On the American Atheists’ "skip church" billboard campaign.

Deep in the heart of superstition ...

American Atheists launch provocative campaign in religious Deep South, by Peter Foster (The Telegraph)

Advertising hoardings show a young girl writing a letter to Father Christmas: "Dear Santa, All I want for Christmas is to skip church! I'm too old for fairy tales."

Counterpoint: Billboards are a waste of money, anyway.

American Atheists’ Billboard Campaign is Misguided, by Steve Neumann (Patheos)

While I admire American Atheists’ chutzpah for operating deep in hostile territory, I think their strategy is misguided. This Christmas season they are showing billboards in the Bible Belt with little children saying things like “Dear Santa, All I want for Christmas is to skip church! I’m too old for fairy tales.” I don’t think this is the best use of their resources, for several reasons.

My conclusion: Polemics never got anywhere by being meek and self-effacing, and we'll have to break a few eggs to halt the encroachment of theocracy in America.

Easter reading 2: An atheist gathering deep in the heart of Mormon.

Who knew we had an association?

I mean, one of the best parts of being an atheist is not having to belong to anything, or to articulate a "positive" approach in the sense of evangelizing nothingness.

As I've noted previously in this space:

Why must an atheist (like me) be compelled to articulate a “positive” approach, when atheism at root merely describes the absence of belief in unseeable, unknowable and unprovable supreme beings?

Negation is inevitable in the sense of my being without personal belief in phantasmogoria. When any such solid evidence in support of a deist's perspective should appear, I'm ready to consider it. Until then, there is nothing.

It is superfluous for either deist or atheist to imply that atheism must present a “positive” platform or doctrine. Supernaturally speaking, nothing from nothing equals nothing. Unlike religion's confusing and contradictory directives, we as atheists needn't flail ineffectually in the search for something that can be artificially tied to supernatural sanction as stated by scatter-shot "holy" books.

But atheists the new Mormons? Er, no thanks. I'll stay an indie, thank you very much.

Are Atheists the New Mormons?, by Michael Schulson (The Daily Beast)

Atheists are holding their annual convention in Salt Lake City, but things have been surprisingly cordial. Maybe these uniquely American groups have more in common than they think.

It’s a bit like holding the Republican National Convention in Berkeley: This weekend, the American Atheists are gathering in Salt Lake City for their annual conclave. Attendees can hear a keynote speech by outspoken former Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, attend workshops with titles like “So you want to debate Christians?” and mingle during a karaoke night and a costume dinner.