Ask An Atheist

This is an open response to an open letter written by Wes.   You can read the full letter here.

Hi, Wes.

I think we’ve spoken or at least communicated before. However, you don’t need to establish credentials with us. If you have a disagreement with anyone on the show, you’re encouraged to write or even better, call us and air your grievances, even if you’ve only just now tuned into the show. That said, we all appreciate the support you’ve given Ask an Atheist, and we hope that it will continue.

There are two points I’d like to discuss. One of them is a personal bugbear of mine that I’ll address later. For now, let’s talk about why you think I suddenly became horribly insensitive.

Read the rest of this entry »

Well, it’s September 30th again – Blasphemy Day –  and it’s time to renew our dedication to the principles of free speech, even if it offends a few people.  As we’ve said in our discussions of religious privilege, a common tactic that religious folks use to silence dissent is to assert that they’re somehow victims of oppression if people outside of their church are allowed to not obey their rules.  For instance, the many times that churches in the United States and around the world often cry persecution because Tony and Craig want to get married and live lives that don’t affect that church in any way.

In short, tolerance for your religion doesn’t mean that the rest of us have to walk on eggshells to avoid offending your tender feelings — particularly when your feelings are so tender that practically anything can set you off.

Blasphemy Day is a bi-product of one this impulse’s worst results: the violent 2005 riots over a Danish newspaper printing a cartoon satirizing the Muslim prophet, Muhammad. Embassies were burned and people are murdered because of one religion’s ultra-sensitivity to a vague, non-violent offense. And a small American Muslim group in 2010 directed their own death threats at the creators of the show South Park for the inclusion of Muhammad in an episode of the show. Over a fucking cartoon, people were murdered and threatened with death. A cartoon.

Oh, grow the fuck up, Islam.

While I don’t think Muslims as a whole are violent and I think they should be free to practice their religion peacefully, my tolerance does not extend to giving them freedoms and privileges that I wouldn’t give to their domestic, Christian counterparts. Read the rest of this entry »

We get a lot of comments on our Facebook page from random people, and occasionally we get the odd “hit and run” theist, believer or New Agey type who wants to blow our collective minds with what they think is a debate-ending question.

Y’know, the verbal equivalent of Hulk Hogan’s Big Leg Drop. The sort of brain melting stumper that would just leave us standing there with a bit of drool on our chins. But, most of the time, it’s just a pointless rhetorical query with a lot of poetic pizazz and no real substance or point to it.

Basically all empty brain calories, but very pretty sounding. A bunch of words that make sense individually, but are arranged in a way that sounds profound, but has little discernable meaning. The  sort of woo-woo nonsense that Deepak Chopra peddles for a living.

Last Thursday, a rather beardy gentleman who listed the afore-mentioned Mr. Chopra as one of his “people who inspire [him] ” posted the following question on our Facebook Wall:

Why don’t you want God to be real? Read the rest of this entry »

ABOVE: Action Comics vol. 2, #1, DC Comics 2011, written by Grant Morrison, art by Rags Morales.

It’s not often that two things I love so much get packaged together in one glorious news story. It’s like someone getting their chocolate in my peanut butter. It’s this case somebody got their whiny self-martyring Christian whackadoo story into my story about comic books.

Now, I make no secret of how much I love comics. I can hardly let an episode of “Ask an Atheist” pass without making a passing reference to Aquaman, but it’s really a rarity for my two favorite hobbies — comic books and atheist activism — to cross paths.  They now have, thanks to a North Carolina comic shop owner.

The owner of the aptly-named “Comic Conspiracy” threw a huge fit on Facebook when something Superman said in the newly relaunched Action Comics #1 offended his tender Christian feelings.

As a result, the retailer was threatening to boycott not only the new Action Comics series, but all titled penned by popular series writer, Grant Morrison, because in the issue Superman apparently commits the ultimate sin and… *gasp*…blasphemes.

Wait. What?

“Christian comic book readers and shop owners,” the retailer bloviates. “Join us in the Grant Morrison Boycott. Action Comics #1 is a slap in the face to Superman, Christians and Superman creators Siegel and Shuster!!”

Now I have a copy of this comic and when I saw the headline, I was completely confused. I honestly couldn’t think of anything particularly blasphemous in the issue. I mean, sure, it’s a unorthodox story about a younger Man of Steel that draws a lot from his earliest appearances back in the 1930s. He’s young, reckless and  tends to focus his anger on bullies that exploit the little guy, but I missed the part where he tweaked his nose at Christianity. Because I probably would have giggled at it.

The retailer isn’t giggling. Read the rest of this entry »

image courtesy of Klaus with K

This past Sunday, I had the chance to explore the experiences of atheists outside the United States.  We heard from David, a professor of American History in Qatar; from Zach, an atheist student who studied abroad in Japan; from Martin in Germany; and from several other Ask an Atheist listeners. One listener’s response to our call for stories and anecdotes was so comprehensive, interesting, and insightful that I didn’t want to dishonor it by briefly touching it on air, so it is my pleasure to share with you the story of our friend João* from Brazil.  Enjoy!

 

Ask an Atheist wants me? I feel this urge to respond, perhaps this feeling is god calling on me to state my views on religion in Brazil and how we heathens are doing down here but most probably it is because I enjoy the show so much.

I’m from Brazil, specifically from [REDACTED LARGE METROPOLITAN AREA]. As for my background, I’m an engineer, my father is an engineering professor born in Spain who migrated to Brazil in the 50′s. My mother on the other hand is Brazilian whose family came to Brazil several generations ago but my grandparents happened to become evangelical Christians and my grandfather was a preacher who worked at the Salvation Army. From what I hear my grandparents were very influential in introducing evangelical Christianity in Brazil. My mother tells me that when she was younger if someone passed by an evangelical church in some shithole town it was very probable that they were singing songs composed by my grandfather (who died in 1975).

You see, until a few years ago (10 or 20) Brazilians used to be proud of the fact that Brazil was the largest Catholic country in the world.

Read the rest of this entry »