Orleans Parish Says No to Creationism

In a move that surprised many people, Orleans Parish passed a no creationism policy last week for its public schools.  It’s a surprise because Louisiana isn't known for being reasonable where education and religion are concerned.  The sitting governor, Bobby Jindal, is an outspoken creationist and Christian who pushed through the Louisiana Science Education Act in 2008 which basically allows teachers to teach creationism in public schools.  So color me shocked that one small school board in Louisiana went out of its way to stop the insanity.

Arming Teachers Is Not An Answer

Friday, the head lunatic from the NRA, Wayne LaPierre, gave the organizations response to the Newtown tragedy.  As expected, their solution was more guns, but not just more guns; it included having armed guards at every school, blaming video games and movie violence.  Essentially they are blaming everything and everyone other than placing blame where it squarely belongs, which is on the NRA and their policy of fighting against any and all gun control laws, background checks, closing loopholes and anything that stops money from coming in from even one gun sale.  So what we were given by the NRA is nothing more than a non-answer to a continuing and growing problem in our society – gun violence.

Even More Right Wing Stupidity

After the massacre in Newtown, we all knew that the right would be spewing forth their nonsense about the cause being secularism, god not being allowed in school and all the normal nonsense.  Just when I thought that the stupidity couldn’t get any worse, The National Review proves me wrong in their editorial suggesting the cause of the massacre was really that the school was run by women.  Yes, you read that right – women running an elementary school caused the massacre.  Just when you thought the pieces of shit couldn't hit a new low, they go right ahead and shoot for rock bottom. 

Boobs – No, Guns – Yes….

American Sure Is Fucked Up!

I saw a graphic today that reminded me of the whole 2004 Super Bowl incident with Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake.  It pointed out that it only took Congress 10 days to convene a special hearing to make sure that the American public wouldn't have to suffer such breast bearing horror again in their living room.  This just made me think, “what the fuck is wrong with America?”

They Just Don’t Know When To Quit!

After the shooting in Connecticut, the worst of the religious people out there started with their usual rhetoric about how god either let the tragedy happen because of religion not being allowed in schools or because of birth control or some equally hateful reason.  You would have thought they would have stopped, with the exception of the Westboro goons, but the rhetoric and hate just keeps pouring out of their mouths.  The sad truth is that the evil bastards never fail to live up to the expectations that we have of them.

Why Do You Celebrate Christmas?

It’s that time of year again and like a lot of atheists out there it’s time for us to hear people asking, “why do you celebrate Christmas?” This is often a part of the discussion regarding nativity scenes and overt displays of religion on government owned property and government buildings, but that is not always the case.  Often it’s just a query from a confused Christian or religious person wondering why we celebrate “their holiday”.  Let’s set the record straight right here and now.

It's The Last Monday Ever.... Until The Next Time

Unless you live under a rock, you probably know that this Friday is supposed to be the end of the world according to internet nut jobs, conspiracy theory whackos and other brands of lunatics everywhere.  The Mayan calendar, or at least one version and one interpretation of it, runs out on the 21st and the crazies are convinced that this means the end of the world.  Yeah right, bozo.

The stupidity just keeps flowing

http://atheistrotd.com/stupidity-flowing/

In the wake of Fridays' mass killing at an elementary school in Connecticut, the stupidity from gun rights advocates just keeps flowing from their ever gaping pie holes.  In the most recent display of moronic ignorance a legislator from Texas has suggested that arming teachers with assault rifles would have solved the problem before it started.  What a moron!

Note to religious people....

Shut the fuck up!

You just knew it would happen the moment you heard about the school shooting.  The religious would be coming out of the woodwork declaring that either this was god punishing us for not letting him in schools or god didn’t act because he’s not allowed in schools.  The only question was how long would it take.  Unfortunately, it took almost no time at all.

One Week, Two Shootings, When Is This Bullshit Going To Stop?

Today’s rant has nothing to do with religion.  I take that back, it does have to do with a religion of sort, the type that people replace normal religions with.  This is the type that doesn't require belief in some imaginary being, but instead turns ideals or even the absurd into an almost religious zeal. 

Religious Freedom - It's An Illusion

We all like to talk about religious freedom and the guarantees that the constitution gives Americans in this respect.  The truth is that for most, freedom of religion is not a reality and is in all truthfulness nothing more than an illusion.

You Are Obviously Confused.

Ever since the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) came into being, there have been a lot of objections to the law.  Some have a modicum of merit while others are just outright absurdly idiotic.  The worst of them are the so-called religious objections to the law which revolve around women’s healthcare.  These objections show a truly monumental ignorance of what religious freedom really means.  Let’s clear up that confusion right now.

Atheists Face Discrimination? No Shit Sherlock!

It may come as a surprise to some of you, especially the religious out there, but atheists walk a tough road.  We face discrimination on many fronts, are often shunned by friends and family for our lack of blind faith and in some places even face imprisonment or death if we are open in our disbelief.  The truth of the matter is that discrimination based upon religious ignorance is alive and well in the world and atheists are front and center where that hatred is concerned.

New blog up and running

The new blog is up and running and I have a new post up as well.  Go to:

www.atheistrotd.com

changing blog hosting and getting new rants ready

Yes, I know the blog is new. but I am working on changing the hosting to a self hosted space so I can have total control over everything. 

I will be working on this over the next couple of days, importing the old posts to the new site as well as working on some new rants as time permits.  Lots to do and not enough time to do it. 

Also, if there's anything you'd like to see discussed, be sure to put it here.  There's a lot of nonsense out there to rant about and I'm always more than happy to do it. 

