About Marilyn Westfall

Marilyn is a long-time Atheist and Unitarian Universalist and currently serves on the board of the American Humanist Association. Marilyn is a co-founder and a senior editor of The Eloquent Atheist on-line magazine. She has published fiction, poetry, and criticism in several literary magazines.

Atheist to Baptist: We Need To Talk.

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Editor’s Introduction:  The Eloquent Atheist has decided to publish comments by Ronald Aronson, (who was interviewed by co-editor Marilyn Westfall about a month ago), which were made in response to a critique of “The New Atheists” by Baptist Center for Ethics Executive Director Robert Parham.  In his critique of the New Atheism, Parham labeled atheists in general as “God despisers” and the “faithless” who pluck sympathy from “the liberal media, a significant slice of the hedonistic entertainment culture and angry … Read on…

An Interview with Ronald Aronson

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Ronald Aronson is the author of Living Without God New Directions for Atheists, Agnostics, Secularists and the Undecided. Ronald Aronson is Distinguished Professor of the History of Ideas at Wayne State University and the author or editor of nine books, including Camus & Sartre: The Story of a Friendship and the Quarrel that Ended It, After Marxism, and “Stay out of Politics!” A Philosopher Views South Africa. He has published articles in The Nation, Bookforum, The Yale Review, The Chronicle … Read on…

Pew Poll (P-U!) on American Religiosity, or Something Stinks

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Never do I get so riled as when reading a report that refuses to address information that is staring the average reader in the face. Case in point: The Washington Post ran a story by staff writer Jacqueline L. Salmon on June 24, 2008, “Most Americans Believe in a Higher Power, Poll Finds,” which states that “The study detailed Americans’ deep and broad religiosity, finding that 92 percent believe in God or a universal spirit—including one in five of those … Read on…

Zion’s Dystopia – The FLDS in Eldorado, Texas (Part 3 – Conclusion)

As I photograph the Schleicher County Courthouse in Eldorado, a voice behind me says, “Nice building, huh? It’s the same kind of limestone that the polygamists used for their temple.” Surprised, I turn to see a man maybe in his late forties, five feet away but coming closer, and I ask him, “Have you been to the compound, or talked to anyone there?” The sunshine is intense as we study each other, standing on the tended lawn. I squint but … Read on…

Zion’s Dystopia: The FLDS in Eldorado, Texas (Part 2)

FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs likely succeeded his father Rulon T. Jeffs in 2002; this information is disputed, and Warren recently claimed that he was not the true prophet, but rather had been deceived by evil powers into believing this heresy. The Eldorado Success newspaper, however, has tracked both the development of the YFZ compound and the power struggle within the FLDS, and offers the view that Warren fought off challengers to assume his father’s preeminent position. Dying of natural causes … Read on…

Zion’s Dystopia: The FLDS in Eldorado, Texas (Part 1)

The temple of the Yearning for Zion (YFZ) compound gleams, pure and white, in the sunshine of West Texas. I pull over on the side of Rudd Road, a bumpy asphalt strip that divides ranch land and homes, some as simple as singlewide trailers where laundry hangs on clotheslines beneath which pass young goats and other small livestock. In late April, mesquite and cedar trees are greening, and yellow flowers bloom beside the growing, sprouting prairie grass. This rolling land … Read on…

Humanism and Religion

…or How to Thread a Needle For centuries, the idea of God has been the very heart of religion; it has been said, no god, no religion’ — but humanism thinks of religion as something very different, and far deeper than any belief in god. To humanism, religion is not the attempt to establish right relations with a supernatural being, but rather the up-reaching and aspiring impulse in a human life. It is life striving for its completest fulfillment, and … Read on…

An Interview With Danny Cackler

Danny Cackler is a founding member of the Western Colorado Atheists in Grand Junction, CO. Recently, the group built and displayed a pro-Atheist Display in the Free Speech area of a local Grand Junction library. The display has garnered significant local attention, and has been mentioned nationally. He was interviewed this week by Marilyn Westfall of the Eloquent Atheist. Q: Danny Cackler, it’s a pleasure to catch-up with you! Several years ago, you and I were members of the Unitarian … Read on…

The “New Atheists”: Are They Saying Anything New?

From a presentation made by Marilyn Westfall at the Theatre of the Upper Arlington Library, Columbus, OH August 4, 2007. When I originally was asked to speak on this topic-“The New Atheists, Are They Saying Anything New?”-my memory went back to the time when I was a Catholic, which was at least nominally until about age 19. I recall how I wouldn’t dare to ask any priest or nun, “Are you saying anything new?” Such a question, if I were … Read on…

Prodigal

Ex-Jesus freak turned gay stud, you still quoted from Job when, roughed up and rolled, you begged for quick healing; not that you believed a word you prayed, nor did I, both apostates, both teenaged outcasts, and I was hardly surprised when one night, bruises faded, you fled Texas without a note. Driving through Wisconsin, three a.m., you stopped to photograph a town, you wrote, was calm and white as a child’s Bethlehem. You mailed the print to me, but … Read on…