Show notes are below the fold:

Just in case you’d like to go there, here’s the website for the University of St. Catherine.

The Veiled Woman is a sculpture at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

More info about Andrew Ryan from Bioshock.

Here’s a definition of the word “aesthetic” from Dictionary.com:

For more information on the Minnesota House vote for marriage equality, here’s a good article.

Nick and Molly’s Representative, Jennifer Loon, was one of four Republicans who voted to support same-sex marriage.

On Monday, The Minnesota Senate approved same-sex marriage.

Governor Dayton signed the bill into law on the 14th, making Minnesota the 12th state in the Union to legalize same-sex marriage. Go Minnesota!

The IMDB page for Eric’s film, Trollhunter.

More info about Perrin Aybara from the Wheel of Time series.

From The Friendly Atheist, an image showing states where atheists are prohibited from holding public office:

May 14th – Atheism and Politics

Eric Jacobson won the right to be a guest on our podcast at the Fearless Comedy silent auction in January!  The topic of his choosing is atheism and politics.  Given the current role of atheism in American politics, this could be the shortest podcast we’ve ever recorded.

May 21st – Aesthetics

Molly will let us know how she got kicked out of a college classroom for arguing about aesthetics.  This promises to be a serious episode about what is beautiful and whether or not god has anything to do with determining such things.  Spoiler: We don’t think god has anything to do with it.

May 28th – Greta Christina

Recorded at the Skep-Tech conference, we talk with Greta about her book “Why Are You Atheists So Angry?”  Greta has the most interesting geeky hobby ever.  We’ll also give listeners a chance to win one of her books!

June 4th – CONvergence Preview

Our favorite local convention is coming up and this week we’ll be previewing what we are looking forward to at what Nick fondly refers to as “Nerdy Gras.”

June 11th - Parenting and Atheism

We will joined by Tim’s wife Pat to talk about raising kids without faith and how they are working to make sure their children are raised to think skeptically.  That or we are going to discuss the depiction of atheists in popular culture.  Pat hasn’t decided yet.  Either way, it’ll be interesting!

Here are the rules (feel free to add your own rules in the comments):

Take a drink every time moonshine soaked cherries are passed out or someone mentions consuming one

Take a drink whenever we make a Ghostbusters reference

Take a drink every time someone mentions game theory

Take a drink every time someone says the game sucks

Take a drink every time someone lands on a Carpathia square

Take a drink every time someone says “Flightplan.”

Take a drink every time we get a question about the bible correct

Take a drink any time someone mentions Omegacon

Show notes below the fold:

Stephanie, Jason and Brianne all blog on the FreeThought Blogs network.

Brianne blogs at Biodork.

Stephanie blogs at Almost Diamonds.

Jason blogs at Lousy Canuck.

Show notes are below the fold:

More information about the Card Game “For Sale.”

Here’s a link to a YouTube video of 24 hour Tag.

More information about the game Tikal.

More information about Legendary.

More information about the Penny Arcade game expansion.

Tim mentions a recent Blog post that you can read here.

Show notes below the fold:

A few of Zach’s projects that we mentioned are Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal and SMBC Theater.

Nick mentions the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

Tim brings up the Hays code.

We talk about the webcomic Oglof.

Here’s a link to a slime mold solving a maze on Youtube.

Zach suggests Carolina Biological supply for your Slime mold needs.

Zach mentioned the Festival of Bad Ad-Hoc Hypotheses, which was postponed due to the Boston Marathon attack.  There is no new date yet but we’ll link to it as soon as we have more information.

Zach mentions this T-Shirt:

Molly mentions the cat with the jetpack.  Here’s what she was talking about:

Show notes below the fold (including important corrections of what Molly said) :

Molly talks about the “Star Wars: Edge of the Empire” role playing game from Fantasy Flight Games.

There are lots of things on the Internet showing how Orson Scott Card is kind of a dick.  Here’s one.

Nick mentions the comic Irredeemable.

We mention a lot of games.  They include Agricola, Lords of Waterdeep, Seven Wonders, Talisman, Endeavor, Dominion, Gamers vs. Evil: The Penny Arcade Card Game, Battlestar Galactica, and X-Wing.  The best place to look for information about any of these is on boardgamegeek.com.

Molly makes lots of mistakes when discussing games. Games her company publishes. Games she’s PLAYED. It’s embarrassing. Here are the retractions: Battlestar Galactica is playable by 3 – 6 players (7 with the Pegasus Expansion). And you couldn’t have a 100 point army in X-Wing that contains 20 ships. Not even “like 20 ships or something.” First of all, you can field a maximum of 8 ships. Second of all, 100 divided by 20 is 5 and the lowest pilot cost is 12. So, yeah. She done fucked up, and she’s sorry. (Thanks to Mark Larson for setting her straight.)

Safety Not Guaranteed is streaming! Check it out!

Here’s a link to more information about Nerdcore.

Tim’s favorite Garfunkel & Oates song is this one.

Photo courtesy of Bob Alberti.

If you’d like to know more about our panelists including where they are blogging and tweeting, information is below the fold:

Tim Farley created the web site What’s The Harm.  You can follow his Twitter feed here.

Chelsea Du Fresne helped organize the conference (great job Chelsea) and you can follow her on Twitter here.

Greta Christina’s blog can be found on the FreeThought Blogs network.  Her Twitter feed is here.  She is also the author of “Why are you Atheists so Angry: 99 Things that Piss off the Godless.”

Zach Weinersmith is the creator and illustrator of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.  His Twitter feed is here.

And hey, if you missed it, you can also follow Tim, Molly and Nick on Twitter.

We also recorded stand-alone episodes with Greta and Zach that will air within the next eight weeks so you have that to look forward to!

April 9th – Skep-Tech 2013 Panel

We were invited to host a panel at Skep-Tech 2013 featuring Greta Christina, Tim Farley, Chelsea du Fresne and Zach Weinersmith.  We did our best to stay quiet and let our all star panel say interesting things.  You can be the judge of whether or not we succeeded.

April 16th – Proofreading Boners

Our April Geeky Boner episode will feature geeking about movies, proofreading and a whole lot of talk about tabletop gaming.

April 23rd – Zach Weinersmith

Another podcast recorded live at Skep-Tech, we had the opportunity to sit down with Zach of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.  We talked about censorship for a while and he answers our five questions.  We also tried to get some insight into the mysterious “gay agenda.”  The results of that exploration were less than satisfying.

April 30th – Live at Omegacon Spring

We don’t exactly know what we’ll be recording or who we’ll be recording with but we’re going to sit down at the convention and record a podcast!  A couple of days later (while we’re still hung over), we’ll post it!

Show notes below the fold:

If you’d like to see the schedule for the Skep-Tech conferences, look here.

Here’s some links to conventions we talk about: CONvergence, Diversicon, OmegaCon, The Madison FreeThought Festival, Gen Con, and Fallcon and Springcon are run by the MCBA.

Jessica Ahlquist is mentioned and in case you haven’t heard of her, you can read more here.

Matt mentions an article about PZ Myers where he talks about using science fiction conventions as a way to recuit new atheists.  That blog post is here. He even gives a shout out to a podcast you might have heard of…

Tim actually helped make a video that makes fun of Ghost Hunter TV shows for CONvergence.  Watch it here.

Here’s links to our favorite pizza restaurants: Pizza Luce, Carbone’s, Gina Maria’s Pizza.

If you’d like a chance to win a free book, you’ll need to know Matt’s five questions!  Here they are:

Show notes below the fold:

Hey – The Friendly Atheist Blog had a post about this very subject just last week!

Here is a link to Zach’s group: We Agnostics.  If you are an atheist or agnostic struggling with alcoholism, this may be for you!  Here’s all the pertinent information:

We found several different versions of the agnostic/atheist 12 steps.  Here’s one of them.

If you’d like to read Chapter 4 of the Big Book, here you go!

You want some pictures of Zach’s Yoda figures?  Sure you do!

Here’s a close approximation of the Monte Cristo sandwich Zach describes:

We’ll be Featured guests at Skep-Tech, which takes place April 5th, 6th & 7th.  You can view the schedule here.

Currently, we are going to be hosting and recording a panel discussion about skepticism and technology featuring Tim Farley, Greta Christina, Zach Weinersmith and Maggie Koerth-Baker.   Yes, our plan is pretty much to shut up and let the rest of the panel talk.  That panel will run from 7:00 – 7:50 on Friday, April 5th.

We also have two live podcast/interviews set up!

At 8:00 on the 5th, we’ll be recording a podcast with Jen McCreight.  We’re going to be talking religion and Game of Thrones.

UPDATE:  Jen has, unfortunately, had to cancel her appearance at the conference.  We’re working to secure a different guest and we’ll update this post as new information becomes available.  Hopefully we can get Jen on the podcast at a later date.

Instead, we’ve scheduled a podcast with Greta Christina to talk about her recent book “Why are you Atheists so Angry? 99 Things that Piss off the Godless.”

At 9:30 on Sunday the 7th, we’ll be recording with Zach Weinersmith

Skep-Tech is a free conference so we encourage you to register and join us!

Later in the month, the three of us will be at Omegacon Spring in Siren Wisconsin!  The fall convention was where we recorded the legendary Drunk Molly episode so who knows what will happen this time?  Date and time one this one is TBD because it is a slacker con and we’ll do it when we feel like it!

And this year’s CONvergence marks our one year anniversary!  We’ll be recording two podcasts live.  One of them will be with our first ever guest Melissa Kaercher and the other will feature PZ Myers! The schedule for the convention will go live in a month or so so we’ll have date/time information soon.

P.S: We’ll have time to record an extra podcast or three at CONvergence and we’d love to record with out-of-town guests.  If you are a fan of the show, have a good idea for an episode topic and you’ll be at the convention, let us know!

Show notes below the fold:

Here’s a link to the Twelve Steps of AA.

The name of the South Park episode we mention is Bloody Mary.  You can watch it here.

Marc asks us about our favorite Dregs song.  In case you don’t know, The Dregs is Tim’s band.

And hey!  Some publisher out there should help Rob write about the Twin Cities Creation Science Association!  Help a writer out!

Show notes below the fold:

Here’s a link to Rob’s Vita.mn article about the Science Fair

And here’s a link to the Twin Cities Creation “Science” Association (we added the quotes around Science)

This is the page where you can find out how to follow their scientific method.  Molly claimed she was going to do a science experiment following their method.  We’re going to hold her to it!

More information about Dr. Who Tele-snaps.

Also, here’s Rob’s article about convention etiquette.

Show notes are below the fold:

Here’s a link to Roger Ebert’s review of the film.

The Wickipedia article includes a section called “Historical Debate” that, conspicuously, has no citations.

Here’s a link to the entire video where Rachel Maddow pwns an “ex-gay psychotherapist.”

Creation is, indeed, streaming on Netflix.

Here’s a list of Kerr Avon quotes.

If you are ever in Sheffield, here’s where you can find QC’s Bagel Bar.

Hey, do you want to download Big Fun Radio Funtime?  You can do it here!  And here’s a link to the March 8th show!

Finally, for those who are interested, here’s a link to all the notes Molly took while she was watching the movie (the first page here is actually her last page of notes because we’re lazy uploaders):

MollyReligulousNotes

Click here to watch if the embedded video isn’t working.

Show notes below the fold:

Here’s a picture of Matt’s tattoo (the seal of Rassilon):

In case you want to know more about Michele Bachmann (you don’t), you can check out her PolitiFact page to read about some of the crazy shit she’s said.

We mentioned Matt Dillahunty’s video destroying Christian thinking.  It’s in two parts on YouTube.  Here’s a link to part one, and part two.

We aren’t going to provide you links to every Doctor Who character we mention.  That would take forever.

If you want to know more about Robot and Frank, here’s the IMDB page on the film.

Matt owns every Choose Your Own Adventure book.  For a complete list of titles, look here.

If you live in the Twin Cities, here’s links to Nelson’s Cheese Factory and Maverick’s.

Februray 26th – Atheism & Dr. Who

Our friend and Doctor Who expert Matt Savelkoul joins us to talk about atheism in Doctor Who.  We’ll explore the subtle (and not so subtle) ways the show makes it clear that The Doctor is living in a universe without god.

March 5th – Religulous

As a companion to our Asshole Atheist show, we look at Bill Maher’s film, “Religulous.”  Maher is often cited as an asshole atheist and this movie can ignite a lot of strong feelings in atheists and believers alike.  We re-watched the movie and can’t wait to share our opinions.

March 12th – Creationist Science Fair

We are joined by author and journalist Rob Callahan, who will tell us about his recent visit to a creationist science fair.

March 19th – Atheism and AA, Part 1

We’re doing a two parter!  Two guests will talk with us about being an atheist in Alcoholics Anonymous.  This week, we talk to Marc Baker about being a recovering alcoholic in an organization that spends a lot of time talking about god.

March 26th – Atheism and AA, Part 2

In part two of our look at atheism and recovering alcoholics, our friend Zach Nyhus will talk about a new chapter of AA – atheists AA.  What happens when you actively work to take god out of the twelve steps?

Avengers #6

Jonathan Hickman, Adam Kubert, Dustin Weaver

So the Builder Machine Code is broken, and we find out that the weird nude Mars-born guy is Nightveil, which is a character from the newuniversal Warren Ellis stuff, which reminds me of Planetary in a bunch of ways. It also reminds of of what DC is doing right now, bringing all the Stormwatch, Authority, and Vertigo titles into proper DC continuity, and getting all their intellectual property ducks in a row. I’m all for this. Why invent new characters, when you have all these older characters that already exist, just begging for a great writer? Fun stuff.

Crossed Annual 2013
Simon Spurrier, Gabriel Andrade

Did we just find out what caused the Crossed, or not? DAMN YOU, UNRELIABLE NARRATOR!

Daredevil #23
Mark Waid, Chris Samnee

Aw man, quality bromance issue between MM/DD and Foggy Nelson. Dem feels.

