Atheism is not the best alternative to religion

atheistlogo

The “A” is a logo often used by atheist groups.

There are a seemingly infinite number of ways a person can define him or herself in relation to the spiritual world. Regardless of your views on religion, the supernatural and the metaphysical, there is likely a word to describe you – believer, agnostic, atheist, deist, spiritual, and all manner of subcategories in between. A tragedy is buried here, though, and it’s the fact that people must identify as one of these or another in the first place. Continue reading →

The holiday season is America’s cultural low point

Black Friday is just around the corner, and with it will come the beginning of America’s annual cultural low point: the holiday season. This isn’t about being a Grinch – peace, love and giving are all fine ideas to base a time of celebration around. It’s just that these themes of the holiday season only really show up on greeting cards and television specials; they aren’t what the holidays, in practice, end up being about. Continue reading →

Harris omits crucial context from the discussion on Islamic violence

Last week on Real Time with Bill Maher, a panel featuring one of the nation’s most prominent anti-religious voices, Sam Harris, discussed radical Islam. Harris made quite a few valid points, as he often does, and so did the rest of the panel – but they all managed to leave some important context out of the discussion that is crucial to understanding the hatred and violence consuming so many in the Arab world: a century of imperialism. Continue reading →