If I told you that the Big Bang theory of the origin of the Universe was first proposed by a Roman Catholic priest, how many shots of vodka would you assume had passed my lips? But truth is stranger than fiction (just look at Paris Hilton if you want proof), and Father Georges Lemaitre was the man who set the wheels in motion for one of science's greatest discoveries.

How he explained that one to God when he died in 1966 is anyone's guess.

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Footnote: This doesn't relate to the Big Bang, but I found the following piece of the article telling:

In fact, Lemaitre derived what became known as Hubble's Law in his 1927 paper, two years before Hubble. However, since Lemaitre spent his entire productive life in Europe rather than emigrating to America, American publicity machines have preferred to stress the contributions of scientists such as Hubble or Einstein who can be claimed to have a US connection.

Proud European Nick Gisburne signing off!

I found a great source for interesting opinions today, which always makes me wonder why I never realised it was there earlier:

ScienceBlogs

The name gives it away really, but there is far more to this than interesting chats about global warming, or developments in cancer research.

The many blogs on this site often cross-reference each other so there seems to be a healthy debate going on here, and the credentials of the contributors are sound - this is not a site for dumbed-down opinions. You can search the entire site, covering everyone's blogs. Obviously, the nature of my blog means I had to search for 'atheist', and found close to 700 posts. That's enough to be going on with!

This post definitely caught my eye:

Is Atheism a Civil Rights Issue?

Make sure you follow all the links to the other articles referenced in this discussion. The following paragraph is one which which most atheists will certainly be able to relate:

Let us begin with the observation that "us vs. them" is, regrettably, an accurate characterization of the facts. The "them" in this case is not all religious people. It is, instead, the distressingly large percentage of religious people who are openly contemptuous of atheism, who have no problem with chipping away at the separation of church and state, who endorse balancing evolution with ID or creationism in public schools, who would have their own blinkered view of morality imposed on scientific research or on people's personal sexual habits, and who generally believe that their religious views have some relevance in setting public policy. You will not win these people over by talking about the beauties of atheism or by being polite in your writing. And they are not some small minority you can work around by appealing to the reason and good will of people on the fence. They are people to whom you must raise your voice, to make it clear to them they will not have things their own way.

Sound familiar? One of the reasons that atheism is such a hot topic in the news at the moment is that some of us, in fact more and more each day, are finally making a noise, telling the world we are fed up listening to religious nonsense, and we want to stop the discrimination against those whose only 'crime' seems to be that they don't believe in an invisible magic man spying on us from a cloud, just outside the universe.

If atheists weren't making a noise, who would be listening to us? Who would have listened to the suffragettes, or the gay rights movement, if they had quietly sat in their homes and said nothing? Often 'keeping quiet' is the only way you could avoid getting attacked for your opinions, but silence never won an argument, doesn't get any media attention, and allows the status quo to keep on rolling over the rights of people who have opposing views.

As someone once wrote, 'the atheists are revolting'. About time too. Hey, wouldn't that make a great title for a book?!

I wish they'd organised events like this when I was younger:

Camp Inquiry 2007
A week of adventure, discovery and exploration for children, ages 7 to 16 years of age.

At Camp Inquiry we will explore the night sky and learn about the constellations and how ancient civilizations explained what they saw in the skies above. We will examine mythologies and how they have led to the prevalent beliefs of our time. We will learn about astrology, UFOs and the idea of heaven and hell. We will look at the diversity within the world; religious beliefs, cultures, lifestyles and more.

On our nature hikes we will explore topics such as cryptozoology and evolution. Arts and crafts will feature fascinating looks at holidays like Christmas, Easter, and Halloween. Campers will also create a variety of items that they can take home. Some of our special Camp Inquiry games will involve using our five senses and our thinking skills. A day of magic will provide us with an understanding of perception, illusion, and mind trickery. We have a wonderful line-up of activities planned - guaranteed to provide an enjoyable experience for our campers.

Cool! Click the logo for more information.

Remember this mad, creationist video?

Well, you might not be able to get new life from peanut butter, but accordinging to this article, 'peanut butter is being turned into diamonds by scientists with a technique that harnesses pressures higher than those found at the centre of the earth.'

Bet they didn't teach that one in Bible class!

The article where I found this opinion isn't particularly strong, but I'm mentioning it here because one of the comments attached to the article makes some great points.

First, the article itself:

Atheists suggest belief in God is irrational and atheism is rational

And the comment (I've added some paragraph formatting to make it more eye-friendly):

Atheism is NOT a belief system. Ms. Golden's attempt to label it as so shows that she hasn't thought about it very hard. If atheism is a belief system, then "not collecting stamps" is a hobby and "bald" is a hair color. The reason Harris says the word shouldn't exist is because, other than "sane," we don't have a specific word for someone who doesn't believe in elves, leprechauns, banshees or other mythical creatures. Atheism doesn't mean "I BELIEVE in this set of rules," it means "Yes, I've heard your claims, and I'm not buyin' it, because they're not realistic claims."

And as for the dramatic life changes that would occor should the claim of God be definitively proven or disproved, consider this: I used to be a confirmed Catholic. When I became an atheist, almost nothing changed except for dropping the weight of that ominous looming mindreader in the sky. I still help people in need, donate money, and refrain from stealing or anything else illegal or immoral.

If God were to be proved, yes, I would change in a heartbeat to do his or her bidding. But this won't happen because there is no god up there. If it were to be proven that there was no God, I seriously doubt that the religious people of today would start killing and stealing with wild abandon. You don't see the members of the National Academy of Sciences running around committing heinous crimes, and 93 percent of them are atheists. More likely than not, freed people would realize that there is no afterlife, making life on Earth so much more valuable. They would realize that no is coming to save us, so making life better for our children is up to us. Wars would cease to be so prolific. Who would willingly die for a politician if there was no heaven?