This about sums up my views on the so-called ‘War on Christmas’
I really wish saying ‘Happy Holidays’ would in fact make Christianity disappear.
Atheists Don’t Be Upset When You Act Like A Church And The Religious Call You A Church
The Associated Press had a wire story on November 10th about the rising popularity of an atheist gathering called the Sunday Assembly. The AP report referred to it as a “mega-church”. A collective panic in the atheist movement screeched about how it wasn’t a church and how dare anyone call it that. However, If you look like a church, act like a church, and meet on a Sunday then don’t get upset when the religious majority think you are a church. This is a prime example of why using warmed over religious terms or activities and in the case of the Sunday Assembly, avoiding talking about atheism can cause confusion and hurt the atheist movement in the long term.
From the AP report:
Yes, Atheists Can’t Be Republicans
An article published on Salon this weekend made the claim that I’ve been making for some years. It is impossible for an atheist to identify with the Republican party. CJ Werleman offers some evidence why atheists need to “grow up”. I agree with most of the article.
‘Last Man Standing’ Tells You To Break The Law And Read The Bible All In One Episode
Kristin (Amanda Fuller) arguing with her father Mike (Tim Allen) on the ABC show Last Man Standing
This past Friday was the season premiere of the sitcom ‘Last Man Standing’ starring Tim Allen on ABC. He plays Mike Baxter. His character reminds me of a tamer Archie Bunker where he believes and says some ignorant and/or bigoted things but by the end of the 30 minutes it shows his views were wrong and he changes his views or he comes to understand the “other side”. But in the episode ‘Back to School’, one character is told to break the law so her child can go to a ‘good’ school and another character agrees that only god can give one a purpose in life. Did I just watch a Kirk Cameron movie? I need a shower now.
If you aren’t familiar with the show here is a blurb:
Why Can’t I Have A He-Man Woman Hater Atheist Club?
Not the kind of atheist meeting I want to attend
The secular community has been rocked by a firestorm over sexism in the movement. Blogs and tweets have flown back and forth between women speaking out about it and some men who disagree that it is an issue. Recently accusations of sexual assault have been leveled at some prominent men in the movement and at some conferences. Since there is such strong male privilege and a cult of personality in a lot of these groups, it seems these gender issues are beyond being fixed (at least until the current generation of sexist men die off). Maybe we need to have separate groups.
There have been plenty of articles and blog posts about the firestorm but not too many that examine the underlying issue of why it seems the sexism won’t go away in a movement that prides itself on freethought, evidence and logic: