First Atheist Church of Portland

01/08/2023

https://youtu.be/khzKFgi-JC0

A doctor specializing in obesity and a man who lost 280 pounds talk about how to lose weight and keep it off. Dr. Richa Mittal joins “The Weight Loss Champio...

04/20/2014

Announcing that First Atheist Church of Portland is now under the care of Rev. Cheryl Ann Lewis. Find my introduction here: http://portland.firstchurchofatheism.org/

A First Church of Atheism Chapter

04/02/2014

A weekly tradition since the initial airing of Cosmos has been that it has taken a political, anti-Christian bent this time around, and what a shame that such a beautiful series be defiled the second time around by an anti-theist agenda.

However, the original Cosmos series made many of the same critiques of the effect religion has on science. The reason that Christians didn't take offense was because they saw the series when they were younger and open to ideas, and had not been fueled with rage of their perceived persecution complex. Children who watch Neil deGrasse Tyson in this decade will see it with the same open curiosity that these angry Christians viewed the original with 25 years ago. And perhaps that is exactly what the Christians are so afraid of.

I take no responsibility for the ridiculous intro splash screen.

Carl Sagan talks about God, creation, and the universe. Check out my blog http://www.angryatheist.net Thanks for watching

03/18/2014

This morning, predictably, the anti-science community came out with numerous critiques to the news yesterday that the Big Bang Theory has now been proven beyond all doubt. But here's the thing: none of their protests matter. They have contributed nothing. In the meantime, science has contributed new information to mankind as majestic as the universe itself.

03/11/2014

As an atheist, I would have to answer that no, Christians should not be nice. There's a reason that atheists stopped being "nice"—because any time atheists try to bring up real problems in the world that we believe are being made worse by religion, we get hit with a backlash of needing "religious sensitivity" and "respecting other people's beliefs." Over the past 30 years, that grew to mean that atheists were not allowed to speak at all, because us merely speaking was considered "offensive" to religious people. Eventually atheists said enough—that behavior of getting upset any time anyone disagrees with you is called entitlement, and it's one of the most reprehensible traits a person can have. And that's exactly how we described it.

What atheists want is conversation. And that means allowing the other side to talk as well. Just like there are overly sensitive Christians, there are overly sensitive atheists. So ignore them. They're calling you mean because they don't want to have to defend what they believe. They don't want to compromise. Fine. Sometimes we need to have conversations like adults, and that means sometimes feelings are going to get hurt.

While Christians are trying to be 'nice', atheists freely mock them and their faith

03/05/2014

From Rev. Parker:

Last week, I announced that I would no longer be running the Portland chapter of the First Church of Atheism. I am happy to announce that a new Reverend has volunteered to take over, so you can expect a transition soon. I am optimistic that the First Church of Atheism will continue to grow and expand and I will continue to serve as one of their nearly 9,000 ministers across the country. I still think First Church of Atheism is an incredible organization, and my decision was based purely on the fact that I am focusing less on online endeavors (and firstchurchofatheism.org as it currently stands is an entirely online entity) and focusing more on community partnerships.

It's been an exciting six months, and I can assure you that the atheist and humanist communities of Portland will still see me around town. I encourage anyone who wishes to remain in touch to like my public page at R Bonwell Parker, where I am still very active.

Regards,
R

02/28/2014

There are a lot of atheists who really, really hate the Creation Museum in Kentucky, but I don't see the concern. This is a theme park that has a national reputation, and yet it has only had 2 million visitors since 2007, many of whom likely see it as a weird novelty.

Compare that to the Enchanted Forest here in Oregon, which many Oregonians don't even know about, yet they have far more visitors than the Creation Museum and is fifteen times the size and scope. True, Ken Hamm and his employees think they're actually a museum, but I'm doubtful that many of his patrons do, and if they do, it's not because they view Ken Hamm as an authority.

I'd love to visit the Creation Museum one day. Just as I love walking through Grimm Village in Enchanted Forest and watching Rapunzel be acted out, I'd be interested in seeing the Ark from the story of Genesis and seeing what life might look like if mankind had existed with the dinosaurs.

Museum founder Ken Ham said high-profile evolution debate he had with ‘Science Guy’ Bill Nye helped boost support for the project

02/15/2014

I've long maintained that if there must be anti-intellectualism, the best kind is self-punishing. Allowing fundamentalist creationists to spend Biology class in the study hall would actually serve to pique young childrens' curiosity, and at the same time allow the children who want to be educated to receive the education that the Constitution requires the schools to make available to them. I approve of this measure.

First up is a look at efforts to undermine biology education, including a new parental-notification proposal that would be the first in the nation.

02/04/2014

Today is the big day. Many people on both sides of the issue have been very vocal about the politics of this debate, but one thing is undeniable—these two men are probably the perfect choices to engage in a debate. Their backgrounds are in young education... they are both very skilled in arguing their side in a way that anyone, be they a 5 year old or a 50 year old, can understand.

This will be an incredible opportunity for a subject matter that is usually handled by angry activists and highfalutin academics to reach a much wider audience. I know that many of us, from the most ideological creationists to the most adamant atheists, will be holding watching parties across the country to witness this debate.

Bill Nye, "the science guy," and Creation Museum founder Ken Ham will challenge each other's views.

01/25/2014

QOTD: "Say you have a few drinks. You go up to your room with someone, you get into some crazy s*x stuff, you've got your duck outfit on, you're doing whatever you're doing, and someone walks in. You both look completely shocked and embarrassed. But you're not embarrassed because of what you were doing; you already knew you were doing that, but the moment that there's an observer you immediately realize what a ridiculous thing you're doing.

That's what you need to understand about fundamentalism—it already knows it's not right. And when a preacher says 'if your child is sick, you can pray and he'll be better,' everyone listening will know, 'yeah, unless it's really bad, and then you call a doctor.' It's a strangely functioning system: their belief is actually supported by their unbelief, because they know the unbelief is there to keep them safe." —Peter Rollins

01/16/2014

It's often difficult for me to watch religion "debates" because the debaters are rarely honest in their approach, which is to say that neither side is trying to find some sort of common awareness, but rather attempting to score points against the other side. As a result it's often abrasive and just a bummer to watch. But if one side is going to practice entirely feigned outrage and deepities, what do you do?

One person I love to listen to debate is Sam Harris. He's not actually one of my favorite speakers, but in debates, he's very, very good at raising real, substantive issues, but doing so in a way that is approachable and easy to listen to. Here's a great video of some of his best remarks. Enjoy.

Best of Sam Harris Amazing Arguments And Clever Comebacks. You can also visit our page or Youtube channel at: https://www.facebook.com/AgAtAnFoundat...

01/16/2014

Sorry for anyone looking for new posts on the FCA website - there are some technical problems preventing us from posting new entries.