1. What Religion's Blind Stranglehold on America Is Doing to Our Democracy

Comment #113629 by SMART on January 20, 2008 at 8:16 am

As "Professor of Religious Studies", Ira Chemus has impressive credentials and this article contains some thoughtful insight... but... I disagree profoundly with his assertion that, "The challenge is not to get religion out of politics. It's to get the quest for certitude out of politics."

What the Professor is missing (in my opinion) is that organized religion is in itself a declaration of certitude!

It is unthinkable that every single Presidential candidate is as pious as they make out. They present this face because they think it will win them votes - and at the moment they are probably right. But what if we rationalists spoke out?! What if we let all our politicians know that if they profess any reliance on invisible friends in the sky they will NOT get our vote.

Organizing atheists may be like herding cats but if we are to effect change with regard to religion's influence in politics then we have get off our butts and at the very least get writing some letters to the editor!

One day, a Presidential candidate will declare his or her atheism and that will be because of their perception that to NOT do so will lose them votes - the exact opposite of what we have today. How soon that day comes depends, in part, on our efforts.

2. Two Ex-Jehovah Witnesses to Tell Why They Became Atheists

Comment #110273 by SMART on January 10, 2008 at 8:26 pm

Thank you Styrer (#43) for putting me straight.. I'm so used to writing to religious people and having to communicate in their language... old habits die hard!

3. Two Ex-Jehovah Witnesses to Tell Why They Became Atheists

Comment #110267 by SMART on January 10, 2008 at 7:46 pm

I too am an ex J.W. If you want to have a little fun the next time they knock on your door, tell them you have a few questions for them...

According to the Feb 15 2006 Watchtower, in July 1945 Jehovah God "doctrinally enlightened" His chosen people regarding His new policy on blood transfusions. But the technique of transfusing blood was perfected (more or less) in 1916.

Ask them why, if the blood issue is SO important, why did God wait 29 years to announce this change of policy. Was He asleep at the switch? And how exactly did this enlightenment happen?(the Witnesses have never been told). Was it a in the form of a vision, or maybe a pen moved across a page? Ask them why would God view it as perfectly okay to receive a blood transfusion in 1944 but not 1945? At this point I guarantee blank stares followed by, "We'll get back to you!"

There's more fun with J.W.'s at www.smartsociety.org/allreligionsokay.html

4. Happy Newton Day!

Comment #99249 by SMART on December 16, 2007 at 5:31 am

Don't celebrate Christmas, celebrate Krismas! Krismas has the same sounding name we're all familiar with... but with no religious connotations! http://www.smartsociety.org/christandchristmas.html

5. Islam's Silent Moderates

Comment #95792 by SMART on December 9, 2007 at 8:09 am

What a breath of fresh air this woman is! "Moderate" moslems are either cherry picking hypocrites or they are extremists in waiting.. until the time comes when their numbers are such that they can impose their will on the rest of us (http://www.smartsociety.org/religiousschoolschildabuse.html) Thank you Ayaan for being so courageous in speaking the truth.

6. URGENT APPEAL: Please Help Protect Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Comment #88880 by SMART on November 19, 2007 at 5:42 am

I just made a one-time payment... and I will contribute more later on if and when circumstances warrant it.

Whether or not Ayaan needs this money right now is of secondary importance. Sam has given us the opportunity to actually DO something to help rid the world of religious fanaticism, i.e. keeping Ayaan alive!

To all those readers who are unwilling to sacrifice the price of a couple of Starbucks specials, I would ask how will you feel if next week you learn that this incredibly brave woman has been assassinated?

7. A third of adults believe God watches over them

Comment #87786 by SMART on November 13, 2007 at 5:59 am

Oooooh you nasty, cynical people. So many people pray because prayer works! God loves us all and He listens to our prayers and sometimes responds (depending on his mood at the time). For instance, 3 years ago my friend, who is a paraplegic, prayed to God and asked Him to provide him with a new wheelchair. Well, lo and behold, last week a paraplegic friend of his died and left him his almost new wheelchair. You see, you just have to have faith!
http://www.smartsociety.org/prayingforthesick1.html

8. Onward Christian teachers?

Comment #87698 by SMART on November 12, 2007 at 10:28 pm

Indoctrinating children into a religion is child abuse and it must be ended. http://www.smartsociety.org/religiousschoolschildabuse.html

9. Ayaan Hirsi Ali: abandoned to fanatics

Comment #77537 by SMART on October 9, 2007 at 3:06 pm

Costs for her protection should be shared between the US and Dutch governments.. and both governments should look on it as a priviledge to protect this amazing woman.

10. A Response to Jonathan Haidt

Comment #69902 by SMART on September 13, 2007 at 6:02 am

Wow! Of all the "new" atheists, Sam's writing just takes my breath away. His clarity of thought and his logic are just stunning.

