August Berkshire
Upcoming Appearances
- February 5, 2012:
- May 18, 2012:
- May 20, 2012:
Feedback From Appearances
Past Print Appearances
- “Student organizations debate existence of god” – Valerie Steffl (Mar. 1, 2010)
- “Challenging the deepest beliefs” – Nia Jonesz (Dec. 2, 2008)
- “Minnesota Atheists head elected International VP” – Tim Harlow (Oct. 6, 2008)
- “August Berkshire: Atheist Talk-Show Producer” – Steve Marsh (June 2008)
- “Minnesota Atheists radio program to debut on Air America Radio in January” – Tim Harlow (Dec. 27, 2007)
- “Civil Unions for Everyone?” – August Berkshire (Nov. 28, 2007)
- Time magazine letter re. Mother Teresa – August Berkshire (Sept. 17, 2007)
- “Becoming atheist akin to finding religion” – Jean Lundquist (Sept. 3, 2007)
Writings: Atheism
Writings: Atheism – Criticism
Writings: Bible
Writings: Problem of Evil
Writings: Science
Writings: Human Rights
Writings: Humor
Pamphlet Template Downloads
Quotes By August
Action E-Alerts
Atheism
- “History of Atheism” (Wikipedia)
- “Atheism 101: Introduction to Atheism & Atheists” – Austin Cline
- “The History of Freethought and Atheism” – Gordon Stein
- “Why I Want to Turn Religious People Into Atheists” – Greta Christina
- “Atheism and the silly goodness competition” – Susan Jacoby (Feb. 15, 2010)
- Godless – Dan Barker
- The God Delusion – Richard Dawkins
- Letting Go of God – Julia Sweeney
- Society Without God: What the Least Religious Nations Can Tell Us about Contentment – Phil Zuckerman
- “Nonreligious community increasingly split by provocative tactics”
Atheists & Skeptics
- Women Without Superstition – Annie Laurie Gaylor
- “The 50 Most Brilliant Atheists of All Time”
- “Roger Ebert: The Essential Man” – Chris Jones (Feb. 16, 2010)
- Interview with Sam Harris (Southern California Public Radio, Feb. 15, 2010)
- Divine Impulses: Richard Dawkins on “the arrogance of religious persons” (video)
- “Thoughts About God” – James Randi (YouTube)
- “How an Amazonian tribe turned a missionary into an atheist”
- George Carlin on MAD TV – “Touched by an Atheist” (YouTube)
- “Confessions of a Lonely Atheist” – Natalie Angier (Jan. 14, 2001)
- The Age of Reason, Parts 1 & 2 (full text for free) – Thomas Paine
Evolution: General (Books)
Evolution: General (Articles)
- Talk Origins
- NCSE Creation/Evolution Journal (1980-1996)
- “29+ Evidences for Macroevolution” – Douglas Theobald
- “Evolution: 24 myths and misconceptions”
- Evidence For Evolution and Against Creationism (32 videos)
- “Why Evolution is True” – Jerry Coyne (YouTube)
- Nova: “What Darwin Never Knew” (video)
- “This is Why Every Scientist Accepts Evolution” (YouTube)
- “Let’s Test Them: Evolution vs. Creationism” (YouTube)
- “Evolutionary Fate Of ‘Useless’ Traits”
- “The Mistakes That Argue for Evolution” – Kenneth Chang
- The Cambrian Explosion
- The Clergy Letter Project (supporting evolution)
Evolution: Origins of Life
Evolution: Epigenetics
Evolution: Transition Species
Evolution: Vestiges & Atavisms
Unintelligent Design
Creationism & “Intelligent Design”
- Index to Creationist Claims, with Rebuttal- Mark Isaak, ed.
