/ of the brilliant woman who was persecuted then slain/cut up into pieces by the followers of Jesus now the flames of ignorance will drown in her rain.” The album is also a reflection on my daughter Hypatia, who was still born nearly four years ago.

What do you hope the audience will take away from this album?

Syqnys: First and foremost I want people to really dig the music. If you are a fan of rap music already, there is no doubt in my mind you will appreciate this album. I’m not a conceited person at all, but I can rap my ass off, man. I try to be as creative and tricky with my word play as possible. With every song I want to say something that will either keep you on your toes, surprise you, impress you or simply plant the seed of a new idea, or even to validate something you’ve thought before, but never really had someone clarify it or express it in a way that left you confident that you were right about it the whole time. I’ve had this same experience reading Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris, and I hope I can have the same effect through music. Even if you’re not a fan of rap, you’ll find something on this album that will leave an impression. I’m willing to bet I can change the minds of a few anti-rap people out there.

What motivates you to speak out?

Syqnys: All I do is speak out, whether it’s with music, writing or just in conversations. Before I even knew what the hell I was talking about, I felt there were some serious flaws in what many of my peers and role models believed in and promoted. I remember debating my creationist friends about evolution and not knowing “shit about fuck” (as Robin Williams so eloquently puts it), but I KNEW they knew even less “Shit” about “Fuck”. All you have to do to figure out what motivates people like Brian and myself to speak out, especially on religion/atheism, is listen to ten minutes of Kent Hovind, Dinesh D’Souza or even the nuts of right-wing talk radio and you’ll understand perfectly what motivates us. Not to mention the religious extremist (actually their just the ones who take their holy texts seriously) of all stripes. People who don’t pay much attention to these issues can brush these lunatics off with a laugh… but they scare the shit out of me!

If you're interested in Hypatia you can purchase Brian Trent's book at Amazon about Hypatia and the Library of Alexandria.

Tonight in Pittsburgh a straw broke a camels back.  After the Ravens beat the Steelers, Ray Rice gets interviewed and credits god with the win.  He said he told his team last night that they need to put themselves in the right positions on the field to receive the Lords blessings.  He also said that on the field he reminded his players to be in blessings positions.  

"I kept going to em and saying 'it's his will' 'it's his will.'" - Ray Rice on what he told his team during the game

He finishes this epic god dick sucking fest with, "to come out and win like we did today, I tell you God is amazing." Wow.  It's moments like this that fuel my activism.  We've got to speak up to drown out those voices that have such a huge stage.  I'll start with sending him a few strongly worded tweets.  Read these from the bottom up if you want to read them in order.

That second one should have read "1,000 kids died of starvation while you were on the field tonight and you think God will deliver you blessings on the field!"

I along with almost everyone I know supports the Occupy Wall Street movement.  I was included in an email yesterday from Emily Paine.  I'd really like to give her piece a bigger audience, so with her permission, here is what she had to say about Occupy and how a connection to us.

Dear Fellow Atheists, Secular Humanists, Freethinkers and other Nontheists,

Why is it that we don’t see many Christian fundamentalists or Tea Partiers taking part in Occupy? Because of an alliance that began in the 70s. Back then, corporations wanted more of a voice and religious Americans needed more cash. The result was the “Moral Majority.” This 40-year alliance explains why religious right wingers, who claim to be moral and pro-family, vote with Tea Partiers against help for families and the working class – after all, we can’t afford all that and letting corporations off the hook in paying taxes.

Luckily the number of fed-up people has grown about as fast as a CEO’s annual bonus and we now have the power to cut the corporate influence that has infested our politics. Since six mega-corporations now control much of our prime time news flow (see Who Owns the Media?), mainstream media hasn’t been covering Occupy too accurately, to put it nicely.

And it’s not just FOX. The rest of corporate media minimizes the message by focusing on clashes, using words like "terrorism" and the "destruction and violence" that supposedly accompany "anticapitalist demonstrations." With the Oakland fiasco, the networks covered the police brutality but played down the message. That night ABC first treated us to a story about Bernie Madoff’s wife. Only after did they show footage of tear gas flashing through a rose-colored fog, a symphony of yells, shouts, cries and screams in accompaniment. ABC punctuated its coverage by citing an unidentified poll showing the Movement’s “unpopularity.” A fact check, however, revealed the opposite – a thumbs up from the masses. The next day they completely ignored a meeting protesters had with Tea Party kingpin, John Boehner.  

Other ways the anti-corporate message is diminished is by lowballing. Many local news channels claimed NYC had only a 1,500-2,000 protesters, while non-corporate news sources gave figures of over 20,000.

Local coverage mimics national coverage in painting this movement in unpalatable terms, utilizing words like “chaotic,” “anarchistic” and having “no common purpose.” I don’t know where the news crew was, but in the protest I took part in all one had to do is glance at the sea of signs to notice that the message was getting corporations to pay their share of taxes and take responsibility for the environment.

Then there’s unabashed neglect. A FAIR report noted that during the initial protests, only CNN briefly mentioned it. On his TV show (9/21/11), Keith Olberman said: “So five days … protesting corporate control of the economy, and you haven't heard a word about it on the news?” He later remarked, "If that's a Tea Party protest in front of Wall Street ... it's the lead story on every network newscast."

