paula kirby: atheism is the true embrace of reality

paula kirby's rejection of religion may be recent, but she must have had a lifetime of eloquence. at the hibernia times:

snip
atheists recognise that we need evidence in order to come to reliable conclusions about reality and that, so far, those who claim there is a god have signally failed to provide it.  and atheists care about reality: not what it might be comforting to believe, or what has traditionally been believed, or what we have been instructed to believe.  and this focus on reality, far from diminishing our experience of life, as so many religious people imagine, actually makes our lives all the richer: once you have faced up to the reality that there is no evidence to suggest there is another life after this one, it becomes all the more important to live this finite life to the full, learning and growing, and caring for others, because this is their only life, too, and there is no reason to believe there will be heavenly compensation for their earthly sufferings.
/snip

read the entire piece here.

paula kirby: religion lies about women

at the washington post's on faith.



'religion is one lie after another: the lie of original sin, the lie of eternal life, the lie of hell, the lie of answered prayer, the lie that life can have no meaning without religion, the lie that religion is the source of morality, the lie of creationism, the lie of a spy-in-the-sky who hears your every word and reads your every thought. and to this list we must add the lie that it views men and women as equal. it has got away for so long with the kind of lunatic word-games that allow death-by-torture to be presented as an act of love, and eternal torment in the flames of hell to be seen as a necessary act of justice, that we should perhaps not be surprised that it has also managed to dupe its followers into seeing the systematic suppression and silencing of women as an act of liberation and equality. nevertheless, it is a lie, like all the others: a cynical and wicked lie. it is time women everywhere woke up to it.'

the full piece here.
via RDFRS

paula kirby: unholy politics

in 5 parts

richard dawkins: ratzinger is an enemy of humanity

this is the full intended speech, as posted on the richard dawkins foundation for reason and science, corresponding to the video i embedded earlier.

just a snip:

'it would be unkind to prolong this point, but ratzinger’s speech in edinburgh on thursday was so disgraceful, so hypocritical, so redolent of the sound of stones hurled from within a glass house, i felt that i had to reply.

even if hitler had been an atheist – as stalin more surely was – how dare ratzinger suggest that atheism has any connection whatsoever with their horrific deeds? any more than hitler and stalin’s non-belief in leprechauns or unicorns. any more than their sporting of a moustache – along with franco and saddam hussein. there is no logical pathway from atheism to wickedness. unless, that is, you are steeped in the vile obscenity at the heart of catholic theology. i refer (and i am indebted to paula kirby for the point) to the doctrine of original sin. these people believe – and they teach this to tiny children, at the same time as they teach them the terrifying falsehood of hell – that every baby is “born in sin”. that would be adam’s sin, by the way: adam who, as they themselves now admit, never existed. original sin means that, from the moment we are born, we are wicked, corrupt, damned. unless we believe in their god. or unless we fall for the carrot of heaven and the stick of hell. that, ladies and gentleman, is the disgusting theory that leads them to presume that it was godlessness that made hitler and stalin the monsters that they were. we are all monsters unless redeemed by jesus. what a vile, depraved, inhuman theory to base your life on.'

but the full piece here.