Yet Another “Truth in Education” Bill? Make Me Laugh

A state senator from Indiana is going to be introducing a bill into the general assembly next year and we can all guess what the bill is trying to do. The “Truth in Education” bill, according to Kruse, will give students the right to question what they are being taught in the classroom.

I'll Pray For You

I'll pray for you, I'll pray for him or one phrase or another along these lines is one of the most common things we hear coming out of the mouths of believers.  It's not only directed at atheists, although that one is not only annoying but naive as well, but also at their own kind.  So what does this really mean?

Posts coming...

There are several topics I am working on today, in between everything else that I have to do, and should have at least one of them posted by this evening. 

Let's Talk about Respect

One of the most thrown out lines that the religious use is “you have to respect my beliefs”, whenever a religious debate is ongoing. But do we really have to respect their religion or are they just as deluded in this belief as they are in everything else regarding their superstitious nonsense?

Banning Gay Marriage Perpetuates the Human Race?

A federal judge in Nevada, Judge Robert Jones, upheld Nevada's ban on same sex Marriage this week. His justification for the ruling? According to RawStory his reasoning is as follows:

..gay men and lesbians did not qualify for protections under the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause because recent victories in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington proved that LGBT people did not face the same level of discrimination as other groups did.

Why Must Atheists Fight Christmas Displays?

This post is not going to be about christians, jews or any other religious groups. Today we are going to talk about a subgroup of atheists and why they are wrong to support the religious and their continued abuse of public property to bolster their religious beliefs.

City Official declares Atheists "Terrorists"

Every day when I get up and wonder what I'll have to write about, I worry that sanity and rational thought might hit the right wing in this country and leave a void of topics to write about. Unfortunately, that never really happens.  A supervisor in the Leesburg district of Virginia, Ken Reid, proves once again how insanely stupid and ignorant the right can be regarding their religious holidays, separation of church and state and their hatred of free-thinkers.

Let Texas Secede? Screw That!

I'm sure that by now everyone is well aware of all the petitions that people have started on the White House site regarding state secession. There are petitions for all 50 states, at this point, and close to a million signatures combined. To counter these, people have put up petitions to try the signers of secession petitions for treason and even to make it easier for states like Texas to go ahead and leave the union. But should we even be giving these petitions, which are not being started or submitted by the states themselves but rather disgruntled voters, consideration in the first place? The answer is a resounding no. More importantly, as atheists we should be saying hell no! For some reasons why this should be our response, let's look at recent history.

God Will Judge America – It's About Time!

Proving the old adage that the apple never falls far from the tree, Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, has come out and said that God will judge America for re-electing President Obama.

Freedom From Religion Foundation Suing IRS

The FFRF filed suit last week in Federal Court against the IRS for its failure to enforce federal laws disallowing churches from electioneering. All I can say is it's about time someone did this.

Oklahoma Judge Violates First Amendment in Sentencing of Drunk Teen

This one really makes me angry. A judge in Oklahoma sentenced a 17 year old charged with DUI manslaughter to 10 years of church attendance as part of the deal agreed to by both prosecutors and the defense. In defense of this sentence the Judge Mike Norman has admitted to doing this in the past for child support cases as well, though this was his first time using this as part of sentencing for manslaughter. Doesn't that just make you feel warm and fuzzy all over knowing that church is going to make things all better?

The Non-existent War on Christmas

Let's talk about the “War on Christmas”. This war is a myth, plain and simple. There is no war on Christmas; it's a figment of the Christian imagination, much like their deity. This supposed war on Christmas revolves around their belief that secularists and even Christians who only wish to be inclusive of people of other faith and belief systems are somehow infringing their rights by not saying merry Christmas to everyone, calling Christmas trees “holiday trees" and other such nonsense. It's basically another reason for them to whine about how they as Christians, who still represent a majority of the US population, are being oppressed.

Michigan is trying to backdoor abortion legislation through the tax code.

There have been so many topics of discussion come up this week and so little time to write about them, but let's go ahead and talk about one that really goes above and beyond in the “right-wing nut-job” department. State legislators in Michigan are considering giving a tax credit for unborn fetuses who are past 12 weeks in gestation. What makes this a really odd gesture is the fact that the same legislature took away the child tax credit for families last year that had living breathing kids in their households. Basically parents can't take a tax break for kids that are already born, but fetuses are worthy of that tax break.

Yet Another legislator that denies science

Apparently, the freshman senator Marco Rubio from Florida is taking the lead from other "giants" of the republican party like Rick Perry and saying that he is not sure about the age of the earth.  According to him, "It's a mystery".  Someone should clue Mr Rubio in to the fact that in scientific circles, there is no mystery about the age of the earth.   We know for a fact that it is approximately 4.5 billion years old.  We know the process through which the sun formed, it's age and when it will run out of fuel, expand and swallow the earth.  These are scientific facts that are not a mystery to anyone except those who choose to establish their beliefs through the ignorance of religion.  The worst of them believe the earth was literally formed in 7 days and is now approximately 6 - 10 thousand years old.  Never mind the fact that every scientific body in the world agrees that this is absurd, reality just doesn't appear to matter to these people.  

Welcome to Atheist Rant of the Day.

Yes, I am an atheist. I also live in the bible belt, so I have plenty to rant about.  Add to that the silly political climate in the US and the potential for rants just gets beyond ridiculous. But honestly, it’s not just the religious that  are worthy of discussion; atheists can be just as illogical and lacking in reason when it comes to topics outside of religion and separation of church and state.   

I will usually update once a day, but if things get silly, it could be more often.

I also plan to post to a YouTube channel in the near future and will post the videos here as they are put up, so be sure to keep and eye out for updates.

Thanks and see you soon.