Owner: A Load of Bright URL:http://aloadofbright.wordpress.com Join Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2007 13:47:42 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: This blog promotes atheism and humanism, and offers an atheistic view on religion and the supernatural. Site statistics:Click here
The Virginia Tech Massacre 2007-04-27 07:58:37 It has now been eleven days since the Virginia
Tech Massacre, and so far I have said nothing about it on this blog. The reason for this, is quite simply that I couldn’t think of anything to say. I wanted to, but every time I sat at my computer to write something, I froze. Not even the most articulate words could express my horror at the events that took place that day. The most elegant poetry could not have come close to letting the loved ones of the victims know just how strongly I felt for them, and how my thoughts and heart went out to them. Deserted of anything meaningful to say, I held my silence.
Sadly, some Christians have had no such trouble voicing their thoughts, and some of their views have stirred me to speak. Ebonmuse at Daylight Atheism posted this article on exploiting tragedy, and I was disgusted at the quotes he included. Then I stumbled upon an article on the Tribune website called The road to Virginia Tech tragedy started with Bible ban. The title says it a
Carnival Alert 2007-04-25 18:30:47 The 37th Carnival
of the Liberals, including my article Positive Discrimination (whince!), is now up at BogsBlog.
Read more:Alert
Introducing my Blogroll 2007-04-24 19:03:18 I feel that A Load of Bright is now past its initial fluid phase, and is well into the process of consolidation. The first six weeks have been a little bit like moving into a new house. I’ve had to get settled in and get used to where everything is. I’ve put up a few pictures, arranged, and then rearranged the furniture and experimented with different layouts. Just as home improvement is a perpetual project, I dare say I’ll keep making odd changes from time to time, but on the whole I’m fairly happy with things as they are.
Since I’ve started this blog, I’ve discovered and begun to read more blogs than I used to. My blogroll is now complete, in that it contains the blogs I either read on a regular basis, or try my best to read on a regular basis, time permitting. Whenever I do add a new blog I’d like to make a habit of introducing it, so I thought it would only be fair to say a few words about each of the blogs I already link to.
So, in alphabetical order:
Atheist R Read more:Blogroll
, Introducing
Site Announcement: A Date for your Diary 2007-04-23 20:44:04 On 10th April I referred you to Daylight Atheism’s announcement of a new carnival, the Humanist Symposium. I am now pleased to reveal that the 6th edition of the Humanist Symposium will be hosted here at A Load of Bright on 12th August, 2007. I will, of course, draw your attention to it nearer the time when submissions can be made. With the HS, Ebonmuse has taken on an exciting and innovating project, and I’m eagerly looking forward to being a part of it.
Read more:Announcement
, Diary
Positive Discrimination (wince!) 2007-04-19 21:54:21 In the age of political correctness in which we live, almost every employer has an equal opportunities policy or mission statement. This is the equal opportunities policy of the Metropolitan Police Force.
Equal Opportunities
The Metropolitan Police Service seeks to employ a work force which reflects the diversity of background and culture within which we operate and to provide a working environment free from any form of harassment, intimidation, victimisation or unjustifiable discrimination.
We shall treat individuals openly and fairly with dignity and respect. We shall value their contribution towards providing a quality service to the people of London.
All members of the Service will demonstrate their commitment to these principles and will challenge behaviour which is unacceptable, in particular on the grounds of nationality, gender, race, colour, ethnic or national origin, disability, sexual orientation or marital status.
We shall ensure that our policies and procedures reflect t Read more:Discrimination
, Positive
Abstain With Me 2007-04-16 21:47:56 This news story from the BBC reports that a new study has shown that students in America who attend “abstinence classes” are no more likely to abstain from sex then students who receive regular sex education. Well, I didn’t see that one coming (no pun intended).
“Abstinence only” sex education is, to quote Roy Zimmerman , “a little like saying ‘just-hold-it potty training’”. Instead of teaching children that sex is a very special, enjoyable thing, but also a great responsibility which they should take very seriously, they teach them that they just shouldn’t have sex with anyone until they are married. Not in a serious, long term, monogamous relationship, but actually married. Never mind the importance of building a loving and trusting physical relationship before committing to spending the rest of your life with someone. Never mind the fact that if you’re gay, you can’t get married in America so you’ll have to just never have sex.
Instead of teaching them
UK Faith Schools Petition 2007-04-15 02:08:51 A few days ago, I received this email from the Brights Movement.
Fellow Brights
A previous UK BrightenOp (November 22) drew attention to a faith schools petition at the official Downing Street website. However there is a second very similar petition at the site, and for whatever reason this second petition has accrued a higher number of signatures.
Should you wish to sign this second petition, it can be found at:
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/faithschools/
This petition also has its own website: http://www.banfaithschools.org.uk
The current volume of signatories stands at 12,809, making it the fifteenth most popular petition at the site. For those who do endorse the petition, this would be great news… if a pro-faith schools petition (with 16,715 signatories) wasn’t the eleventh most popular petition at the site!
