Essays | The Eloquent Atheist

Which lies are better: religious or political?

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Michael W. Jones

In this space, we often make a big deal about replacing religion-fueled politics with secular-based politics. We want the clerics and preachers to quit telling people how to vote from their pulpits and go back to science-based reasoning for our governance. We somehow feel that this is a big part of the answer for what is wrong with the world. And we may be right. But did you see the recent Obama-Romney debate? Did you get the feeling, later verified … Read on…

The Piranhas of Religion

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Bill Sargeant

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?

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Ron Woodhouse

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

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Zoobia Ilyas

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?

Posted on September 3, 2012 by Frank Robinson

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

Posted on August 24, 2012 by Michael W. Jones

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…

God, responsibility, and ethics

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Michael W. Jones

The religious argument that says it is their God that shows us all the right and wrong ways to act has always seemed full of holes to me. I have seen many of these bubbles pricked in the past on this site, but I am worried by another one, which has a long philosophical history. Of course, it may be just me… Read on…

A House for Hope (A book review)

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Timothy Travis

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…

The Swerve, a book review

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Timothy Travis

Stephen Greenblatt’s THE SWERVE, How the World Became Modern, tells an important story and has won the National Book Award for non-fiction and a Pulitzer. The story is of particular interest and importance to atheists and secular humanists because it validates us as main-stream, primary players in the flow of Western Civilization and casts the Abrahamic religions as the major bump on the long road to modernity. Read on…

History: Science, Religion and Atheism

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Chibay

Throughout history science has come up with new theories and supported it with conclusive evidences. When people believed that the earth was flat and the earth was the centre of the universe, science disagreed, with evidence, but the general public were too scared to support those ideas, as the power of religion was greater then. Read on…

The Eloquent Atheist

Positive Atheism with Humanist Nuances

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