Bill O'Reilly: God of the Gaps explains what I don't understand

Bill O'Reilly knows God exists.  Why?  Because there are tides. 

Mr. O'Reilly apparently worships a moon deity.

Episode 06 - CB4SM - Algernon Black - Call to the Living

This episode of Cold Beer for the Skeptic's Mind features Algernon Black, American teacher and the leader of the New York Society for Ethical Culture, and his inspiration free verse called, "This is a Call to the Living."

You can subscribe in iTunes or get the podcast directly here*.


I hope you enjoy it.

* Apologies.  I originally linked to the wrong file, which has now been fixed.

Jack Chick tract: Uninvited

I never fail to be amused by the hateful self-righteousness of Jack Chick tracts.  A new one is up called Uninvited.

In summary: All homosexual men were molested as children.
All AIDS patients are gay.
God hates gays.

(Never mind that this would mean that all gays have AIDS.)

The Christian figure, a female nurse, having told the AIDS patients that their homosexuality is what put them into the hospital in the first place, retells her own conversion story.  At the age of six, she had been raped, and she staggered into a church for help.  She asks the pastor, "I want to die.  Can Jesus help me?"  To which the pastor answers, "Yes, child, yes!"  (Psst.  Don't ask the barber if you need a haircut.)

Then the nurse announces that if it hadn't been for Jesus allowing her to be raped and brutally beate--that is, for forgiving her of her dreadful sins . . . "I could have become a lesbian--or worse!"  Exactly what is worse than a lesbian is left to the imagination.

Jack Chick is an effective spokesperson for atheism.

Episode 05 - CB4SM - Charles Darwin - On the Origin of Species

This episode of Cold Beer for the Skeptic's Mind features English naturalist Charles Darwin and is an excerpt of his famous work, On the Origin of Species.


You can subscribe in iTunes or get the podcast directly here.

I hope you enjoy it.

Quote of the Day

Many people choose their religion with the same thought and care as when they choose their primary language.

Americans and Canadians: Not as religious as we claim?

Shankar Vedantam writing for Slate.com looks at some interesting research that suggests that Americans may not be any more actively religious than other industrialized nations; they just claim to be.

The surveys have been remarkably consistent over the years.  Forty percent of Americans tell pollsters they regularly attend religious services.  Nearly 90 percent say they believe in God.  Yet perhaps half of those believers who claim to attend church actually don't.

The twist lies in how the questions are asked in polls, which I would think be obvious to those who conduct these things.  For example, when asked, "Do you attend church?" Americans will say Yes.  But when asked "Where were you on Sunday morning last week," many of them will say they were somewhere else besides church. 

So the question is, if certain people don't practice religion, why do they think of themselves as religious?  Why is their identity wrapped up in portraying themselves as faithful?  Are they worried that others will think less of them if they aren't appropriately pious?  Vendatam makes no conclusion, but does offer some valid advice:

For many Americans, church attendance is a central part of their lives. For others, it's a waste of time. If you're in either of these groups, more power to you. But in the spirit of Christmas and the truthteller whose message we celebrate, surely believers and atheists can agree on what to tell folks who talk Jesus but walk Santa: Enough with the two-faced posturing.

Saddam Hussein: Superstitious ghoul

Saddam Hussein, in a bid for piety, gave his own blood for ink to transcribe a Qur'an.  Today, Iraqi leaders don't know what to do with the macabre book.

Perhaps the United States should revisit the policy of supporting twisted superstitious tin-pot dictators.