by John C. Snider © 2007
The Bible is pretty straightforward in its message when it comes to homosexuality: it’s a sin, and those who insist on practicing it are going to Hell. It’s simple.
Or is it? The growing movement to reconcile gay rights with Christianity is the subject of a fascinating new documentary called For the Bible Tells Me So (we’ll call it “FTBTMS” for short).
One-third believe in ghosts, UFOs - How pathetic do you have to believe to go to all the trouble to move out of your house because you think it’s haunted? (Of course, journalists haul out these stats every Halloween.)
Superstitious sports fans - I’m not sure how much of this is in jest and how much is serious; still, even if it’s a little true, it just shows how susceptible people can be to all sorts of foolishness (religion included).
Man accused of sexual assault claims triskaidekaphobia - The infuriating thing here is, the judge honored his request, instead of throwing him in jail for contempt of court or something.
Five Questions with Nathaniel Branden (Author of The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem)
by John C. Snider © 2007
[Ayn Rand’s magnum opus Atlas Shrugged turns 50 this month. Objectivists are celebrating, and CSPAN 2 recently devoted several hours of programming to discussions about the late Rand and her literary/philosophical influence. Nearly a quarter centery after her death, Rand is still stirring up controversy, and despite her staunch atheism, she is generally unpopular amongst modern-day freethinkers because of her cult-like aura and unflinchingly pro-capitalist stance. I add to the celebration in reprinting two articles I’ve written over the years that touch on the Randian legacy: an essay titled “But Is It Science Fiction? Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged”, originally published in May 2000 in my online magazine scifidimensions.com; and an interview I conducted with one-time Rand confidante Nathaniel Branden, originally published in the April 2005 issue of The Eudaimonist.]
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But Is It Science Fiction? Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged”
by John C. Snider © 2007
[Ayn Rand’s magnum opus Atlas Shrugged turns 50 this month. Objectivists are celebrating, and CSPAN 2 recently devoted several hours of programming to discussions about the late Rand and her literary/philosophical influence. Nearly a quarter centery after her death, Rand is still stirring up controversy, and despite her staunch atheism, she is generally unpopular amongst modern-day freethinkers because of her cult-like aura and unflinchingly pro-capitalist stance. I add to the celebration in reprinting two articles I’ve written over the years that touch on the Randian legacy: an essay titled “But Is It Science Fiction? Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged”, originally published in May 2000 in my online magazine scifidimensions.com; and an interview I conducted with one-time Rand confidante Nathaniel Branden, originally published in the April 2005 issue of The Eudaimonist.]
Fox News Channel has taken note that Freethought Radio (produced by the Freedom from Religion Foundation) is now being broadcast nationwide via Air America. Media Matters has posted TV clips and other info, including Fox News anchors reporting the news with unmistakable sarcasm, asking “Is this a new war on religion?”
Well, there’s no doubt you can look at freethought as being at war with religion, to the extent that it offers an opposing outlook. I think most freethinkers would be happy to see religion go the way of the dodo, as long as it was replaced by rational discourse. That said, I have two questions:
If Freethought Radio is at war with religion, does that mean that the gazillion TV/radio stations and countless Sunday morning broadcasts on local channels are at war with rationalism?
Why can’t rationalists have just ONE nationwide show devoted to their worldview without it being perceived as some sort of conspiracy?
Why is it that religion gets a pass when it comes to public health? This could be one of those trumped-up “trends that aren’t really trends” that the media like to cart out all the time. Still, it really pisses me off to think that all you have to do is admit you’re a superstitious nincompoop, and your kid doesn’t have to get his shots. If you claim you’re doing it merely on non-religious ethical grounds, apparently that’s a problem. If you claim you’re doing it on rational/scientific grounds, you’re in big trouble.
Read the attached article, and see what you think. Should schools offer any exceptions? Or should they just say “no vaccine, no admittance” - regardless of the reason?
Well, the humorless Catholic League (”defends the right of Catholics – lay and clergy alike – to participate in American public life without defamation or discrimination”) is pushing it’s Right Never to Be Offended yet again. This time they’re protesting “My Sweet Jesus”, a lifesize sculpture made of chocolate. These guys love to play the “We’re Oppressed” card, and it’s just ridiculous. Sure, they have a right to free speech, to say that they’re offended by some artist or filmmaker - but they cross the line when they try to tell others what they can and cannot do. You don’t like My Sweet Jesus? Then don’t go to the gallery.
Review by John C. Snider © 2007
[Now that Al Gore has won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in raising awareness about global warming, now’s as good a time as any to reprint my review of his Academy Award-winning film An Inconvenient Truth. This review originally appeared in July 2006 in the online magazine scifidimensions.com. The film is currently available on DVD.]
It should come as no spoiler to learn that the “inconvenient truth” championed by former Vice President (and failed presidential candidate) Al Gore is that global warming is real, and the culprit is carbon dioxide generated by human civilization. But is this inconvenient truth really the truth - and is it the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
© John C. Snider 2007
[This interview originally appeared in 2005 in The Eudaimonist, the official newsletter of the Atlanta-based Fellowship of Reason. Harris published his Letter to a Christian Nation in 2006.]
Sam Harris is a Stanford-based philosopher, doctoral candidate in neuroscience, and author of The End of Faith: Religion, Terror and the Future of Reason (W.W. Norton, 2004, ISBN 0393035158), a frank, uncompromising, sometimes politically incorrect, and often blatantly angry book in which he argues that religious faith is incompatible with the goals of human happiness and societal stability. (more…)
© John C. Snider 2007
One of the highlights of last weekend’s “Crystal Clear Atheism” conference was a presentation by Sam Harris entitled “The Problem with Atheism” (reprinted here at the Washington Post). Here is, I think, the crux of his argument:
Another problem is that in accepting a label, particularly the label of “atheist,” it seems to me that we are consenting to be viewed as a cranky sub-culture. We are consenting to be viewed as a marginal interest group that meets in hotel ballrooms. I’m not saying that meetings like this aren’t important. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think it was important. But I am saying that as a matter of philosophy we are guilty of confusion, and as a matter of strategy, we have walked into a trap. It is a trap that has been, in many cases, deliberately set for us. And we have jumped into it with both feet.
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