Dark Avengers #187
Jeff Parker, Neil Edwards, Joe Quinones

Alternate universe story line continues, seems like we’re about to find out what’s really going on, and who’s pulling the strings.

DARKNESS REIGNS!

Deadpool #5
Gerry Duggan, Tony Moore, Geof Darrow

Deadpool Vs Ronald Reagan IN SPAAAAAAAAAACE. Also: murder chimps.

Indestructible Hulk #4
Mark Waid, Leinil Francis Yu

Banner hooks up with his research team, trolls them, then gets launched out a torpedo tube to destroy some underwater stuff. I could have done with more Banner and less Hulk. They need to take a lesson from Fraction’s Invincible Iron Man. Still good, though.

Locke & Key Omega #3
Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez

I’m half-tempted to wait until the rest of these come out, and read them all at once. Who am I kidding? I don’t have that kind of willpower. These are so good that it makes me angry that I have to wait so long between issues. ARG.

 

Nova #1
Jeph Loeb, Ed McGuinness

I’m not a big Nova fan. I’ve read some of the Marvel Cosmic universe, but it’s never really been my thing. This was alright, so far. Kind of a weak intro issue, but the story seems a bit Last Starfighter, which could be good or bad, depending on what they do with it. Time will tell.

Saga #10
Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
 

X-Factor #252
Peter David, Leonard Kirk, David Yardin

All the gods and devilish leaders of the various Marvel underworlds/afterlives are trying to murder a member of X-Factor’s children because of something arbitrary that was set in motion by some sort of creator/godthing. Not a fan of the story, obviously, but the characters and dialogue are still good.

Show notes below the fold:

If you want to see the Urban Dictionary definition of “asshole atheist,” take a look.

For the two of you who have never explored the atheism subreddit, enjoy the experience here!

Here’s an example of a recent e-mail Rebecca Watson received.

More below the cut:

Avengers Arena #4

Dennis Hopeless, Alessandro Vitti, Dave Johnson

This issue was billed as The Runaways vs. Avengers Academy, which is technically accurate, though Dark Hawk is featured on the cover, and belongs to neither super-powered youth team. A mantle is passed along, and another kid on Arcade’s death island is “killed” (because it’s all going to be a computer simulation or something at the end, and we all know it.).

Crossed Badlands #23

David Lapham, Miguel Garrido, Gianluca Pagliarani

Amanda survived Lorre, of Crossed: Psychopath storyline, only to be adopted by some seriously messed up LARP nerds, or something. Crossed is still violent, gory, sexual, and fucked up, so, keep reading (or not reading, if that’s not your thing).

Fantastic Four #4

Matt Fraction, Mark Bagley

This comic has to contain the most elaborate setup ever to give a mother a break, as Reed Richards buttfucks the Prime Directive to get Sue a day off. Seems like he might explain the nature of the family vacation through the universe to her soon, which would be nice, because this whole secret motive thing is getting a little boring.

Secret Avengers #1

Nick Spencer, Luke Ross, Tomm Coker

This is the relaunch of Secret Avengers, and features that guy who isn’t Nick Fury, Agent Coulson, Black Widow, and Hawkeye (or HawkGuy, if you prefer). B-Dubs and Clint are off on some secret mission, which is actually just a test of some new nanite macguffin, which is being used to Manchurian Candidate our Secret Avengers into doing some shady S.H.I.E.L.D. business, Secret Wars style. I guess even if he’s not the real deal Nick Fury, it’s nice to see him adapting to the role well, the manipulative bastard that he is.

Uncanny X-Men #1

Brian Michael Bendis, Chris Bachalo

This is the “true flagship” of the X-Men books, and it’s relaunching with a bang. Cyclops, Emma Frost, Magneto, and Magik are wanted criminals, mutant terrorists out to save kids discovering their powers all over the world, while being hunted by sentinels and anti-mutant militias and such.   Scott Summers has his own little Brotherhood of Evil Mutants thing going on, and it’s very entertaining.

The comic starts with someone spilling the beans to S.H.I.E.L.D. on Cyclops’ activities, and offering him up on a platter. Who? What a twist!

Wolverine and the X-Men #25

Jason Aaron, Ramon K. Perez

Wolverine takes all the weak links, problem students, and newbs in the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning on a field trip to the Savage Land, and Wolverine’s old (one might say the oldest) foe, his brother Dog, is introduced as a villain. It seems a little one dimensional, but we’re being promised “big and exciting things.” Time will tell.

X-Men #41

Seth Peck, Jefte Palo, Adam Kubert

Blah blah blah, wrap up, blah blah blah, meh.

All-New X-Men #7

Brian Michael Bendis, David Marquez, Stuart Immonen

Quick recap: Hank (Beast) brought the original X-Men to the present to.. er.. something about teaching present Cyclops a lesson about… uh.. plot conveinance. Don’t get me wrong, I like the comic, I like where it’s headed, and I like Bendis’ writing and dialogue, and I guess zany shit in comics is going to happen, and doesn’t always need a logical reason or clear motivation.

Avengers #5

Jonathan Hickman, Adam Kubert, Dustin Weaver

Brian Michael Bendis relaunched the Avengers franchise in 2004, and wrote it for eight long years. Recently, he handed over those reins to Jonathan Hickman, long time writer of Fantastic Four, and it’s very successful spin-off comic, FF, is now the writer of two of Marvel’s biggest books, and what I would consider flagship titles: Avengers and New Avengers.

How many Avengers comics do we neeed? Well, several more than that, even (Dark Avengers, Avengers Assemble, Secret Avengers, Avenging Spider-Man, Avengers Arena, etc), but the two Hickman are on are the big ones, the ones that more or less define current Marvel continuity and push the storyline of the Marvel universe forward.

Anyway, Avengers is great, and just like in Fantastic Four and FF, he has some huge, intricate, well thought out plan that involves planting little hint seeds that will grow into awesome story plants later. Story plants? Shut up, you know what I mean.

Also, he does these drawings, or diagrams, that I dubbed ‘Hicktograms,’ which usually foreshadow organizational changes and things to come. Here’s an example of the Avengers Hicktogram, from Avengers #1:

Daredevil End Of Days #5

Brian Michael Bendis, Klaus Janson, Alex Maleev

Brian Michael Bendis, Daredevil End of Days is a sort of future glimpse at what could happen later in the Marvel 616 universe, with reporter Ben Urich as the protagonist reporter investigating the death of Daredevil Matt Murdock. Urich is a great device for telling a story, something BMB used pretty frequently when he used to write Daredevil and Spider-Man, back in the day. It’s an old trick, but it still makes for a good story. Gritty, street-level stuff. No big superhero fights here, this is more of a noir mystery, and I’m really enjoying it.

Fairest #12

Lauren Beukes, Inaki Miranda, Adam Hughes

Dammit, I thought the storyline would end with this issue, so I could stop buying it. Oh well, one more to go before they wrap up this Japanese mythology storyline, set in the Fables world. (it’s meh)

Hit-Girl #5

Mark Millar, John Romita

BLOODSPLOSIONS! DRUGGED PARENTS! A CHARACTER NAMED “THE MOTHER FUCKER!” That is all.

Iron Man #6

Kieron Gillen, Greg Land

Tony Stark takes his superhero playboy act to space, with awesome and funny results. There’s actually a Marvel writing conference going on as I write this, and previous writer of Iron Man, Matt Fraction, heard Kieron Gillen’s pitch for the next year. Here was his response:

stuff @kierongillen just pitched for his next year on IRON MAN — buckle up, buttercups. good golly. #marvelsummit #sexfro #feelsterrorist

— victor von dude (@mattfraction) February 11, 2013

What a tease!

New Avengers #3

Jonathan Hickman, Steve Epting, Jock

So, back when BMB was writing the Avengers comics, he did a little storyline called Illuminati. No, nothing to do with Steve Jackson, he wrote about a few figureheads in the Marvel universe (secretly) joining together and (secretly) deciding how the world was going to work, starting with locking down the infinity gems and hiding them away. Now, they rejoin to use them to save the word… with little success. Loved it.

Scarlet #6

Brian Michael Bendis, Alex Maleev

I feel like I should be listening to Rage Against the Machine or Body Count while reading this.

Secret Avengers #37

Rick Remender, Matteo Scalera, Arthur Adams

What a spectacularly rushed and unsatisfying finale, which I’m sure isn’t Remender’s fault. Secret Avengers relaunches next month, renumbering from #1. I’m not sure if I’ll read it or not yet. Oh, shit, it’s written by Nick Spencer (Forgetless, Morning Glories), so yeah, I guess I will.

Thunderbolts #4

Daniel Way, Steve Dillon, Julian Totino Tedesco

For a team of Marvel’s most ruthless killer anti-heros, they sure do stand around and gab a lot.

X-Factor #251

Peter David, Leonard Kirk, David Yardin

THINGS ARE HAPPENING! Why? BECAUSE DEVIL! What? ARBITRARY NUMBER! Uh, sure. END OF THE WORLD BECAUSE STUFF! Oh, again?

Show notes below the fold!

Here’s a link to Bob’s church.

And here’s the seven Unitarian Universalist principles.

Bob also mentions the First Unitarian Society in Minneapolis as a place atheists tend to gravitate.

Tim also mentioned the Minnesota Atheists.

Information about Samuel R. Delany’s Dhalgren.

Here’s a link to the Tekumel Foundation (of which Bob is the treasurer).

If you want to know more about the Sasha at Cecil’s, look here.

Show notes are below the fold:

In case you’ve been living under a rock, here is some information about J J Abrams and Star Wars.

Also, if you want to know more about Michael Arndt, you can go to his IMDB page!

Molly’s geeky boner is the comic series Saga.

Here’s a useful link to the 2013 Oscar nominations.

In case you haven’t heard of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, here’s some info.

Tim was totally wrong, by the way, Ben Affleck was not in Gone Baby Gone.

Moonrise Kingdom is actually nominated for Best Screenplay.

Here’s proof that Nick Angel is an agnostic.

And a few pictures of Christian’s Papercraft:

Show notes are below the fold:

Ronn talks a lot about the Morningstar Saga, Day by Day Armageddon, and Tooth and Nail.

We also talk about The Invention of Lying.

The books mentioned by the three of us are So Much Pretty, Red Mars, and Losing my Religion.

In case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron talking about a banana.

If you’ve missed it in the past, here’s information about Tim’s Alphabetical Movie Project, including a blog entry about Johnny Mnemonic (it is pretty clear Nick and Molly read it).

Here’s a brief video Nick shot of the DVD load screen:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFIXqXSgknU

Also, here’s some of the results for the Google search “Kirk Cameron is…”

January 22nd – Left Behind

We teased it a little bit on last week’s episode but this week, you can hear our reactions to the fundamentalist screed Left Behind.  Spoiler: it is a terrible terrible movie. We also read and respond to listener Marc Baker’s five questions.

January 29th – Ronn Bauman, Take 2

Waaaay back in September, we did an episode with Ronn and we had so much fun, we recorded a second one that same night.  Then, the next morning, we recorded that first one again.  Long story.  We then proceeded to place that second recording in the Geeks Without God vault.  Until now.

February 5th – February Geeky Boners

We had so much other cool stuff going on in January, we totally skipped our geeky boners.  We’ll start February out right by exploring the geeky stuff that currently has us excited.  Will we be reading answers to our five questions?  Of course!

February 12th – Unitiarianism

We’ll have a talk with our friend Bob Alberti about being an atheist and going to a church.  A Universal Unitarian church, that is.

Show notes below the fold:

Information about Michael Bluth from Arrested Development.

Tim mentioned his Alphabetical Movie Project (we’ll talk about it more next week).

The gentleman who can be heard on our intro and outro is Bill Young, local comedian and one half of the comedy blogging duo over at Youngnotions.

Here’s a couple of pictures of the GWG Crew from the launch party:

Well, we’ll be doing a live recording as part of the Fearless Comdey Launch Party this Saturday the 12th at 6:30 PM!

The event runs from 6:00 to midnight and will also feature PowerPoint Karaoke, The Durty Curls and Joseph Scrimshaw.  There is a $20 suggested donation at the door and all proceeds will go to Fearless Comedy Productions.

So please – come and see us on Saturday!

If you can’t make it, listen for the results of our live recording next Tuesday!

Please note the event is 18+

Show Notes below the fold:

Here’s the official web page of The Secret of Kells.

Nick talked about The Mandarin.

Tim talked about The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins, Nick talked about God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens and Molly talked about American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

Nick said his favorite religious character is Orel Puppington but we didn’t talk about it at all so here’s a little more information about the character.

Hey folks!  This week, we did a guest appearance on the podcast of our Fearless Comedy partners, Apropos of Nothing!  The result was nothing short of crazy.  Ever wonder what it would sound like if Tim drank scotch?  You will find out!

Ever wonder what our podcast would sound like if it was twice as long and had no agenda whatsoever? You will find out!

The show is filled with swear words and unpopular opinions.  Also a rather long conversation about peeing. You’ve been warned!

This, by the way, is part one of an epic crossover event!  Next Tuesday, you can listen to part two RIGHT HERE!!!

Now go listen!

Show notes below the fold:

Tim talks about Chronicle and Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation.  He wrote blog entries on both and you can read them by clicking on the links!

A little more information about the National Park Service Junior Ranger Program.

If you want to know more about Seven Psychopaths, check out the IMDB page.

You want to go to the Fearless Launch Party!  Here’s the link to more information!  We’ll be interviewing Aric McKeown from The Mustache Rangers!

Finally, you can watch videos of Nick and Molly playing PowerPoint Karaoke here!

Don’t stop now! Let’s see how much more we can raise before the deadline of January 1st. If you haven’t yet donated, please consider tossing even $10 toward this great cause. Just click the button on the upper left corner of our site to donate.

