http://atheism.about.com/ Get the latest headlines from the About.com http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hh http://www.about.com/ 118 20 en-us 2013-05-18T08:00:08Z Sat, 18 May 2013 08:00:08 +0000 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/18/goals-of-abstinence-only-education.htm <div style="float:right; margin: 0 0 10px 10px" align="center"> <img height="180" width="180" style="margin-bottom:0px;" alt="Teen Sex" src="http://0.tqn.com/d/atheism/1/0/J/G/3/Teen-Girl-Condom-180x.jpg"><br />_{Teen Sex<br />Photo: Thinkstock/Getty}</div> <p>What does the Christian Right really hope to achieve with abstinence-only education? If their goal is to reduce teen pregnancies, sexually-transmitted diseases, and sexual activity, then they will give up on the programs if they prove ineffective. Right? Of course. And the fact that they have no interest in ever doing so means that reducing pregnancy, disease, and activity aren't really their goals. <p>Their ideology is religious. Their motivation is religious. Their goal is religious. To be specific, their goals are to save souls and to promote Christianity. When abstinence-only education works, in their minds it works because their religion is embraced because that's ultimately what has power. When abstinence-only education fails, it's because their religion (and religious values) have been rejected - and in those cases people deserve whatever harm they experience. <p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/18/goals-of-abstinence-only-education.htm">Read Full Post</a></p><p style="background:#f5f3ef;border: 1px solid #d5d0bf;clear:both;padding:.5em;"><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/18/goals-of-abstinence-only-education.htm">Goals of Abstinence-Only Education?</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/">About.com Agnosticism / Atheism</a> on Saturday, May 18th, 2013 at 12:00:00.</p><p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/18/goals-of-abstinence-only-education.htm">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/18/goals-of-abstinence-only-education.htm#gB3">Comment</a> | <a href="http://atheism.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/18/goals-of-abstinence-only-education.htm&#038;zItl=Goals of Abstinence-Only Education?">Email this</a></p> http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/18/goals-of-abstinence-only-education.htm Sat, 18 May 2013 12:00:00 +0000 2013-05-18T12:00:00Z http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/18/what-is-negative-atheism-what-is-a-negative-atheist.htm <div style="float:right; margin: 0 0 10px 10px" align="center"> <img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/atheism/1/0/h/C/3/Atheism-Definition-180x.jpg" style="margin-bottom:0px;" alt="Atheism Definition" height="180" width="180" /><br />_{Atheism Definition<br />Photo: Jack Star/PhotoLink/Getty}</div> <p>Negative atheism is any sort of atheism or non-theism where a person doesn't believe in the existence of any gods yet does not necessarily make the positive claim that gods definitely do not exist. <p><b>Read Article</b>: <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/od/Types-Atheism-FAQ/f/Negative-Atheism-Atheists.htm">What is Negative Atheism? What is a Negative Atheist?</a> http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/18/what-is-negative-atheism-what-is-a-negative-atheist.htm Sat, 18 May 2013 08:00:08 +0000 2013-05-18T08:00:08Z http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/17/is-it-wrong-to-mock-religious-beliefs-institutions-leaders.htm <p>The Danish publication of satirical cartoons of Muhammad generated a lot of heated discussion about the moral and political legitimacy of satirizing or mocking religion, but this issue has generated heated debate for a long time. Muslims weren't the first to seek censorship of images or words which offended them, and they won't be the last. Religions may change, but the basic arguments remain fairly constant and this allows us to more quickly respond when the issue arises again (and again).</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/17/is-it-wrong-to-mock-religious-beliefs-institutions-leaders.