Way to go Sam!

11. Interview with Richard Dawkins about 'The Enemies of Reason'

Comment #62997 by SMART on August 12, 2007 at 8:02 pm

Kinda ironic that Judy Finnegan was wearing a symbol of religious delusion around her neck!

12. An Atheist Responds

Comment #56341 by SMART on July 15, 2007 at 6:28 am

So what was your overall goal in writing this book? One reviewer, writing for The Chronicle of Higher Education, wonders if your "grand strategy is to taunt religion so mercilessly that it packs its bags and storms, red faced, out of the cosmos."

That's nonsense. I don't suggest anything of the sort. Religion is ineradicable. There shouldn't be any attempt to eradicate it. I wouldn't have asked people to come and debate with me if that's how I felt.

This is the first quote of Hitchins that I disagree with... and I find it very difficult to believe that HE believes this. Does this mean that if by some chance religion WAS eradicated Christopher would be disappointed and would try to reinstate it?!

13. The infinite wisdom of Richard Dawkins

Comment #51712 by SMART on June 24, 2007 at 9:02 am

A few years ago Stockwell Day refused a Sunday interview with the press because apparently the creator of our 28 billion light-year diameter universe required him to rest on the sabbath. (no joke!) What's even more worrying than this idiot being a cabinet member is that we Canadians have a prime minister who put him there!

14. The New Atheists

Comment #49369 by SMART on June 11, 2007 at 4:30 pm

"shouldn't all Americans be instructed in the great religious and secular traditions"

Yes, and particularly with children, lets teach them ABOUT religion and make sure they are not indoctrinated INTO any one of them!

Faith schools = child abuse!

15. Religion and Child Abuse

Comment #47522 by SMART on June 4, 2007 at 9:04 pm

Future generations will shake their heads at how long human beings took to recognise the evil of religious schools
http://www.smartsociety.org/religiousschoolschildabuse.html

16. Atheism shall make you free

Comment #46902 by SMART on June 2, 2007 at 6:03 am

"Religion is not going to die out soon no matter how educated people become,"

Oh yes it is... in the civilised world anyway.

17. Observer Diary 27th May 2007

Comment #45335 by SMART on May 27, 2007 at 7:57 am

Aren't we lucky to have someone so engaging and interesting as our chief ambassador for reason in this crazy deluded world!

PS On your way to Australia Richard, please stop over in Vancouver. We missed you on TGD tour!

Sensible Minds Against Religious Teachings

18. Jordan opens children's museum

Comment #36936 by SMART on May 2, 2007 at 8:57 pm

Hey, this is wonderful news... especially the inclusion of a planetarium. This is exactly what we need all over the Middle East. Places like this open the minds of young people and help them appreciate just how big the universe is, and conversely, just how small and insignificant we human beings are.

The more facts about the universe these children learn the more difficult it will be for them to accept that its alleged creator not only is aware of their existence but actually requires them to live their lives following a set of rules as laid out in an ancient book!

19. Snake Oil and Holy Water

Comment #28151 by SMART on March 28, 2007 at 6:44 am

We atheists are so lucky to have Richard as a leader.


It is not just his clarity of thought, his logic and passion that are stimulating a whole civilisation into re-examining religion. He also has that rare talent to be able to put it into words in a way that commands attention.

Write on, Richard!

20. Episcopal Church Rejects Demand for a 2nd Leadership

Comment #26940 by SMART on March 22, 2007 at 12:31 pm

All these people are doing is rearranging theological deck chairs on their religious Titanic.

21. How my eyes were opened to the barbarity of Islam

Comment #24893 by SMART on March 9, 2007 at 4:24 am

Good article - brought to mind the movie, "Not without my daughter".

22. The return of God?

Comment #23863 by SMART on March 3, 2007 at 8:26 am

It's a long, long stretch to infer that William Lane Craig's ability to fill a church to overflowing heralds some kind of religious "come back".

When a young child is happily sucking on his soother have you ever tried to pull it out? The instinctive reaction of the child is to suck harder to keep it in.

In my experience most religious people use their religion like a soother, something to suck on to provide comfort and keep reality at bay. Under what is becoming a relentless assault of reason and logic sparked by Dawkins and Harris it is entirely understandable that the religious faithful (what is left of them anyway) would welcome an opportunity to huddle together for a communal "suck in"!

These kind of events will provide only temporary solace though. In their hearts they know that their religion is dying. As more and more people spit out their soothers those who are left sucking do so ever harder. Their indoctrinated brains are incapable of any other response.

This is no religious come back. It is the stern of the religious "titanic" rising up, briefly, before its inevitable end.