Show notes below the fold:

Here’s a picture of Tim’s present (photographed with Indiana Mickey, Indiana Potatohead and Indiana Kermit):

If you are interested in Roger Ebert’s take on A Christmas Story, you can read it here.

Here’s a link to the video Molly referred to: Oh Holy Crap.

Here’s Patricks Rothfuss’ Amazon page if you want to know about his books.

We mentioned Birdchick Sharon Stiteler.  Here’s her web page.

And finally, here’s a picture of a tray featuring all twenty-four difference confections Pat made this year:

So please don’t hate us if we do it again because she totally blogged about us!

We’re podcasters and comedians so that means we are total attention whores.  Thanks for feeding our addiction, Brianne!

On our Camp Quest episode, Norm Barrett Wiik promised us Camp Quest T-shirts because of our seasonal fundraising campaign.  This marked the first time we’ve been given swag on our podcast!  We’d like to inform all future guests that the bar has been raised.

The 2012 Camp Quest shirts are some sweet looking shirts and we look awesome in them.  Before you look at the picture, though, take a look at our Camp Quest Fundraiser.

As of this posting, we’ve been stuck at $310 for about a week.  Our goal is only $500!  We know that you’ve already picked up your Christmas presents so now is the time to toss $10 at a good cause.  That’s the minimum donation, by the way. Ten measly dollars.

Think of all the free entertainment we’ve provided you!   That has to be worth giving $10 so an underpriveledged kid can go to camp, doesn’t it?

S’mores are a right of passage!  Right?

OK, enough begging for money.  Check out your pretty pretty hosts in their pretty pretty T-shirts!

A whole lot of show notes are below the fold:

Camera Toss Flickr?  Sure there is!

Want to help support Atheists Talk Radio?  You can do that here!  Do it!

How about a Lustful Cockmonster shirt?

Here’s a definition we found for Eurogames.

Want to know more about Lords of Waterdeep?  We can help with that too.

Also more information about the film How to Survive a Plague.

If you are headed to Chicago, here’s some info about Rubino’s Italian Imports.

Here’s the picture she took of Simone at the Amanda Palmer concert:

Since I’ve become more open about my atheism, I’ve found my responses to theism in popular culture have changed.   I notice theism more and my response to it in a movie can run counter to my impressions of the movie itself.

When it comes to a fictional universe, I accept that gods can exist.  The writer has created a universe in which gods are real and I have no difficulty accepting those gods within the context of the story.  Immersing yourself in fiction is the suspension of disbelief, after all.

Even if a story is set in the “real” world, if the existence of god is an important part of the story, I can go with it.   I don’t immediately find myself pulling away from a story because of that element.

I can’t deny, though, that I notice it.

I recently watched Flight and Life of Pi and while I thought both films were very good, the religious themes in both of them were obtrusive.  I found myself wondering if I reacted to those themes more because I was an atheist.

In Flight, Denzel Washington’s character is  an alcoholic airline pilot and at one point, his character makes statements that identify him as an atheist.  Many characters around him are deeply religious, which is not entirely unexpected as the film is set in and around Atlanta.

Washington crash-lands a plane in a nearly impossible fashion and in doing so, he saves a lot of lives.  The idea that what he did was a “miracle” comes up several times.  Because Washington is a drunk, it seems, he cannot also be a gifted pilot.  God must have intervened that day.

Life of Pi is about a story we are told will make us believe in god.

Of course it can’t make me believe in god.  The story is fiction.  I can make up a lot of stories that, if true, could make someone believe in god.  It would work great as long as the listener didn’t do any fact checking.

The question I was asking myself was whether or not that story, if true, could make me believe in god.

It couldn’t, of course.  To suggest that god had a reason for saving one life and telling one story while ending the lives of so many others defies logic.  There is no proof of god to be found.

Nor is there proof of god to be found in one pilot’s ability to avert disaster when many other pilots have failed in similar circumstances.  Why would god guide the hand of one pilot in order to push him on the road to sobriety while ignoring thousands of other drunks who are every bit as needful of help?

To think of the movies strictly in those terms, however, ignores the idea that the films are telling a story and we don’t have to accept the existence of god as these characters do to appreciate their journey.  Life of Pi, in fact, acknowledges that the story doesn’t, in fact, convince us that god exists.

Rather, it suggests that Pi believes in god because he prefers that version of reality to the one where there is no god.  What he experienced did not prove the existence of god but rather proved that he preferred to believe in the existence of god.

For my part, that is the best excuse I can possibly imagine for a theistic point of view.  I’ve had conversations with people who have admitted they don’t know for sure that god exists but it gives them some comfort to believe in god.

OK, sure.  I can accept that.  They are, at least, honest about their doubts.  They have questioned and continue to question.  I have a lot more respect for that than I do for someone who accepts god without question.

The two films are very good.  Life of Pi, in particular, is an amazing work of art.  It is filled with imagery that will stay with you for a long time.

The theistic themes in both of them, however, were distracting to me and would, I think, be equally distracting to other atheists.

I can suspend disbelief but I can’t turn off my brain completely when the subject of god is raised.  The journey both of these characters take is a spiritual one and that kind of journey is somewhat dishonest to me.  They are on a journey to find god when what they really need to find is themselves.

Yes, I get that it’s got a joke at the end. But I want to discuss the ACTUAL message of this recently pervasive meme.

“Being an atheist who shames religions and spirituality as stupid and not real is not okay.” 

First of all, if someone saying your religion isn’t real shames you, that’s something you need to figure out for yourself. If you truly believe in your dogma, if you are confident and utterly certain of your own beliefs and religion, then nothing anyone says should be able to “shame” you about it.

“Being a Christian who is misogynistic, homophobic, racist, or otherwise hateful in the name of Christianity is not okay.”

So, this meme is saying that an atheist who says to someone “God isn’t real” is analogous to a Christian calling someone a faggot and telling them they will burn in hell. That is some serious bullshit. In no way is that comparable behavior. Unless the atheist is physically harming someone, or doggedly following them around and mocking them for being religious, or chronically harassing them online, these are in no way the same thing.

Misogyny, homophobia, racism… these are heinous things. Me telling someone I think their religion is silly is a dick move at most. I think it’s dangerous to propagate this notion that if you’re an atheist, you have to keep your mouth shut about it because it’s not nice to tell people that their supernatural beliefs are silly or stupid, and I think it’s truly harmful to declare that doing so is as bad as racism or gay-bashing.

Race, homosexuality, gender…these are facts. You’re born gay, you’re born black, you’re born a woman. You don’t get to choose. Religions and spirituality are IDEAS. You literally get to choose whichever you like best, whichever seems the most right to you. They are ideas, and ideas are never above critique.

One of the comments on one of the postings of this meme that I saw amounted to “We should all tolerate and respect everyone’s differences and beliefs no matter what.” Well, some people think it’s perfectly acceptable to seriously beat their kids when their kids misbehave. Some men think hitting women is acceptable. Some women think it’s okay to fake a pregnancy to trick a man into staying with them. Some people think cheating on your spouse is okay. There are people who believe that God doesn’t want them to get their kids medical attention, ever. There are people who believe sex with children is normal and loving. There are religions that preach hate and harsh judgment. There are atheists who think feminists should just shut up about women’s rights.

There are a lot of people who believe a lot of horrible fucking things. So where do you draw the line when it comes to respecting and tolerating their differences?

Generally, my rule is if it’s not hurting anyone else, it’s okay. However, “hurt” is in no way an objective term or concept. It may hurt someone’s feelings that I think it’s ridiculous that they believe in god, but there’s no malice intended. If I were to publicly humiliate someone, or go out of my way to tell them how stupid they are because they are religious, now there’s malice. I don’t do that. Because I’m not usually that much of a fucking asshole. Usually.

I’m not really sure how to sum this up. I’ve written a few paragraphs, but they weren’t quite right. This meme doesn’t have me angry or butt-hurt or offended. (It’s damn near impossible to actually offend me.) What I hate is the virality of these things, and how quickly people pass it on without really thinking about it. And the fact that there’s a “funny” bit at the end just makes people think less about the message of the first part.

Just think. All I want you to do is think. Be able to defend your ideas, for your ideas, opinions, and beliefs should be worth defending against a legion of dickwads. And if they aren’t, maybe they should be reconsidered.

Thank you – and may your boners be the geekiest.

Show notes below the fold:

Check out the website for the Alamo Drafthouse

Tim mentioned the movie Samurai Warrior and he totally got the name of the film wrong.  It was actually Shogun Assassin.

Here’s an album of pictures from Nick & Molly’s costume and prop storage in their basement, and the workshop.

Here’s a link to the trailer for The Great Gatsby.

We’d be completely remiss if we didn’t share information on Malta.

Molly recommends the book “The Stranger Beside Me.”

Nick says that Ireland has a state religion and it turns out that isn’t true.  Tim was totally right when he said St. Peter was the first pope.

Here’s a link to the official site for Marwencal – the documentary Luca mentions.

A little bit of information about Mr. Terrific.

Here’s some information about The Defenders at the Trylon Microcinema .

Show notes below the fold:

The link above is for Camp Quest Minnesota, here’s the link to the national Camp Quest site.

We briefly mention the film Jesus Camp.

Both Tim and Molly went to the Concordia Language Villages.

Here’s a little more information about the Baha’i faith.

Tim wants everyone to know that he has a very solid living memory of the hostage crisis in Iran.

Want to know about Final Fantasy Tactics?  Look here!

For more information on Norm’s favorite sandwich, here’s Hell’s Kitchen’s menu!

Here’s a picture of Kombucha with Chia Seeds:

And here’s a photo of Molly trying Kombucha with Chia Seeds earlier this year.

Screw that!

Here’s what you can listen to this month.

December 4th –  We’ll be talking to Norm Barrett Wiik about Camp Quest.  We’ll also be launching a holiday donation campaign for the Minnesota Chapter of Camp Quest.  Help Geeks Without God sponsor a child’s secular summer camp experience!  We also settle the drunken bet that Molly and Nick made in Episode 21.

December 11th –  Our December geeky boner episode covers Butt-Numb-a-Thon, basement organization and Molly’s secret shame.  We also talk about Malta.  ’Cuz who didn’t want to know about Malta?

December 18th - We talked with Brianne Bilyeu, who writes the Biodork blog on Freethoughtblogs.  She had a huge list of stuff she wanted to talk about and we got through most of it.  We talk about her blog, her job, her volunteer work and a whole lot more.

December 25th - Our 25th episode will be up on Christmas Day! We’ll talk about being atheists and navigating the holiday season.  We’ll also share our favorite holiday movies!

This is obnoxious. First of all, the surface problems with this are clear. It’s very entitled, and it’s a shining example of Christians not understanding that loss of privilege ≠ loss of rights. On its face, it seems accepting enough. After all, the author goes out of his way to let you know that you Jews and blacks are all right by him, so long as you don’t get offended by him wishing everyone a Merry Christmas because that’s what he celebrates. But I am willing to bet that, were this Christian to be wished “Happy Hanukkah” during Hanukkah, he would be annoyed and say, “I’m not Jewish!” Similar for a Blessed Kwanzaa. So right away, I’m wondering if the respect he demands for his Christmas celebration would be given in return to, say, everyone else.

But let’s get to what really gets on *my nerves. I’m a huge word nerd. I also have a very strong opinion regarding words. THEY ARE JUST WORDS. They only have the power you give them. If you are so bothered by someone saying “Happy Holidays” rather than “Merry Christmas,” you really need to grow the fuck up. There’s no difference. None. Think of it this way: if I said “Happy Holidays” to you in a language you didn’t understand, and you asked me what I said, and I told you it means “Merry Christmas,” you wouldn’t know the difference. Because it’s the thought, the feeling, the intention that matters.

Words are the tools we use to communicate with those around us. Someone who says “Happy Holidays” to you is just conveying “I wish you well during this season of celebration” in their own way. And despite what the crazy Christians would have you believe, no one is legally forcing companies and businesses and television stations to say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.” They’re choosing to do it. Because they want to include everyone and to make everyone feel warm and happy and festive. It’s not about taking away your Christmas. It’s about letting everyone else in to celebrate together.

Go ahead and call it a Christmas tree. Guess what, asshole? I’m an atheist, and I call it a Christmas tree, too. Posting this doesn’t mean you’re taking some moral stand. You’re not the Rosa Parks of Christmas. You’re just an insecure bully trying to make everyone do things your way.

Happy Holidays!

Show notes below the fold:

Tim’s son was participating in the Disney YES (Youth Education Series) program.

Tim talks about a radio show he’s doing called Big Fun Radio Funtime.

Here’s more information about the Fearless Comedy launch party.

Both Tim and Molly write articles on the Vilification Tennis Website.  Here’s Tim’s Movie Dick article about Daniel Craig’s ass.  Molly writes monthly Whoroscopes as Madame Meretrix and also wrote a news article about atheism as Olive Herclothesoff.

Isn’t it cute?  It’s god!  And he’s got dice!  But there is a circle with a line through it so he’s not playing dice with the universe!

At least that is how we interpreted it (and by “we” we mean “Tim”).   Doesn’t matter how you interpret it, though.  It’s still cute.

Oh, hey, Fionnuala (she’s totally Irish) has a blog and does pocasting and stuff.  Go read!

Show notes below the fold:

Matt mentions Kingdom of Loathing or “KoL” a lot.

A little more info about V/H/S if you want it.

Also some information about Jesse Thorn.

Molly talks about getting the American Atheists symbol as a tattoo:

Here’s a picture of the Triple Pork sandwich:

Also a side view:

Peter and I were against each other in round two. I was trailing by maybe 15-16 points going into the final hand, whereas Peter had maybe 5 points to go to win. Peter dealt, his crib, I play. I manage to peg an incredible 13 points in mere gameplay, Peter pegs up to ONE POINT from a win. It’s my count first, and I am totally going to pass the finish because I have a doubled run. BUT THEN PETER GETS LAST CARD and wins!

Game of my life. I’m telling you.

