Atheist News Podcast 026: Thomas Effing Jefferson
“Thomas Effing Jefferson”
Episode twenty-six of the Atheist News Podcast has posted.
Texas keeps threatening to secede from the union, and at this point you wouldn’t catch me trying to talk them out of it. The Texas Board of Education has just voted to remove Thomas Jefferson from the state history curriculum.
Thomas.
F*cking.
Jefferson.
Don’t let the door hit you on the ass on the way out.
If you aren’t an American, you probably already know who Thomas Jefferson is and can skip ahead a bit, but for those of you educated aboard this sinking ship of a country I live in, Thomas Jefferson was a humanist and enlightenment thinker that penned the Declaration of Independence, the Jefferson Bible and served as a US congressman twice, was the second governor of Virginia, was the US Ambassador to France and aided the French Revolution, served as the first Secretary of State under George Washington, the second Vice President of the United States under John Adams and served as the third President of the United States during which time he bought the Louisiana Territory (which INCLUDED PARTS OF NORTHERN TEXAS, you fucking cocksuckers) from France, DOUBLING SIZE OF THE UNITED STATES. After that he founded the University of Virginia, which he designed himself.
And if after all that, if you still doubt he was a patriot, he DIED ON THE FOURTH OF JULY.
So, in honor of one of the most forward-thinking men in history, I have decided to against writing a summary for the Atheist News podcast this week. Rather, I would like to honor one of the greatest testaments to free-thought ever committed to paper: the US Declaration of Independence. I’m not going to post it in its entirety, in fact, I am not going to post anything from the actual Declaration; you can find that easily enough online (and if you haven’t read it, I strongly urge to you to so.) What I am going to do is post a snippet of Jefferson’s first draft of the Declaration that was so radical it was ultimately struck from the final draft by his peers in Congress, despite his protests.
So–without further ado–I give you Thomas Jefferson on King George III and slavery:
He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating
it’s most sacred rights of life & liberty in the persons of
a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying
them to slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable
death in their transportations thither. This piratical warfare,
the opprobrium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the Christian
king of Great Britain, determined to keep open a market where MEN
should be bought & sold
If you live in Texas and you aren’t a glossy-eyed revisionist historian, I strongly suggest that now is the time to invest yourself heavily in local politics.
Atheist News this week: this, this, this, this, this and this.
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Video: Mr Deity and Pseudoscience
This is a good one.
Take that Ken Hamm!
Also, Brian if your reading, I was about to send you an email suggesting the equation should be on a t-shirt. Glad it is! My order is coming soon.
Sam Harris TED Video: Science can answer moral questions
It’s been some time since we have heard from Cardinal Sam Harris. Well, now he’s back. Below is the video of his talk at this year’s TED.
From the TED site:
From the Questions of good and evil, right and wrong are commonly thought unanswerable by science. But Sam Harris argues that science can — and should — be an authority on moral issues, shaping human values and setting out what constitutes a good life.
Great stuff! In my opinion this is the next arena freethinkers must do battle with the religious. We truly do have the ethical high ground.
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Rep. King and Beck say health care bill is an affront to God
Forget all the philosophical and political discussion about whether the American government should reform the medical insurance industry. Glenn Beck and representative Steve King have another reason why the current health care bill should not pass. It is an “affront to God!”
Check out this YouTube video:
Wow! First, the Sabbath is on Saturday.
Second, zero of the founding fathers were Catholic. Therefore, Lent was meaningless to them.
Third, neither of these men should be take seriously. King is a creationist who believes the Earth is 6,000 years old, and Beck is follows a religion based on mythologies not even 200 years old and a conspiracy theorist.
Forth, see one, two, and three.
Brother Richard
(props: Atheist Media)
Video: Dan Ariel asks, Are we in control of our decisions?
When you’re hanging out with a bunch of skeptics, you can tell the alcohol starts kicking in when the freewill arguments begin. Like abortion and politics, people will never agree on the subject. This is why I love Hitchens’ answer to the question. “Of course we have freewill. We have no choice not to.”
In the below TED video, Dan Ariely does a great job explaining other factors that influences on our decisions.
Interview with Michael Middlebrooks about Florida Governor Charlie Crist
Last week, I brought to your attention the rumor circulating about atheist Michael Middlebrooks and his alleged confrontation with Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. In a special report of Atheist News, Joe and I had the opportunity to interview Middlebrooks to get his side of the story. We attempted to contact Governor Crist several times, but were unable to obtain a comment.
You can stream the episode here. Or listen to the two part YouTube version below:
Please join me in contacting Governor Crist’s office and other media outlets. At the very least, voters deserve to know how the Chief Executive of Florida feels about his non-theistic constituents. His office number is: (850) 488-7146. His email address is Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com.
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Atheist News Podcast 025: A prayer to Elmer, patron saint of lost socks
“A prayer to Elmer, patron saint of lost socks”
The twenty-fifth episode of the Atheist News Podcast has posted.
If someone wants to bother trying to explain the Holy Tri-Force to me–and they manage to convince me that three things can be three things and also be one thing at the same time–I’ll stop calling Catholics polytheists; until then they are out of luck. The saints and angels business doesn’t do much for your cause, I might add.
Polytheists or no, they are still jerks. Another thing that needs to be explained to me is what the hell orphans and spousally-abused women have to do with giving health care to the married partners of gay people. Or how giving health care to the married partners of gay people could possibly crack the $22 million dollar piggy bank that the District of Columbia gave the church. Just how many openly gay people is the Catholic Church employing these days? I wonder if they hire atheists, I could use some health care.
Speaking of Texas (like that segue?): they are plagued by a brand new tidal wave of stupid. If you are an atheist / skeptic / normal person and live anywhere near Amarillo, you should stake out the local army surplus store and ambush these goons with an impromptu theatrical performance of “Tear Me Down” from Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
Speaking of stupid goons (woah, this one actually made sense): if you live in Virginia, keep your eyes peeled for a van load of Christians handing out fliers blaming women for being raped. Yay ChrIslam.
Yet another anti-gay politician got busted courting mansex. I think Iago said it best.
I know it’s not particularly “atheist news” but you get two–not one–but TWO weeks of Jenny McCarthy News. Why? Because I am a sadist. But the biggest news of all is that apparently Richard likes his ladies a bit on the grotesque side. Who knew?
Last but not least, we did record an ATHEIST NEWS SPECIAL REPORT</reverb> interview with Michael Middlebrooks, the man that the governor of Florida allegedly spazzed out on for being an atheist. I am editing it now and it should be posted within a day or so.
The Governor was unavailable for comment.
Subscribe (FYI: it’s NSFW): [ iTunes | Zune | RSS ]
Stream the latest episode here.
Want to participate? Join the Atheist News Group.
Cartoon: Religious Tolerance
I would love to see one of these about atheists. Those tolerant of other religions feel the same way about us.
Brother Richard
(Props: Cyanide & Happiness)
Video: Mr. Deity and the Host
Mr. Deity finally takes on transubstantiation.
Good stuff! And you didn’t even have to get a degree in Biblical Studies like me to enjoy it.
Honoring atheism is overdue
Referring to the Secular Coalition of America’s meeting with White House officials, Rich Mayfield says on SummitDaily.com:
The time is long past to fully honor atheism as a viable understanding of reality and a philosophy that can provide meaning for engaging in a moral and productive life. The continuing prejudice against atheistic proponents is tantamount to racial bigotry, gender bias or homophobia. One hopes that more national leaders will come out of the theological closet and admit their religious reservations and resistance. Hopefully, last week’s meeting was a courageous first step in that process.
From your mouth to Darwin’s ears Rich!