23. The Silence That Kills

Comment #23800 by SMART on March 2, 2007 at 8:30 pm

What a heart-wrenching poem. So sad that it is all true.

24. If God is talking to you, too, Mr Cameron - don't listen

Comment #23431 by SMART on February 28, 2007 at 3:18 pm

"teaching religious belief may be a good way, perhaps the best way, to impart a sense of right and wrong to children"

NO NO NO! "Teaching religious belief" is a euphemism for indoctrination - which is child abuse! But by all means teach children ABOUT religion. That will at least show them how NOT to behave in this world.

"Many fine things are done by people because of their faith"

Again, NOT TRUE! Many fine things are done by people who also happen to be religious, but if their religion disappeared overnight would they stop being good people? Would they then stop doing "fine things"?

The rest of this article is pretty good. Portillo is dead right about how historians will view our early 21st century civilisation… with puzzlement indeed!

25. Religion in Conflict: Are 'Evangelical Atheists' Too Outspoken?

Comment #23357 by SMART on February 28, 2007 at 5:37 am

Fine article, well said! I particularly like the analogy of the religious "iron curtain" that has descended across America. But wait, who is that man with a sledgehammer standing on top of the Berlin Wall? I do believe it is Richard Dawkins!

26. Faith

Comment #23076 by SMART on February 26, 2007 at 6:02 am

Dawkins "intolerant" of religious belief?! Good grief, what a terrible thought. 70 years ago I'm sure Winston Churchill was accused of being intolerant towards the Nazis. Yes, how much better our world would be now if the British had been ruled by the "moderate" Lord Halifax.

Oh, and by the way, David Cameron, SHAME ON YOU sending your daughter to a school of indoctrination. In my book, that alone disqualifies you from being an acceptable candidate to be prime minister!

27. A Familiar and Prescient Voice, Brought to Life

Comment #22368 by SMART on February 15, 2007 at 6:09 am

My favourite Sagan quote is, "There are more stars in the universe than all the grains of sand on all the beaches of the world, combined!"

If religious people took a minute or two to actually think about what that number must be... once they'd stopped gasping, it might do much to stick a pin in their grossly inflated sense of their own importance.

To believe that the alleged creator of this massive universe is not only aware of your existence but is actually interested in minute details of how you live your life - that must surely be the ultimate delusion of grandeur!

28. Fossils: The Devil's Handiwork

Comment #22183 by SMART on February 13, 2007 at 6:49 am

Priceless! Isn't ridicule a wonderful weapon against religion!

29. 'God Is Not a Moderate'

Comment #21498 by SMART on February 9, 2007 at 1:57 pm

What a joy it is to read anything by Sam Harris.

I am sad to learn that Andrew is HIV positive but I would encourage him to retain as much dignity as he can for whatever time he has left to live. This would involve him spitting out the religious "soother" he has been sucking on for many years, and using his time to help make this world a better place for future generations.

30. Do stop behaving as if you are God, Professor Dawkins

Comment #21001 by SMART on February 7, 2007 at 8:37 am

"Christianity made a lot of sense. It gave me a new way of seeing and understanding the world, above all, the natural sciences. Second, I discovered Christianity actually worked: it brought purpose and dignity to life."

This statement should fascinate any scientist who is interested in the workings of the human brain. This apparently intelligent man has managed to delude himself that somewhere up in the sky is an invisible friend who will protect him and reward him after death. So sad.

31. Taking the fight to Islam

Comment #20621 by SMART on February 5, 2007 at 6:14 am

Hirsi Ali. What a brave woman. She is a shining light that exposes the hypocricy and evil of Islam.. and by inference... all religion. Our world needs a lot more like her!

32. Tolerating intolerance is still this country's besetting sin

Comment #20597 by SMART on February 4, 2007 at 8:19 pm

Fouad Boussetta (#1) is dead right. Religious schools MUST be abolished for our cilvilisation to advance. Make sure you check out the U.K. petition on the home page and also www.smartsociety.org/religiousschoolschildabuse.html

33. Tolerating intolerance is still this country's besetting sin

Comment #20596 by SMART on February 4, 2007 at 8:13 pm

Very good article except the line, "Islam has much to boast about.." It does? A set of delusional religious beliefs anchored in the 14th century doesn't strike me as anything to be proud of.

If the people who call themselves Moslems have done anything worthy of boasting, couldn't they have done it anyway, with no connection to a religion?

34. Sextuplet parents take B.C. to court over baby seizures

Comment #20463 by SMART on February 2, 2007 at 5:45 pm

Message to Jehovah's Witnesses:

Did you know your religion's elders announced in the July 1945 Watchtower magazine that the creator of the universe had "doctrinally enlightened" his chosen people to inform them that from then on, if they had a blood transfusion, down they would go at the always, just-around-the-corner, battle of Armageddon.