Moral: Conservatives calling the media liberal is like Madoff calling his investors savvy. To get the whole story on the corporate social responsibility movement, supplement your news with independent news like AlterNet, truthout, OpEdNews, NPR or foreign news. Progressive non-corporate sources will also help you keep an eye on the Religious Right Wing and the Tea Partiers, or try People for the American Way and the Center for Inquiry. For info on how your senators voted with respect to secular values, see the Secular Coalition’s Secular Scorecard.

Keep on protestin’,

Emily Paine

References:

FAIR Activism Update: Some Breaks in the Blackout of Wall Street Protests

Whitewashing the Blackout of Occupy Wall Street

What if the Tea Party Occupied Wall Street? Corporate media skip anti-corporate protests

4 Polls That Show Occupy Wall Street is Just Getting Started

CNN's Factcheck Failure on Occupy Wall Street

Dr. Jerry Coyne is drawing lots of internet attention because of the events that transpired around his debate on October 12 at the University of Kentucky.  Coyne debated John Haught a Catholic from Georgetown University.  

What makes this event special?  Apparently both parties agreed to videotape the event well in advance of the event.  However after the event Dr. Coyne receives a correspondence from Dr. John Rabel (Coordinator of the debate) that John Haught didn't want the video to be released.  They agreed to release it before the event and therefore Rabel obviously couldn't honor this request.  Well Dr. John Rabel of the Gaines Center for Humanities agreed to not allow posting of the video because they didn't get permission from Haught in advance to post the video.  Someone correct me if my timeline is wrong.

Well what was that?  Previous videos in this series with John Haught have been posted, Dr. Coyne knows as he studied them to prepare for the event in which Haught apparently came off as unpolished.  Did Haught think this appearance was so bad it was worth censoring?  Why didn't he know there would be an annoying internet backlash?  Slews of e-mailers flooded Haught and Rabel with e-mail over the last few days with claims of cowardice. Legal action has been threatened against Dr. Jerry Coyne for antagonizing all of this.  

Of course Haught and Rabel are fully to blame.  Do atheists really come off to Christian leaders like they can just roll over us and we'll shut up?  Sorry Haught, we wont just go away.  We all want to see the arguments that you and Coyne made.  In fact, now we want to see it more.  Before we wouldn't have cared.  You drew our attention to it.  You drew our attention to it just like Kent Hovind did when he sent in false copyright claims against youtube atheists.  If you wanted it to be something that would just go away, something that you didn't become known for then it is you John Haught that should have slowly and quietly walked away and given Dr. Jerry Coyne his copy of the tape.

Kudos to you Dr. Jerry Coyne for not letting this issue die. Might I suggest everyone head over to Amazon and buy your excellent book "Why Evolution is True." 

If you decide to write Rabel or Haught please remember to be nice.

(Update: Now available! Debate between Jerry Coyne and John Haught on "Science and Religion: Are They Compatible?")

It didn't go unnoticed that I am more active over the last few weeks.  I'm glad to have the time again, and I'm glad you told me you were happy to see me more active.  My better computer was out of commission for a little while... like 9 months. I was on a laptop with a wireless connection and very busy since March.  The better computer has been fixed and the main room I conduct business in, has been revised over the summer.  I was almost finished the room but then I fixed the computer and well... it'll probably be the spring before I work on the room again.  Now that I'm moving fast online again I can cover a lot more territory.  I'm right back in the swing of things.  My real job is somewhat seasonal and it'll be slow until March.  I'll get less hours.  Those hours will be spent here.

I'm extremely comfortable in the workspace I have now.  I think I was having a hard time getting comfortable in the RRS workspace by myself, I had to overhaul my workspace.  I was at an 8 foot by 8 foot desk with 3 computers by myself.  I kept the setup for a while thinking that I would bring new hosts into the fray and continue the show as it was, or that me and the other hosts would want to have a reunion.  I've moved on from that idea. During the summer I converted the room, stripped the wallpaper, sold the fish tank, brought the tv in, brought the couch in, cut the desk in half, ran new wiring, and new lighting.  I share the space with my son at my side, he uses the computer all the time.  We have a couch in front of the desk, and a big screen tv that can be seen from the whole room.   It's very easy to work the type of excessively ridiculous hours I like to work in this setup.  

I think my trials made me want to distance myself from people, at least in terms of activism.  I was let down by the people I cared for the most.  So it took some time to realize I wouldn't feel comfortable with new show hosts.  Only because I would feel the inevitable end in sight.  Maybe with time that will change.  I'm finding that I'm the only constant.  Even my very close friend Jake, who led me to atheism 13 years ago and taught the InfidelGuy, closed doors on atheistnetwork.com this past year.  I don't know why my drive to continue this fight outlasts everyone around me, but I'm realizing that almost always that is what happens.  I've made the 10 year club!  Although I can't give you an exact date.

My activism will continue at full force through the winter.  We hope to meet a deadline to upgrade to a new server in February, although preliminary fundraising efforts could use a kick. 

I purchased a new domain this week.  www.AtheismUnited.com 

The goal is to unilaterally support other atheist groups, to expand atheism awareness, and to make a political impact.  I am mentoring the man who will hopefully be the future President of 501c3 Atheism United Lance Sievert. Join his facebook group if you are an atheist organizer Atheism United Headquarters on facebook.

Please join the discussion on our site: Atheism United (Can you see it?)

Oh... and women... I gave up on women.  If you want me ladies, come find me, I'm too busy with my activism to notice that I should say something. 

OLD OFFICE SETUP:

NEW SETUP (almost same camera angle):

Different light level and a different view: