Forum Discussion: Five Awful Atheists?

Ian Murphy's article 'The 5 Most Awful Atheists' is getting a lot of attention -- more than it should, probably. He has no demonstrated knowledge or understanding of atheism; all his recent work seems involving whining about 'awful' people. So why does anyone take Ian Murphy's opinions seriously?

Just as important is the fact that he has nothing new or original to say. Not even the concept is original: whining about prominent atheists being "awful" because they are "rude" or "militant" for daring to speak out is a popular tactic among those who don't want to see religion subjected to the same standards of criticism and debate as every other ideology.

It's a tactic of cowards and Ian Murphy fits right in: nowhere in his article does he directly and substantively engage the any of the arguments of the people he complains as being "awful." He rarely even quotes them directly -- he just alludes to what they have said that is supposed to be "awful." This is not the behavior of a serious, informed, or respect-worthy person.
A forum member writes:

Sure, I disagree with all of those people on some issues. But them I pretty much disagree with everyone here on different issues from time to time.

The assumption here seems to be that when a well known atheist makes a comment about something other than atheism that he or she is either making these statement as a spokesperson for atheism, or because of their atheism. And that simply isn't the case, even if they want to compare their decision making process on those issues to their decision making process that led to their atheism.

The point I agree with is that not everyone is an atheist for rational reasons, and being an atheist doesn't make a person inherently rational in all areas. In fact I don't think I have ever meet anyone who is completely rational in every area at all times.

I don't agree with the Libertarian approach, but I still like Penn. Maher is a blowhard, but I do find him funny often enough to enjoy his rants. They are all idiots at times. That makes them pretty much just like everyone else. Take them to task for the individual stupid things they say. That's good. But the article wants to make every stupid thing they say be related somehow to them being atheists, and that's just stupid.

Tony is making some important points here -- points that are completely lost on people like Ian Murphy. Since atheism isn't any sort of ideology, philosophy, religion, or worldview, there's hardly anything that a person can say or do that can be attributable to atheism in any way.

However rude, obnoxious, or even hateful some random atheist may be, it's not making them a "bad" atheist, just a bad person. It's this fact that atheism is more an attribute than an ideology which so many people have trouble comprehending. A person's atheism isn't any more a direct cause of their behavior than their being tall or blonde.

The same can't be said for actual ideologies, religions, and belief systems. A person doing awful things in the name of or in the context of an ideology can be described as a "bad" member of that movement (in addition to being a bad person, of course). You can have awful libertarians, bad communists, evil Christians, and hateful Muslims.

I have to wonder: if Ian Murphy keeps encountering "awful" people everywhere he looks, maybe should stop and take look in the mirror? After all, he is the one thing that's consistent in all those situations.

 

Beware of Bad Barbecue - How To Avoid Cooking Awful Smoked Meats

Warning--There is a lot of bad barbecue out there. Good people drying out ribs! Your neighbor burning another chicken! Here are a few tips so you can avoid bad barbecue.

• Get yourself a real barbecue smoker. If you want to make real smoke barbecue, you are going to need a real barbecue smoker. There are plenty of them available on-line or at your local big-box home improvement store. Even WalMart sells barbecue smokers. There are a few different types to choose from, and different fuels to burn, but they will all turn out good barbecue if used properly. Find a good resource book at the local library, or check out many of the e-books available on line to determine what type of smoker is right for you. You can find an inexpensive smoker for around $100 that will do the job, or you can get yourself a super-deluxe model for thousands of dollars if you need that! Bottom line, you can't smoke barbecue without a barbecue smoker.
• Learn to cook "Low and Slow." The secret to turning out excellent barbecue is to cook the meat in a smoker at a very low heat for a long time. This is what is referred to as "low and slow." Using this method, ribs will take about 4-5 hours, a pork shoulder will take 8-10 hours, a chicken will take about 2 hours and a beef brisket will take approximately 12-14 hours.
• Season your meat. All good barbecue is seasoned prior to cooking with what is call a "Spice Rub" or "Barbecue Rub" or most commonly, just a "Rub". This is a blend of spices that is liberally applied to the meat and "rubbed" into the meat, prior to cooking, usually a few hours before it goes into the smoker. There are as many barbecue spice rub recipes as there are people cooking barbecue! Find yourself a good barbecue book, or an e-book product for a recipe to help you get started with a good rub recipe that you can call your own.
• If using sauce, only apply at the very end of the cooking process. Many (most) barbecue pit-masters make their own sauce to slather on their meat. Like a barbecue rub, there are thousands of different recipes for barbecue sauces. Again, get yourself a good barbecue cookbook, or e-book for various barbecue sauce recipes. Experiment until you create what will become your own special blend. Most barbecue sauce contains a lot of sugar. Sugar burns easily when subjected to heat. If you do not want burnt barbecue, only apply the sauce during the last stage of the cooking process, when the fire is really low. Liberally brush on the sauce the last few minutes of cooking, serve some on the side with the meat, and serve up your barbecue.

By following these four simple tips, you can avoid serving and eating awful barbecue. Life is to short to subject yourself and friends to bad barbecue, when it is so easy to turn out the real deal, tender, moist and smokey.