Dear Kirk Cameron, Please Stop.

I don’t want to make a long post about this, but a friend of mine sent this to me the other day (sort of as a joke).

The single biggest problem I have with Kirk Cameron and many of his Apologetics compatriots is the relentless assertions of misinformation.

While TMZ is being snarky, I think it’s important to propagate these videos and encourage people to think about the things that he says and how transparently thin and refutable they are.

Video 1: http://www.tmz.com/2009/11/24/kirk-cameron-mauled-by-a-bruin-in-darwin-fight/

Video 2: http://www.tmz.com/2009/09/22/kirk-cameron-plays-the-hitler-card/

Creationism in the Muslim World

I’ll begin with a question: why are religion and science so often grouped together in single categories? Do you think science would have religion fail under scientific scrutiny? Do you think religion would have science denied outright by being compared one-for-one with revealed truth? Or is it some extraneous, societal factor?

For instance, there’s not a “Religion” section of the newspaper, and it is very common for articles with religious themes to be categorized in the Science/Technology section (as is the case with the article which inspired this post). Or, as is pointed out in the article, there are books on religion sometimes found in the science section of the bookstore, even though the “science” content is questionable.

Subway Gospel on the 2 – ramblings

I was trying to read The Brother’s Karamazov (which, I recommend to you all; there’s a lot of religious discussion in it) on my way into the City yesterday, when a man started preaching the Good Word to anyone on the car who would listen. I am normally nonplussed by such mass transit missionaries, however, I decided on this occasion to lend an ear.

The takeaway from his spiel was this: Jesus Christ is your lord and Savior; accept him and be saved or don’t and be damned… He quoted some verses and brought up a few topical references to examples of the mighty power of god, etc. Overall his message was uplifting and not too harsh on the sinners.

But for some reason, for the rest of the night and even today, I am left with the burning, simple, perennial question: why? Why? Why Jesus. Why God? Why can’t you just be a good person? Why can’t you care about mankind and the world, read the newspaper, read books, participate in life, exercise, love your parents, make mistakes, experiment with drugs and unreasonable behavior, learn your lessons, travel, eat, test your limits… why can’t you donate your time and money when you feel moved, help people carry stuff up subway steps, get into a fist fight with someone over something stupid, help old ladies with their groceries, bake, be relentlessly yourself and not care… why can’t you be thankful for the life you have and the opportunities you’re given and your achievements and your struggles… why can’t you do all of these godlessly? Or with your own god? Yahweh. Allah. Zues. John From. Is the creator of the universe so caught up in semantics? I can’t believe it.

Side Note: Let’s not go to that place

Going through the different articles on the recent subway ad campaign I’ve been perusing through a great deal of comments. While I can’t decide yet if this is a wonderful thing or the worst thing ever, the comments at least make for invigorating, if sometimes frustrating and mildly illiterate, reading.

Good Without God

This past Monday was the first day of a month-long ad campaign in the NYC Subway system featuring Atheist ads. “A Million New Yorkers are good without god. Are you?” as the slogan goes. The $25,000 ads were coordinated by the Big Apple Coalition of Reason, “a collection of local organizations working together to increase awareness of secular-minded groups throughout New York City.” The money came from an anonymous donor.

The campaign has been reported on by the NYTimes, CNN, and CBS 5 news (please feel free to get all the facts), however I first read about it in an issue of AM New York last week, which, unfortunately, I no longer have and does not seem to be posted online.

Distinguishing atheism from agnosticism

Thanks once again to the magic of StumbleUpon, I discovered a blog called Atheist Revolution. The latest post includes a succinct and sensible explanation of the difference between atheism and agnosticism. I recommend checking it out.

LOL

Godcasts: it’s what I’d call my podcasts if I were a pastor

I’m catching up with a few of my favorite religion-based blogs (What Do Mormons Believe, Feminist Mormon Housewives, and Stuff Christians Like), and Jon Acuff, chief executive bloggerman at the latter, posted this week about “online church.”

I’m not sure about the popularity of online church, televangelism, and sermon podcasts among non-Christians (research project!), but I do know that Christians, especially Christians of the evangelical variety, love to spread the good news on all fronts. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t into it. Yes, folks (or folk, depending on the number of readers we’ve lured here today), I download Christian podcasts.

Actually, let me clarify that statement: I download Joel Osteen’s podcasts (note: I download them on iTunes). I do this for several seven reasons:

1. They’re free.

2. They’re short and easily digestible.

3. I don’t like watching Joel on TV because he’s a long-blinker and it stresses me out.*

4. His voice is soothing.

5. I like to find things we agree on.

6. I like to form rebuttals.

7. I don’t live anywhere near Houston and cannot experience his sermon live and in-person, and so I like to imagine what it’s like to be in a 16,800-seat megachurch that took 15 months and $75 million to complete.

* Watch him sometime. It’s not that he’s wandering around the Lakewood stage with his eyes closed in commune with the Lord, it’s just that he’s the type of person whose blinks last longer than usual.

Children’s understanding of god: it’s whatever you tell them

My friend Lisa linked me to Newsweek’s “Nurture Shock” blog today, specifically to a post titled “What Do Children Understand About God?” The post doesn’t quote any actual children, and I’m surprised that its author, Ashley Merryman, doesn’t seem to remember much about her own childhood thoughts about god.

I remember doubting the existence of god from a young age. I remember asking questions about god and getting unsatisfying answers, answers that didn’t seem to make much sense. At first, I figured adults just knew more about god than I did and that they couldn’t articulate it to me because I was a kid, but then I realized they were answering me the best they could. There’s only so much to “understand” about the Holy Trinity, say, or a virgin birth, or the risen Christ.

This speaks to my brand of atheism

“Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.”

-Voltaire

(Whenever someone accuses me of proclaiming there is no god, I explain that I am not certain and can’t prove that there is no god. Rather, I see no evidence supporting the existence of a god or gods and so I cannot believe it or they exist.)