Show notes below the fold:

Here’s a link to the trailer for the new Evil Dead.

Some of the games we mentioned: Ora et Labora, Bohnanza, Forbidden Island and The Red Riding Hood Sisters.

Here’s a link to a video showing the moment of victory for the Vote No campaign.

A picture of Grace Church in Eden Prairie, where Molly and Nick have to vote.

And finally, some information on Shelly Duvall’s Faerie Tale Theatre.

First, we’ll be recording a crossover episode with our fellow Fearless partners, Appropos of Nothing.  In early January, we’ll all be sitting down for a epic podcasting evening.  The three of us will be guests on the AON Podcast and then the three of them will appear on our podcast.

Scheduled air dates for those two shows are January 3rd for the Appropos of Nothing Podcast and January 8th for Geeks Without God.

We will also be recording our podcast live at the Fearless Comedy launch party on January 12th!  Our scheduled guest will be Aric McKeown from the Mustache Rangers!

We’ll be talking about a lot more stuff in conjunction with Fearless Comedy.  We’ve even got an episode devoted to it later this month.  It’ll get pretty obnoxious.

It’ll also be full of atheism, geekery and comedy so you can take the obnoxious, right?

Show notes below the fold:

The book is available online through Amazon or Barnes & Noble and can also be purchased for Kindle or Nook e-readers.

All proceeds from the book go to benefit Minnesota Atheists.

Bill also mentioned another book on which he worked, When Faith meets Reason.

He also mentioned The Minnesota Beatles Project.

Tim mentioned Hement Mehta at The Friendly Atheist is working on a Young Atheists book.

According to Wikipedia (which is 100% accurate at all times), Meathead was an agnostic.

Our hope is that it will be this year.  Four states have marriage equality initiatives on the ballot this year.

The states of Maryland and Washington have initiatives seeking to overturn laws that already make gay marriage legal in their state.

In Maine there is an initiative to legalize gay marriage.

In Minnesota, there is an initiative to amend the state constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman, doubling up on a discriminatory law that already exists.

As atheists, the issue is obvious.  Do we have the right to continue to discriminate against our fellow human beings on the basis of their sexual preference?  The answer is so clearly no, we don’t understand why any other argument would be considered.

It isn’t that simple, though.  So in the final day before we all have the chance to stem the tide of marriage discrimination in America, we’d like to look at the illogical arguments that seek to support institutional discrimination.

1)  Gay Marriage is “against god’s will”

If we ignore the question of which god we are talking about, the fundamental issue is whether or not you have the right to force your religious beliefs on others.  Even if you believe that homosexuality is unnatural and wrong, forcing others to follow your own version of morality is, in itself, immoral.

This is especially true when many people claim the same book (the bible) says so many different things about gay marriage.  Given that a whole bunch of people who profess to be Christians can’t agree on what god thinks about gay marriage, it is wrong to presume that you must be correct regarding what god thinks on the topic.

You have no right to tell gay people that they must live by your rules for morality.

But let’s be fair.  This is an atheist podcast.  If you are reading this post and you still plan to vote against marriage equality, this isn’t the argument you are using.

2)  Government Should Not Be Defining Marriage For Anyone

The idea that the government should not define marriage for anyone is a common argument we’ve heard from some libertarians.  They believe they should vote against gay marriage because it will send a message that will, somehow, eventually lead to the government abolishing all laws that provide benefits to married couples.

Except that isn’t the message they will send.  When a constitutional amendment is defining marriage, it is entering that definition into a legal document.  Rather than sending a message that you think government should be less involved in marriage, you are sending the message that you think it should be more involved.

3) Marriage Equality Changes the Definition of “Marriage”

If we presume that “marriage” is defined as a social contract between a man and a woman, it can be fairly conceded that marriage equality changes that definition.  It is not the first time that definition has been changed and it will not be the last.

However, if we presume that marriage is an institution that has been established to join two human beings together in a commitment of love and mutual support, there is absolutely no change required.

If you presume that the definition of marriage presumes a commitment to have children and propogate the species, you fail to recognize that the current definition allows people who are sterile, too old to have children, or are simply uninterested in having children the legal right to marry.  If propogating the species is a prerequiste for being legally married, a great many people already fail that test.

4)  This Is Not a Civil Rights Issue

Actually it is.  A majority is being asked to determine what rights a minority will have.  There is no way that you can argue it is anything but a civil rights issue.  If you vote against marriage equality, you are effectively saying that you have the right to determine how other people choose to live their lives because they are different.

Different in a way that they cannot change, in a way they didn’t choose.

That is most definitely a civil rights issue.

5)  If Gay Marriage Becomes Legal, Those Who Are Against Gay Marriage Are At Legal Risk

Well, if they discriminate against a couple based solely on their sexual preference, then you are correct.  However, it is wrong to presume that would be the result of legalized gay marriage.

It would be the result of existing anti-discrimination laws.

6) I’m OK With Civil Unions But I Don’t Think Gay People Should Get “Married”

Ever hear of the phrase “separate but equal?”  That is the kind of dichotomy you have when you call a gay union something different than a straight union.

Either everybody gets to get married or everybody enters into civil unions.  Otherwise you are creating a separate class of citizen.

People who say they take issue with the actual word “marriage” being used in this instance need to understand that the word “marry” has meant to join two things together for a lot longer than it has meant “a man and a woman entering into a union.” You marry two ketchup bottles together. You marry two pieces of wood to make a joint. There’s no reason that two men or two women can’t be married if a man and a woman can.

The fact is, there are a great many arguments against gay marriage but every one of them is based on false assumptions.  If gay people are allowed to marry, what will happen is that individuals who love each other will be given the same legal protections as everyone else.

Existing marriages will not end.

If you wish to raise your children to believe homosexuality is wrong, you will still be able to do that.

Churches that don’t want to allow gay marriages will not be forced to do so.

If you want gay people to go away, they won’t.  They will still be there.

Voting for marriage equality will not change your life at all.

If there was ever a better reason to vote for marriage equality, it is that fundamental truth.  If you are straight, gay marriage will not change your life at all.  By voting to support gay marriage, you are engaging in the selfless act of recognizing that that happiness of others is as important as your own.

If you are reading this post and you are in a state that will be voting on marriage equality tomorrow, do the right thing. Vote to support the rights of those who have not been allowed to secure those rights for themselves.

Note: In Minnesota, a blank vote is counted as a “no.”  If, for some reason, you can’t bring yourself to vote “no” but you believe voting “yes” is equally wrong, don’t vote on the issue.

November 6th - We talked with Bill Lehto, editor of Atheist Voices of Minnesota about the process of putting together an anthology of atheist essays including one by Tim! And hey, if you listen to the podcast, you have a chance to win a signed copy of the book!  Listen to the podcast – win stuff. BAM!

November 13th - Our November Geeky Boner episode will be recorded LIVE at Omegacon 2012! We’ll be talking about the games we played, the movies we watched and one “lucky” audience member will get to answer our five questions!

November 20th - We had a conversation with our friend Matt Allex from the Apropos of Nothing podcast.  He tells us about his experience with a listener he helped on the journey to atheism.

November 27th  - Also recorded live at OmegaCon, we’ll spend some time talking about Fearless Comedy Productions – a new comedy company partially made of us! We’ll also talk about the sexy atheist topics of the moment and read off another listener’s answers to our five questions.

Show notes are below the fold:

Here’s a picture of Ford’s Theatre with the Hard Rock Cafe right next to it:

If you have no idea who Cerebus the Aardvark is, check this out. Also here’s a picture:

Tim also mentions The Clergy Project.

Don’t click on it yet!  We aren’t finished here!

…you clicked on it, didn’t you?

The three of us are founding members of the company and our podcast is going to be a creative partner.

What does that mean?  Right now, it doesn’t mean a whole lot except we are really excited to help launch this new company.  Later it will mean we might do some performing/podcasting with other Fearless partners, and we’ll probably be promoting some events on our website.

This weekend, the website will go fully live and there will be all sorts of exciting stuff to see.  For now, we just wanted to let you know about the button.

You can click the button now.

Our guest this week is Tony Miller, who plays Shamus the Insulter at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival (as well as other festivals around the country).  He was raised in the Menonnite church but moved away from it when he was in his thirties, eventually resolving that he was an atheist.  As we talked about his reasons for leaving the church, we found ourselves turning to the upcoming ballot initiative to limit the right to marry in Minnesota.  It was a pretty emphatic conversation and if you can take anything from it, we hope it is the desire to convince just one person you know to change their vote to “no.”  Tony then answered our five questions and his choice of sandwich will excite those of you who are not vegetarians.

Show notes below the fold:

An article on the effects of the repeal of Don’t ask Don’t Tell.

We talked about the Hitchins/Fry debate.  Here’s a link to the debate.  It’s well worth the watch.

And as long as we were going to record at the convention, we thought we’d do another live recording.  Just like our first two episodes at CONvergence, only with the added benefit of not being at 9:30 in the morning!  The odds are also quite high there will be considerably more drunkenness.

If you’ll be at OmegaCon, we’ll be talking about our November Geeky Boners (and other stuff) in the Pow-Wow room at 8:00 on Saturday night.  We’ll also be asking a random audience member to answer our five questions!

The superintendent, a Christian and a former football coach, ordered the cheerleaders to stop putting biblical references on the signs, and guess what happened?

School district officials ordered the cheerleaders to stop putting Bible verses on the banners, because they believed doing so violated the law on religious expression at public school events. In response, a group of 15 cheerleaders and their parents sued the Kountze Independent School District and its superintendent, Kevin Weldon, claiming that prohibiting the students from writing Christian banner messages violated their religious liberties and free-speech rights.

Of course. The age-old debate. What’s more important: the separation of Church and State or the rights of individuals to free speech?

My knee-jerk reaction to this is, of course, “Bible quotes on public school pep banners? Fuck that. No way.” Because it would piss me off if I were a kid at that school; and if I had kids at that school, it would piss me off even more on their behalf. Also, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on this issue. Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe established that prayers led by students at high school football games were unconstitutional and had the improper effect of coercing those in the audience to take part in an act of religious worship.

But I thought about it some more and I realized that this is a trickier situation than it seems on its face. The cheerleaders meet, practice, and work after school, and they bought the supplies without using any school monies. The banners are hung at a football game; attendance at said game is not mandatory. The banners are not being read aloud, nor are other kids being led in any sort of “rah-rah God” cheer or chant. They aren’t praying. They’re just quoting a book they consider to be holy.

Now, it’s possible that one of the cheerleaders on the team isn’t a Christian. It’s doubtful, but it’s possible. It’s also possible that someone on the football team isn’t a Christian. It’s even less likely that said non-Christian kid is offended enough by these signs to be truly upset by them. In either of these instances, if that kid were to come forward and complain, then I would argue that the banners need to come down. Because the cheerleaders and the football players DO have to be at the games. But no kid has come forward, and I doubt that even if there were a kid who hated the banners, he or she would come forward. Least of all now that it’s gotten national attention.

I still really hate the smug little faces of these cheerleaders. They don’t understand the complexities of the legality of what they’re doing. They don’t realize the slippery-slope of free speech here. They see it as Christianity being RIGHT and not believing in their God being WRONG, so of course they win. Think I’m exaggerating? Here’s what the leader of the cheerleaders said about why the banners are important:

“I feel like it’s getting God’s word out to those that need it,” Kieara, 16, said of the banners.

Obnoxious, self-righteous. What did you expect from a teenager with firm Christian beliefs? Exactly, she’s just being a Christian teenager. Now here’s another one:

Asked what she would say to someone of another faith who might be offended by the banners, one of the 11th-grade cheerleaders, Rebekah Richardson, 17, replied, “They can be offended, because that’s their right. But so far there hasn’t been any opposition to what we’re doing. Nothing but support.”

I have to say, I agree with Ms. Richardson on principle. No one ever said they were offended, so why should we bother worrying if someone is? One of the things my comedy troupe prides itself on is not really caring if someone is offended, because that is their right. And if no one tells us they were offended, we aren’t going to assume someone was.

What I’m getting at is this: if I can be tolerant of this sort of thing, it speaks volumes. I am anti-theist. I really, really hate seeing Bible verses on billboards or posters. I hate religious bumper stickers. I hate pro-life billboards and their sanctimonious cute-baby-pornography manipulations. But they have the right to post them. If I was at the workplace, or a school, or some other space that is meant to be for everyone, inclusively, I would have something to say about it. As it stands now, they aren’t making me read them. Just like I’m not making people read the sticker on the back of my car that reads “My Other Ride Is Your Mom.”

They don’t think anyone has been offended. Maybe no one has. We won’t know if no one says anything, right? What we need is anyone who IS offended to speak up. Otherwise, the Kiearas of the world will go on thinking everyone just loves to hear their Jesus cheers, their affirmations of His Glory, and all that. We need to be aggressive. We need to B-E aggressive. We need to B-E    A-G-G   R-E-S-S-I-V-E !

For our October Geeky Boner episode, we talked about spreadsheets, Borderlands 2 (oh boy do we talk about Borderlands 2), and Tim’s band, The Dregs.  They just released a new CD (Do it Like You’re Drunk), which Molly and Nick recommend. We also spent a lot of time talking about Halloween because all three of us love the holiday.  Molly reminisces about her Wiccan days.  Then we read and respond to Erica Zaffke Schaub’s answers to our five questions.

Show notes below the fold:

Information about the various lengths of Tom Baker’s Scarves. And here is the pattern for the scarf Molly is making for Nick.

We talk about the documentary Hell House, which is streaming on Netflix.

Tim’s kids really like playing Seven Wonders right now.

Here’s the link to our favorite local comic and gaming shop, The Source.

Correction: Tim’s band originally formed in 2001 and changed their name to The Dregs in 2003.  Thanks to our friend Eric for doing the pedantic research.