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/17/is-it-wrong-to-mock-religious-beliefs-institutions-leaders.htm Fri, 17 May 2013 15:00:42 +0000 2013-05-17T15:00:42Z http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/17/are-you-really-all-about-you.htm <div style="float:right; margin: 0 0 10px 10px" align="center"> <img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/atheism/1/0/V/G/3/Brain-MRI-180x.jpg" height="180" width="180" style="margin-bottom:0px;" alt="Brain MRI" /> <br />_{Brain MRI<br />Photo: Don Farrall/Getty}</div> <p>It's commonly assumed that who you are as a person - your personal identity - is, well, all about you. You are you. There is, however, some reason to think that the 'you' is actually more about your relationships with people around you. No one grows up isolated from everyone else. Every step of our growth and development occurs in the context of an array of human relationships. <p>What's more, it's abundantly clear that we are intensely social animals. We evolved in small, close-knit social groups and much of our behavior makes more sense when socialization is taken into account. According to some recent research, the same brain regions involved with your sense of self are also involved with some aspects of socialization with others. <p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/17/are-you-really-all-about-you.htm">Read Full Post</a></p><p style="background:#f5f3ef;border: 1px solid #d5d0bf;clear:both;padding:.5em;"><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/17/are-you-really-all-about-you.htm">Are You Really All About You?</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/">About.com Agnosticism / Atheism</a> on Friday, May 17th, 2013 at 12:00:05.</p><p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/17/are-you-really-all-about-you.htm">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/17/are-you-really-all-about-you.htm#gB3">Comment</a> | <a href="http://atheism.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/17/are-you-really-all-about-you.htm&#038;zItl=Are You Really All About You?">Email this</a></p> http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/17/are-you-really-all-about-you.htm Fri, 17 May 2013 12:00:05 +0000 2013-05-17T12:00:05Z http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/17/does-scientific-skepticism-exclude-atheism-because-god-cannot-be-tested.htm <div style="float:right; margin: 0 0 10px 10px" align="center"> <img height="180" width="180" style="margin-bottom:0px;" src="http://0.tqn.com/d/atheism/1/0/D/H/3/Scientist-Atom-180x.jpg" alt="Scientist" /> <br />_{Scientist<br />Photo: Steve McAlister/Getty}</div> <p>Many claim that skepticism and atheism should be separate because 'God' is not something that can be tested in a scientific, skeptical way. For some definitions of 'God' that may be true, but it's a violation of the fundamental and ethical foundations of skepticism to declare it about 'God' as an entire topic or concept. <p><b>Read Article</b>: <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/od/skepticismatheism/a/Scientific-Skepticism-Exclude-Atheism-God.htm">Does Scientific Skepticism Exclude Atheism Because God Cannot be Tested?</a> http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/17/does-scientific-skepticism-exclude-atheism-because-god-cannot-be-tested.htm Fri, 17 May 2013 08:00:09 +0000 2013-05-17T08:00:09Z http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/16/propaganda-poster-submission-obedience-to-husbands.htm <div style="float:right; margin:5px" align="center"> <a href="http://atheism.about.com/od/religiousright/ig/Christian-Propaganda-Posters/Wives-Submit-Husbands.htm"><img src="http://z.about.com/d/atheism/1/0/D/-/3/Love-Honor-Obey-s.jpg" alt="Women Must Obey Husbands" width="112" height="170" border="0"></a> <br />_{Image &#169; Austin Cline<br />Original Poster:<br /><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3g05762">Library of Congress</a>} </div> Carefully structured and clearly organized hierarchies of power appear to be very important not only to Christian Nationalists, but conservative and fundamentalist religious believers ...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/16/propaganda-poster-submission-obedience-to-husbands.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/16/propaganda-poster-submission-obedience-to-husbands.htm Thu, 16 May 2013 15:00:54 +0000 2013-05-16T15:00:54Z http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/16/analytic-thinking-vs-theism.htm <div style="float:right; margin:-10px 0 10px 10px" align="center"> <img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/atheism/1/0/S/D/3/Baby-Pondering-180x.jpg" style="margin-bottom:0px;" alt="Decisions, Decisions" height="180" width="180" /> <br />_{Decisions, Decisions<br />Photo: H. Armstrong Roberts/Getty}</div> <p>According to a recent study, thinking in a careful, analytic manner tends to reduce the degree to which a person believes in the supernatural whereas quick, intuitive thinking is more closely associated with belief in the supernatural. I don't think any atheists would be surprised by this, but the existence of scientific evidence for it will prove useful. <p>Ara Norenzayan and Will Gervais at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, conducted the study which demonstrated that when people are "primed" with analytic thinking tasks, their self-reported degree of belief in the supernatural declined -- even though they reported a higher degree of belief earlier. <!--more--> <p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/16/analytic-thinking-vs-theism.htm">Read Full Post</a></p><p style="background:#f5f3ef;border: 1px solid #d5d0bf;clear:both;padding:.5em;"><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/16/analytic-thinking-vs-theism.htm">Analytic Thinking vs. Theism</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/">About.com Agnosticism / Atheism</a> on Thursday, May 16th, 2013 at 12:00:48.</p><p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/16/analytic-thinking-vs-theism.htm">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/16/analytic-thinking-vs-theism.htm#gB3">Comment</a> | <a href="http://atheism.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/16/analytic-thinking-vs-theism.htm&#038;zItl=Analytic Thinking vs. Theism">Email this</a></p> http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/16/analytic-thinking-vs-theism.htm Thu, 16 May 2013 12:00:48 +0000 2013-05-16T12:00:48Z http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/16/daily-poll-ten-commandments-in-government-buildings.htm <div style="float:right; margin:10px"> <SCRIPT LANGUAGE= "javaScript" SRC="http://guidepolls.about.com/atheism/2270507460/poll.js?linkback=<!--#echo var="SCRIPT_URI"-->"></script> </div> <p>Many devout Christians take the Ten Commandments very seriously and would like to see the government display the Ten Commandments in public buildings like schools. This would appear to be a way for the government to support and endorse the Ten Commandments -- but isn't that unconstitutional? Indeed, courts have consistently ruled that Ten Commandments displays are unconstitutional so Christians try to get around this by including other documents as well. <p>Most of the time when people argue that the Ten Commandments should be displayed in schools, they defend their position with the idea that the Commandments are a historical document which might, perhaps, serve as a moral inspiration. It isn't often that you find someone actually arguing that they should be displayed for the purpose of getting students to obey them, but most of the time that seems to be the actual motivation. They aren't defending a history lesson, but a set of moral commands. <p>Conservative Christians repeatedly and across various contexts defend the Ten Commandments as a vital foundation of both morality and law. According to them, failures to obey both morality and law are why America needs to have the Ten Commandments displayed in more places: school rooms, courts, and other public spaces. They insist that unless Americans recognize their duty to the Christian god, matters will only get worse as time goes by. http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/16/daily-poll-ten-commandments-in-government-buildings.htm Thu, 16 May 2013 08:00:00 +0000 2013-05-16T08:00:00Z http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/15/myth-agnosticism-and-theism-are-incompatible.htm Agnosticism is the label applied to not knowing for sure if any gods exist; theism is the label for belief in at least one god of some sort. Some people ...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/15/myth-agnosticism-and-theism-are-incompatible.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/15/myth-agnosticism-and-theism-are-incompatible.htm Wed, 15 May 2013 15:00:30 +0000 2013-05-15T15:00:30Z http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/15/neanderthal-eyes-and-neanderthal-minds.htm <div style="float:right; margin: 0 0 10px 10px;" align="center"> <img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/atheism/1/0/k/C/3/Neanderthal-Gibralter-180x.jpg" style="margin-bottom:0px;" alt="Neanderthal Gibraltar Man" height="180" width="180" /> <br />_{Neanderthal Gibraltar Man<br />Photo: RDImages/Epics/Getty}</div> <p>We know that the mental and social lives of Neanderthals had to be different from our own, but we don't know how or why exactly. We've