Ask An Atheist

Is there anyone out there who still doubts that atheists, secularists and non-believers are targets of hate and discrimination?

(Take a breath, that’s rhetorical.)

One of the interesting side effects of Christopher Hitchens’ death has been the complete validation of his activism by the response to said death.  On one hand, you have the preachers and fundamentalist bloggers and media figures lining up with their condescending “I-told-you-so” statements. They simultaneously pretend to care about his fate, while barely being able to conceal their glee about the belief that he’s being tortured forever for disagreeing with them. Then, in the same breath, they turn their self-satisfaction on their audience and threaten them with the same hellfire ultimatum, proclaiming it to be an act of love.

While Sam, Libbie and I eulogized Hitch on our last episode, and joined the crew in raising a glass of Johnnie Walker Black to his memory at the post-show dinner, many others have been honoring his legacy on Twitter.

Until a couple of days ago, #GodIsNotGreat was trending on Twitter, as a tribute to Christopher Hitchens’ 2007 bestselling book. Not everyone was happy about this.

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It just came to my attention that a great mind, pen and mouth died today. After a long battle with oesophageal cancer, and even longer battles with the forces of fundamentalist stupidity, our atheist visibility movement has lost one of its brightest lights.

Christopher Hitchens was one of my primary inspirations for becoming an atheist activist, and one of the most stalwart, brutally honest and brilliant champions that rationalists could ever hope to have in their corner.

While I can’t say that I’ve always agreed with every word that came out of Mr. Hitchens’ mouth. I will say that even in times of disagreement, he never failed to be incredibly informed, concise and deliciously scathing at the same time.

I feel incredibly fortunate to have had Christopher Hitchens alive in an era where his speeches and debates can be recorded for all time and that his cutting wit and devastating eloquence will not be lost to future generations of freethinkers and opponents alike.

While I’m certain that thousands of smug and proudly ignorant blogs, articles and church newsletters are currently being typed right now about how Hitch has just gotten what he had coming to him, but I warn these pious sadists to be careful what they wish for.

We atheists can play Pascal’s Wager too. And I would put down good money that if we godless skeptics are wrong about this whole gods and afterlives nonsense, that Hitch has already made Saint Peter cry by now.

We’ll miss you, Hitch. Read the rest of this entry »

As we close out 2011, join the gang at Ask an Atheist for a night of live comedy! To help keep our radio show on the air, we’re holding our second semi-annual comedy event, with all proceeds benefiting the poor and needy, namely us!

Comic Lineup includes:

Jeremy Whitman, a national touring comic and a co-creator of the Ask an Atheist radio show!

Kermit Apio, the winner of the 2009 Great American Comedy Festival and has had numerous appearances on television and radio. He has showcased at comedy festivals in Aspen, Las Vegas, and Vancouver and has performed in 47 states and 3 Canadian provinces. He is a past winner of the Seattle Comedy Competition and was a semi-finalist in the San Francisco Comedy Competition. Also, in 1988 he was Dishwasher of the Month at the Sea-Tac Airport Denny’s.

Cathy Sorbo has appeared on shows produced by HBO and Showtime, and developed a pilot with MTV. The U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen said of Cathy, “Sorbo rips into her work with such humor and insight that her act appeals to just about everybody.” Cathy’s credits also include national voiceover work for radio and television ads as well as performing at corporate events for clients ranging from Microsoft to the U.S. Army. Cathy has been a regular performer on NPR’s news satire show Rewind and is a sideline announcer for the Rat City Roller Girls roller derby league. She is also a columnist for the Saturday Spin section of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

WHERE:  

Jewelbox Theater
2322 2nd Avenue
Seattle, WA 98121

WHEN:

Thursday, December 29th at 8:00pm

Tickets are $20 at the door and are very limited! You can purchase tickets in advance on Brown Paper Tickets!

The Ask an Atheist crew will be doing some volunteer holiday giftwrapping this year, so if you’re in the area we’d love to have you drop by!

Were going to be at the Barnes & Noble in Tukwila, WA, wrapping shoppers’ books for the holidays and accepting donations that help keep our little show on the air! This is your chance to have Christmas presents wrapped for you by folks that Pat Robertson will tell you want to destroy all that is good and holy.

So, stop by the Southcenter Barnes & Noble, buy a few books and gifts and we’ll beautify them with colored paper and tape! Perfect for whatever holiday you celebrate, be it Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, Saturnalia or even the Wookiee’s Life Day!

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NOTE: I (Sam) am republishing this blog post, because we’ve only got three days left to vote, and when last we checked we were in 2nd place and up against stiff competition.  If you can, please help.   I will be linking things in this post as time goes on.

First, I want to thank all of the people who’ve voted for us to win Best Local Podcast so far in KING 5′s Best of Western Washington Contest. Because of you, we spent over two weeks on the top of the pile in first place.

That changed today, as our biggest competitor in the contest for someone with a much more prominent and well known radio on a major affiliate, has noticed the contest and is actually putting some effort into the race. In a day, they were able to overtake our lead and are now ahead of us by a hair.

We’re now in Second Place.  While we feel no shame in losing to the folks currently in First, we don’t want to settle for being Flintheart Glomgold when we could be Scrooge McDuck!

UPDATE: Here are some other places where you can help get the word out!

1. Requisite Reddit Link!

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