Links for the Sabbath - 11/08/09

IF YOU DO ANYTHING TODAY IT SHOULD BE WATCHING THE FOLLOWING 5 VIDEOS!
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•The new crybaby theists | www.theage.com.au

"The bottom line is that such special pleading is a way for theists to avoid answering their critics. The cry that religious beliefs are not being treated respectfully often demonstrates incredible arrogance and hypocrisy."

•Healthcare provision seeks to embrace prayer treatments | LA Times

•Why I Am Not A Christian | Bertrand Russell (This is a classic)

•Bishop Richard Malone Collected $500,000 'Out of Concern' For Maine's Gays | Queerty

•Baguette Dropped From Bird's Beak Shuts Down The Large Hadron Collider (Really) | PopSci

•LAPD to cut ties with group linked to Boy Scouts | MercuryNews.com

"The Los Angeles Police Department wants to stop working with the organization that runs its Explorer program for youths because the group is linked to Boy Scouts of America, which bans gays from becoming members."

•Faith No More: What I've learned from debating religious people around the world. | Slate.com by Christopher Hitchens

•Scientologists convicted of fraud | BBC News

"A French court has convicted the Church of Scientology of fraud, but stopped short of banning the group from operating in France."

•The secularist case against "Atheism 3.0" | The Washington Post by Austin Dacey (I am a HUGE fan Ausitn Dacey BTW!)

•Decomposing Humanism: Why Replace Religion? | Religion Dispatches by Austin Dacey

"Humanists are right to think that there is more to life than atheism, but wrong to think that they are the ones to provide it."

•Putting God out of the ethics business | Psychology Today by Austin Dacey (Did I mention that I'm a fan of this guy?)

•GABSYV is Tuesday!  Topic: America: The Great White Lie? Why we think we have the answers

•Maybe some material for GABSYV?

 

"Wilson isn't one of those evasive Christians who mumble apologetically about how some of the Bible stories are really just "metaphors." He is willing to maintain very staunchly that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and that his sacrifice redeems our state of sin, which in turn is the outcome of our rebellion against God. He doesn't waffle when asked why God allows so much evil and suffering—of course he "allows" it since it is the inescapable state of rebellious sinners. I much prefer this sincerity to the vague and Python-esque witterings of the interfaith and ecumenical groups who barely respect their own traditions and who look upon faith as just another word for community organizing. (Incidentally, just when is President Barack Obama going to decide which church he attends?)" - Christopher Hitchens from the Slate article posted above.