The Atheist Blogger

150 years ago today, Charles Darwin published “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life“. A monumental book, considered by biologists around the world to be the foundation of evolutionary biology.

In the 150 years since its publication, evolutionary theory has expanded and grown in ways that Darwin himself could not have imagined. The discovery of the multitude of transitional forms that match Darwin’s original prediction, and the work of others (the prediction and subsequent discovery of Tiktaalik being perhaps the most notable) helped bolster the theory, and firmly establish it as scientific fact.

Not only that, but all discoveries of biology since Darwin proposed his idea have complemented it perfectly, with DNA confirming common ancestry, and the various evolutionary development experiments that have captured evolution in action^[1].

So, happy anniversary to Charles Darwin’s masterpiece! May it inspire many more of the generations to come!

I’ve been invited to a discussion of the book “The Dawkins Letters: Challenging Atheist Myths” on the Premier Christian Media’s radio show “Unbelievable?“. The discussion will be between lil’ old me and the author of the book, David Robertson and will focus on 3 – 4 of the apparent “atheist myths” he outlines in his book:

1. The myth of Higher Consciousness
2. The myth of Godless beauty
3. The myth of atheist rationality and tolerance
4. The myth of the cruel old testament god
5. The myth of the science/religion conflict
6. The myth of the created god and the uncreated universe
7. The myth of the inherent evil of religion
8. The myth of godless morality
9. The myth of the immoral bible
10. The myth of religious child abuse.

Of course having not read the book I’m unsure of what the arguments for all those are, but I’m being sent a copy to read before the discussion, and I’m told I’ll be able to influence the decision over which ones we talk about, which is always good. After all, just by reading the topics I’m not sure I would argue against some of them; the “inherent evil of religion” for example; I don’t think all religions are “inherently” evil, I just think most of them do more evil than good. The “science / religion” conflict I could speak reams on however.
It’s not a live show though, so that at least gives me less to worry about and more time to concentrate on having a good discussion, raising all the important points.

The people organising the discussion say it will probably air on Saturday 28th March at 2:30pm, and will be available digitally in London on DAB radio, or 1305, 1332, 1413 MW. You can also listen throughout the UK on Sky Digital 0123, Virgin Media 968, and Freeview 725. Those of you who are lucky enough not to live in the UK can listen to it live online at http://www.premier.org.uk/, or they can get the podcast form  http://www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable.

Right now I’m slightly nervous, mainly because I’ve never actually been on radio before, let alone been invited to a one-on-one discussion/debate! It’s really quite exciting when I sit down to think about it for a bit, I just hope David Robertson’s book is an interesting read and not just repeated arguments. I want a challenge for once!

Sean the Blogonaut posted an open-invitation book meme:

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 56.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next seven sentences in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.

The closest book to me was one just perched off the end of my bookcase: The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams. It was quite literally the closest piece of literature to me in my room, and it also just happened to be my favourite book (so I luckily avoid #5).

What happens next is strangely ironic given the content of this blog. I opened the book to page 56, and was greeted with the popular argument against God (the one about the Babel fish). The next 7 sentences read:

`”Oh dear,” says God, “I hadn’t thought of that,” and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.

`”Oh, that was easy,” says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing.

`Most leading theologians claim this argument is a load of dingo’s kidneys, but that didn’t stop Oolon Colluphid making a small fortune when he used it as the central theme of his best-selling book Well That About Wraps It Up For God.

`Meanwhile, the poor Babel fish, by effectively removing all barriers to communication between different races and cultures, has caused more and bloodier wars than anything else in the history of creation.`

Arthur let out a low groan. He was horrified to discover that the kick through hyperspace hadn’t killed him. He was now six light-years from the place that the Earth would have been if it still existed.

Now I realise I’ve already tagged some people this week in an earlier meme, so I’m going to tag absolutely everyone who reads this post. If you are reading this and you own a blog, it is now your internet duty to carry the meme torch that little bit further.

Law professor Douglas Whaley has written a book which he describes as an “atheist thriller”. He was kind enough to send me the following synopsis and information.

Franklin Whitestone, a lawyer in Columbus, Ohio, is trapped in the rubble of the Ohio State football stadium when a Muslim terrorist sets off a bomb. During the rescue Franklin becomes a hero by holding onto a girder while allowing over 50 people to escape. This is  captured on television, and is the one bright spot in the what becomes known as  “9/11 Two.”  Franklin is flown to New York City for an appearance on the Jimmy Ball Show (the equivalent to the Larry King program). Accompanying him to NYC is his significant other, Kelly Keyfold, and since the two of them are the guests of the tv show, they dine at a fancy restaurant where Kelly insists on a bottle of wine, telling Franklin it would be good for his nerves to have one glass himself. He does this, but at some point during the meal a  waiter refills his goblet, and so he drinks two glasses of wine. At the studio, Franklin is shown into the green room, where the first guest on the Jimmy Ball Show, a rummy comedian, offers him a drink from a flask. Franklin at first refuses, but, unused to national tv and shaken to his very core, he finally takes another sip. Of course, this proves unwise.