long known that their brains were about the same size as that of a modern human, but that doesn't tell us how exactly it was organized and that is critical -- size isn't everything. We also know, though, that their eyes were bigger because their eye sockets were bigger. That could be an important clue. <p>Bigger eyes should mean generally better eyesight. It also probably required a bigger portion of the physical brain devoted to eyesight. Since they didn't have brains larger than ours, the extra brain matter devoted to eyesight meant that it couldn't be devoted to anything else -- like perhaps organizing and managing complex social lives. <p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/15/neanderthal-eyes-and-neanderthal-minds.htm">Read Full Post</a></p><p style="background:#f5f3ef;border: 1px solid #d5d0bf;clear:both;padding:.5em;"><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/15/neanderthal-eyes-and-neanderthal-minds.htm">Neanderthal Eyes and Neanderthal Minds</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/">About.com Agnosticism / Atheism</a> on Wednesday, May 15th, 2013 at 12:00:56.</p><p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/15/neanderthal-eyes-and-neanderthal-minds.htm">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/15/neanderthal-eyes-and-neanderthal-minds.htm#gB3">Comment</a> | <a href="http://atheism.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/15/neanderthal-eyes-and-neanderthal-minds.htm&#038;zItl=Neanderthal Eyes and Neanderthal Minds">Email this</a></p> http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/15/neanderthal-eyes-and-neanderthal-minds.htm Wed, 15 May 2013 12:00:56 +0000 2013-05-15T12:00:56Z http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/15/forum-discussion-prove-the-existence-of-god.htm Does God exist? Religious theists like Christians certainly think so, but they have a hard time proving it -- or even just explaining how their belief is reasonable. Under other ...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/15/forum-discussion-prove-the-existence-of-god.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/15/forum-discussion-prove-the-existence-of-god.htm Wed, 15 May 2013 08:00:30 +0000 2013-05-15T08:00:30Z http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/14/originals-sequels-of-the-ten-commandments.htm As many people are aware, but perhaps tend to forget, the Ten Commandments had to be written down twice. Moses got them once, but upon his return to camp he ...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/14/originals-sequels-of-the-ten-commandments.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/14/originals-sequels-of-the-ten-commandments.htm Tue, 14 May 2013 15:00:00 +0000 2013-05-14T15:00:00Z http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/14/size-does-matter-some-women-think-so.htm <div style="float:right; margin: 0 0 10px 10px" align="center"> <img height="180" width="180" style="margin-bottom:0px;" src="http://0.tqn.com/d/atheism/1/0/Y/G/3/Male-Stripper-180x.jpg" alt="Male Stripper" /> <br /> _{Male Stripper <br />Photo: DreamPictures/Getty}</div> <p>It's already known that greater height makes men more attractive to women, but contrary to some popular sayings a larger penis size is also something that makes men more attractive to women. It's not the only or most important factor -- the hip-to-shoulder ratio seems to be most important -- but being one of the longer boys down below counts as much as being one of the taller boys. <p>This new information is based on a study done of 105 young women who looked at computer-generated images of men with varying attributes. What, they couldn't find any actual men willing to pose? <p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/14/size-does-matter-some-women-think-so.htm">Read Full Post</a></p><p style="background:#f5f3ef;border: 1px solid #d5d0bf;clear:both;padding:.5em;"><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/14/size-does-matter-some-women-think-so.htm">Size Does Matter? Some Women Think So...</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/">About.com Agnosticism / Atheism</a> on Tuesday, May 14th, 2013 at 12:00:58.</p><p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/14/size-does-matter-some-women-think-so.htm">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/14/size-does-matter-some-women-think-so.htm#gB3">Comment</a> | <a href="http://atheism.