vjack › Comments

"I have a feeling you are already familiar with this, but I thought it might be helpful to readers: http://www.krages.com/phorigh..." - vjack

An effective summary on the imaginary war on Christmas. - vjack

"That is a great take on the Christmas story! And it sounds like you have a very smart son." - vjack

"It has gotten far worse since the 1980s because that was the beginning of the Christian extremists' rise to political power." - vjack

"Unfortunately, we have a large and very vocal group of Christian extremists over here who are trying to make Christmas into a celebration of the birth of their preferred deity. They condemn everyone who does not believe as they do. While we could dismiss this as little more than a fascinating mass delusion, they have vast political power to enforce their agenda. Thus, we ignore them at our own peril. I would estimate that the majority of Americans, while religious themselves, view Christmas much as you describe it in Sweden. However, few will admit that because of the social pressures to look like "a good Christian."" - vjack

Very thorough discussion of the pros and cons of parents encouraging their children to believe in Santa. - vjack

Great tips on finding atheist women and not scaring them away. - vjack

"What I have always liked about the idea of the draft is that it forces society to acknowledge and even participate in the real cost of war. However, I think reinstating the draft is widely (and accurately) viewed today as a rapid form of political suicide." - vjack

"Remember, Obama campaigned on Afghanistan being the right war, the one we should have been fighting all along. At the time, he advocated a reallocation of resources from Iraq to Afghanistan. But really, when I say that this is now Obama's war, I mean only that he recently took full ownership of it by selling it to the American people and now escalating it. In this way, it has become his war in a way that Iraq has not." - vjack

"Now it all makes sense. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and was living there until I moved to Mississippi. No wonder I still experience culture shock on a daily basis!" - vjack

"I've always figured that those of you who were in the military had a hell of a lot more important things to deal with than someone pushing their religion on you. Really a shame that the involvement of groups such as Americans United is necessary here. I'm just glad that they and others are willing to work on issues like this." - vjack

"Great point about the American Revolution. I was just thinking about that last night for some reason - the idea that nearly any country that was invaded would have "insurgents" (from the perspective of the invading force). Indeed, we were the insurgents in our own revolution." - vjack

"I like the new template, and I haven't had any delays with page loading. This is a very nice color scheme." - vjack

"I don't know if I'd necessarily lump him in with those atheist 3.0 folks. I think he's more "aggressive" (whatever that means) than he seems comfortable acknowledging sometimes. You bring up a good point about the atheists who call themselves "cultural Christians," including Richard Dawkins I believe. This has never made any sense to me." - vjack

"I always loved Fromm's "Escape From Freedom."" - vjack

"Yeah, I noticed that too. Of course, I think that some Christians would consider us "aggressive" simply for not believing as they do." - vjack

"Sounds like a good poll to crash, but the last thing I want to do is contribute to the traffic at Fox "News."" - vjack

"That is great news, Steve! Thanks for the update." - vjack

"And if that was what the sign said, I wonder if the same people who are suggesting that the issue isn't worth their time would feel the same way?" - vjack

"I won't go to Chick-Fil-A since I learned about them." - vjack

"Thank you! This is exactly why this is a problem." - vjack

"I don't see age listed among "race, color, religion, or national origin."" - vjack

"The only place I've seen it covered so far has been on Maddow." - vjack

"It is back but in a different location. It is right above the comments section now. While I liked the old placement better, I'm hoping to keep the layout a little less busy." - vjack

"The PTC is a perfect Christian organization: determined to tell everyone else how to live." - vjack

"Yeah, you've made your thoughts on the new template clear. I like it and find it a big improvement in usability over the old one, especially with regard to load speed. I'm not finished tweaking the appearance just yet, but my only real complaint is that the main post area is a bit narrow." - vjack

"I tend to think of it as being willing to consider where one might be wrong and to modify one's thinking accordingly." - vjack

"As frustrating as that must be, I think you'd have to agree that more dialogue is at least a step in the right direction. You are right that the illusory anonymity of the Internet has helped many to openly discuss atheism. I tend to think that this will produce many more articulate and thoughtful atheists who will go on to act. At least, that is my hope." - vjack

"I never suggested that we need atheist churches. And not all rituals are harmful. Think of the military or sports for examples of ritual and ceremony." - vjack

"The comment count now seems to be working, and I changed the font. I'll be continuing to play around with things a bit, but at least it appears to be working now." - vjack