You may also wish to inform others (brights or supers) likely to endorse the sentiment.
Bright Regards
Co-director Paul Geisert
Richard Dawkins drew attention to UK F Read more:Faith
, Schools
A Humanist Lesson: The Prayer of Serenity 2007-04-14 12:39:47 Christians believe that their holy text, the Bible, is the inerrant word of God. They believe it can be referred to as a complete guide on how to live your life and secure salvation. However, the religion has also produced an abundance of extra-biblical teachings and doctrines. Many of these reflect the cruelty and intolerance that dominate the Bible, but, just as the Bible has some teachings and values that we should proudly uphold and defend, so the post Biblical teachings have messages worth listening to, and I believe in giving credit where it is due. One such lesson worth saving, is the Prayer
of Serenity
.
The prayer was written by the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr in the 1930’s or early 1940’s. There is some dispute over the exact original text, but bar a few details of wording, the structure is always the same. This version may be cropped from the original, but is probably the most popular version in circulation today:
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can Read more:Humanist
An Aside: The First Milestone 2007-04-12 20:40:55 Well, dear readers, it is one month today since I started this blog. I had doubts aplenty; would I find enough time to write regularly? Would I suffer writer’s block? Would anyone read it?
If you’ll forgive me a moment of self-congratulation, I couldn’t have wished for a better start. I’ve been pleased enough with my writing, but more than anything I’ve been extremely encouraged by the response. After all, a blog is supposed to be interactive. Thanks to a few plugs from some good friends and fellow bloggers, I had some good early traffic and the number of visitors, while still modest compared to the big hitters, has been steadily increasing week by week.
The comments, bar the odd one, have been excellent. I’ve had some generous praise and some stern criticism, both of which have inspired some very lively and productive debates.
I was also encouraged to find my submissions to the Carnival of the Godless and the Carnival of the Liberals accepted, which have helped the Read more:First
The Adoring Younger Brother 2007-04-11 01:20:15 The main pillars of academic study, while differing widely in the knowledge they seek, all share a number of things in common. Science, history, philosophy and mathematics, across the spectrum, are all built on similar foundations. First and foremost, they are a quest for the truth. They all aspire to ask the right questions and to seek the correct answers, whatever they may be. They all require tireless hard work, hours of study and meticulous, painstaking graft for only the smallest steps of progress. Saintly patience and unimpeachable integrity over the course of an entire individual’s career are required, perhaps only to make the smallest advance on behalf of their discipline, and perhaps without ever gaining recognition for their work. They all demand a constant vigilance against ulterior motives and political influences that could dilute, or even poison their efforts. They are all disconnected from trade and industry, and therefore rely on government grants and private d Read more:Brother
Carnival Alert 2007-04-29 19:17:27 The eagerly awaited inaugural edition of the new blog carnival The Humanist Symposium, including my article The Credit We Deserve, is now up at the founding site, Daylight Atheism.
I believe this carnival will quickly be established as a key channel of atheist writing. Please pay a visit and savour the first of what I’m sure will be many great collections of pro-atheist pieces.
Read more:Alert
, Carnival
And now for the Weather 2007-04-30 22:47:07 Science is often accused of being arrogant. Whether it is or not is a moot point. What is indisputable, is that science has an awful lot to be arrogant about. After thousands of years of stagnation and stifled lack of progress, science in the past three centuries has freed us from the chains of darkness and ignorance, and lead us out into the bright light of knowledge. Nearly all major theistic religions teach that ambition and desire for learning are sinful, and the work of the devil (look no further than Genesis). The harder we fight against this oppressive dogma that has held us back throughout history, the more we uncover the flaws and mistakes in religious doctrines. The Bible makes claims of miraculous faith healings, but if the people in the Middle East two thousand years ago could see what modern medicine is now capable of through natural methods, they would be even more amazed and, no doubt, convinced that the supernatural was at play.
Science (and I am using the term br
If you do nothing else today… 2007-05-06 16:59:04 &hellip
;take 5 minutes to go to Evanescent and watch this video of Wafa Sultan speaking. It is truly breathtaking. What a staggering intellect. I only hope that the people to whom she is speaking actually listen to her.
The Paradise Prayer Hotline 2007-05-06 02:08:50 Many Christian evangelist TV channels and websites advertise ‘prayer hotline’ phone numbers. Not that it bothers me personally, but I find it hard to understand why Christians don’t resent the flagrant commercialisation of their religion. Do they not find it tacky?! If God exists, is this the sort of presentation of which he approves?
This got me thinking about how God might handle prayers himself, in heaven. After all, I know he is everywhere at once and knows everything, but there must be millions of people praying simultaneously at any given time. God is, of course, male, and everyone knows that men can’t multitask. Surely he needs just a little help to keep on top of it all?