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/14/size-does-matter-some-women-think-so.htm&#038;zItl=Size Does Matter? Some Women Think So...">Email this</a></p> http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/14/size-does-matter-some-women-think-so.htm Tue, 14 May 2013 12:00:58 +0000 2013-05-14T12:00:58Z http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/14/comment-of-the-week-the-uselessness-of-prayer.htm <div style="float:right; margin: 0 0 10px 10px" align="center"> <img height="180" width="180" style="margin-bottom:0px;" src="http://0.tqn.com/d/atheism/1/0/8/H/3/Prayer-Woman-180x.jpg" alt="Prayer" /> <br />_{Prayer<br />Photo: Erik Dreyer/Getty}</div> <p>Every time some tragedy strikes, you can be sure that people will quickly begin talking about praying -- praying for victims, praying for the community, praying for souls, etc. Occasionally there are even prayers for the perpetrators, if any exist, though they are rare for some reason. But why pray for anyone at all? <p>Presumably, people were praying for peace and happiness before the tragedy. Clearly those prayers didn't do much good. Presumably, if a god exists then it's going to do whatever if wants -- prayers to act differently won't matter and prayers for it to do what it's going to do will be pointless. So prayer can't have any realistic impact on the future and not even believers have a good reason to think otherwise. <p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/14/comment-of-the-week-the-uselessness-of-prayer.htm">Read Full Post</a></p><p style="background:#f5f3ef;border: 1px solid #d5d0bf;clear:both;padding:.5em;"><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/14/comment-of-the-week-the-uselessness-of-prayer.htm">Comment of the Week: The Uselessness of Prayer</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/">About.com Agnosticism / Atheism</a> on Tuesday, May 14th, 2013 at 08:00:01.</p><p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/14/comment-of-the-week-the-uselessness-of-prayer.htm">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/14/comment-of-the-week-the-uselessness-of-prayer.htm#gB3">Comment</a> | <a href="http://atheism.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/14/comment-of-the-week-the-uselessness-of-prayer.htm&#038;zItl=Comment of the Week: The Uselessness of Prayer">Email this</a></p> http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/14/comment-of-the-week-the-uselessness-of-prayer.htm Tue, 14 May 2013 08:00:01 +0000 2013-05-14T08:00:01Z http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/13/baal-phoenician-canaanite-and-semitic-god.htm <div style="float:right; margin:5px" align="center"> <img src="http://z.about.com/d/atheism/1/6/6/z/2/BaalUgarit.jpg" alt="Statue of Baal" width="62" height="119" border="0"> <br />_{Image Source:<br /><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Baal_Ugarit_Louvre_AO17330.jpg">Wikipedia</a>} </div> Each Phoenician city had their own deities, usually either a male and female deity ruling together or a triad: a head god, a female consort, and a dying/resurrecting god. ...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/13/baal-phoenician-canaanite-and-semitic-god.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/13/baal-phoenician-canaanite-and-semitic-god.htm Mon, 13 May 2013 15:00:31 +0000 2013-05-13T15:00:31Z http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/13/xna-creating-synthetic-dna.htm <div style="float:right; margin: 0 0 10px 10px" align="center"> <img src="http://z.about.com/d/atheism/1/0/D/A/3/DNA-Double-Helix-170x170.jpg" style="margin-bottom:0px;" alt="DNA Double Helix" width="170" height="170" border="0" align="middle"> <br />_{DNA Double Helix<br />Getty Photo: Chad Baker / Digital Vision}</div> <p>DNA is special because it can both encode information and make copies of itself, thus passing that information on. RNA can do this as well, but it's not as stable. Scientists have been trying for a while to construct synthetic DNA and they may have finally figured it out. <p>Philipp Holliger leads a team at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK, have found that at least six molecules not currently used by DNA could be used to store and transmit information. If they are right, and if this line of research works out, it could prove to be very useful. <!--more--> <p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/13/xna-creating-synthetic-dna.htm">Read Full Post</a></p><p style="background:#f5f3ef;border: 1px solid #d5d0bf;clear:both;padding:.5em;"><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/13/xna-creating-synthetic-dna.htm">XNA: Creating Synthetic DNA</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/">About.com Agnosticism / Atheism</a> on Monday, May 13th, 2013 at 12:00:03.