Have you ever had a Christian tell you that you are the first atheist they've ever met? I've heard from some atheists that they have strong negative reactions to this. Some don't believe it could be true. I suppose that may depend on where they live. I have little doubt that it is often true for atheists where I live. Others complain that nobody would never say this to a member of another minority group. I'm not so sure about that, though. I've heard Christians where I live say the same thing to Jewish people at least a few times. Instead of expressing negative reactions, I'd consider two ot ..read more

I don't want to blame the mainstream news media in the United States for two terms of Donald Trump. Doing so requires a big shift in how I've viewed the news media for most of my life. I'd prefer to keep believing that they are on the side of the people, serving the public good. I'd like to continue to think that they have a vital role in speaking truth to power. I want to think that they give us the truth, even when our leaders would prefer we didn't have it. And yet, I haven't been able to escape the suspicion that the news media deserve some blame. After all, they've normalized Trump. Thei ..read more

I find it encouraging when people recognize that some aspects of their culture are dysfunctional. If the alternative is not recognizing it, I'll take recognition any day! Once we recognize that something may be harmful, we can do something about it. We could work to change it, of course, but this seems quite rare. Instead, we seem to prefer to harden people against some of its worst effects. This is better than nothing, but it often strikes me as an odd approach. This time of year is the perfect time to illustrate what I have in mind. Have you noticed the counter-programing intended to help ..read more

What is it about the 2024 U.S. presidential election that I'm still having a hard time coming to terms with? It isn't the outcome itself, as that did not surprise me. I figured that Trump would win. It was clear that the news media missed him and wanted him back in office. The surprise had more to do with how he won. This wasn't another case of wining the electoral college and losing the popular vote. He won both. What does it mean to win the popular vote even when it does not determine the outcome of an election? It means that more of the Americans who bothered to vote preferred the winner ..read more

Back before Elon Musk bought what was then called Twitter, I was a regular user. At one time, I had three separate accounts on the platform. I deleted one accounts because it was for a blog I had closed, but I continued to use the other two. I had about 1,300 followers on one and a little over 19,000 on the other. I enjoyed using these accounts to connect with others. When Musk took over, my use of Twitter plummeted. I didn't notice any big differences with the platform at first. My use dropped because I wasn't interested in doing anything that could support him in any way. I saw him bring ..read more

I find it helpful to remember that grief is a process, and everybody grieves in different ways. There isn't a "right way" to do it that will apply to everyone. There isn't a set time limit by which you should "get over it." Even the well-known stages of grief we hear about won't be relevant to every person. Whether you are grieving the loss of a family member, a valued relationship, or your country, you can do it your way. Give yourself permission to take the time you need. Seek support from others, or don't. It is okay not to be okay. And in the case of grief, not being okay shouldn't surpr ..read more

What do you think of when you hear the word wisdom? My mind goes right to learning from someone who has been there, someone with experience I lack. I recall how my elders tried to share their wisdom with me. I cringe when I remember that I wasn't always receptive. My arrogance led me to miss out on so many opportunities to learn! They are gone now, and I blew my chance to gain their wisdom. I'll share a question below from someone smart enough to seek this kind of wisdom. Questions like this are common from teenage atheists living with conservative Christian parents. If you spend any time on ..read more

Where I live makes me more pessimistic about many things than I'd otherwise be. I sometimes forget this. I then assume that the views I encounter in Mississippi are more representative than I hope they are. This has caused me the most trouble in two domains. The first involves secularism and the plight of atheists. The second is about the toxic form of Republicanism that now plagues our country (i.e., MAGA). Both are easy to understand. I live in a place where atheists are scarce and reviled. Evangelical fundamentalist Christianity is the norm. If there's a position of power, you best believ ..read more

Does alien life exist somewhere in the universe? Could be. I have no idea. And to be honest, I don't find this question to be all that interesting. Why? "Alien life" could refer to little more than single-cell organisms on a remote planet. Does sentient life exist somewhere in the universe? That is a more interesting question, but it still only takes us so far. The answer to this question might have little relevance to us. What we'd like to know is whether sentient alien life has visited our planet from theirs. Has this happened during our lifetimes? If so, does our government know about it ..read more

I am about to describe a hypothetical situation. I've based it (loosely) on something happening in one of the many hobby communities found on Reddit. Which one isn't relevant, and neither are the people involved. Something similar could happen to those of us involved in almost any hobby. I suspect that something similar has already happened to some of us, and I know it has for me. Imagine that there is a business and that you have bought items from them several times over the years. It could be a local shop or an online storefront. It is not a massive corporation but a small family-run busi ..read more