How about a call centre . . .
________________________________________________________________________
Oh Lord,
Bring bring
Bring bring
A woman’s voice, soft, soothing and dreamlike.
Operator: Hello, and welcome to the ParadisePrayerHotline
. Please press the * key on your telephone’s keypa
Just for laughs 2007-05-10 08:09:09
Regular readers of this blog will have realised how greatly I value humour. No More Hornets has observed that atheists are seriously discriminated when it comes to starring roles in jokes, and I’m inclined to agree. He posted a great list, but I’d like to add two more. (By the way, do read the second one, it’s not quite the same.)
________________________________________________________________________
An atheist is out fishing on Loch Ness, when suddenly the Loch Ness Monster bursts out from the water, capsizing the boat and hurling him 50 feet into the air. As he falls through the air in the direction of the monster’s open, expectant jaws, he cries out in desperation, “Oh God! Help me!”.
Time freezes, and he is suspended in mid air. The clouds open up, and a deep voice booms from the skies, “I thought you didn’t believe in me?”.
“Give me a break” the atheist says, “I didn’t believe in the Loch Ness Monster either!”.
_____
The Control Group 2007-05-09 20:56:06 When I’m filling out a form and I get to the question “religion?”, I fill in “atheist”. I know that some people think that this implies that atheism is a religion, but I don’t think it does. It is, in my opinion, simply the most concise way of answering the question. With just one word, I can make it clear that I don’t have a religion, indeed, that I’m not religious. Some people have suggested that we write “non-religious” instead, but this just appeases, and even encourages people’s misunderstanding of the word “atheist”. If anything, “non-religious” implies that atheism is a religion, by suggesting that “non-religion” is a different option from “atheism”. I think “atheist” is the right thing to put, and if people misunderstand it, then that is their fault. People most certainly do misunderstand it frequently, but we should not adjust for this misconception. We should continue to defiantly use the term in its correct context, thus conf Read more:Control
, Group
Misquoting Harris 2007-05-08 07:55:18 Yesterday morning, I stumbled upon this article by Madeleine Bunting on The Guardian website. It seemed to be the usual moaning about “new” atheists being too aggressive, intolerant and ignoring the real debate about the “remarkable benefits” of religion. It was most irritating, but repeated themes that are ever more common in the popular press. Then I read this (I have left in the typo at the beginning, a habit for which The Guardian have been notorious for many years).
In a another passage [Sam] Harris
goes even further, and reaches a disturbing conclusion that “some propositions are so dangerous that it may even be ethical to kill people for believing them”. This sounds like exactly the kind of argument put forward by those who ran the Inquisition.
Excuse me? I’ve read The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation, but I couldn’t ever remember Harris saying that. I typed the quoted phrase into Google, and was distressed to find that many people wer
Carnival Alert 2007-05-13 12:21:36 The 66th Carnival
of the Godless, including my Book Review: The Dawkins Delusion, by Alister McGrath is now up at The Atheist Experience.
The next edition, on May 27th, will be hosted by Friendly Atheist.
Read more:Alert
What Good is Half an Eye? 2007-05-12 02:58:26 I’m sure that by now, most readers will be aware of the debate that took place on ABC Nightline between Christians Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron, and atheists Brian Sapient and Kelly of the Rational Response Squad. Many bloggers have put their two cents in on this one, and I don’t think there’s really anything I can add that hasn’t already been covered.
Having said that, I would just like to pick up on one point that Ray Comfort argued in his opening address - the human eye and its ability to prove without any shadow of a doubt, through its wondrous complexity, the existence of an intelligent creator. The irony of this claim, was that it caused my wondrously complex human eyes to roll uncontrollably in disbelief that this argument is still being used!
The argument is supposed to go that the eye is so complex and intricate, that it could not possibly have evolved through natural selection. Each part is useless without the other parts, and it either works as a complete unit, or
Blogroll Update 2007-05-11 08:22:45 I am adding two new blogs to my blogroll today.
Atheist One is fairly new to the blogosphere. I’ve only really discovered it in the last week, but it’s really caught my attention. Very well written and very promising.
Atheist Ethicist is a blog I’ve been vaguely aware of for some time, but only recently began to read regularly. Written by author Alonzo Fyfe, it focuses heavily on morality, an issue that can’t be stressed enough from an atheist point of view. Once I’ve caught up on recent articles I’ll be going straight to the archives.
Please check them out. Enjoy!
Read more:Blogroll
, Update
Is Atheism Dishonest? 2007-05-16 07:29:30 No. Next question, please?
If only it were that simple. Bruce Walker, in his article Militant Atheism
and Mendacity (subtitle: How the rise of atheism is destroying truth) warrants - although doesn't necessarily deserve - a more detailed response.