When Franklin goes on the air, the video clip of his heroics is shown and applauded, and then he and the host answer call-in questions from the live audience. One of the callers is a woman from Salt Lake City, and she asks him whether he was praying to God to give him strength during his heroics, and—his judgment clouded by alcohol—Franklin blithely says no. “God,” he tells her, “was not the solution, but the problem—belief in him is what caused the bombs to go off.” This sparks outraged calls from other viewers, and Franklin
makes some other ill-considered statements along this same unfortunate line. When asked by the host if he is an atheist, Franklin replies:

“Let me put it like this, Jimmy. When I was a child I had an imaginary friend who was with me everywhere I went, helping me out, very real to me. I loved him with all my heart. But as I got older I didn’t need that crutch anymore, and one day he just wasn’t there, nor did I miss him. As an adult I’d be embarrassed if I still needed an imaginary friend to help me run my life.”

Of course, saying this is a mistake of major magnitude, as is made clear to Franklin when his life blows up on many fronts, starting minutes after he’s off the air.

The book has much to say about theism versus atheism, and the role of each in today’s society (I am a lifelong professional teacher and this is a subject about which I am passionate). But the novel is much more than that. There is quite a bit of humor in it, as well as a number of action sequences (and some violent encounters). I would hope that anyone picking up the book would find it an entertaining read.

The book can be ordered from Amazon.com ($15.00).

Finally, let me add that I know this is a delicate and controversial subject, and I have tried to handle it in a way that is fair to all viewpoints. The reader can judge for him/herself whether I have succeeded or whether to join the crowd gathering tar and feathers. I would love to hear any and all comments readers have about the  book, and my email address for making them is in the “Author’s Note” at the end of the novel.

Douglas Whaley

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The book is currently only out in America, so we can’t add it to the book club list, but if anyone reads it please write a review. Many thanks to Douglas for passing this information on, and best of luck with the book!

The problem with running an online book club is that we don’t do a vote on the day of discussion, instead saving it till a later date and having 7 days of voting so everyone has a chance to choose the book they want. This leads to some problems with getting the book, and then reading it, all before the month “deadline”. This month Oliver managed to get through the entire book, but I only made it to the final chapters. So essentially Oliver could talk about Hemant’s conclusions whilst I had no idea.

I have hence devised a more complicated system which should make things easier. Instead of having a 7 day vote starting on the 23rd of month 1 to choose the book for month 2, we will have a 7 day vote starting on the 1st of month 1 to choose the book for month 2.

The book for July has been chosen already, and although it was a narrow vote (3:2), Daniel Dennett’s book “Freedom Evolves” has been chosen. I usually try to keep the discussions on the weekend, so that might mean a slightly early date of 26th/27th July. I am also thinking of putting the time forward slightly so that people in the USA can get home from work, and (more importantly) our Aussie members can get out of bed!

Read more…

On 29th June at 23:00 (UTC+1) I will be holding the second book club discussion of the chosen book this month: “I Sold My Soul on eBay” by Hemant Mehta.

Work out your discussion time using this handy chart. I messed up last time so I’ll explain how to work it out. The time for London is the time we are going for (UTC+1 at the moment). So find the difference in times between London and your nearest city, then just calculate what time it will be for you when London is at 23:00 using that difference.

Ewan (our server guy) is still working on getting an irc server for the website, and I’m now paying him in pizza so *hopefully* it will be up and running for the third discussion. So, as before we will be using the temporary channel over at MSGPlus.

To save myself typing all the instructions out again I have created a helpful page which contains all the info.

http://atheistblogger.com/irc-server

Keep your fingers crossed because since this month’s author is an atheist blogger and well known in the atheist blogging community, I have asked him if he would like to be part of the discussion. So if you would like to talk to Hemant about his book, atheism, the Secular Student Alliance, or anything we get onto now is your chance!

After the discussion, I will create a forum thread so that other people who couldn’t make the IRC chat can voice their opinions of the book.

Finally, we have to decide a book to read for July. This poll will be open for 7 days and the result will be confirmed on the 1st as per usual.

Only one other book was suggested in the submission forum so we have three books up again for the vote. Like last time:

Please don’t vote unless you intend to read the book and/or contribute to the discussion!

Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.

I have mentioned in this poll that the book “Exmormon” is free for all reviewers and the book club is covered by this. I don’t want to try and alter people’s votes, but this would be a great opportunity for anyone who doesn’t want to pay for a book to join in.

Having said that, the other two books look very interesting as well!

Only 2 people voted for the book club poll, which made me rethink the entire voting process. Next vote will therefore be held around 23rd June and will be open for 7 days to give people more of a chance to check their RSS feeds. The result of this month’s vote was chosen by a coin toss, and the Queen’s head signalled Hemant Mehta‘s book.

It’s available on Amazon and luckily I bought the book a few weeks back to read over the summer. The discussion will take place at the end of the month, but I will post more information nearer the time.

Enjoy the book!

