Three poems by Jeremy Gadd

Symmachus the pagan appealed to the Emperor:
‘We look at the same stars; the sky belongs to all;
the same universe surrounds us.
Does one cannot arrive at so sublime a secret by only one road.’ Read on…

The Piranhas of Religion

At birth we are thrown, in media res, into the midst of this something that suddenly exists between the two extremes of nothingness, this great tragedy, for indeed it is a tragedy, a tragedy in which everything, even ourselves, even the universe itself, this whole arena in which this tragedy is acted out until its bitter end, eventually dies. Read on…

Would You Believe It?

All religions are sets of beliefs, none of which can be proved scientifically; they all require a degree of faith.

So, when you think about it, atheism is just another belief system based on the current best scientific evidence available.

Religions are often subjected to changes depending on the latest interpretation of the basic scripts, Bible or Koran, etc. Read on…

How I Lost My Religion

I was raised as a Muslim. The truth is, despite my projected religiosity, I was never fully committed to Islam. Like many children, I did not understand the full importance of my religion or its rituals. I asked my parents, who did their best to explain it all to me. I memorized the standard explanations, but I didn’t feel it in my heart. I participated because my parents wanted me to. Read on…

Truth or Happiness: Must We Choose?

I recently heard a talk by Gary Brill , who teaches psychology at Rutgers, discussing studies showing religious believers are happier than nonbelievers. Defining happiness can be elusive – a feeling that one is happy? Perhaps a more useful concept is well-being, or flourishing, which describes an entire life rather than just one emotion. Anyhow, Brill did discuss data showing religious believers report greater happiness, suffer fewer psychological disorders (unless you count religious belief itself), recover better from setbacks, cope … Read on…

Repression of atheists by the religious right

The Economist Magazine reports this morning that the number of people who identify as Atheists in the United States population has grown five-fold in the last five years. They derived this information from a Gallup poll which reinforces a year-old Pew survey, the latest in a series of such polls taken over the years. Read on…

A passage from Homer’s Zoo

“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”
–Epicurus Read on…

A House for Hope (A book review)

It is hard for an atheist to know what to say when reviewing a book like A House for Hope; The Promise of Progressive Religion for the Twenty-first Century. Its authors, John A. Buehrens and Rebecca Ann Parker, are deeply religious and their book’s intent would appear to be devotional and inspirational. It presents no creative, original, or intellectual premise that is developed and for which a conclusion is reached. Read on…