Author: Adam Lee

I’ve finished chapter 7 of my book. The chapter is titled “Shattering Stereotypes” and refutes some of the most widely held misconceptions about atheism. It draws on several posts from this site and essays from Ebon Musings, including “Red Crimes“, “Turning Away Anger“, and others. As in the past, I’m making this chapter available to…

Today’s installment of “On the Morality Of” concerns the topic of prostitution, and whether it should be legal. Would a perfect society permit this practice, or would it be banned under the law? As I’ve said before, universal utilitarianism was intended to promote the happiness of all human beings, and no person can decide what…

I was asked to create this open thread in e-mail, and I’m doing so. From that e-mail: I would like to have an open thread for people who have been Christians for a long time (preferably more than 10 years) and then decided it was not true to post their reasons for their decision. I…

Via Elliptica, I came across a post titled Imprecations, exegesis, and hermeneutics on the blog Higgaion, written by a liberal Christian theologian. The post blasts Wiley Drake and his call for “imprecatory prayers”, and argues that Drake has seriously misunderstood the verses he quotes in support of his beliefs. Leaving that issue aside for now,…

This Thursday, November 22, is – at least for my American readers – the holiday of Thanksgiving. Despite the religious connotations that have been attached to this day since the beginning, I think this is a good holiday for atheists. It’s one of the few whose message can be rendered in entirely secular terms. Thanksgiving…

I’m surprised that this story, “Going After the Money Ministries“, hasn’t gotten much attention on atheist blogs. Earlier this month, Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar, Benny Hinn, Eddie Long, Joyce Meyer, and Paula White – six notorious televangelists who preach the “prosperity gospel” – received an ominous letter from Senator Chuck Grassley, ranking Republican member of…

Deo vindice! […]

Today’s edition of Poetry Sunday features the English poet and novelist Philip Larkin. Born in Coventry in 1922, Larkin received a degree in literature from Oxford in 1943. Though he worked for most of his life as a librarian at the University of Hull, he was well-known and widely acclaimed for his poetry and his…

According to Buddhist tradition, the final stage of Prince Siddhartha Gautama’s becoming the Buddha came after he had rejected the extremes of both luxury and asceticism in his quest for enlightenment. Sitting beneath a Bodhi tree in meditation, he vowed not to stir from that spot until he had found the answer to the problem…

Ed Brayton at Dispatches from the Culture Wars gives us the scoop on a California school district which voted to display posters declaring “In God We Trust” in every classroom in the district. Although one board member called the display a way of “promoting patriotism”, a different quote indicates what the real intention is here:…