The Atheist Blogger

Oh dear, oh dear. It seems like a consortium of deluded fools are going to try and tap into all of Britain’s positive energy on 6th March at 11am. The “event” website has this to say on the choosing of the date:

March 6th has been chosen as Faith of Britain Day because March is a time of seeing light emerging from the darkness of Winter, therefore emphasising hope in an unsure world. Numerologically this date is symbolic because the 3rd month, the 6th day and the 9th year are all multiples of 3 which is about balance – which is what we strive to achieve as humans. The time, 11.00am is a master number, or a powerful 2 (1 + 1) which is the duality of the inner and outer self, encouraging us to look within to find solutions.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen such numerical nonsense in the same paragraph before…but wait! There’s more!

How do I take part?

At exactly 11.00 am on March 6th 2009, we ask that you stop whatever you are doing for just two minutes. Take that time to concentrate your thoughts on overcoming a particular difficulty or solving a problem that has affected your life. It may help to say quietly or aloud “I have faith” while you are thinking about this difficulty.

Why will this work?

It is a proven scientific fact that thinking about something often causes it to happen. Some call this quantum physics. Others simply call it “faith.” We ask that you open your mind to joining in with a unique psychic force that will change our lives through the power of thought.

I’d really like to see the scientific research papers they have been reading. Of course, as soon as I read all this, I knew somehow the freethinking community had to act. So I hereby declare March 6th “Think Negative” day. Do as much as you can to thwart the evil positive energy by being generally grumpy and negative. Some ideas:

• Email the organisers (info@thefaithofbritain.com or support@thefaithofbritain.com) and have a good moan at them about their lack of science skills.
• Find a psychic and proceed to predict “terrible happenings” for them within the next year.
• On March 7th, contact the organisers again to complain about the number of things that went wrong for you on March 6th, say you hold them personally responsible, and that you plan to sue them.

Have fun abusing all the negative energy!

Just less than 3 months ago I reported on the arrest and presecution of the parents of Ava Worthington, a 15 month old girl who died because instead of taking their daughter to a doctor, they left her healing up to faith. Quite unsurprisingly, she died from a combination of bronchial pneumonia and a blood infection, which were both perfectly treatable by modern medicine.

The family were members of a large fundamentalist church know as “Followers of Christ”, and they have a dark history of child abuse, neglect, and manslaughter. Now Ava Worthington’s own cousin, 16 year old Neil Beagley has died from a heart failure caused by urinary tract blockage. Members of the same church, Beagley’s parents believed that the power of prayer would heal their son, and called on fellow churchgoers to a prayer session last Sunday when Neil’s condition worsened. He died two days later.

A 1999 Oregon state law prevented parents from using a religious based defense in court, and this law was first used to prosecute the parents of Ava Worthington. However, since by Oregon law people over 14 years old are allowed to choose the method of medication they receive, it is doubtful anything will happen to the parents.

Read more…

Firstly let me explain the title. I am not having a go at Jodie Foster’s acting talents, she is one of my favourite actors and I have utmost respect for her as an actress. What I am having a go at is her views on atheism and religion. It seems that there are two distinct groups in atheism these days, the people who are “all out” atheists and continually argue against the irrationality of religion and belief, and those who are almost apologising for their atheism.

Jodie Foster is one of those in the latter group. She freely admits to being an atheist, but in doing so, always relates herself back to organised religion in some way, so it seems less of a “controversial” issue.

I don’t follow any kind of traditional religion, but I have great respect for all religions. I spend a lot of time studying divine texts, whether it’s Eastern religion or Western religion. I only have questions so far and no answers. [1]

The usage of the word “but” is probably the most conclusive evidence in this quote. She describes herself as an atheist (rather, one who doesn’t follow a religion), and then tries to cover up for the fact by showing her “respect” for religion in general. Many would argue it’s a minor piece of evidence, but how would the quote look if she had said “and” instead of the “but”, or some other passive conjunction? Instead of some kind of apology for being an atheist, the statement becomes one where the emphasis is not so greatly strained on the religious side.

Read more…

The Interfaith Alliance has released a video on the top 10 faith-based moments in the race for President of the United States. The video shows the “top ten” worst uses of religion in the primaries, and just goes to prove that America is not going to vote in a non-Christian any time soon…

Hopefully with the growing number of “out of the closet” atheists in America, there will be a change, but I doubt it will happen within the next 20 years. We’ll just have to see how things go.

The new leader of the Liberal Democrats in the United Kingdom, Nick Clegg, is an open atheist and nobody even batted an eyelid. I think many countries could learn a lot from the increasing secularism in the UK.

Thanks to Friendly Atheist for the link.