Another day in Missouri

[rug]

Atheists meet for region's largest conference

11:00 PM, Nov. 19, 2011

Springfield may sometimes be called the buckle of the Bible Belt, but hundreds of atheists are making themselves right at home here this weekend.

They're gathering downtown at the Gillioz Theatre for what's billed as Skepticon IV, the largest skeptic conference in the Midwest. About 1,100 people are expected to be at the event, including people from as far away as Hawaii, Florida and California.

Like any convention of like-minded people, be it accountants or investigative reporters, there's lots of socializing and schmoozing.

"You meet people, and they're immediately like the best friends you've ever had and you meet them for a weekend," said Sarah Hargreaves, president of the Kansas City Atheist Coalition.

http://www.news-leader.com/article/20111120/NEWS01/111200359/Skepticon-IV-atheists?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CSpecial%20Reports%7Cp



Chumbley: Pray for atheists, selfish politicians

11:00 PM, Nov. 19, 2011

Believers in God, please pray for atheists when you pass their billboards on I-44 and when you read about their latest machinations in Washington, D.C., and Jefferson City.

Atheism is on the rise. I know a little about the subject. I flirted with atheism in college, but ended up falling in love with agnosticism, for a time.

Atheism is to believe in not believing. It is to have faith in the proposition that there is nothing to have faith in, excepting reason or science or some philosophy, like that of Ayn Rand, from whose "Fountainhead" many drink today, including politicians. Atheism is to believe that there is no evidence for God, only evidence against God's existence.

Today, celebrated atheists Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens have become wealthy observing that people have done terrible things in the name of God, that human tragedies and natural disasters happen frequently, that science, not the supernatural, adequately explains natural phenomena.

http://www.news-leader.com/article/20111120/OPINIONS02/111200333/Christ-Episcopal-Church-atheists-politicians-atheism-faith?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7COpinio

[darkstar3]

1. Not so much. I was there for a very long time, and that first story is a rarity.

[RC]

2. I started questioning when I was 7 years old.

And we,as a family, went to church every Sunday. It didn't make sense then and even less now.

If there was something to this, then why are there so many different religions and sect of each?

[rug]

3. Why do two people who love each other become bitter enemies?

It's human nature.