Fowles on the obligation to be an atheist

In 1998, John Fowles (author of The Magus and The Aristos) was quoted in the New York Times Book Review as saying, "Being an atheist is a matter not of moral choice, but of human obligation."

(Source: WP)

Atheism in popular culture #271: "I need it to be real"

In Season One Episode 12 (2013) of the Netflix original series Orange Is the New Black", the character Piper Chapman is rebuffing another inmate who is pressuring her to concede to be baptized:

I believe in science. I believe in evolution. I believe in Nate Silver and Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Christopher Hitchens. (Although I do admit he could be a kind of an asshole.) 

I cannot get behind some supreme being who weighs in on the Tony awards while a million people get whacked with machetes. 

I don't believe a billion Indians are going to hell. I don't think we get cancer to learn life lessons, and I don't believe that people die young because God needs another angel. 

I think it's just bullshit, and on some level, I think we all know that, I mean, don't you?... 

Look, I understand that religion makes it easier to deal with all of the random shitty things that happen to us. And I wish I could get on that ride, I'm sure I would be happier. But I can't. Feelings aren't enough. I need it to be real 

QOTW: Atheists as waterfowl

From a March 2012 commentary in Reason by (former MTV VJ) Kennedy:

You can call atheism a belief system [...] or you can make a stronger assertion and say that atheists and theists, who have conveniently developed hate-tinged froth and vitriol for one another, are quacking and waddling in the same way in different ponds. Either way, they are ducks and atheism is a religion. At least it is in the hands of those who are so religious about their disbelief that they place the weight of the argument on the feathery shoulders of their believing brothers and sisters.

Quote of the Week #1

So my friends tell me about how their god talks to them, and they feel His presence inside them. I want to ask them, What? That's incredible! The creator of the UNIVERSE is literally INSIDE you? Did you shit your pants?!?"

A comment on the epistemic and existential mismatch between the scale of human experience and the purported scale of the Christian god, which I overheard new BA member Aaron S. at the other end of the table while about 25 of us enjoyed the Latin-themed brunch at Tavern in the Square this morning.