Claim: There is no such thing as an Atheist

Vasko Kohlmayer has written an article in the Washington Post in which he claims that nobody can really be an atheist and that anybody who claims they are is being intellectually inconsistent and also partial to cognitive dissonance. OK, lets take a look at what he wrote. According to the dictionary, an atheist is “one … Read more

Westboro Baptist Church vs Steve Jobs

This is a bit out of date, I just happened to stumble across it here in the Washington Post and thought that it was simply hilarious. Westboro Baptist did their usual attention seeking thing, I have visions of them all gathered around and muttering, “Oh look, somebody famous has died, lets go protest“. These are … Read more

Conversion – what does it really mean?

Because I experienced a religious conversion as a teenager, then later in life changed my mind about it all, I’m able to look back and consider what really happens during such a conversion. If asked during my time as a believer, I would have claimed that it was not simply a personal choice, but was … Read more

Atheism – Coping with Grief: Sir David Attenborough, a case study.

When faced with a bereavement that results in deep sorrow and grief, believers deploy thoughts such as “Well at least they are with the Lord now“, and also, “we shall be once again together in the next life“, but how do non-believers cope? To answer this, I do not propose to roll out platitudes or … Read more

Clergy who stop believing – what can they do, what should they do, what do they do?

The good news regarding the launch of the Clergy Project project has prompted me to write this. I’ll come to the details later, but first lets put this in context. Most clerics (pastors, priests, monks, nuns etc…), within religious groups, probably entered the vocation because they truly believed and were perhaps sure that God was … Read more

The atheist-shaped hole in the interfaith movement?

Rory Fenton writes an article in Today’s Guardian that is titled ” There is a gaping, atheist-shaped hole in the interfaith movement“. If indeed you are a non-believer like me, your first reaction is perhaps the same as mine, “Why should I bother engaging with a bunch of folks who hold irrational beliefs?”. Well OK, … Read more