Unfortunately, none of us liked the movie.  While there is definitely an exploration of Scientology at the core of the film, it doesn’t feel as if Anderson’s critique is completely crystallized.  The film itself faces the same problem that the title character does – it feels like Anderson is making things up as he goes.

Scientology itself, though, is a great source for a podcast and perhaps the film will still serve as a jumping off point for that conversation.  Or maybe we’ll decide to talk about something else.

Whether or not we go ahead with our plans for podcasting about the film, we are always on the lookout for other films with an atheist or religious perspective as a source for a podcast.

Now seems a good time to ask our listeners – what movies do you think would make good source material for a podcast?  Do you know of any movies coming to theatres that would be worth considering?

On a related topic, recognizing not all of our listeners are local, would local folks like it if we arranged a meet-up the next time a good option gets a theatrical release?  We could even do something as crazy as try to organize a round table discussion of the movie after we watch it and we could edit that discussion into the podcast!

That sounds like a lot of work, though.  Don’t get too excited by that idea.

Show notes below the fold:

In case you don’t know anything about “The Innocence of Muslims,” here is a link.  It’s only 13 minutes long and about the worst filmmaking you’ll ever see.

We talked about some information Neil Gaiman posted about the situation on his blog.

We also talked about atheists being arrested for their views in other countries.  This is a link to a petition working to help free Alber Saber, an atheist who was arrested in Egypt during the riots.

For more information about the films we discussed during the five questions, here’s a link to their IMDB pages:

The Gamers: Dorkness Rising

The Wild Hunt

And finally, here’s a picture of Porter’s deep fried bacon (in the colander on the right)!

October 9th – We talk with our friend Porter about his journey to unbelief and the concept of killing people in the name of imaginary friends.  Of course, he also gets a crack at our five questions.

October 16th – Our October geeky boner episode will cover spreadsheets, Borderlands 2, Tim’s band and how much we all love Halloween. We’ll also read off another listeners’ responses to our five questions.

October 23rd – Our guest Tony Miller talks about growing up as a Mennonite and we all get pretty worked up about the proposed amendment to ban gay marriage.

October 30th - Another episode that uses a movie as a jumping off point.  This time we are talking about The Contender, a political film that features an atheist protagonist. It also stars Jeff Bridges.  Just sayin’

Remember you can send us answers to our five questions.  E-mail Tim, Nick or Molly@geekswithoutgod!

Show notes below the fold:

Want to know some more about Atheism+?  Here’s a blog by Jen McReight answering some questions.

Also, here’s Jen’s original post that served as an inspiration for the movement.

There’s a shit ton of stuff on the web about Atheism+ – both positive and negative. Do a google search and you’ll fill an afternoon easy.

Here’s a link to an episode of Wil Wheaton’s Tabletop.

For you folks going to Austin, here’s information about Thundercloud Subs.

Molly’s cousin Hack also said he likes Everett Kaser logic puzzles, which you can find here.

We talk about Penny Arcade’s Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory.

Here’s a helpful image that explains the whole gnostic atheist, agnostic atheist labeling.

Ronn Bauman – We had so much fun recording this week’s episode with Ronn, we went ahead and recorded a second episode.  About zombies! Also other stuff. That episode probably won’t air until January but isn’t it good to know it’s out there?

Porter - You may not know our friend Porter but we had a great discussion with him about killing people in the name of your invisible friend.  For the first time, we spent a fair amount of time talking about Islam.  Coming in October!

Tony Miller – Tony plays Seamus the Insulter at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival.  He was raised Mennonite and we had a good conversation about his religious background and his journey to Atheism. We also talked about the Gay Marriage Amendment that we all oppose.  If you are at all on the fence on the amendment or know someone who is, listen up and try to help defeat it.  Coming in October!

Bill Lehto – Bill is the editor of Atheist Voices of Minnesota, a compilation of essays whose contributors include PZ Myers, Stephanie Svan and Tim Wick!  We’ll be talking to Bill in October.  His episode will probably air in November

Matt Allex – Matt is one of the co-hosts of the Apropos of Nothing podcast.  We’ll be talking with him about his experience helping a fellow non believer to come out of the closet.  We’ll be talking to him in late October.  His episode will probably air in November.

Brianne Bilyeau – She blogs as Biodork on FreethoughtBlogs.  We’ll be talking to her in late October.  Her episode will probably air in November or Early December.

It’s been super cool to have so many interesting people lining up to be on the pocast with us!  Thanks to every one of them for being so generous with their time!

This week we interview Ronn Bauman (Scaramouche) of the Tortuga Twins about 12 hours after we first interviewed him because Tim was a dumb fuck and overwrote the original podcast.  So yeah, this whole podcast is us trying to remember how interesting we were the first time we talked about all of this stuff.  You be the judge.  Ronn is a huge fan of the podcast and promises that if he ever relocates to Minnesota, he will find a way to get himself included in every podcast in a creepy stalker fashion.  We talk about how we, as atheists need to avoid underestimating the “opposition” and Ronn answers our five questions.

P.S:  We had such a great time talking to Ronn, we recorded a second podcast (that Tim did not delete) and we’ll be airing that one sometime in the next couple of months!

Edit to add: Hi everyone, Molly here. I want to apologize for misquoting the study I mentioned about atheists. I said the study found people would rather leave their child with a terrorist than an atheist. I misremembered the actual study I meant, which shows that those polled trust rapists more than atheists, and would rather leave their child with a random religious person than a daycare run by an atheist. I deeply regret the error, and I hope you can all forgive me my off-the-cuff mistake. I would also like to state, for the record, that terrorism is perpetuated by all races and creeds; if I say terrorist, I never mean “Arab” or “Muslim” any more than I mean “Christian” or “pro-lifer” or “Black & Tan.”

Show notes below the fold:

We briefly mention the Ark encounter in Kentucky.  If you haven’t heard of it, you can check out their official page.  Yes, this is a real thing.

A little bit of information about “Brights,” which we incorrectly identify as starting with Richard Dawkins.  That’s right Richard Dawkins, everything that we don’t like about atheism is YOUR FAULT – even when it’s not!

I got asked the question a few weeks ago.  You know the question, right?

“Isn’t atheism just another form of religion?”

I gave the flippant answer right away: atheism is a religion in the same way that not collecting stamps is a hobby.

Atheism is the absence of religion.  I have no deity guiding what I do.

“Yeah, but isn’t science your religion?”

No.  Because if new research shows conclusively that the prevailing scientific paradigm is wrong, I’ll change my view.  If the existence of ghosts could actually be proven, I’d totally believe in ghosts.

If I believe in the Abrahamic god and someone presents me with proof that what I believe is wrong, I would most likely ignore it or come up with an explanation for the dichotomy without providing proof to back up my claim.

Why are there dinosaur bones in rock strata dating to millions of years before the creationists claim god created the Earth?  Because the devil put them there!

See how easy that was? I didn’t have to prove a damn thing.

Prove to me that it wasn’t the Devil!

Religion ignores contradictory evidence.  Science examines contradictory evidence and, if it proves correct, embraces it.

Here’s the overarching problem I have with the question, though.  If believing in god is a religion and not believing in god is a religion, what isn’t  a religion?

Would it only be the agnostics who have no religion?  The fact they steadfastly say “I don’t know if there is a god or not” means they are the only ones who can definatively be said to be free of religious belief?

I don’t even think that works because most self identified agnostics steadfastly state that they don’t know whether there is a god or not.  They are still professing a belief on the subject of god and they can, therefore, also be called religious.

I think that’s just silly.  The presumption that any belief system that takes a stand on god is a religion completely devalues the word.

In fact, I don’t think being a theist necessarily means you are religious.  What if you believe in god but reject all forms of organized religion?  Are you religious simply because you say you believe in some sort of god?

Religion, I believe,  is driven by dogmatic views that dictate not only what god is  but how we are expected to relate to him/her/it. 

Atheism dictates only one thing:  there is probably not a god.

Heck, it doesn’t even dictate that we believe in scientific evidence.  You can be an atheist and ignore scientific evidence if you want.  You can be an atheist and believe in ghosts.  You can be an atheist and believe in ancient aliens.

If you are going to call yourself an atheist, the only thing you can’t do is believe in god.  That just won’t work out.

You don’t have to listen to/agree with Dawkins or Myers or Watson or me to be an atheist.  You don’t have to read “The God Delusion.”  You don’t have to tell anyone you are an atheist.  There is no complex ritual involved.  You will never be expected to attend a meeting. Ever.

There is no right way to be an atheist.  The only way you can do atheism wrong is by believing in god.

In order for the word “religion” to matter, you have to make sure it means something other than “a view of reality that professes any opinion on the subject of god.”

Because if that is your definition,  everyone is religious and the word is a useless qualifier.

Show notes below the fold:

Here’s a link so you can make a flat cap just like Molly.

If you want to buy Tim the Indiana Jones Blu-ray set (don’t – he already has it), you can do it here.

Tim talks about a Blog entry he made about the passing of Neil Armstrong.

Here’s some info on the false story that Darwin recanted on his deathbed.  Bullshit!

Avengers Vs X-Men #11

Brian Michael Bendis, Olivier Coipel, Jim Cheung

I’m going to talk about AvX #11, Uncanny X-Men #18, and The New Avengers #30 all together below. The three comics essentially take place at the same time, but from different perspectives. There are some pretty hefty spoilers that I’ll be talking about, so please beware.

Chew #28

John Layman, Rob Guillory

Chew! I own every single issue of Chew, I’ve been reading it since the beginning. I’m due for a re-read from the start, so I’m strongly considering picking up the trade paperbacks or collected editions. The other benefit to owning the TPBs, other than making it easier to re-read, is that I can lend them out and make other people read them, because not enough people are reading this fucking book. Protagonist Tony Chu is recovering from his abduction and heavily sedated, which they use as an excuse to draw everyone in a furry-esque animal form for most of this issue. It’s cute, fun, and doesn’t distract from the story. Well done!

Crossed Badlands #13

David Lapham, Jacen Burrows

This is the end of Edmund’s story, and an important lesson: being a hero might get you killed, and being a coward might keep you alive. Fantastic ending to the chapter, I loved it.

Fantastic Four #610

Jonathan Hickman, Ryan Stegman

One of my favorite concepts that I feel isn’t explored enough in comics is that of a brilliant villain who realizes that crime doesn’t pay, and that it’s far more efficient to operate inside the law. As Hickman prepares to hand off Fantastic Four to Matt Fraction, he seems to be starting up a new plot line involving everyone’s favorite beekeeper suit wearing group of mad scientists, AIM (Advanced Idea Mechanics). They bought an island nation, have set up a government, and Reed Richards has been appointed their ambassador from the United States. I’m eager to read more!

New Avengers #30

Brian Michael Bendis, Mike Deodato, Ron Garney

I’m going to talk about AvX #11, Uncanny X-Men #18, and The New Avengers #30 all together below. The three comics essentially take place at the same time, but from different perspectives. There are some pretty hefty spoilers that I’ll be talking about, so please beware.

Uncanny X-Force #31

Rick Remender, David Williams, Jerome Opena

Violent characters willing to kill acting in character and making tough decisions. What more could you possibly ask for? This issue focuses a little more on the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and the behind the scenes politics of the group, touching on the actual X-Force mostly at the beginning and end. I liked it. Evan’s expressions are fantastic, very easy to tell he’s just a kid being tortured. But is it just me, or does it look like Daken has a pot belly in a few panels?

Uncanny X-Men #18

Kieron Gillen, Daniel Acuna

I’m going to talk about AvX #11, Uncanny X-Men #18, and The New Avengers #30 all together below. The three comics essentially take place at the same time, but from different perspectives. There are some pretty hefty spoilers that I’ll be talking about, so please beware.

Wolverine And The X-Men #16

Jason Aaron, Jorge Molina

This issue goes back, before Wolverine and the X-Men started, and gives us the back story on the new, improved, and disturbingly young Hellfire Club, lead by Kade Kilgore. Other than the characters being a little over the top in the “I’m so evil, mwa ha ha!” department, I really liked this. The prison scenes are great, I love the perspectives used, it’s all from the point of view of (evil! Mwa ha ha) kids in prison, so a lot of detail is left out, it’s a very small window into the institution. I loved it.

X-Men #35

Brian Wood, Roland Boschi, Jorge Molina

Keep in mind while reading the following, I am not an art snob about comics. Usually I focus on the layout and panel flow when appreciating the visual aspects of the medium. However, the art in this issue was distractingly bad.  How bad? Domino and Storm look like they’re alternately drawn by a drunk high school student and Patrick Nagel. Don’t believe me? Could it really be that bad? Here, take a look:

I’m not even going to talk about the rest of the issue, the story, dialogue, panel counts, nothing. Garbage.

X-Men Legacy #273

Christos N. Gage, Rafael Sandoval, Mark Brooks

Rogue solves a war between aliens on another planet that has no bearing on the rest of the Marvel Universe, and everything is the same as it was before she left. Teh enb.

AvX #11, Uncanny X-Men #18, and The New Avengers #30: SPOILERS AHEAD!!

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Seriously you guys, spoilers:

U-XM #18 has some brilliant dialogue. Powerful, character defining exchanges between Illyana (Magik) and Colossus, Cyclops and Magneto, and finally, Cyclops and Emma Frost. The final conversation takes place at a fancy dinner inside Scott and Emma’s minds, discussing the state of their relationship while engaged in a fight with the Avengers and X-Men in the real world. This culminates with Scott betraying Emma, blasting her and taking the rest of the Phoenix force for himself. Brilliant conversation, excellent facial expressions. The dinner scene with Scott and Emma, amidst cuts to the physical battle they’re in, is great. I really enjoyed this issue, and feel like everyone in it will be changed as a character from this point forward. What more could you ask for, right?

