Author: Adam Lee

Atlas Shrugged, part III, chapter IX There’s one scene from the previous chapter that fits better here. While John Galt is being held captive, there’s one person he asks to see: his old teacher, Robert Stadler. Stadler, who sold his soul to the looters long ago, is hysterical with terror at the prospect and begs…

This already-bizarre campaign season has taken an ugly turn, with Republican frontrunner Donald Trump encouraging violence at his rallies and even promising to pay his supporters’ legal bills if they were arrested. That’s why many people feared the worst last week, when Trump announced he would hold a rally in Chicago, on the campus of…

Atheists are transforming Western society’s attitudes toward death and dying. Our growing numbers and increasing cultural influence are making religious rituals and beliefs about death less and less relevant. What’s coming up to replace it? That’s the topic of my latest column on the Guardian, Are we ready to face death without religion? To find…

Happy birthday to me! Today’s my 34th birthday, which means I totally outlived Jesus. I’m not a materialistic person, so I’m not looking for presents. But if you have some spare cash, I’d be happy if you made a donation to Feminist Coffee Hour’s Bowl-a-Thon fundraiser for the New York Abortion Access Fund. And if…

Atlas Shrugged, part III, chapter VIII As we’ve seen throughout this book, Eddie Willers is by far the best character in Atlas Shrugged. Unlike the other characters, who are mostly millionaire heirs with superhuman competencies and inhuman emotionlessness, he’s the only regular joe. He’s more loyal and devoted to his job than even Dagny is:…

My recap of the Maryam Namazie-Sam Harris exchange spurred a debate about open-border policies, so I wanted to write a post focusing on that topic. Unfortunately, I believe this is only going to become more relevant, not just because of the Syrian civil war and refugee crisis, but because it’s likely that the next few…

Although it slipped out of the headlines for a while, the Roman Catholic church’s plague of priests raping and molesting children hasn’t gone away. This week, we got a jolting reminder of that: Two Roman Catholic bishops who led a central Pennsylvania diocese helped cover up the sexual abuse of hundreds of children by more…

“Winter never dies. Not as people die. It hangs on in late frost and the smell of autumn in a summer evening, and in the heat it flees to the mountains. Summer never dies. It sinks into the ground; in the depths, winter buds form in sheltered places and white shoots creep under dead leaves.”…

Atlas Shrugged, part III, chapter VIII With Mr. Thompson’s failure, the rest of the looters are taking turns appealing to John Galt, trying to convince him to step in and save the world. Needless to say, it’s not going well: “I… I’ll just throw myself on your mercy, Mr. Galt,” said Chick Morrison with a…

Since I believe it’s important to resist anti-Muslim prejudice in the secular community, I was pleased to hear that Maryam Namazie, the ex-Muslim atheist and international human rights campaigner, was on Sam Harris’ podcast. While I agree with Harris on some things, I’ve often criticized his views on Islam – especially his indefensible beliefs about…