</p><p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/13/xna-creating-synthetic-dna.htm">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/13/xna-creating-synthetic-dna.htm#gB3">Comment</a> | <a href="http://atheism.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/13/xna-creating-synthetic-dna.htm&#038;zItl=XNA: Creating Synthetic DNA">Email this</a></p> http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/13/xna-creating-synthetic-dna.htm Mon, 13 May 2013 12:00:03 +0000 2013-05-13T12:00:03Z http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/13/race-and-religion-in-america.htm <div style="float:right; margin:5px" align="center"> <a href="http://atheism.about.com/od/bookreviews/fr/UnitedByFaith.htm"><img src="http://z.about.com/d/atheism/1/G/k/5/bk_UnitedByFaith.gif" border="0" align="right" width="96" height="140" alt="United by Faith: The Multiracial Congregation as an Answer to the Problem of Race"></a> <br />_{Image courtesy<br />PriceGrabber.com} </div> <p>Christianity is ostensibly a religion committed to peace, love, and the brotherhood of humanity. Why is it, then, that a country like the United States, where Christianity has always played a dominant role in culture and politics, has also been plagued by racial discrimination and strife through most of its history? Does the fault lie with Christianity, with Christians, or somewhere else? <p>Book of the Week: <a href="http://atheism.about.com/od/bookreviews/fr/UnitedByFaith.htm"><i>United by Faith: The Multiracial Congregation as an Answer to the Problem of Race</i></a> http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/13/race-and-religion-in-america.htm Mon, 13 May 2013 08:00:00 +0000 2013-05-13T08:00:00Z http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/12/chac-chac-god-of-rain-lightning-in-mayan-religion-mythology.htm <div style="float:right; margin:5px" align="center"> <a href="http://atheism.about.com/od/mayangodsgoddesses/p/ChacMayanRain.htm"><img src="http://z.about.com/d/atheism/1/0/v/2/3/ChacYum-s.jpg" alt="Chac, God of Rain &#038; Lightning in Mayan Religion, Mythology" width="170" height="170" border="0"></a> <br />_{Image Source:<br /><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://www.jupiterimages.com/">Jupiter Images</a>} </div> Chac (Chaac, Ah Tzenul, Ah Hoya, Hopop Caan) was the Mayan god of rain, lightning, and thunder. Chac was one of the more benevolent of the Mayan gods, ...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/12/chac-chac-god-of-rain-lightning-in-mayan-religion-mythology.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/12/chac-chac-god-of-rain-lightning-in-mayan-religion-mythology.htm Sun, 12 May 2013 15:00:29 +0000 2013-05-12T15:00:29Z http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/12/mailbag-atheists-dont-need-to-justify-beliefs.htm <p><b>From</b>: Atheist<br /> <b>Subject</b>: Stupid <blockquote class="yes"> To believe science has the answers and argue the bible is as backwards as you can get. The only reason to make such a stupid and ignorant article is to justify your own confusion. </blockquote> <div style="float:right; margin: 0 0 10px 10px" align="center"> <img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/atheism/1/0/B/H/3/Mad-Scientist-2-180x.jpg" height="180" width="180" style="margin-bottom:0px;" alt="Mad Scientist" /> <br />_{Mad Scientist<br />Photo: Digital Vision/Getty}</div> <p>It's curious to get such a confused message entitled "stupid." I'm pretty sure the author wasn't describing their own efforts, though maybe the title was a Freudian slip. <p>The article in question is an argument about whether <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/u/ua/Errors-Mistakes-Genesis-Bible/Resolving-Errors-Source-Light.htm">Genesis is mistaken about the origins and nature of light</a>. According to Genesis, God created light on the first day but it wasn't until the fourth day that sources of light were created. For some reason, this author thinks it's "stupid" to examine possible errors in the Bible and inquire as to whether there is any reasonable explanation. <p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/12/mailbag-atheists-dont-need-to-justify-beliefs.htm">Read Full Post</a></p><p style="background:#f5f3ef;border: 1px solid #d5d0bf;clear:both;padding:.5em;"><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/12/mailbag-atheists-dont-need-to-justify-beliefs.htm">Mailbag: Atheists Don't Need to Justify Beliefs</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/">About.com Agnosticism / Atheism</a> on Sunday, May 12th, 2013 at 08:00:05.