INFIDELIS MAXIMUS

I’m back

2007-12-17T02:43:00.000-06:00

’m back, but not really. In that sense, I guess Christians might assume that I’m “resurrected.” I’ve just stopped by to say that I probably won’t be back any time soon. The book isn’t done (it’s not about religion or philosophy, BTW, for those of you who’ve written asking. It doesn’t relate to this blog at all except that I happen to have written both of them. It’s my ninth book, and is about a

Stepping outside for a smoke

2007-09-15T23:14:00.000-05:00

or those of you who frequent this blog, this is just a little note to let you know that I’m stepping out for a smoke. Many of you know that I write professionally and that I have another book in the works. For some time, I’ve felt that I’ll likely never finish the book so long as my creative Jones is being satisfied by this blog. So, I’m putting the blog on hiatus for the next three months. I won

Is infidelity wrong?

2007-09-14T08:56:00.000-05:00

I once caught an Oprah show where a guy was hawking a book entitled, How to Cheat on Your Wife and Not Get Caught. Naturally, the book caused some controversy, especially given the audience. He had no sooner finished the interview with Winfrey than there was a line of women a mile long at the guest microphone, each with her hands planted firmly on her hips and mad as hell. He patiently endured

Atheism defined

2007-09-14T08:20:00.000-05:00

Religionists like to equate atheism to the same type of faith-based position that belief in God is. They often try to claim that it’s merely the flip side of the theism coin. But atheism is the complete absence of belief, not a negative belief based on similarly incomplete evidence. The distinction is subtle, but important. If believing in God is the equivalent of a positive account balance,

Suck it, Jesus

2007-09-14T08:09:00.000-05:00

My friend Temple Whore speculates that it was Kathy Griffin's “Suck it, Jesus” remark rather than what she said right before that: “...no one had less to do with this award than Jesus.” I’m sure she’s right. I’m sure that’s regarded as even more offensive. One question: if she’d said instead, “Suck it L. Ron Hubbard,” would that have been met with such outrage? What about, “Suck it, Krisha

Flimflamboyant Benny Hinn Exposed

2007-09-14T08:02:00.000-05:00

CBN' The Fifth Estate did a bang-up job recently of exposing con artist-cum-televangelist Benny Hinn. Check out the episode link here, which links the entire documentary.

Lady M.

2007-09-13T03:58:00.000-05:00

I was disappointed to learn today that my friend Lady M. has shut down her Bitchasaurus blog. She’s a past Site of the Week winner here on my blog and one of my favorites. One of the things I really liked was how she so adeptly mixed science with unbelief and a good pinch of humor. She has her reasons for doing this and will definitely be missed. In her honor, here’s a post that you might

So many Tuesdays ago

2007-09-11T18:29:00.000-05:00

It was a Tuesday morning, as regular a Tuesday as there’d ever been. I was getting ready for work, about to walk out the door and head for the office. I walked through the living room and saw the story breaking on TV: one of the World Trade Center towers had been hit by a plane. They didn’t know what kind of plane. They didn’t know if anyone was hurt. They didn’t

Religious censorship is alive and well

2007-09-11T14:11:00.000-05:00

In case you were wondering, religious censorship is alive and well in America. Witness Kathy Griffin, who won an Emmy for her show “My Life on the D-List” and had the temerity to say this in her taped acceptance speech: “…a lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus.” O the shame! The Academy of

Wife Spanking, Part Tres

2007-09-10T18:54:00.000-05:00

As Pagan has helpfully pointed out, there's more to this wife spanking business than may at first appear. Turns out Leah, one of the ladies whose blog I excerpted, actually markets CDD porn. She calls her novels, short stories, etc., CDD "romances." I call bullshit. Abuse and romance are fundamentally incompatible. As Pagan says, it's hard to pity her when she's making money from CDD, but

In defense of Larry Craig

2007-09-09T04:08:00.000-05:00

irst, let me begin by saying I don’t condone hypocrisy, and I’m well aware that Craig has voted right down the line with his fellow Republican hate mongers. Yes, I know it’s hypocritical to bash gays and be gay yourself, so he is, at the very least, a hypocrite. But let’s dig a little deeper, shall we? What did he do? He solicited sex in a public restroom. Evidently, the practice is to

Offbeat Sexuality

2007-09-09T03:51:00.000-05:00

I've been recently researching what I like to call "Offbeat Sexuality"--sexuality in (cultural) places you would not normally expect to find it, particularly those related to religion in some way (and, no, I don't mean in a men's restroom stall, Senator Craig). Two of my more interesting finds have been sex & witchcraft (thanks Temple Whore!) and sex & Mormonism. Who knew witches and Mormons

Four-Star General Blasts Bush Enemy Combatant Policy

2007-09-08T02:50:00.000-05:00

“It is amusing to recall that we fought the revolution in defense of the rights of man and the civil war to abolish slavery and have now gone back on both principles.” –George S. Patton, General (four-star), Army of the United States Patton was actually speaking of Eisenhower’s very similar “disarmed enemy forces” policy regarding German prisoners of war. Didn’t know about that one?

Site of the Week: Atheist Hussy

2007-09-08T01:37:00.000-05:00

his weeks' Site of the Week is Atheist Hussy, a creation of Intergalactic Hussy. I like AH because of the large variety of the media and the excellent quality of the articles. IH is evidently a graphic artist by day and does some great original artwork for the site. She also tracks down great articles and artwork elsewhere on the web and links them on her site for those of us who are too lazy

Evening shadows grow long for Shrub

2007-09-08T01:27:00.000-05:00

Yippee! We're finally down to less than 500 days left for Shrub. 499 days from now someone else will be in the White House, and it will almost certainly be an improvement. See the Bush countdown in the right pane, along with the daily Bushism, if you want to start counting the days yourself.

Bob Price's New Essay

2007-09-07T16:59:00.000-05:00

Bob Price sent out a nicely-done essay entitled, "Invisible Empire" for the September edition of his Zarathustra Speaks column. Bob, as you may recall, was featured in Brian Flemming's movie, The God Who Wasn't There. In the essay, he mentions his initial discomfort while watching the 'confrontation with the schoolmaster' scene (as I like to call it), then goes on to say that he has changed his

Secret Verses: Am I Not Thine Ass?

2007-09-07T16:40:00.000-05:00

You probably thought Jim Carrey invented the notion of an ass talking, but not so. It actually comes from the Bible. Here’s the passage: 20 And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do. 21 And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the

Tagged, this is it

2007-09-06T13:52:00.000-05:00

I got tagged again, and, rather than pay specific attention to the tag, here are ten random facts about me. As I’ve said before, I don’t like these tag things, and this is definitely it. I won’t be doing it again. I doubt anyone really cares to hear random stuff about me anyway, so this is definitely the last time I’ll clog my blog with it :-) I have fought a severe addiction to caffeine for

Late August

2007-09-02T01:06:00.000-05:00

A little recap of my adventures Friday night: It’s late August, and my son and I are zipping around Dallas with the T-tops out and the windows down. Every time we drive the sports car, he pesters me to take the tops out and turn the radio up, and tonight I oblige him. We’ve just left the Landmark Theatre where we caught the Dallas opening of The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, one of

Reagan Remembered

2007-08-31T15:37:00.000-05:00

Republicans look back wistfully at Ronald Reagan—a two-term president with coattails long enough to carry nondescript George “I wanna be president” Bush into the White House. They miss the days of an administration with simple problems and even simpler answers and the seeming adherence to Republican ideals like moral superiority and tax relief, meanwhile running up the national debt and running

Today's question: What does Europe think?

2007-08-31T12:52:00.000-05:00

I'm starting a new feature today entitled, "Today's question." It will be a simple question designed to foster discussion. Today's is: If the average New England Yankee views Texas as an oafish bastion of right-wing, redneck ignorance--a danger to its neighbors and to civil liberties in general--and if America is currently dominated and governed by such people, what does Europe think about

A Toast to Curvy Women

2007-08-25T17:03:00.000-05:00

I watched a documentary last night on the extras DVD that came with the latest Bond movie (Casino Royale—the one starring Daniel Craig). BTW, before I forget, this might be a decent movie, but Craig is no Sean Connery, Roger Moore, or even Pierce Brosnan—the guys who I think portrayed Bond best. What they did was try to reinvent the Bond genre by copying the Bourne movies. Yes, Craig is good

Still paying for Watergate

2007-08-25T02:36:00.000-05:00

Here's some food for thought for you. Is the Watergate scandal of the 70s part of the reason the country's in the awful shape it's in today? Work with me here. Jimmy Carter readily admits that he'd never have gotten into the White House were it not for Watergate. Conventional wisdom says that the problem with Jimmy was that he was a good man, but not such a good president. Another way to

More on Michael Vick

2007-08-24T19:21:00.000-05:00

Turns out my post questioning whether Michael Vick's dalliance with dog fighting was prison-worthy has ruffled some feathers. I got a particularly vitriolic note today about it from a fellow who calls himself Hound Doggy. He's up in arms about the "laws of decency" Vick violated. Yes, I know one man's law is another's crime, and I know Brian Flemming will have a good laugh at my expense after

Telling someone off

2007-08-23T15:31:00.000-05:00

How do atheists tell people off? Do you tell them to go to hell, a place you don’t even believe exists? Do you say “goddamn you?” Swear words, cursing, and religion have always been closely intertwined, so this is a valid line of inquiry for a nonbeliever. Sometimes you just want to tell someone off—do you use the same old tried-and-true religion-based curses and swear words? Do you ape