AvX #11, which technically you are supposed to read before U-XM #18, but they overlap, is the big spoiler issue everyone’s been talking about, because there’s a major character death, but I ask this: how major can it be, if the character has already died and been brought back several times? Well, in interviews, Brian Michael Bendis and a few others have promised a level of permanency in this death comparable to that of Gwen Stacy. So maybe this time, Professor Charles Xavier will remain dead, a victim of patricide. No, not Legion, but Scott Summers. Professor X has united the rest of the X-Men with the Avengers to take down Scott, and the tides are turning, so Cyclops takes the rest of the power from Emma, and disowns Xavier, declaring “You are NOT my father,” before killing his mentor. In a fit of emotion, he embraces his new found power, and declares himself the [dark] phoenix.

Like I said, Prof. X has died many times, but never at the hands of his star pupil and “son.” Maybe it’s event fatigue, but I conceptually understand why this is a big fucking deal, but was emotionally unmoved. The art conveys it just fine, but I’m not really surprised. The whole series has been setting up Scott as the big villain, and Professor X has been floating about without purpose for a while now. It just makes sense that this would happen, which lessens the blow. Still, I enjoyed it all the same.

New Avengers #30:

De-powered Emma in custody, Powerman and Daredevil are escorting her somewhere for safe keeping. Along the way they are hijacked by mutant hating zealots. Blah blah blah, fight fight fight. But then, something that’s been coming for a while happens: Luke Cage realizes that he can’t be the family man he needs to be and an Avenger at the same time, and he quits. He calls Jessica, and tells her he’s fine, and on his way home, for good. I want to know what happens with this, and am looking forward to more. Unfortunately, the entire issue is just a vehicle for this single moment, the rest seems to fall flat.

Josh also teases us because we weren’t on iTunes yet.   We just want to point out that we are now.

Show notes below the fold:

TAM is run by the James Randi foundation.

Here’s video of the million dollar challenge at TAM 10.

A little information about Teller’s show “Play Dead.”

September 11th – We talk with guest Josh Humphrey about The Amazing Meeting in Las Vegas.  He attended in 2011 and 2012.

September 18th – A Geeky Boner episode featuring Tim, Molly and Nick talking about new jobs, Indiana Jones and the US manned Space Program.  We also read and respond to the first set of listener submitted answers to our five questions!

September 25th – Guest Ronn Bauman of the Tortuga Twins talks with us about a lot of stuff but especially how we shouldn’t underestimate the “opposition.”  He also answers our five questions.

October 2nd – The three of us talk about Atheism Plus and semantics.  We also read and respond to another set of listener submitted answers.

Avengers Academy #36

Christos N. Gage, Tom Grummett, Giuseppe Camuncoli

The kids of the Avengers Academy fight to restore their powers, which could kill Veil. Part 3 of 4, I think the next issue is the final issue of Avengers Academy. I wonder how that will shake out, and if post AvX they’ll do some new hero-school type comic (like Avengers Initiative or Academy).

Dark Avengers #180 (Formerly: Thunderbolts)

Jeff Parker, Declan Shalvey, John Tyler Christopher

I love Thunderbolts. Unfortunately, this isn’t Thunderbolts. Half this story takes place in some third world neighbor of Latveria, and the other half takes place in an alternate future, which also happens to be a tribute to 2000 AD, with the descendents/clones of Luke Cage as the “bosses” (read: judges). Losing interest.

Defenders #10

Matt Fraction, Jamie Mckelvie, Terry Dodson

I have a new appreciation for Defenders, after listening to Kieron Gillen’s podcast, Decompressed. In one of the episodes, they discuss the Marvel Method with Matt Fraction, and how he and Jamie Mckelvie have been using that process for Defenders. It works doubly well for this kind of psychedelic old-school art they’ve been using for the past few issues, I really like it. Only two more issues, though, #12 will be the final issue of Defenders.

Fairest #7

Bill Willingham, Shawn McManus, Adam Hughes

The Lamia. I think this is a one-shot Fables/Fairest story, it seemed fairly self-contained, but could lead to something more in the future. It’s told in a gritty, gumshoe noir, with Beast as the investigator in a race to find The Lamia before his British rival, St George the Dragon Killer, does first.

Hawkeye #2

Matt Fraction, David Aja

Hawkeye (Clint Barton) teams up with Hawkeye (Kate Bishop, from Young Avengers). Like the previous (AMAZING!) issue, this one is spent entirely out of costume. The Hawkeyes investigate a ritzy circus show with a large number of criminals in attendance. This was perfect. The story, dialogue, panel layout, pacing, everything. There’s literally a 24-panel page in this book, Fraction and Aja get some serious shit done when paired together.

Invincible Iron Man #524

Matt Fraction, Salvador Larroca

Shit’s going down, starting here. Very excited to see the other shoe drop in the next issue(s?). A little disappointed in the J.A.R.V.I.S. reveal, unless it turns out to be something else. I have my suspicions.

Sweet Tooth #37

Jeff Lemire

Three more issues, with #40 being a double-sized finale. I’m looking forward to seeing this wrapped up, but there’s not a lot to talk about in this issue, it’s mostly fallout from the big reveal at the end of the last one. The final story, Holy War, begins in the next issue.

X-Factor #243

Peter David, Leonard Kirk, David Yardin

A flashback for Polaris, Peter David continues to just fuck up the lives of X-Factor characters, building to his promise of a story that gathers all his unresolved plot threads, and ends them together. We shall see.

AvX Vs #5

Matt Fraction, Leinil Francis Yu

This is probably my favorite AvX fightbook yet. Possibly rivaling the Spider-Man and Hope conversation about responsibility and power for the best book of the entire AvX event. Storm and her husband, Black Panther, fight it out in this one, it’s action and melancholy. Fraction continues to write Hawkeye as the ex-villain hero he is, and it’s great. He takes on Angel and Psylocke in this one.

Captain Marvel #3

Kelly Sue DeConnick, Dexter Soy, Ed McGuinness

Boy, I hope this picks up a bit. It’s really pretty, and the dialogue is good, but they jumped right into this time-travel plot, and I’m really not that hooked. I’ll keep reading, for now, if for no other reason than how much I loved the last Ms. Marvel series.

Crossed Badlands #12

David Lapham, Jacen Burrows

This is the first time any of the Crossed characters from different stories have, er, crossed over, I guess. I’m excited to see where this goes.

FF #21

Jonathan Hickman, Nick Dragotta, Mike Choi

HEY GUISE HAVE SOME MORE INHUMANS AND KREE STORY THAT WILL NEVER END

Locke And Key Grindhouse (One Shot)
Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez 

An excellent one-shot, should keep me from going into Locke &  Key withdrawl until the final story starts up this fall. Also, there’s an ad on the back page for a replica set of the keys from the comic. Drool.

New Mutants #48

Dan Abnett, Felix Ruix, John Tyler Christopher

This is my favorite kind of New Mutants stories: Self-contained plots that don’t involve the rest of the Marvel world.

Skullkickers #17

Jim Zub, Edwin Huang, Saejin Oh

So, if you’ve never read Skullkickers, here’s what you need to know: Someone took their very best D&D campaign and turned it into a comic about a dwarf and a bald guy with a magic gun, and their adventures. Excellent violence and comic mischief, hilarious onomonopia and background character dialogue.

Uncanny X-Force #30

Rick Remender, David Williams, Jerome Opena

Shit’s getting real. The punch was telegraphed, but still hit hard.

Wolverine And The X-Men #15

Jason Aaron, Jorge Molina

Best X-Book ongoing, currently. Great character exchanges in this book, my particular favorite was between Quintavius “Quentin” Quirinius Quire (AKA Kid Omega) and Charles “Professor X” Xavier. I think this issue was the calm before the storm, going into the AvX finale.

Nick mentions the Family Guy view of creationism. You can watch that clip here.

Molly mentions David Thorne’s site 27b/6. You can read the post about his son and the Easter celebration here.

Show notes below the fold.

Tim Talks about Jen Scott’s article discussing women in comedy.

Here’s a little more information about the Zombie Ant fungus.

Tim also mentions the following cartoon:

This week’s pull list is 9 comics, all Marvel except Unwritten (Vertigo/DC). Technically Supercrooks is Icon, but that’s just an creator-owned imprint for Marvel, so shush. As usual, I picked up my comics at The Source.

Details on this week after the cut:

Astonishing X-Men #53

Marjorie M. Liu, Mike Perkins, Dustin Weaver

Mysterious stuff is afoot! Not tied in to AvX event, just mutants investigating mutant-related stuff, good story, decent art.

Deadpool Kills The Marvel Universe #4 (Final Issue)

Cullen Bunn, Dalibor Talajic, Kaare Andrews

You know, I almost didn’t read this series. It’s a fun character, but he’s a bit over saturated. He’s in so many damn books! Totally worth it, though. Good 4th-wall breaking insanity, which  is darker than the usual Deadpool fare. Fantastic ending to the mini-series, very true to the character and meta.

Invincible Iron Man #523

Matt Fraction, Salvador Larroca

MORE! Sorry, this is probably my favorite ongoing right now. It has this crazy five year build up, and it’s going to end with something huge. Then Matt Fraction and Larroca will be handing the book off to Kieron Gillen and Greg Land. Damn good stuff.

Secret Avengers #30

Rick Remender, Matteo Scalera, Arthur Adams

Remender writes a crazy story. It’s hard to describe this book as far in as it is in the story, but it’s exciting to know he’ll be taking over Captain America soon, from Ed Brubaker. I’m hoping for some excellent Captain America spy/SHIELD stories. It’s kinda sad that his artist will be John Romita Jr., though, as I’m really not a fan.

Supercrooks #4 (Final Issue)

Mark Millar, Leinil Francis Yu

You might know Millar from Kick-Ass, Ultimates, Nemesis, or Wanted. Say what you will about the guy, he does a lot in a few issues, and they’re practically written to be adapted to film. Supercrooks would make a great heist movie with powers, it even has a little Ocean’s Eleven twist at the end.

Uncanny X-Men #17

Kieron Gillen, Daniel Acuña

I love the way Acuña draws the X-Men. I’m kinda glad this is the end of the Sinister sub-plot of the AvX event. Not that I didn’t enjoy it, but it felt like it could have been something cooler outside the event. Still, fun and pretty.

The Unwritten #40

Mike Carey, Peter Gross, Yuko Shimizu

It’s hard to describe this book without referencing about 40 different literary classics, Neil Gaiman’s The Books of Magic, Harry Potter. Also, it’s going to sound like I’m describing a book that “borrows” heavily, or outright steals from other material. But that would be wrong. It’s original and brilliant, and for some reason Vertigo started printing it with shiny pages in the past issue or two, which I’m not sure I prefer for Gross’ art. C’est la vie, I still love it.

Wolverine Annual #1

Alan Davis

Boring as fuck unless you’re one of the 13 ClanDestine fans left, which I’m not. Next!

X-Men Legacy #272

Christos N. Gage, Rafael Sandoval, Mark Brooks

I’m going to use this issue as an excuse to bring up a pet-peeve. Why can’t the X-Men seem to just stay the fuck on Earth? I love most of the X-Books, read pretty much all of them, but fuck man, stop putting them on other planets MUTANTS ARE INTERESTING ENOUGH WITHOUT INTRODUCING A NEW ALIEN RACE EVERY SIX MONTHS. Still, I love Rogue, and the way they’ve been drawing her lately is great. I like how strong of character she’s being portrayed, and I like that her powers are influencing her as a person (versatilely, perspective, leadership).

Show notes are below the fold.

Tim talks about being a contributor to “Atheist Voices of Minnesota.”  If you’d like to learn more about the book, check it out here.  There are links to purchase if you would like.  All proceeds go to Minnesota Atheists.

Nick says his favorite web site for Comic News is Bleeding Cool.

Here’s a link to the panorama picture from the Mars Curiousity that Tim was talking about.

And here are a couple of pictures of Nick’s Modeling work:

Thanks Jason!

Update: Stephanie Zvan also wrote about her experience on our podcast!  She called us bastards a lot which, we admit, sounds a lot more like us.  Thanks Stephanie!

If you would like to check out the mobile version, just use any mobile device (Android or iOS)!  Take a look at tell us what you think!

Show notes below the fold.

Here is Stephanie’s blog, Almost Diamonds.

And Jason’s blog is Lousy Canuck.  He’s from Canada, you see.

If you’d like to see a video of the Ancient Alien panel, it is online.  Follow the link below.

Ancient Alien Debate

And Stephanie says her favorite atheist character is from “The Demon Breed” by James Schmitz.

Now, let me show you the image meme someone posted on Facebook that got me thinking about all of this:

The text that “For America” has provided with this image says that “some in the media are complaining” about Gabby Douglas’ Christianity. It then implores you to Like the image if you are “tired of liberal attacks on Christians.” One of the first comments I saw was from a man who said he had spent the last hour and a half scouring news sites, feeds, media aggregates, and search engines, yet he could not find a single instance of any person from the media lambasting her for or complaining about her remarks. He went on to say that these sorts of things are dangerously divisive, and I have to agree.

You might think that I, as an outspoken atheist and anti-theist, would have a problem with what Gabby has said. But I don’t. Because SHE did the work, and SHE won the medal, and if SHE wants to say that was her god working through her, that is her prerogative. What I can’t stand is when someone has heart surgery, or survives a car crash due to emergency responders, and then says that God saved them. No, a surgeon saved you. A paramedic saved you.

But see, Gabby Douglas did this on her own. This is her victory, her achievement. I can’t think of any reason anyone, atheist liberal godless heathen socialist or not, would deign to say she is in the wrong with her statement. If a neurosurgeon removes a tumor from your brain, and you say, “Thank you, doctor, you saved my life!” and the doctor’s response is, “No, I was merely the vessel through which God worked His miracle for you,” so be it. He did the surgery, he gets to say who deserves the credit.

But fuck you if you wake up from that surgery and give all the glory to your god and none to the surgical team or the scientists who came up with the medicine practices used.

We’re going to ask you to answer them!

If you’d like to answer our questions and have us read them over the air, send an e-mail to Tim, Nick or Molly @geekswithoutgod.com.  Make sure you put “Five Questions” in the subject line.

