2003-05-31
What can I say about Judith Hayes, The Happy Heretic, except that if you're an atheist, agnostic, etc, 'ya gotta read her'.
2003-05-27
One of my favorite quotations:
A good world needs knowledge, kindliness, and courage; it does not need a regretful hankering after the past or a fettering of the free intelligence by the words uttered long ago by ignorant men. -- Bertrand Russell, "Why I Am Not a Christian"
Scientifically inquisitve? If so, you'll enjoy the MAD Scientist Network.
2003-05-26
Secular Seasons is an interesting site for freethinkers who are looking for celebrations and holidays (a word derived from "Holy Days", incidentally) that are not religious in basis or nature.
2003-05-25
Lawyer, author, social commentator Wendy Kaminer is definitely someone who would write a great weblog, but alas doesn't have one (of which I'm aware) as of yet. Clear-headed, right-minded (which is to say center-left-minded) and right about damned-near everything, read what she has to say.
Wendy Kaminer at The American Prospect
Wendy Kaminer at The Atlantic Online
Massimo Pigliucci is an author and Associate Professor at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. He has a great web site about skepticism and humanism.
I have another good friend, Robert "Bob" Feinstein, who has been blind since infancy. He's lived an interesting life. Here's an interview with him. Sadly, his guide dog Harley died very recently. He writes about that loss here. Right now, Bob is in the process of getting a new dog. Read about Bob's less than miraculous experience with a faith healer. His thoughts on religion:
A Personal View of Religion
Blind Belief
I have a dear friend who lives in Montréal, Québec and is also a gay atheist. He keeps a web site in both French and English that deals with gay atheist issues. Check it out.
en français:Vivre sans religion: Un site athée
in English:Living Without Religion: An Atheist Site
en français:
in English:
Here is an interesting personal web site by a man who feels passionate about gay and atheist rights. Check it out. Bill Myers GAY RIGHTS INFO Site
There's a Friday the Thirteenth this June. How about having a Superstition Bash to have fun and shine light on the silliness and childishness (and yes, downright stupidity!) of things like triskaidekaphobia, fear of black cats, walking under ladders, etc.
The Superstition Bash is an event which explores the fascinating world of belief through history. Learning activities, informational displays, fun experiments, entertaining games, educational exhibits, and much more, are all part of the festivities.
The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) and Skeptical Inquirer Magazine held their first Superstition Bash in the early 1990s. A diverse audience attended the event and the bash has been gathering steam ever since. Events can now be found around the world, organized at multiple venues and attracting people of all ages and interests.
Explore the possibilities of hosting a Superstition Bash in your community!
2003-05-24
Of course, on the western edge of the Great Basin, one finds the Sierra Nevada range. It has a tree or two.
To find trees, you need to go into the mountains. Fortunately, Nevada has plenty of mountains. The interior mountains are covered mostly by Single-leaf Piñon Pines (one of Nevada's state trees) and Junipers.
Contrary to how most people think, Nevada is a great place to live. It's covered almost entirely by the Great Basin Desert. The desert has its charms. The valleys have almost no trees, just low lying brush, mostly sagebrush, which is the state flower. But, as they say, there's a forest in Nevada, it's just two feet high.
And I'm a native Nevadan. Natives are a very small minority in this state. And no, I live nowhere near Las Vegas.
Yes, I'm gay, and an atheist, and a liberal. I expect to be shot by the Bush administration any day now.
