An interesting column from Jerry A. Coyne from the USA Today, where the idea of "free will" not existing is proposed and explored. 

The debate about free will, long the purview of philosophers alone, has been given new life by scientists, especially neuroscientists studying how the brain works. And what they're finding supports the idea that free will is a complete illusion.

I don't find this idea so troubling and it would…

I am always asking myself this question.  The more situations that arise that elicit this question, the heavier I lean towards confrontation.  

"The squeaky wheel gets the grease".  "A question never asked never gets answered".

There are 3 separate instances that "Confrontation or Smile and Nod?" come up...

1) I'll start by saying I am extremely polite.  At the deli I say "May I please have a half a pound of..." and "Thank you".  At the post office I say "May I have a…

As a semi-vocal atheist I tend to post links, articles and stories about some of the horrible things that happen in religious circles to a variety of online social sites. On those sites I have contact with both believers and non-believers. Most of the time the discussion around the posts is quite interesting and in many ways positive, but not all of the time.

One of the most frequent comments that I get from believers who are attempting to defend their religion…

I haven't been here in a while...  I was chastised for posting in the incorrect spot, and I felt rebellious against the rules and ran away for a bit.  I can be a child (and I don't care).  Plus, I was very busy graduating from nursing school, starting my job as a RN and also starting my nursing bachelor's program.  I also have heathens to raise and a husband to be a wife to. 

I love being a nurse.  I love my job, I love my coworkers, I love my paycheck.  I'm a pretty happy camper…

First of all, no, it's not a 'Parting Shot', it is a Parthian Shot. And here is its story:

It all starts with the Romans, which in 55 bce was run by Pompay, Crassus, and Ceasar. The first and latter were heroes of the Republic after their their conquests of Syria and Gaul, respectively, while Crassus is best know for putting down the Spartacus revolt and buying up burning buildings at, well, fire sales, but otherwise had not achieved any significant Triumph (Triumphs were taken very…

haves: knock knock.

have-nots: who’s there?

haves: orange.

have-nots: orange who?

haves: orange ya ready for more of the same?…

carved cruicifixes,

slashed n’ sliced stars of david,

chiseled taijitus,

hacked stars n’ crescents

cleaved christs

dissected n’ shaped buddhas,

engraved menorahs

chipped n’ etched away Confucius

trimmed dharmachakras

whittled & molded muhammad

severed n’ separated astrological zodiac signs

snipped aum

chopped n’ cracked pentagrams  

lopped off lotus flowers

shaved n’ grated ichthys…

I know this isn't an Atheist thing per se... but if it's worth anything Katrina, my cousin, is a Young Earther.

Reading over it again, it has echos of the same ignoring of accurate information that theists in general seem to…

Hate filled, and outrageous is nothing in the news, especially so from religious fundamentalists. Today it comes from, as you probably could have guessed, a Roman Catholic official (surprise surprise).  Cardinal Francis George said in a Fox news interview last week:

“‘You don’t want the gay…

I have deleted all of my blog posts--again. I did that because I thought they were all extremely deficient in some manner. If they were not outright wrong then they needed to be seriously modified. This is what comes with the territory of posting blogs as a college student, especially if you are a college student who has a tendency to hastily conclude that he is correct. "Sophomoric" really is the perfect word. I feel it necessary to outright apologize for some of those posts and everybody…

This is my first try to create a youtube video. It turns out that an essentially easy topic is not so easily put into images...

I could need some critique and help. For those that dont understand the video i have a small explanation below. I dont know why i cant embedd it....

Ok... here is the original thought...

Although god might be allknowing in the sense that he knows all that is…

Some of my least favorite comments I get when I tell someone I just do not believe in god is 'you need god'. Relative to this fact I always give insidious and curt response, 'I think god is the one who needs me.' The non-believers are believed to have burnt in Gommorah and we are called infidels, scum of the earth etc. So in essence non-believers and atheist are a physical manifestation of the (d)evil. We are the point of deviation for all people that need to propagate religion to their…

There are a few expressions for it: Talking to a brick wall, kicking a dead horse, falling on deaf ears and so on. Just about everyone has experienced the frustration of being unable to reach a person no matter how reasonable you may be, no matter what proof you bring you are just not getting through. There comes a time when one has to admit that further discussion is simply a waste of time. Sooner or later trying to reason or debate with a person won’t do anything but make you stressed.…

I was not raised in an active church going family but I did start going to a friend's church.  I was baptized at 16 and an atheist by 18!  I grew up in Kentucky...land of the Southern Baptists nad have kept my mouth shut about my beliefs until a few years ago.  Now at the age of 47, I find that I have less tolerance for hiding in the closet.  For about six months I have made it clear that I am an atheist.  Everyone else in my family are Christians except for a niece who is also atheist.  My…

Her email:

So, I don't know much about atheist forums....are they sort of like church only without the supernatural diety? I know what you mean about scripted questions/answers though....not so much with religious discussions but definitely with political conversations. I, myself, really love and value critical thinking. That is one of the reasons I am enjoying this e-discussion. You think things through and you don't get offended. I love to talk to people about…

Hello all, I recently have just been to myself, and began to think deeply about life in its entirety.  This self-discussion has led to a small amount of depression. I feel as if religion puts value on human life, and yet at the same time, looks down on it, looking forward to the "afterlife". They say thou shall not kill, etc, all moralistic things in human nature.  Then they say, just follow your "god" and you'll have eternal love/happiness/etc in the afterlife.  My point is, I have come to…

The National Atheist Party is promoting a campaign, encouraging all Atheists,  to challenge politicians:

http://www.usanap.org/events/questioncampaign.html/

Currently there are politicians going through every state who would very much like to NEVER meet you. They are terrified and live their whole lives lying to even…

Not that I had any respect for him to begin with, but in case you missed it, Cee Lo Green had the "honor" of singing in the new year right before the ball dropped in Times Square last night. The song was Imagine by Lennon. A great song. However, Cee Lo decided to add his own flavor to the song and changed the lyrics a bit. Can you guess which verse?

Nothing to kill or die for, And no religion too" to "Nothing to kill or die for, And all religion's…

Well.......... HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! :)

2011 was a great year for Think Atheist! Running it all down quickly now we have: 8,000 forum discussions, 6,000 blog posts, 5,000 videos, 18,000 photos, and 14,000 members! But we also saw massive growth in traffic to our community! 3 million 5 hundred thousand unique visitors found their way here and viewed 6 million 7 hundred 50 thousand pages in 2011! This was truly the year Think Atheist came into its own!

It was a great year for…