We want your answers to these questions:

1)  What was the best movie you saw in the last 30 days (in the theatre or at home)

2) Who is your favorite atheist/agnostic/non-theist character?

3)  What is your geekiest hobby?

4)  What is your favorite sandwich?  Please be specific and descriptive.

5)  What is the stupidest/strangest thing anyone has said to you about your atheism/skepticism?

Remember, don’t answer the questions in the comments – e-mail us your answers!  We’ll start reading them off on the show as soon as we receive some!

Here’s a description of the conference from their web site:

In recent years, the skeptic movement has been gaining more and more momentum. It is obvious that one of the largest factors in this growth is technology. Not just the internet which connects us all, and allows us to form communities and share information faster than ever before. But also technologies in other fields such as astronomy, chemistry, and medicine, all of which make people realize how brilliant and beautiful the natural world is.
It is in the honor of these technologies that I am happy to announce the SkepTech Conference. A conference to celebrate the diverse technologies and people that have made our movement as powerful and amazing as it is.

Just take a look at the list of confirmed speakers.  That’s a total rock star line up.

And us.

No pressure.

We’re probably going to do a live recording of our podcast and we’ll see how many interviews we can squeeze in with the other guests at the convention.

They’ve also asked us if we’d be willing to talk about how to set up your own podcast and the technology behind it.  We’ll let everyone know what our plans are as we get closer to the conference.

All those folks who saw our first podcast at CONvergence can say they knew us before we were somebody!

Molly talks about her work at Fantasy Flight Games.  Go check them out.

We got through two of Tim’s Ten Questions Every Atheist Should answer and we don’t think we’ll do any more because they pissed us off too much.  If you’re interested in the rest of the questions and Tim’s answers, you can read them here.  He’s also been working through some follow up questions asked by a fundamentalist Christian.

So take a look at the new ideas.  Which one do you like best?

Compare these with the original set of favorites.  What do you guys think?

You can search for “Geeks Without God” or, if you are feeling lazy, you can just click on this link!

We’re sorry it took so long.  The problems were weird and complex and will probably make for a great panel on “stuff you shouldn’t do when you are creating a new podcast” at CONvergence next year.

If you’d like to manually subscribe to our feed, you can do so here.

Next Week:  Our second episode with just the three of us.  We talk about our latest geeky obsessions which, thanks to Molly, we are thinking of calling Geeky Boners.  We also answer some condescending questions about atheism and Molly gets to answer our five questions (which are not condescending)

8/14:  The last of our four episodes recorded at CONvergence.  This one features Jason Thibault and Stephanie Zvan from FreethoughtBlogs.  We talk about the Ancient Alien debate that took place at the convention.

8/21:  The three of us talk about our latest geeky boners, we talk about what the term “Fundamentalist Atheist” might mean and Nick finally gets to answer our five questions.

8/28: An episode with Laura Okagaki-Vraspir.  We talk fungus! Zombie Fungus!

9/4:  The three of us are going to talk about the film Inherit the Wind and whether or not evolution and religion should be taught in schools.

9/11:  An Episode with Josh Humphrey where we talk about The Amazing Meeting (TAM to those who are in the know).

Speaking of that total kickass podcast idea, here it is.

Also Fat Apollo is below the fold!

Do you hear us, Internet???? Do it now!

Who is this wonderful person, you ask?  Her name is Sara Schultz and you can check out her work here.

She sent us this big old sheet of design ideas:

And here’s the four she said were her favorites:

Well we can’t decide.  Which one is your favorite?

So Joe Peacock wrote an article on CNN.com entitled “Booth Babes Need Not Apply.” You can guess what it’s about from the title, but I’ll sum up a bit: he hates the fact that girls who aren’t actually interested in geek culture and who don’t have any geeky interests of their own are paid by companies to dress up in slutty costumes and stand around looking sexy to lure geek guys into various booths and halls at conventions, particularly San Diego Comic Con. (He also dislikes that there are growing numbers of equally non-geek chicks who put on slutty costumes and go to these conventions to get attention from the attendees. We’ll get to that bullshit in a minute.)

At first, I agreed with Peacock. I, too, dislike the idea of someone pretending to be a geek in order to sell geeks something. I don’t like it when anyone uses disingenuous behaviors to sell shit. Hiring “hot” chicks to flaunt their bodies and coo at guys in order to get them to buy things or sign up for things rubs me the wrong way. It’s sexist. It’s sexist against everyone involved. The women are objectified, the men are told it’s cool to objectify women, and the men are reduced to their sex drives and treated as though they only think with their dicks. It’s insulting. For everyone. Here’s a quote from Peacock that I agreed with: “As a guy, I find it repugnant that, due to my interests in comic books, sci-fi, fantasy and role playing games, video games and toys, I am supposed to feel honored that a pretty girl is in my presence. It’s insulting.” Yes! And if he were only talking about the paid-to-be-there-looking-sexy booth babes, I’d be on board with this. But he’s not. You see, he’s talking about cosplaying female attendees.

So he starts in on this “6 of 9″ bullshit. Talking about women who attend the conventions, he says: “I get sick of wannabes who couldn’t make it as car show eye candy slapping on a Batman shirt and strutting around comic book conventions instead. … I call these girls ’6 of 9′. They’re a ’6′ in the ‘real world’, but when they put on a Batman shirt and head to the local fandom convention du jour, they instantly become a ’9′.”

First off: rating women on a scale of 1 to 10 on their looks? Fuck you, dude. Your main problem with these chicks is that they seem more attractive than they have any right to seem? That’s pretty fucking horrible to think, let alone to post on CNN.com as an acceptable opinion. Considering beauty is utterly subjective, you immediately lose all credibility when you start rating women on a scale like a consumer report. In the last line of that article, Peacock claims that he and others like him (True Geeks, dontcha know) are attracted to women’s brains, not their objectified body parts. Really? So you rate women on a 1 to 10 scale based on…their score on an IQ test? Oh, no, right, their physical appearance.

Secondly, you have no idea if those girls are “actual” geeks or not. I’m assuming that since you rate them based on appearance, you’re probably not actually talking to them or getting to know them. How do you know any of those women aren’t rabid Marvel fans, or have seen every episode of Deep Space Nine? You don’t. You assume. You assume and you dismiss them out of hand because of your assumptions.

Then Peacock starts pandering to the True Geek Women that attend these conventions, even allowing that some of these True Geek Women are genuinely hot! Wow! He says “Women elevate the culture, and thus, the content. And, I’ll admit, you ladies are much nicer to be around.” Gee, thanks. It’s so nice to know you think being around us is better than…waitaminute, that’s sexist as shit! Just because we have vaginas, we’re nicer to be around? I promise you, I am not that nice to be around. Especially not when someone tells me my having a vagina elevates the geek culture. (How, exactly, do women do that, by the way? He never says.)

Here’s the best part of the article, if you ask me: “But then, you have these models-cum-geeks like Olivia Munn … These chicks? Not geeks. I think that their rise is due to the fact that corporations are figuring out that geeks have money, and they want it. But they can’t abide putting a typically geeky face on camera, so they hire models to act quirky and sell this marketable geekdom.”

What, exactly, does a “typically geeky face” look like? From the sound of it, Peacock thinks the average True Geek Woman does not have a face that could be considered beautiful. Also, fuck you for picking on Olivia Munn. She’s a great goddamned actress (have you seen The Newsroom??) and she was a kick-ass host on Attack of the Show for years. She knows a lot about a lot of geek culture, and if that doesn’t make you a TGW, I don’t know what does. Olivia Munn is NOT a booth babe. Once again, Peacock fucks up the point he started out making, the one I sort of agreed with.

There have been lots of responses to this article, as you can imagine. Kate Kotler for Bleeding Cool has a good one, even though I don’t agree with all of it. (She doesn’t have a problem with the hiring and use of booth babes; I do.) But John Scalzi’s response is the fucking bee’s knees. He makes the points that I was thinking in my head. Mostly, WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU CARE if some chick you think is a 6 is dressed up as Storm and getting mad attention from dudes? How does that harm you in any goddamned way at all, ever? It doesn’t. It only bothers you because you are a self-righteous dude full of nerd rage who is jealous of the attention. That’s the only possible explanation, Peacock. I’ve never been at a convention and thought to myself, “That chick in the Emma Frost costume is like totally not that pretty, I don’t know why people are taking her picture.” You know why not? Because I don’t FUCKING CARE if she is getting her picture taken by people who think she looks awesome. It has ZERO effect on my life.

Like I said, I’m sick of talking about this. I am not a girl who enjoys endlessly discussing feminist theory, or feminism in general. It’s boring. I went to an all-women’s college; I’ve paid my dues discussing Beauvoir and Jong and Paglia and Friedan and Wolf. And I support all my ladies who are fighting this fight and having this discussion. I think that’s admirable. But I’m not interested.

I don’t want to have to defend myself, or talk about whether or not a woman is this or that. I hate that there’s this whole notion of women versus men, us versus you guys, and who wins what. I’m a geek first, a girl second. I don’t really give a shit if someone doesn’t see me that way, or if I’m being objectified. That’s on them, not on me. I know I’m a strong, confident, kick-ass human being who loves my geek subculture fiercely. I happen to have a vagina. Deal with it and move on.

Here is a link to information about Tim’s Alphabetical Movie Project.

And here’s a link to the website we were using to identify the religion of comic book characters.

We talk a little bit about a video Rebecca Watson made that pissed  people off.  Here’s a link to the video in question.

Here’s a link to Tim’s Blog about “Brave”.

Molly and Kammy refer to an article by Hitchens.  If you want to know what they are talking about, here it is.

Here’s a picture of Tim wearing the hat.  See?  You totally can’t tell who he is!

While you all probably know who PZ Myers is, we’d like to thank him for mentioning us in his Blog about CONvergence. It was most unexpected and it made Tim get off his ass and post the podcast a few days earlier than originally planned.

Melissa Kaercher, our first guest, has a nice write up on CONvergence that mentions us.  She also gave us our own blog entry!  Sweet!

And our friends over at the Appropros of Nothing Podcast gave us a shout out so we are shouting back.  Thanks guys!

A couple of shout outs:  Thanks to CONvergence for letting us record our first podcast at their convention, to Geoffrey Brown for helping Tim write our theme song, to Melissa for being our first guest, and to our nearly full audience at the convention.  We didn’t want to go to a panel at 9:30 in the morning.  We’re flattered you did.

A few links:

Check out this video from Red Letter Media about Prometheus.

Here’s an article in which you can read about Ridley Scott’s ideas about the Aliens relationship to Jesus.

Also, Tim wants to note that both A.I. and Prometheus feature artifical life forms named David.  Spoooooooky!

Star Wars came out in 1977.  At the time, I was ten years old and the movie was just fucking Star Wars.  Episode IV?  Please!  As far as we knew, that was all the Star Wars we would ever get.

When I first saw the trailer for the film, it scared the piss out of me.  I was a nervous kid and I did not like scary films.  There was something about the trailer that made me think it was a scary film.

I don’t know why.  I was stupid, I guess.

So when the film came out, I avoided seeing it for about three months.  That was three months of not seeing Star Wars that I’ve been atoning for the rest of my life.

Over time, I acquired (and by “acquired” I mean “was gifted”) almost all of the Star Wars toys I could possibly find.  Did I have a Death Star?  You bet your ass I had a death star.  Did I have a silver TC-14 Protocol Droid?  Do you have to ask?

Actually, I might still have them in my mom’s basement.  God, I hope so.  That’s my kids’ college fund right there….

What came after Star Wars?  Well Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Trek: The Next Generation, a whole lot of Dungeons and Dragons…you get the idea.

I’ve always thought that being an atheist had at least something to do with being a geek.  Magic isn’t real.  Faster than light travel is probably impossible.  Dragons are only as cool as the artist creating them because real dragons don’t exist.

In Science Fiction and fantasy, those things are real.  Our imagination takes us places that we can’t actually go.  It takes us to worlds that don’t exist and allows us to meet alien races that could never be.  In that way, it is the most magical thing I’ve ever experienced.

I’m not a geek about any one thing.  I call myself a geek of all trades because I like a lot of things a little bit. I enjoy gaming but don’t get to do it all that often.  I love movies and watch a lot of them but not as many as I want.  I enjoy good geek TV series but rarely watch any of them all the way through.  I figure I know just enough to be dangerous.

But I am a geek about those things.  I get excited about the next super hero movie that is coming out.  I love to look at all the nerdy toys in the Target toy section.  I have the Swedish Chef’s kitchen playset above my TV.

Scratch that.  It’s above my DVD player.  Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem are above my TV set.  Along with Sweetums, Super Grover and Kermit the Frog dressed as Indiana Jones

What?  Oh, right, my theory.

I think everyone is a geek about something.  We all have obsessions.  For some people it is couponing.  For others it is football.  For others it’s knitting.

What makes geeks geeks is our desire to obsess over these things together.

Nerds can obsess about their favorite stuff in the comfort of their own home.  I define geeks as people who need to engage in social nerdery.  It is not enough for us to hate Prometheus.  We must hate the film with others.

We must make YouTube videos about it.  We must record podcasts about it.  We must make amusing Facebook memes about it.

Geekery is a social activity.

And that is the reason I’m a geek.  It isn’t enough that I love Star Wars and Dr. Who.  It isn’t enough that I get every joke in “Big Bang Theory.”  It isn’t enough that I’ve been one of the founders of two (and soon to be three) different science fiction conventions.

Those things are symptoms of being a geek but they are not what makes me one.

What makes me a geek is that I love all of these things and I want to share them with others.

One of the first presents I can remember wanting is a microscope. I got one when I was 9, and I played with it constantly. I looked at the difference between sugar crystals and salt crystals. I looked at a strand of my hair versus a strand of my mom’s hair. I pricked my finger over and over and looked at my blood. I loved the slides, the way they’d click together. I loved the cover glass squares, and how delicate they were. I would hold them in my hands and feel their tiny sharp edges press into my palms. I looked at water droplets, and at flower petals, and anything I could cram onto a slide and shove under the lens.

