Ziztur is a blog by a couple St. Louis twenty-somethings that covers atheism, science, religion, and art.  Most interestingly, the bloggers visit a different religious service every week (more or less) and write about their experiences.  Recently they’ve also been blogging about their visit to the Creation Museum.  The intention of the “faith infiltration” visits is simply to describe what happens in various services–what the space is like, how they were greeted, usually they paraphrase the sermon, provide quotes, and even give the lyrics to the music when they can find it.  Fascinating reading for anyone interested in religions.

Victor J. Stenger is a professor of philosophy, physics, and astronomy and the author of the best seller God: The Failed Hypothesis; How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist.

His new book, The New Atheism: Taking a Stand for Science and Reason, looks at the moral failings of religions and argues for a universal ethics based on a naturalist, evolutionary understanding of humanity, such as the ethics espoused by classical Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. Personally, I think there’s a lot of evidence that religions have been helpful as well as harmful, but I too prefer the nontheistic Eastern religion-philosophies.

Stenger will be speaking Saturday, October 17, at 7 pm at the Little Theater at St. Louis Community College Forest Park (5600 Oakland Avenue).  Free and open to the public.

Hosted by the St. Louis Atheist Meetup Group, the Rationalist Society of St. Louis, the Ethical Society of St. Louis, the Skeptical Society…

I like Tim Townsend (Hi Tim); I think he is a good and well-meaning guy.  But I was disappointed in his article today about the Freedom from Religion billboard.

Tim writes, “Can atheist groups evangelize to religious believers by advocating an alternative belief in nothing? What replaces the creeds and doctrines and rituals that give meaning and purpose to billions around the world?”

I am frankly fed up with the misinformation that people without supernatural beliefs believe in nothing, lack a sense of meaningful in life, or don’t have a strong moral foundation. Just the opposite is true.  People without supernatural beliefs find plenty of knowledge, meaningfulness, and ethics through nature, science, art, and human experience.  We have belief systems, life philosophies, moral values, and traditions.

There are millions of non-religious people in America today. It is the fastest-growing group in all the polls on belief.  “What replaces the creeds and doctrines and…

“Organized religion has been at the basis of too many wars. I see very little good in it. I’m raising my children without any talk of God, as I don’t think it’s fair to push God down their throats when they’re too young to think logically.”

I came across this comment in what is otherwise a very intriguing reflection on the Passover and religious identity by Judith Warner in her New York Times blog, “Domestic Disturbances.”

One can find comments like it all over the place: the lazy dismissals of religion as the root and cause of every single thing that has ever gone wrong in the world. And I’ll confess that they drive me up a wall because (1) they often come from people who are simply buying into other people’s thoughts without thinking for themselves, and (2) they’re often wrong.

If someone is looking for something to blame for all the worst things…

There is a spreading campaign of humanist/atheist/agnostic mass advertising, on billboards and most lately buses, to try to raise awareness that it’s okay not to believe in a god—that if you don’t, you’re not alone; you can (and should) still be a good person, and, basically, you should just chill out. The American Humanist Association’s holiday campaign asked, “Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness’ sake,” while the ads in the recent campaign in Britain say, “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”

I’m of two minds about the ads. I think it’s important to let people who don’t believe in a god know that they have a community too, and that belief or non-belief in a god doesn’t make you a good or bad person. There are lots of people who don’t believe in a god, or who aren’t sure but doubt it…

If you google “Christianity,” this definition is one of the most common image results displayed on several sites. As we enter the Christmas season, I am reminded that many people in St. Louis and around the world do not believe that Christianity is true. While Christmas historically was meant to focus on Jesus Christ, I am well aware that many people do not believe many things that the Bible teaches. I would love to know why? What are your objections to Christianity?

If you could ask God directly to answer your most confusing or difficult issues/questions about Christianity what would they be?

What are the things you find hard to believe or accept about Christianity, in general? What major complaints/issues do you have with Christians and the Church in general?

Civil, serious, and honest answers are welcomed and encouraged!! I only want to listen and will offer no comments in the comment thread…

“Seinfeld” had an episode in which straight characters were mistaken for gay, and part of their setting the record straight (so to speak) begot the catch phrase “Not that there’s anything wrong with that.” That phrase has been running through my mind this season, first as Senator Obama was “accused” of being a Muslim, and now as in North Carolina Senator Dole’s opponent, Kay Hagan, has been “accused” of being an atheist.  The responses to both these “accusations” have been, “How dare people make these slanders! Obama and Hagan are good Christians, [long list of church-going credentials].”… Rarely do I hear even a brief Seinfeldian follow-up that there’s nothing wrong with being Muslim or atheist. Perhaps after the election it’ll be safe to say such things. I sure look forward to that.

I recently ran across this historical reminder from theologian Jürgen Moltmann’s classic The Crucified God, and it struck a chord in light of current events:

The early Christians had constantly to defend themselves against the charge of irreligiositas and sacrilegium. In so far as they refused to make the obligatory sacrifices to the gods of the Roman state they drew on themselves the charge of ‘atheism’. This was not meant merely as an abusive description of Christians, but was a formal accusation which resulted in exclusion from society as ‘enemies of the human race’. Justin readily admitted his Christian atheism, which consisted of a denial of the gods of the state, and with regard to these ’so-called gods’ confessed himself to be an ‘atheist.’

The pseudo-criminal charge of atheism was part and parcel of the sporadic persecution of the early church in Roman society, resulting in martyrdom for even the “atheist” Justin Martyr.

Reading this…

The current New York Magazine has an article on the desire of some atheists for a community of their own that would serve the functions of a “church,” the way the Ethical Society of St. Louis does. The article talks about the Ethical Society in Manhattan, in New York City; the author doesn’t seem to know that the largest Ethical Society in the nation is here in St. Louis–But that’s New Yorkers for you. (I can say that as I was born there.)

Boy, this place has been hoppin’ while I was gone–literally and on the breadth of topics on this blog.

I was in Austin for the American Ethical Union (AEU) national assembly. The most controversial thing that occurred was that the AEU voted to become a member organization of the Secular Coalition of America. The SCA represents the rights of humanists, freethinkers, atheists, and other non-theists, and it includes non-religious organizations like the American Humanist Association and religious organizations like the Society for Humanistic Judaism and, now, the AEU.

It was controversial because some members of the SCA board, such as Christopher Hitchens, bash religions, and bashing other religions is not what Ethical Culture is about. We decided to join the SCA to ensure that the humanist community understands that humanism is a big tent that includes religious humanists, and to spread our message of affirming the worth and dignity of all people.

So, Ethical Culture national meetings…