War veteran and Atheist tosses hat into Mayoral race in LaGrange, Georgia

Candidate actually believes that the citizens in his city should have a politician working for them.

LaGrange native, Mike Smith, a self-proclaimed Atheist has announced his…

by Jessica Mokrzycki, guest contributor

One needs only to scroll down the titles and peruse the content of my recent posts to know that I have been really struggling to make sense of things lately. Battling between mind and heart and trying to find clarity amidst two different paths that seem to call me both to them with nearly equal strength. 

The following I wrote a few days ago in my online journal. I believe I have  been really battling with my skepticism  for some time…

Most theists and their apologists most often write that without the belief in god, life is meaningless and they go ahead and ask people to surrender everything to their supposed gods.

You are likely to find a theist write

When we surrender our lives to God and decide to follow Jesus we give up our rights to live our lives the way we want to. We give up the right to be in control. For most the idea of giving up control of your life is a real sticking point. But…

Wait – What just happened? A roundup of the week in news, May 12, 2013

by Sheila Blackadder…

Oh, Catholics... Some of you never fail to entertain disgust me.

Made aware of its existence by bigots on Twitter, I recently came across an article at 'catholicstand.com' entitled 'Contraception: A Psychological Prostitution'. So here's that...

It began with a quote:…

An internet conversation about “reason” (is that already an oxymoron?)

by Ron Millam, Guest Contributor 

In my last post, I discussed a thread from on my congressional representative’s Facebook page where she asked her constituents to “pray for our great nation” on the national “Day of Prayer” to which I responded in a secular manner, considering that it…

by Ron Millam, Guest Contributor

Posted yesterday on her Facebook page by the congressional representative from my district in Missouri, Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler:

“Today is the National Day of Prayer. Join me in praying for our great nation.”

And a comment posted by someone very near and dear to my heart (okay, it was me…)

“Today is the National Day of Reason. Join me in hoping for (and working toward) the day that our great nation…

by Sheila Blackadder

“Pro-Life.” What a wonderful term, and at the same time a fascinating misnomer. On the surface it sounds like a romantic idea in which people enjoy and love life…

"My friends joke that I am a coconut: brown on the outside, but white on the inside." - Alom Shaha, The Young Atheist's Handbook.

I wrote a post fairly recently for the Rationalist Association's blog (soon set to be in New Humanist…

Last Tuesday was a good day. Peter Singer gave a lecture.

I'd been looking forward to it for some time, early on securing a place on the Facebook first-come-first-served waiting list just to be sure of a seat. Of Singer, I knew fairly little. His name was familiar (as it turns out I have one of his books in my room), but I had no idea of his philosophy,…

While I think any opposition towards religion is great, it can be like "shoving" non-belief or anti-belief down someones throat just as good as the religious ones are doing it.

Any non-believers may post anything from contradictions in books to scientific quotations but there is  in fact a difference between the regular non-believer and the scientist.

While there are people who say (from both sides), that "let people do what they want as long as it doesn't hurt anyone" or…

"I find it astonishing and depressing that many people who lead their lives according to the ideas and rules laid down in these books have not read them" - Alom Shaha, The Young Atheist's Handbook.

You may have guessed it, but faith often has a lot to do with religious belief. Strip even the most 'educated' theological argument down to its core, and what you're often left with is 'we just don't know - therefore God'.

The 'we…

It was a simple question…

But then this happened:

(At least chickens have an excuse, eh?)

I learnt a lesson that day:…

"I once met a Texan who bragged that he had only ever read one book from cover to cover: the Bible" - Alom Shaha, The Young Atheist's Handbook.

I've read the Bible; and if I'm honest, the prospect of having it come along with me, by default, to a celebrity/music-filled island is, to say the least, a little disappointing.

Don't get the reference? I'll explain... Desert Island…

There were a lot to choose from:

1. God, the genocidal maniac, real estate developer who parceled out land to " Chosen Ones" and authorized the slaughter of the then present occupants of the land.

2. Rising from the dead and flying into the sky was right up there.

3. An Ark of insufficient capacity to hold 1/10th of the creatures known now to have been on earth (and, all of its other impossibilities).

But hands down for me, as a Catholic, and a teenager…

I might be a little paranoid but the Oblivion story sure did sound like something I've heard before.....with the same main character in it too.

Tet....how original....

"Despite not believing in God, and not believing in an afterlife where I might be rewarded or punished for my behaviour, I try to be a good person. That's the most any of us can do." - Alom Shaha, The Young Atheist's Handbook.

It's a favourite argument of the Theists: 'How can you be good without God?'

Even supposedly 'enlightened' Theologians (mean?) like William Lane…

For all practical purposes, I am an Atheist. I lack belief in a God (or gods).

It is that, and only that, with which I can confidently say that I share with other Atheists. We're a diverse group.

While there certainly are trends, we're all…

During the “Cold War” between The United States and the Soviet Union, which went on roughly for 45 years (from 1945 to 1989), they were not technically enemies. Not in the military sense. Not in a formal political way. There had been no declaration of war.

Indeed, the United States had never been at war with the Soviet Union. On the contrary, for four longs years they had been allies in a desperate struggle against a common foe. And they had cooperated, extensively.

The US had…

"Nothing that has happened in my life since [I learned of my mother's death], nothing I believe and nothing I know, can provide consolation. This is why I suspect that I am in some way predisposed not to believe in God, because God is the only thing that could have provided solace... If I had felt that there was an afterlife, believe me, I would have killed myself then and there to join her." - Alom Shaha, The Young Atheist's…