Author: Adam Lee

Quick reminder: Tonight, January 24, I’ll be speaking on a panel as part of the free online conference FtBCon 3. The topic of the hour is “Secular Cults”, and together with my co-panelists Russell Glasser, Karen Stollznow, Vyckie Garrison and Angie Jackson, we’ll talk about multi-level marketing, homeschooling, self-help – and, of course, Ayn Rand…

Atlas Shrugged, part II, chapter IX Dagny returns home from her first day back after the destruction of the Taggart Tunnel: The silence of her apartment and the motionless perfection of objects that had remained just as she had left them a month before, struck her with a sense of relief and desolation together, when…

It’s a new year, and I’ve got some events lined up. Here’s my schedule for the next few months: • First and foremost: this coming weekend, January 23-25, is FtBCon 3, a free online conference organized by the good folks of Freethought Blogs. On Saturday the 24th at 6:30 PM Eastern time, I’ll be participating…

This article was previously published on AlterNet. In the last thirty years, atheism and secularism have been booming in America. As I’ve previously written, as many as one in four members of the Millennial generation now say they have no religion. Given the vast size of the Millennials – 78 million people, slightly more than…

Last week, Pope Francis made some startling remarks about the terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo. Speaking to journalists, he not only said that freedom of speech shouldn’t include the right to ridicule religion, but that if anyone does ridicule religion, violence is an appropriate response! Asked about the attack that killed 12 people at the…

• From Valerie Tarico, how religion can let loose humanity’s most violent impulses. A thoughtful essay that almost perfectly captures my views on the link between religion and violence. • “Tim is patient, Tim is kind. Tim does not envy, Tim does not boast, Tim is not proud. Tim is not rude, Tim is not…

Atlas Shrugged, part II, chapter VIII Francisco is just beginning to let Dagny in on the secret of the capitalists’ strike, when the two of them are interrupted by some emergency exposition: “Ladies and gentlemen,” said the panic-pregnant voice of a radio announcer, breaking off the chords of the symphony, “we interrupt this broadcast to…

The religious fanatics who murdered twelve people at Charlie Hebdo‘s offices last week were tracked down by the French police after a two-day manhunt, ending in a shootout at a print shop in the town of Dammartin-en-Goële where both of them were killed. One of their accomplices was also killed by police after taking hostages…

While Western atheists are most familiar with outrages committed by monotheistic faiths, the followers of Eastern religions like Hinduism and Buddhism can be just as violent, oppressive and xenophobic. As China, India and other developing nations become wealthier and more internationally influential, it’s likely we’ll hear more and more about this, as adherents of these…

High walls imply defensiveness, and thus implicit hostility; they announce the owner’s intent to keep others out regardless of their intentions. A low wall, like this one, says something different and more hopeful. Being only a symbolic barrier, it implies a society where people are friendly and peaceable – where common courtesy and the rule…