When I was 11, my best friend Abbi and I decided we were in love with two awesome guys. Michaelangelo and Raphael. I know what you’re thinking, and yes, they may be non-human mutants who are constantly in danger, but that did nothing to stop our love. For the record, my boyfriend was Raphael. His cool but rude sarcastic attitude thrilled me. Abbi preferred the party dude, with his radical catchphrases and happy-go-lucky smile. Please, nunchuks? No way, dude. Sai for life! Man, I loved that turtle.

My obsessions grew in number and never diminished in burning passion. I know everything about U2, particularly about Paul Hewson (oh, you laypeople know him as Bono). I memorized Shakespeare passages I particularly loved. I bought X-Files magazines and made collages out of them. I know every single word to the musicals Rent, Phantom of the Opera, and Miss Saigon. I was posting on dial-up Citadel BBSes before most people even owned a computer. I have read every single book Stephen King has written at least once, and most of them I’ve read more than 10 times. I never just liked something, I devoured it.

But to me, being a geek isn’t just about obsessing over things you like. If that were the case, anyone who watches every college football game they can manage would be a geek, and I personally don’t believe that’s true. To me, being a geek involves not fitting in, feeling weird, feeling like an outcast if not genuinely being outcast by your peers. I had few friends growing up, and those I did have, I tended to suffocate with my intensity and strangeness.

I know it’s become very chic these days to say, “I’m so weird! I have all these adorable quirks!” While I don’t begrudge those people the things they think make them weird, I feel that those same people were the ones in school who told me I was from another planet and that no one would ever like me if I didn’t stop being so weird. (In one memorable incident, I was talking to my running shoes and my socks and they were talking back to me, in their voices but using my mouth. This was not abnormal for me, and I always assumed other people did it, too. They don’t. Or so I’m told. I still do this, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop doing it. Lucky for me, my husband doesn’t mind it one bit. He does sometimes ask things like, “Why does the stove have a British accent?” but that’s a fair question. It’s a Kenmore, it has no right to be British, really. The thing is, it watches too much BBC and is extremely affectatious. Like Madonna.)

I don’t like a lot of people. When I say this, people usually laugh, because they think I’m kidding. I’m not. I don’t like a lot of people. I usually know within 15 minutes if I like someone or not. There are rare cases of people who have grown on me. There are more cases of people who have worn on me and I’ve changed my mind about liking them. That being said, when I like someone, they have my undying support and fandom. (Unlike U2. Man, they suck these days, amirite?) This is why I love My People, the geeks, the nerds, the social outcasts, the aspies, the trolls. I don’t have to like every single one of them as an individual (and believe me, I don’t) but I will fight to the death for their right to fly their freak flag and be fucking weird. This is why I love CONvergence. This is why I love Renaissance Festival. Unashamedly, in costume, living the dream of my youth: surrounded by people who see my weirdness and raise me one.

I’m a geek because I’m Molly, and I was born this way. I’ve been one of the weirdest people I know for my entire life, and I hope that never changes. I don’t think it could. I honestly tried to be more normal when I was in high school and I’m telling you, it really didn’t work out. You know how when an alien in a movie tries to act human, it makes people even more wary of it? Like when the bug was wearing the Vincent D’Onofrio skinsuit in Men In Black? That was me trying to be normal. Lurching all around, asking for sugar in water. It’s just easier to be me.

I remember putting religion to the test, and doing trial prayers asking for assistance or material possessions. “God helps those who help themselves,” they said. Well, shit, so you’re saying I can’t count on God? So then, 8 year-old me attempted Faustian bargains, offering my soul up for friends or more LEGOs. When Mephistopheles didn’t appear with contract in hand, and no LEGOs arrived, I figured my initial suspicion that it was all a hoax was right, and continued on down that skeptic path.

He might not be aware of it, but my Catholic father is probably responsible for a lot of this. At a very young age he got me hooked on Frank Herbert, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Ben Bova. He had encyclopedias that I would just sit and read, and when I couldn’t find the answer there, I’d ask him lots of questions about how stars work, what dinosaurs were like, and where we came from. He wasn’t afraid to say “I don’t know” when he didn’t know, and I always respected that.

As a teenager, my mom started taking me with her to Unitarian Universalist churches, eventually ending up at one in South Minneapolis. I met a lot of like-minded youth there who didn’t know all the answers and weren’t in a hurry to get me to subscribe to their various religious beliefs. In fact, the whole UU community seemed to be structured around acceptance and tolerance, with no dogma or required belief in magic space angels. It was a good, supportive place to be during what is a confusing time for many teens. I was less concerned with the existence or non-existence of gods, and more concerned with truth, justice, and equity; they fostered that.

In my 20s, I bummed around with some heathen friends who celebrated the Norse pantheon. They were mostly good folks who invited me in and were fun to be with. I even participated in some of their rituals. Even though I felt pretty damn silly for most of it, some of the traditions like toasting during a sumble were pretty cool, and didn’t require any sort of  adherence to their religious beliefs. Eventually, we grew apart. Participating in their religion made me feel false. Even if they didn’t mind, I did. The more I think on it, the fact that it didn’t matter to them made it matter more to me that I separate myself from this part of their lives. Their religion felt like a costume everyone wore, and I just couldn’t understand how everyone else didn’t think it was silly.

That essentially brings me current. Technically I was raised Lutheran and later socially dabbled in heathenism, but I think I’ve always known I was faithless. The only thing that has changed over the years is me and my philosophy regarding my lack of faith.

I put “believer” in quotes because I never accepted the idea of a deity but I was uncomfortable with the idea that there wasn’t one.  I’ve never overcome that discomfort but I finally concluded that I don’t have to like something, I just have to accept that it is true.

I was raised in a liberal Catholic family.  We went to church most Sundays and I hated it.

I didn’t hate it because I doubted the existence of God or Jesus but because church, to a child, is horribly boring.   I looked forward to receiving communion because I got to eat something.

No, seriously, The church I went to had a tradition of home baked bread for communion and it was amazing!  Sometimes it was still warm.

What does it say about Church when my most vivid memories are the bread I got to eat for communion?

Although I went through the confirmation process, I can’t say that I was ever intellectually engaged with religion.  It never made sense to me but it took a long time for me to reason through all the problems I had with Catholic/Christian beliefs.

I couldn’t figure out how an all loving god would need to send his son to atone for my sins.  Why couldn’t god forgive me for my failings?  I mean, the failings were his fault in the first place, right?  Why can’t a perfect being just forgive the imperfect beings he created to be imperfect?

The god of the old testament just seemed like a monumental asshole to me.  In Exodus, I was told that the Egyptian Pharaoh would have let the Jews go much earlier but god kept hardening his heart so he could punish Egypt just a little bit more.  Why did all the first born Egyptians die?  Because God wanted to kill them.

How fucked up is that?

When I reached the point that I could no longer reconcile myself with the beliefs of the church, I rejected religion but I didn’t reject god.

Rather, I think I accepted the idea of a soul.  I always felt that a person was more than the sum of their parts.  Medical science couldn’t explain everything about how the brain worked, I reasoned, so it made sense that there was something more than a brain in there.

I wanted to believe in magic badly.  I imagine I still do.  I was a pagan for a while because I hung around with other people who were pagans.  I would’s say I was hardcore.  I never participated in rituals (Pagan rituals are as boring as Catholic ones).

I did read a lot of books about magic and I read Tarot cards.  I wore a couple of crystals.  I was taking it really seriously, can’t you tell?

I never felt any magic at work in my life, though.  And my conviction that there was more going on in the human mind than could be explained was slowly starting to be challenged by medical research.

What did that teach me?  Failure to understand something does not mean there is no explanation.

As I slowly applied logic to the idea of a universe created by god, I couldn’t come up with a convincing argument for an equation that included god. God seemed superfluous.  As Carl Sagan said, if we argue that the universe came from nothing and god was the instigator of creation, we still have to ask where did god come from?  Why not save a step and eliminate god as he/she/it adds nothing to our understanding of the origins of the universe?

I realized that I was holding on to the idea of god because I didn’t like the idea of a universe without god.  I didn’t have to like something for it to be true.  Gradually, I dropped god from the equation entirely.  I saved that step.

And it made a huge difference.

When I abandoned the idea of life after death – be it through reincarnation, ascension into heaven or any other means – I realized that I had to make the most of the time I have because this is it.

I don’t get any do overs.  Whatever I want to accomplish before I’m gone I need to just get done.

I just realized that last statement sounded like something Larry the Cable Guy would say.  I’m very sorry.

I’m an atheist because god doesn’t make any sense and while I may not always like the idea that god doesn’t exist, I am the master of my own life.

And honestly, I like it better that way.

As a child, my family was Catholic, but not devoutly. My mother converted to Catholicism for my biological father. I never felt like religion was important. I was aware of Jesus, and I took Catechism classes so I could receive my first communion, but my focus was on the memorization and getting it right so that my teacher wouldn’t be angry with me. I was a high-strung little kid who was very worried all the time. I thought praying the rosary was like a magic spell; if I did it enough times, nothing bad would happen. I wasn’t worried about heaven or hell, because I didn’t think I was a bad person. I was far more concerned with the threat of vampires than with damnation or sin. The very few times I participated in confession, it felt pointless.

When my father committed adultery and bigamy, and my mother divorced him, we stopped being Catholic. He became a born-again Lutheran with his new wife and my mom and brother and I didn’t go to church anymore. (My mom would now tell you she is a theist, but not a Christian.) My brother Kevin and I were forced to attend church on the weekends we spent with our father. The sermons involved a lot of talk of sin and evil and repenting. Jesus said this, Jesus did that,  you should feel like an asshole because Jesus did all this stuff for you and you don’t even want to be here at church today.

All the talk of good and evil and sin and forgiveness and heaven and hell finally got to me. I didn’t feel god’s presence, not even at church. I worried I was not a part of some big thing everyone else said they felt. One Sunday, the sermon was all about people who haven’t truly accepted Jesus Christ into their lives, and how they wouldn’t get into heaven because of it. I asked my father if my two best friends, who were Jewish, would get to go to heaven with us. He said, “If they don’t accept Jesus as the Lord, then no, they won’t go to heaven. They will go to hell.” My 11-year-old brain knew that was utter bullshit. Noah and David were even nicer kids than me. I immediately decided religion was unfair.

Later that year, I read a kids’ version of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, and I fell in love. I thought evolution was the coolest thing I had ever thought about. I thought about it all the time. I checked out all the books on dinosaurs I could. I was obsessed with looking for fossils. When we had to make models in school that represented who we considered our hero, most kids made sports stars and actors–I made Darwin. I decided that I no longer believed that god created the earth, because that didn’t make sense whereas evolution did. I stopped saying the Lord’s Prayer in church, and I stopped singing the hymns that made statements I thought were untrue. By the time I was 13, I flat out refused to go to church anymore.

My senior year of high school, the boy I was dating was very into paganism. I had always loved magic and dragons and fairies and all that, so I took to Wicca like a duck to water. It was everything I liked: it was weird, it involved nature, it was ritualistic, it was casting spells. The part of me that liked praying the rosary and hoping for magic to happen because of it was really into all the dogma and ritual that came with Wiccan ceremonies. When the boy and I broke up, I continued being Wiccan, and was very outspoken about it at college. I even got thrown out of a class for standing up to the professor who told me that if I didn’t believe in God, I wasn’t welcome in his class. (Granted, I went to St. Kate’s, but that’s still bullshit.)

Paganism made more sense to me than Christianity. Multiple gods and goddesses, devoted to different aspects of the world and life, resonated with me more than the idea of one omniscient, omnipotent being. But it still didn’t feel right. I was still alone, and my rituals didn’t feel real to me. I felt like I was pretending, burying half a pomegranate at midnight on Samhain, or lighting colored candles on the lesser days. No magic was actually happening, and none of the spells I cast ever came to fruition. More to the point, I wasn’t any happier.

I eventually realized that Wicca was just another organized religion with rules and dogmatic trappings, and that upon searching my feelings, I didn’t really believe in multiple gods and goddesses any more than I believed in one god. Taking that one step further, I finally admitted to myself that I had only ever sought to fit in. Church attendance, catechism classes, Wiccan rituals…all I wanted was to belong to something. I didn’t believe in any of it. I decided it was disingenuous to continue pretending.

I only started labeling myself an atheist within the last 6 or 7 years. Prior to that, I called myself an apatheist. (Is there a god? I don’t care, it doesn’t matter.) Recent events in America have led me to the stronger, more militant approach. I am an atheist. I do not believe in any god. Period. In fact, I would further label myself an anti-theist. I believe religious faith and belief is more often detrimental to humanity and society than it is helpful.

Nothing has ever felt so right. I finally realized what I had been missing all those years: truth. Now that I’m true to myself and what I actually believe, I don’t feel the questing, wishing need for magic, or for belonging. I’m an atheist. I’m a human being. I’m living this life, right now, and that’s all I get.

It’s all I need.

Geeks without God is a new podcast hosted by Molly Glover, Nick Glover, and Tim Wick.  We are geeks, atheists, and comedians. Our goal is to do a podcast that combines the three things we are passionate about.

Each podcast will focus on a hot topic in the atheist community as well as whatever geeky stuff has captured our nerdy hearts that week.  If we’re lucky, it’ll be something that does both.

Our first podcast will be recorded live at CONvergence 2012 on Saturday the 7th at 9:30 in the morning in Atrium 3.  We’ll talk about the religious themes in Prometheus with guest Melissa Kaercher.

And because CONvergence 2012 is also SkepchickCon, we are hoping we can coax one of the Skepchicks or FreeThought bloggers to join us so we can all talk about skeptical geekery.  Or something.

There will also be jokes! And free stickers!