Received this email a few days ago:

Hi Adrian -

I am writing with a unique opportunity for you. Chuck Colson, former Counsel to President Richard Nixon, who converted to Christianity before spending time in prison on a Watergate-related charge, has written a new book called The Faith: What Christians Believe, Why They Believe It, and Why It Matters. Chuck is the founder of Prison Fellowship. His radio broadcast, BreakPoint, airs daily to five million listeners. In the last thirty-three years, Colson has visited more than 600 prisons in forty countries and, with the help of nearly 50,000 volunteers, has built Prison Fellowship into the world’s largest prison outreach. You can learn more information about Chuck’s new book at www.Zondervan.com/TheFaith.

The reason I am writing is that Chuck wants to have a friendly dialogue with a few atheist bloggers about his book. We’d like to invite you to be one of the bloggers.

This is a unique opportunity in that you’ll be able to dialogue directly with Chuck Colson about his book The Faith and Christianity. (Well, he has asked that the dialogue flow through me, but Chuck personally will be replying in person to all the dialogue.) Zondervan will periodically promote this dialogue on our blog, so this should generate more traffic to your blog. Also, this will be an opportunity for your blog readers to react to your dialogue with Chuck.

Let me know if you are interested? If so, I will mail you a free copy of Chuck Colson’s The Faith. We’d like to try to have this dialogue sometime in June, so we’d give you a couple of weeks to read the book and generate a few questions for Chuck. I’ll then get those questions to Chuck and his reply back to you. You’re welcome to then post the dialogue up on your blog, and respond with some counter-points or questions too if you’d like, which I’d again get to Chuck. I don’t know for sure how much back and forth Chuck will want to do, but I know he’s up for at least one round and my hunch is he’d be up for a few rounds of dialogue. An important point though is Chuck would like to keep the dialogue friendly & civil. Fair enough?

If interested, please send me a mailing address and I’ll get you a copy of Chuck’s book. Let me know if you have any questions on this. Thanks for considering this unique opportunity!

Mike Pritchard

At first read I was a bit puzzled, not because I’d never heard of this guy (although I’d heard of Watergate), but because I wondered why they actually were contacting me. Yes this blog is getting more popular day by day, but it’s one of the youngest out there. It’s only been 3 months since I first bought the domain and started posting, and although it’s been a fast ride from there, I’d still call the blog quite new.

Nevertheless, I decided to take their word for it, and emailed a response saying I would be delighted in reading his book. I gave them my address (I only live here for the next 7 weeks so I really don’t care), and Mike told me he’d send a copy of the book along.

In the meantime, I’d contacted Hemant Mehta because if they wanted to get the opinions of atheist bloggers, I reckoned he might be one of the one’s they would have gone to (especially considering he’d written a book). However he has had no such emails, and he reckons (as I do now) that to find some atheist bloggers, they just used Google. Naturally because of the domain name, a search for “atheist blogger” comes up near the top position, same goes for “atheist blog”.

Today I found out that I am not alone! A mainstream atheist blog (The Atheist Experience) has reported the same email, so I feel like this might actually turn out worthwhile. If anything it might generate a few questions of the book, and if Chuck is sincere in his dicsussion, it will prove to be a nice forum for atheist and Christian views.

I look forward to receiving and reading it!

Thanks to everyone who voted for the book club this month! If everything went right, this means we should have 7 people to discuss the book at the end of May. Of course if more people want to read it and discuss, please be my guest.

The book chosen is Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against Intelligent Design by Michael Shermer.

It can be found in both hardback and paperback at Amazon, although currently it is actually cheaper to buy in hardback (a special deal).

Thanks to all who are participating, and I hope you enjoy the book!

I’ve been playing around with this idea for a few weeks now. Initially it started as something for my campus group (Atheist & Agnostic Alliance) to do once a month, but I’ve been thinking about expanding it online first to see what the reaction is. The idea will work thus:

• On the 1st of every month, a vote will be held to select a book relating to atheism, agnosticism, belief, religion etc. For cost reasons we will try to only pick books that have been published in paperback, and that can be found in libraries.
• Over the course of the next month, we read the book individually.
• At the end of the month we “meet” in an IRC channel (like a chat room) which ewanm89 is setting up on the server. It will be a safe environment and well moderated so that anyone of any age can participate. I will provide more information about how to get access when we get the channels set up!
• In the channel, we will discuss (for as long as we want) the book that we read over the month. I will then publish sections of the comments on the forums in a new thread, where people who either missed or couldn’t participate in the chat can post their comments on the book.
• We will also collect titles of other books and set up a new vote to decide the next book to read.

The idea of this is to get more people reading good books about atheism and belief, and for our opinions on such books to be shared amongst ourselves. If the online book club is a success, I will be including it in a monthly activity for my own campus group, and possibly other campus groups could do the same.

If you are interested in joining the book club, please join the forums and introduce yourself. You can submit book ideas in the new Discussions forum, which will also be used for the discussion of books read in the club.

Please start suggesting book titles for the first vote, which will be held on 1st May.