108th Carnival of the Godless: New Years Edition

Here it is, a brand new revolution of the Earth around our star and a brand new edition of the Carnival of the Godless. For a lot of people, the new year represents a new beginning; a time to reminisce about the year past and ruminate on the next year before us. I, myself, am not immune to this and have been pondering what I can do to make this tiny mudball flying through space a better place during its next pass around Sol. One thing that I became acutely aware of in 2008 is the continued need for atheists to make our collective voices heard and ensure that our rights aren't trampled under the feet (or attempted legislation) of the religious-right in their attempts to implement a theocracy in the name of democracy.

So here are some of your godless voices, crying out in the wilderness, trying to make the world a better place for you and me (did that sound too sappy? I thought it sounded sappy).

Following in that vein, Mark has an admonition for us all in the new year: It?s 2009...Get Real! posted at Proud Atheists.

Christmas Remembrances

Another Christmas has passed, apparently surviving the war that we atheists have waged upon it. In the aftermath of the latest skirmish, it's a good time to reminisce on the good times and the true meaning of Christmas.

larryniven presents The Christmas follies posted at Rust Belt Philosophy, saying, "I guess it's a bit late, but here's some interesting claims about Christmas, made by the kind of Christians we typically pick fights with."

Ponzo Simonetz presents ponzo reads the bible - war on christmas special posted at Open Threat, saying, "I suppose I shouldn't have waited until Dec. 25 for this post, since everyone stops paying attention on Dec. 26. Regardless, I decided to do a "War on Christmas" entry in my "Ponzo Reads the Bible" series, in which I try to tie together the long tradition of winter solstice celebrations, what the Bible has to say (or not) on the matter, and the perennial right-wing tradition of complaining about it. I think it came off well. Maybe a bit late for Jan. 11, but you might think it worthy of notice."

Why sure, Ponzo, I find it worthy of notice. I'm glad that someone is reading the bible, 'cause way too many people out there haven't, yet proclaim to be supporting "biblical" principles.

Newbie Atheist presents The True Meaning Of Christ-mass posted at Last Trumpet Ministries, saying, "(Since it's not actually a "blog", this may not be appropriate for the carnival but have a look)

The True Meaning Of Christ-Mass

This is a bit late, but this post on an Evangelical Christian site is the most scathing attack on Christmas I've ever read. Bill O'Reilly should worry about these guys."

There's a lot of things that Bill-O needs to worry about.

Where religion has gone wrong

You know it; I know it. Religion has some serious flaws. Discussing those flaws, pointing out the inherent inaccuracies, contradictions and general delusions built into the very fabric of religion is a critical part of our godless journey. The following posts point out a number of the problem areas within and around religion.

Magdalune brings us A Child-Like Faith posted at Sowing Seeds in Winter. "Magdalune criticizes the assumption that a biblically-supported "child-like faith" should be the ideal."

I like this next guy; nice and subtle. Kinda reminds me of me!

No More Mr. Nice Guy! presents The pope is a dope - NMMNG posted at No More Mr. Nice Guy!, saying, "The Vatican continues to show what a clueless, cobwebbed anachronism it is."

vjack always has insightful things to say, as exemplified by his responses to Common Absurdities Atheists Hear From Christians posted at Atheist Revolution.

James presents What Must We Do To Be Saved? | anatheist.net posted at AnAtheist.Net, saying, "This post, written by a friend of mine, I feel is well researched, written in an engaging style, and most importantly, gets right to the heart of a major problem with Christianity."

Barry Leiba presents One nation, under...? posted at Staring At Empty Pages

Ajita Kamal presents Nirmukta Exclusive: Interview with Daniel Dennett. posted at Nirmukta, saying, "I had the chance to interview the great Daniel Dennett, author of Breaking the Spell, Religion as a Natural Phenomenon."

Atheist Optimism

That we atheists have hope and optimism often comes as a surprise to those unfamiliar with atheism in general. But godlessness ≠ hopelessness. Here are a couple of entries showing the more positive face of atheism.

Mike White presents A Humanistic Outlook posted at Life According to Mike White.

Tree Dreamer presents Beautiful Atheism posted at Tree Dreamer.

I really went back and forth about whether to include this next post. The guidelines for the carnival clearly state "The post you send in must be from a godless perspective..." and this post doesn't quite come from the godless perspective. But then I figured that, since they went to all the trouble to submit it and bring it to our collective attention, we should read the post and let our love flow freely.

Ariel Bravy presents Spiritual Truth is Experiential, Not a Belief System | You Are Truly Loved posted at You Are Truly Loved.

Take a stab at it. Just because we're godless doesn't mean we can't have a little fun. And don't forget to do the thymus thump while you're at it!

Current Events

Many events occur that are of direct interest to the godless community. Part of our job is to make sure that our opinions are known. Even if we don't all agree, having a discussion about what's going on in the world is invaluable.

Steve Snyder/SocraticGadfly presents Atheists sue over 'so help me God' - misinformed on Constitution posted at SocraticGadfly, saying, "My skeptical atheist's take on Newdow/FFRF suing to stop the inaugural oath, invocation, etc."

Michael Meadon presents God & Africa posted at Ionian Enchantment, saying, "A piece responding to a Times article suggesting that what Africa really needs is God."

Atheist Movement

We are growing larger, louder and more obvious to the rest of the world. Talking about atheism as a movement, as a collection of individuals greater than the sum of its parts, can only be a good thing. Here are a couple of meta-discussions on atheism in general.

Greta Christina presents How Can Atheists Be Good Allies? posted at Greta Christina's Blog, saying, "A couple weeks ago, I wrote a piece about how progressive, non- atheist groups can be good allies with the atheist movement. This is the flip side: How can atheists BE good allies?"

I always enjoy Ms. Christina's writings and I especially enjoyed this series she did on atheists and allies.

Tree Dreamer presents On Befriending the Ex-Muslim posted at Tree Dreamer, saying, "Mathurine is a guest poster on my blog. I am submitting this on her behalf. The post is about atheists befriending and supporting ex-Muslims who are now agnostic and atheist."

Dissecting Belief

A large part of our job as godless bloggers is to take apart and critically analyze the belief of others (and ourselves. Introspection is good!). Sometimes that means scientifically breaking down an argument and pointing out its logical flaws. Other times it just means a good rant.

Andrew Bernardin presents A Supernatural Assumption posted at The Evolving Mind.

ben presents Church Of The Eternal Return posted at Head Wide Open.

Tom Stelene presents Prager Smears Secularism posted at The Imaginary Philosophy.

Roast Beef Vag presents Attention Monster Families!!! posted at Roast Beef Vag.

As a computer programmer by profession, this next post struck me as quite beautiful
Brian Jay Stanley presents The Atheism of Computers posted at Aphorisms and Paradoxes.

And to sum up the past year, Ron Gold presents The 2008 Invisible Pink Unicorn Awards posted at The Invisible Pink Unicorn

I hope you enjoyed this New Year's journey through the world of the godless. It has been my great pleasure to host this event and to be exposed to a number of bloggers that I hadn't read before, as well as some old favorites. Please make sure they know that their efforts are appreciated by visiting the links and leaving a comment. Even if you don't agree, commenting and discussion are vital parts of the blogosphere and your participation as a reader is critical.

Cheers!

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