But blood has been transfused successfully since 1916 so isn't it reasonable to assume that around the world at least a few thousand JW's received blood in the 29 years between 1916 and 1945? If Jehovah God was so against blood transfusions why didn't He "doctrinally enlighten" his people in 1916? Don't forget we are talking about an omniscient, omnipotent perfect creator God. If He chose 1945 to give some "enlightenment" it was deliberate and not a mistake.

So in God's eyes, if it was okay for his chosen people to have blood transfusions BEFORE 1945, why would it not be okay AFTER 1945?

I guess God works in mysterious ways eh?

35. Blashpemy Challenge Interview

Comment #20050 by SMART on January 31, 2007 at 7:04 am

All power to the Rational Responders. Ridicule is a great weapon in the war against religion... and war it is. Religion is evil, an obscene manipulation of humankind that robs people of the freedom and dignity of making decisions that affect their lives. S.M.A.R.T. is with you guys! www.smartsociety.org

36. Benny Hinn examined

Comment #19759 by SMART on January 29, 2007 at 7:58 pm

So, so sad, that so many people allow themselves to be conned. As a species, we still have a lot of evolving to do! Every one of those Benny Hinn supporters should visit http://www.whydoesgodhateamputees.com/ ... and then send their money to RD!!

37. Grief Without God

Comment #19521 by SMART on January 27, 2007 at 9:08 pm

Thank you Carol for writing such a tragic, but compelling story. And good for you that at a time of grieving you didn't immediately revert to childhood (like so many do) and use religion like a soother/dummy.

Carol is right, freedom of religion is important, sort of, but what a civilised society really needs is freedom FROM religion!

38. The Bright Revolution

Comment #19442 by SMART on January 27, 2007 at 8:14 am

When I hear the word "brights" I think of car headlights! We don't need a name anyway. There is no word for people who don't believe in fairies or who don't believe in the Easter bunny, why should there be a word for people who don't have an imaginary friend in the sky?

I may not be very bright but I do have a Sensible Mind and I am Against Religious Teaching. I think that makes me S.M.A.R.T.! www.smartsociety.org

39. Unscientific American: US Almost Last in Understanding Evolution

Comment #18632 by SMART on January 22, 2007 at 5:50 am

Silly Humanist Cop (#8). We Canadians are off the scale above Iceland! Well, it would be nice to think so anyway. At least some of us are SMART (Sensible Minds Against Religious Teaching) www.smartsociety.org

40. Some stars and planets in scale

Comment #18625 by SMART on January 22, 2007 at 5:33 am

THIS is what is needed to be seen in all the uncivilised world. We need to build science centres and planetariums in places like the Middle East. Let people, particularly young people, get a true appreciation of just how small and insignificant our planetary speck of dust is in the universe.

The more you understand the size of the universe the less likely you are to think that its alleged creator requires you to live your life following a set of ridiculous rules as dictated by a religion!

41. Secret Life of Brian

Comment #16704 by SMART on January 8, 2007 at 7:41 am

The movie, The Life of Brian, is the most vicious satire of religion ever made. Brilliant!

42. General Synod's Life of Christ

Comment #16493 by SMART on January 6, 2007 at 11:23 pm

SAY NO MORE!

43. God-less

Comment #16490 by SMART on January 6, 2007 at 11:05 pm

"At times (Dawkins) can barely keep the contempt out of his tone, as if no-one but children, imbeciles or the wilfully self-deluded could credit such an improbable concept (religion)"

AS IF?! Why the AS IF??!!

44. Letter From America: Atheists throw down the gauntlet

Comment #16029 by SMART on January 4, 2007 at 8:10 am

Comment #13 by ROACH is quite correct. The people who campaigned against racial and homosexual discrimination, or in favour of women's rights, didn't achieve their goals overnight. Re the current sneering at Dawkins and Harris (in some quarters) I am reminded of how Winston Churchill was portrayed in the British press in the 1930's when he tried to warn us about the Nazis.

This apparent "rise in militant atheism" is in fact a symptom of religion's spiralling decline (in the civilised world anyway). Let's help speed up its death by speaking out against the evil of religion at every appropriate opportunity!

45. Book a Day

Comment #11924 by SMART on December 8, 2006 at 7:57 am

Yes, not a bad review of TGD! Encouraging that it is still #5 on Amazon.ca considering that in my last two visits to the Vancouver branches of Canada's largest book store, "Chapters", there has not been a single copy of TGD on sale. "Sold out" or, "on back order" was all I was told. Re "Bookman's" comment #8 regarding a visit to Vancouver by RD – what a great idea - especially as we Western Canadians were missed completely on his last tour! How about it RD?