The hidden horror of atheism is a greater loss than just the grave which faces us all, and the loss of God involves a loss greater than just chastity, charity and security. The loss of God involves the loss of the possibility of truth. Why? If there are no absolute objective moral virtues, then honesty is not an absolute moral virtue. The Judeo-Christian tradition, what I have sometimes simply called "The Great Faith," demands the absolute moral virtue of honesty, and it shows this demand it ways that surprise unbelievers.
This is, essentially, the Argument from Morality, which has been well and truly refuted on many occasions. For example, Ebon Musings' article Unmoved Mover, shows the logical inconsistency of divine moral absol
Announcment: Jerry Falwell has died 2007-05-15 20:11:43 Breaking news on the internet is that JerryFalwell
has passed away, aged 73. Falwell stood for everything that I despise about religious dogma and bigotry, but there will be plenty of other occasions to talk about that. Human life is the most treasured possession we have, and I cannot revel in this news. My heart goes out to his friends and family.
Read more:Jerry Falwell
A Shout-Out to Pat Condell 2007-05-15 02:01:54 I would like to draw your attention to the work of my fellow Englishman, atheist stand-up comedian Pat Condell. He has lately been posting articles and videos from his Myspace page, his website and Youtube. Although he is very funny, hilarious, in fact, I've been far more impressed with his content for its serious, far reaching depth and clarity.
He has a way with words far beyond mine. So often, I find him saying something that makes me think: That's what I've always thought, but I could never have put it as clearly as that! For me, this is the mark of a great mind, and a great writer.
Please take a look for yourself at the work of Mr. Condell (particularly the videos), but as an example here, I'd like to show you a recent video called The United States of Jesus. It is a response to an accusation of being "anti-American". I have included it here because I too have had that allegation levelled at me. I refer my own accusers to this video because, as always, Condell
Take a look… 2007-05-18 14:46:55 There’s a nice bit of artwork over at Naked Pastor. Made me giggle.
Read more:hellip
Book Review: I Sold My Soul on eBay, by Hemant Mehta 2007-05-17 02:01:20 If you had told me a month ago that someone could write a book about religion that could be read by both Christians and atheists, and that they could both enjoy it, be challenged by it, and draw a positive message from it without feeling attacked, I wouldn’t have believed you. And yet, this is exactly what Hemant Mehta has managed to achieve.
Hemant (I will take the liberty of referring to the author by his first name rather than his last, as we have exchanged one or two emails previously) is the author of the blog Friendly Atheist. After many years of atheism, he realised that he had never been to church or really been exposed to Christianity in any way. Being open minded, he wanted to challenge his beliefs and see what Christianity, and other religions had to offer. He held an auction on eBay, offering to visit the place, or places of worship of the winning bidder, and write about his experiences. The auction was won by Jim Henderson with a winning bid of $504. This book is H
The Beginners Guide to Starting a Blog 2007-05-21 23:24:50 Not one of my most cryptic titles, but there you go. Just a note before I begin. This is not a guide written by an expert, experienced, seasoned blogger. It is written by a beginner. That’s why it’s called “The Beginners Guide
…”. I know quite a few seasoned bloggers, and I sincerely hope they will use the comments to add to this guide. This is just a list of a few things that I have come to realise in my first couple of months of blogging. I would have found a guide like this helpful when I started, so I hope that maybe this will help others. I did come across this guide on Atheist Revolution a few weeks after I’d started this blog, and did find it very useful, so I advise readers to check that out as well. Anyway, in no particular order:
Take the plunge! If you are thinking about starting a blog but are apprehensive for any reason, the best thing you can do is just give it a go – you have nothing to lose! You’ll never get to a point where you feel completel
Carnival Alert 2007-05-21 00:16:24 The 2nd Humanist Symposium, including my article The Control Group, is now up at Confessions of an Anonymous Coward.
The first edition was everything it was billed to be, I can’t wait to see what the follow up has to offer!
The next edition will be held at Black Sun Journal on June 10th.
Read more:Alert
, Carnival
Why I would not attend a Child’s Christening 2007-05-19 14:14:24 I would have no reservations about attending a church for a wedding (other than my own) or a funeral (again, other than my own!). I hold no principles that would prohibit such a visit to a place of worship. Of course, I would not participate in any of the religious rituals that either a wedding or a funeral may entail. I would also not join in with the singing of any hymns, not as a point of principle, but for the safety and well being of those who could hear me. It is fitting that I don’t believe in angels, because I certainly don’t have the voice of one.
The reason a wedding or a funeral wouldn’t bother me, is that I don’t have a problem with either of these ceremonies, in and of themselves. If I attended a wedding, I would simply be joining in the celebration of two people I know declaring their love for each other, and their decision to make their union official. If they want to do that in a religious fashion, that is their business, their free choice as consenting Read more:Christening
Recommend Site To A Friend