</p><p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/12/mailbag-atheists-dont-need-to-justify-beliefs.htm">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/12/mailbag-atheists-dont-need-to-justify-beliefs.htm#gB3">Comment</a> | <a href="http://atheism.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/12/mailbag-atheists-dont-need-to-justify-beliefs.htm&#038;zItl=Mailbag: Atheists Don't Need to Justify Beliefs">Email this</a></p> http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/12/mailbag-atheists-dont-need-to-justify-beliefs.htm Sun, 12 May 2013 08:00:05 +0000 2013-05-12T08:00:05Z http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/11/can-loving-god-lead-to-hating-humanity.htm <p>Traditional theistic religions are often defended on the basis that they teach believers to love. It's true that they typically include ideals about loving both God and humanity, but it shouldn't be assumed that the two are always and necessarily compatible. On the contrary, other teachings common to religions around the world can in fact set the two at odds with one another such that the more one loves God, the more difficult it can be for them to also love humanity.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/11/can-loving-god-lead-to-hating-humanity.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/11/can-loving-god-lead-to-hating-humanity.htm Sat, 11 May 2013 15:00:23 +0000 2013-05-11T15:00:23Z http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/11/women-should-not-play-sports.htm <div style="float:right; margin: 0 0 10px 10px" align="center"> <img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/atheism/1/0/2/C/3/Softball-200x.jpg" style="margin-bottom:0px;" alt="Softball" height="180" width="180" /> <br />_{Softball<br />Photo: Iconica / John Giustina}</div> <p>Women's sports has been growing steadily over the past few decades, in large part because of government mandates that women's sports be funded equally at all educational levels. Some see Christians seem to regard this development as encouraging pagan and humanistic attitudes. Playing sports competitively prevents women from learning how to be meek and humbly serve their husbands. <p>If you think about the sorts of things which the most conservative Christians oppose (women in the workplace, women in the military) and the things which they endorse (women submitting to husbands, women learning to be humble), it would seem to follow logically that competitive sports would also be opposed. When you get right down to it, is there anything about competitive sports which would be consistent with the religious, social, and political agendas of conservative and fundamentalist Christians? <p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/11/women-should-not-play-sports.htm">Read Full Post</a></p><p style="background:#f5f3ef;border: 1px solid #d5d0bf;clear:both;padding:.5em;"><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/11/women-should-not-play-sports.htm">Women Should Not Play Sports</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/">About.com Agnosticism / Atheism</a> on Saturday, May 11th, 2013 at 12:00:00.</p><p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/11/women-should-not-play-sports.htm">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/11/women-should-not-play-sports.htm#gB3">Comment</a> | <a href="http://atheism.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/11/women-should-not-play-sports.htm&#038;zItl=Women Should Not Play Sports">Email this</a></p> http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/11/women-should-not-play-sports.htm Sat, 11 May 2013 12:00:00 +0000 2013-05-11T12:00:00Z http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/10/summer-activities-for-secular-atheist-families.htm <p>Christians have summer Bible study programs to send their children to, but what about secular, skeptical, and atheist parents? What can they do to encourage their children's intellectual, emotional, and psychological growth (but hopefully without overburdening them and denying them unstructured free time)? There are in fact a lot of different activities available. Listed here are several options and while they are intended for children of various ages, they would ideally be done jointly with parents -- and may be worth doing for adults alone. </p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/10/summer-activities-for-secular-atheist-families.