Having Religion Doesn't Always Mean Having Good Ethics. How Critical Thinkers Lose Their Faith in God. Why are some people more religious than others?
Answers to this question often focus on the role of culture or upbringing. While these influences are important, new research suggests that whether we believe may also have to do with how much we rely on intuition versus analytical thinking. In 2011 Amitai Shenhav, David Rand and Joshua Greene of Harvard University published a paper showing that people who have a tendency to rely on their intuition are more likely to believe in God. They also showed that encouraging people to think intuitively increased people’s belief in God. Building on these findings, in a recent paper published in Science, Will Gervais and Ara Norenzayan of the University of British Columbia found that encouraging people to think analytically reduced their tendency to believe in God. Gervais and Norenzayan’s research is based on the idea that we possess two different ways of thinking that are distinct yet related. One of the best atheism quotes ever!
An Atheist’s Credo. The Atheist-Monkey T-Shirt Company. Pastafarianism in the military. Here’s a guest post by Justin Griffith.
Justin is well known for his fight against the idea that “there are no Atheists in Foxholes”. He was recently profiled in the New York Times for his activism. A little while ago, news broke about a Pastafarian winning the right to wearing a pasta strainer on his head for his official driver’s license photograph *edit: it seems that there was no legal battle*. Coincidentally, around the same time, I got a few emails from the contributors to a Wikipedia article on Religious Symbols in the US Military asking if I would contribute a photograph of my Atheist dog tags. Shortly after I donated the photograph to Wikipedia, the photo was added to the Flying Spaghetti Monster entry as well. I actually have a few funny stories about FSM and the Army. Why the Flying Spaghetti Monster was bigger than Jesus in boot camp. There are strict rules about what non-military texts you can posses during boot camp. Drill Sergeant VS Flying Spaghetti Monster He smiled.
Develop-Their-Own-Opinions.jpg (JPEG Image, 550 × 762 pixels) The Diary Of Anne Frank: Mormon Heaven. It has come out that the Mormon church has yet again baptized Anne Frank after promising not to since it is horribly offensive and dumb.
Here’s their thought process as I see it. They baptized her, then did a take-back after Jews and Decent People raised a stink. Then they worried that God kicked Ms. Frank out of heaven since she was only a Mormon for a few years. They then colluded in private because if no one knows except a few Mormons, God lets you into heaven for eternity. You have to wonder who would want to worship such a deity. PS – Yes, that is Mitt’s dog.” Where knowledge ends, religion begins. Constitution.jpg (JPEG Image, 720x720 pixels) Defacing the Dollars. Atheist Wins Right to Wear "Religious Pasta Strainer" in ID Photo - Culture.
Austrian atheist Niko Alm supports the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a joke religion conjured up by atheists who say their make-believe stories are no better or worse than any traditional church's.
In 2008, to make a point about his faith's sanctity compared to others, Alm asked to wear a pasta strainer on his head for his driver's license photo. Austrian citizens are only allowed to wear headgear in state IDs for religious purposes, so Alm, a Spaghetti Monster "pastafarian," argued that a colander is his "religious headgear. " This week, after avoiding Alm for three years and even making him submit to a psychiatric examination, the Austrian government caved. Alm now has a valid Austrian drivers license, complete with colander. Score one for the freethinkers. Photo via Niko Alm and the BBC.