Burning Hot Links

Daisy gives you an internet tour in unbelief.

Aida and I have thrown around one or two new ideas for Hex and the City as we’re changing seasons.  We’ll still do the Sunday Zen with a photo and quote, but now Saturday has its own theme as well.  Each Saturday, we’ll pick a topic and share a few of our favorites.  Lots of topics to choose from:  real food, herbalism, homesteading, gardening, animal care, feminism, atheism, unschooling, healing, simplicity and whatever else inspires us on any given weekend.

Today let’s start right at A with atheism.  If the term atheist bothers you, substitute whatever words you feel more comfortable with, such as bright, freethinker, secular humanist or non-believer.  Whatever you call it, there are millions of people throughout the world who don’t believe in gods (for reasons as varied as the people themselves).  If you count yourself among those who don’t hear the voices of gods, then I hope you find humor, insight and inspiration in these websites.  If you count yourself among the believers, be warned that you may find your faith mocked or derided.  The Herban Cowgirls don’t necessarily endorse all the opinions you’ll encounter on these webpages, nor the manner in which these opinions are conveyed.  It may be worth a look, though, if only to get a glimpse inside the minds and hearts of a few skeptics and heretics.  I stayed away from some of the more obvious or famous like Dr. Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens, going instead with lesser known (but more entertaining) websites.

Kissing Hank’s Ass (by the Reverend Jim Huber)

This is a fun one to start with.  This guy only updates his site every year or so, but what he’s got there is gold.  This link will take you directly to one of his pamphlets, entitled “Kissing Hank’s Ass.”  If you love Hank, look around the Reverend’s site for more.  Essays, stories, pamphlets, and a list of “Questions For Bible Thumpers” that had me crying and screaming, “Oh no he DI-int!”

http://www.jhuger.com/kisshank

Normal Bob Smith

Normal Bob is a free-lance artist and evangelical atheist living in New York City.  He started his web page about 10 years ago with a game he calls Jesus Dress Up.  It’s a paper doll of a cartoon crucified Jesus, with different outfits you can dress him up in.  He now boasts several different versions that you can order as refrigerator magnets (there’s even a Mohammed Dress Up!).  You can get lost on his site between the games, the comics, and the Amazing Strangers of Union Square, but the icing on the cake is the hate mail.  He has posted over 400 pages of hate mail (with his responses) from Christians, Muslims, Jews, Pagans, Agnostics and even fellow atheists!  Warning:  this site is not for the easily offended.

http://normalbobsmith.com/

God Is Imaginary

This website is serious in tone, so I don’t go there often, but it’s a fascinating source of philosophical and logical “proofs” of god’s non-existence.  Don’t bother with the videos, they’re heavy handed and boring (religion is EVIL-blah blah blah), stick with the links to the proofs.  I found a few questions there I’d always wondered about, as well as a few head-scratchers that had never occurred to me.  Read through them and question what you believe and why.  You may discover something new about yourself (always exciting!).  My favorite question on the site:  “Why won’t God heal amputees?”

http://godisimaginary.com/

The Skeptics Annotated Bible

This site is amazing.  It’s the entire Christian Bible, footnoted and commented on by a non-believer.  In addition to the biblical text, there are pages that catalog bible verses into sections:  family values, good stuff, absurdities, violence, sex, women, contradictions and homosexuality.  There are pages devoted to questions like “Does God know everything?” with biblical quotes to back up both the yes and no answers.  The guy who does the site includes links to Christian sites that refute his work, and he’s even working on a Skeptic’s Quran and the Book of Mormon.  When my mom talks to me about bible verses, here is where I look them up. 

http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/

George Carlin

And finally, this isn’t George Carlin’s website, it’s just a YouTube video of his “Religion is Bullsh*t” bit.  Rated R for foul language, of course — this is Carlin we’re talking about.  This piece is angry, sincere and hilarious.  I miss George Carlin.  He was a heckuva funny guy, and as godless an atheist as the day he was born (of course, his parents made him be Catholic for a while, but he got out as soon as he could).  I thought I’d end the atheist link post with some comedy.  It’s just how I roll. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RT6rL2UroE