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/10/summer-activities-for-secular-atheist-families.htm Fri, 10 May 2013 15:00:23 +0000 2013-05-10T15:00:23Z http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/10/personal-responsibility-and-morality-in-the-modern-world.htm <div style="float:right; margin: 0 0 10px 10px" align="center"> <img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/atheism/1/0/E/H/3/Auschwitz-Gate-Night-180x.jpg" height="180" width="180" style="margin-bottom:0px;" alt="Auschwitz Gate" /> <br />_{Auschwitz Gate<br />Photo: Scott Barbour/Getty}</div> <p>Morality and responsibility are deeply intertwined. Being moral requires taking responsibility not only for your own behavior but also for what happens generally around you. Being responsible means acting in a self-consciously and deliberately moral manner rather than just letting things happen or trying to ignore events around you. The connection between morality and responsibility is even more important in the modern world where we have to make our own decisions about our own lives. <p>Ancient religions make the maintenance of this connection more difficult because their idea of morality focuses more on a person's relationship to alleged gods than on people's relationships to each other. It's harder to take responsibility for what's happening in society when your biggest moral commands involve submitting to a god rather than helping or protecting other humans. It's harder to take responsibility for what's happening in society when you're taught that a god is ultimately responsible for the big things that happen and only gods can fix things when they go wrong. <!--more--> <p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/10/personal-responsibility-and-morality-in-the-modern-world.htm">Read Full Post</a></p><p style="background:#f5f3ef;border: 1px solid #d5d0bf;clear:both;padding:.5em;"><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/10/personal-responsibility-and-morality-in-the-modern-world.htm">Personal Responsibility and Morality in the Modern World</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/">About.com Agnosticism / Atheism</a> on Friday, May 10th, 2013 at 12:00:10.</p><p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/10/personal-responsibility-and-morality-in-the-modern-world.htm">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/10/personal-responsibility-and-morality-in-the-modern-world.htm#gB3">Comment</a> | <a href="http://atheism.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/10/personal-responsibility-and-morality-in-the-modern-world.htm&#038;zItl=Personal Responsibility and Morality in the Modern World">Email this</a></p> http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/10/personal-responsibility-and-morality-in-the-modern-world.htm Fri, 10 May 2013 12:00:10 +0000 2013-05-10T12:00:10Z http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/10/audacity-of-godlessness.htm <div style="float:right; margin: 0 0 10px 10px" align="center"> <img height="180" width="180" style="margin-bottom:0px;" src="http://0.tqn.com/d/atheism/1/0/K/G/3/Audacity-180x.jpg" alt="Audacity" /> <br />_{Audacity<br />Photo: Tyler Stableford/Getty}</div> <p>Unless you're going to hide what you are and stay in the closet, being godless in many countries, including America, can require a great deal of audacity on your part. This is because godlessness requires setting aside all of the assumptions, traditions, and comforts provided by traditional religions. <p>It therefore means stepping out on your own, challenging those traditions in risky, insolent, and even disrespectful ways. <p><b>Read Article</b>: <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/od/godlesslivinginamerica/tp/Audacity-Godlessness-America.htm">Audacity of Godlessness</a> http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/10/audacity-of-godlessness.htm Fri, 10 May 2013 08:00:14 +0000 2013-05-10T08:00:14Z http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/09/should-atheists-be-politically-active.htm There isn't much in the way of explicit political activism on the part of open, godless atheists in America. There are no godless, atheistic political parties, for example. Why is ...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/09/should-atheists-be-politically-active.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://atheism.about.com/b/2013/05/09/should-atheists-be-politically-active.htm Thu, 09 May 2013 15:00:23 +0000 2013-05-09T15:00:23Z