Death, Satan, and Cats: A Conversation with Rabih Alameddine
Rabih Alameddine discusses his newest novel, The Angel of History, surviving the AIDS epidemic, and the role of religion in his life and writing. ...more
Posts Tagged: atheism
Repel the Wind
Why would I ask for my sanity from the Devil as I sleep walk, only to give it up again to the Holy Spirit? ...more
Breaking the Binaries: A Conversation with Lidia Yuknavitch
Lidia Yuknavitch discusses her new novel, Book of Joan, a reimagining of the Joan of Arc story set in a terrifying future where the heroine has emerged to save a world ravaged by war, violence, and greed. ...more
FUNNY WOMEN #146: New Rules for Lifeboat #3
After our discussion of pronoun usage, Keith will be addressed as The Pirate Formerly Known as Keith. (Respect each other’s journeys, please.) ...more
Podcatcher #5: #GoodMuslimBadMuslim
Podcatcher talks with Taz Ahmed and Zahra Noorbakhsh of #GoodMuslimBadMuslim about the podcast format, finding humor in absurdity, and diversity within the Muslim identity. ...more
David Biespiel’s Poetry Wire: 21 Poems That Shaped America (Pt. 2): “Ave Maria”
Mothers of America / let your kids go to the movies! ...more
Anna March’s Reading Mixtape #25: In a Daze, ‘Cause I Found God
I’m an atheist who often carries crystal rosary beads and a relic of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. My grandparents, Mary and Gus, bought them both at the Vatican where they had traveled to see Pope Paul VI canonize Mother Seton. The rosary beads were a gift to me some months later when I made my first communion and thirty years later my grandmother would give me the relic, which I’ve had an odd fixation on since I first glanced at it as a seven-year-old.
...moreSong of the Day: “Bugs Don’t Buzz”
“I feel like [music] can serve functions that used to be served by things that were religious,” says electronic musician Devon Welsh. Compelling words from one half of the art pop duo Magical Cloudz, whose 2013 record Impersonator communicates a pious respect for the creative process.
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The Saturday Rumpus Essay: Used to Be Schwartz
When I told my friend Aharon that my family name used to be Schwartz, he said, “Used to be Schwartz—sounds like a Borscht Belt act.” ...more
Why Are You On Your Knees? That Looks Boring
In an essay for The Toast, Anne Marquette reveals the parallels between living as asexual and living as an atheist. In both cases, society surrounds you with guidelines to peak experiences—salvation, true love—that don’t apply to you. The only sensible thing to do is make up your own rules:
...moreThere will always be a tension between what I think I should feel and what I don’t, but love is more than a feeling.
The Rumpus Interview with Jennifer Michael Hecht
Poet, historian, and philosopher Jennifer Michael Hecht talks about Thomas Aquinas, Robin Williams, and her most recent book, Stay: A History of Suicide and the Philosophies Against It. ...more
The Satanic Children’s Big Book of Activities
After a judge ruled that religious pamphlets could be handed out in Orange County, Florida, the Satanic Temple, Salon reports, is responding with the dissemination of its own literature: The Satanic Children’s Big Book of Activities.
Hitchens On Dying
“At a luncheon earlier in the day with Hitchens and Berlinski, Taunton asked Hitchens about his health problems. ‘Well, I’m dying, since you asked,’ Hitchens replied. ‘So are you, but I’m doing it faster and in more rich and fecund detail.'”
Despite recently undergoing chemotherapy for esophageal cancer, Hitchens still shows up to debate a believer.
...moreImagine No Religion?
The other day I was walking down Mission Street in San Francisco and I saw a billboard on the side of a passing bus that read, “Imagine No Religion.” It was done in the style of stained glass, deliberately meant to conjure up an old church window.
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