- The Counter-Creationism Handbook – Mark Isaak
- The Cambrian Explosion
- “Intelligent Design’s 8 Biggest Fails”
- “Evolution Of ‘Irreducible Complexity’ Explained”
- “Evolution myths: The bacterial flagellum is irreducibly complex” – Michael Le Page
- “More ‘Evidence’ of Intelligent Design Shot Down by Science” – Brandon Keim
- Neil deGrasse Tyson on “Intelligent Design” (YouTube)
- “Rock of Ages and the Age of Rocks” – Frank Zindler
- “Let’s Test Them: Evolution vs. Creationism” (YouTube)
- Exposé of Muslim creationist Harun Yahya
Universe / Multiverse
Brain & Mind
Free Will Vs. Determinism
- “How Free Is Your Will?” – Daniela Schiller & David Carmel (March 22, 2011)
- “Neuroscience, free will and determinism: ‘I’m just a machine’ ” – Tom Chivers (Oct. 12, 2010)
- “Scientists say free will probably doesn’t exist, but urge: ‘Don’t stop believing!’” – Jesse Bering (April 6, 2010)
- Does Free Will Exist? – Alfred Mele (Jan. 5, 2010)
- “Free Will versus the Programmed Brain” – Shaun Nichols (Aug. 9, 2008)
- “Free will? Not as much as you think” – Barbara Feder Ostrov (April 14, 2008)
Afterlife & Near-Death Experiences (NDE) & Out-Of-Body Experiences (OBE)
Neurotheology
- “Neurotheology – With God In Mind” – Victoria Powell
- “The God Helmet” – Todd Murphy
- The God Part of the Brain – Matthew Alper
- “Is God All in Your Head?” – Michael Craig Miller
- “Searching for God in the Brain” – David Biello
- “The Biology of Belief” – Jeffrey Kluger
- “(Un)wired for God” – Sharon Begley
- “Creator of God: A Brain Surgeon’s Story” – Vivekananad Palavali
Religion: General
- “The origins of religion: evolved adaptation or by-product?” – Ilkka Pyysiäinen and Marc Hauser (Feb. 8, 2010)
- How a Lack of Control Leads to Superstition” – Michael Shermer (Feb. 2010)
- “Creating God in one’s own image” – Ed Yong (Nov. 30, 2009)
- “Why fundamentalism will fail” – Harvey Cox
- “The Evolution of the God Gene” – Nicholas WadeAn Evolutionary Bent Toward Religion?
- “How Will Religion Evolve?” – John Tierney
- “The Chronic Dependence of Popular Religiosity upon Dysfunctional Psychosociological Conditions” – Gregory Paul (3rd Qtr. 2009) [PDF]
- “The Non-Evolution of God, Part 1” – Nicholas Wade
- “The Non-Evolution of God, Part 2” – Nicholas Wade
- “The Top One Reason Religion Is Harmful” – Greta Christina
- “Viruses of the Mind” – Richard Dawkins
Judeo-Christianity & The Bible
- Early Jewish Writings
- Early Christian Writings
- Skeptic’s Annotated Bible
- Woe to the Women: The Bible Tells Me So – Annie Laurie Gaylor
- Which Ten Commandments?
- Bible Atrocities – Donald Morgan
- The Jury Is In: The Ruling on McDowell’s “Evidence”
- Case Against Faith: Debunking Lee Strobel
- “God is not the Creator, claims academic” (Oct. 8, 2009)
- “An Open Letter to Dr. Laura” – J. Kent Ashcraft
Jesus
- The Jesus Puzzle – Earl Doherty
- The Jesus Mysteries: Was the “Original Jesus” a Pagan God? - Timothy Freke & Peter Gandy
- Deconstructing Jesus - Robert M. Price
- The Incredible Shrinking Son of Man – Robert M. Price
- The Jesus the Jews Never Knew – Frank R. Zindler
- The Jesus Project
- “Did Jesus Exist?”
- “Shroud of Turin Developments” – Joe Nickell (Dec. 1, 2009)
Islam & The Qur’an
- Skeptic’s Annotated Qur’an
- “Predicting Modern Science: Epicurus vs. Mohammed” – Richard Carrier
- “Cosmology and the Koran” – Richard Carrier
- Space Travel in the Qur’an?
- “Islamic Embryology and Galen”
- “Koran: The Myth of Embryology!”
- Why I Am Not a Muslim – Ibn Warraq
- Infidel - Ayaan Hirsi Ali
- Jihad Watch
- “Ayaan Hirsi Ali: abandoned to fanatics” – Sam Harris and Salman Rushdie
- “Yale under fire for removal of Muslim cartoons”
Scientology
Sexuality / Abstinence
Homosexuality / GLBT Rights
- “The Conscience of a Conservative: Gay Marriage is a Legal Right” – Eve Conant (Jan. 18, 2010)
- “Nepal to court gay tourism” (Jan. 20, 2010)
- “Divorce Rates Higher in States with Gay Marriage Bans” (Jan. 12, 2010)
- Rachel Maddow’s coverage of Ugandan anti-gay bill (Dec. 2009)
- “Lesbian albatrosses and bisexual bonobos have last laugh on Darwin” – Chris Smyth
- “Love That Dare Not Squeak Its Name” – Dinitia Smith (Feb. 7, 2004)
- Biological Exuberance – Bruce Bagemihl
- Evolution’s Rainbow – Joan Roughgarden
- “The Gay Animal Kingdom” – Jonah Lehrer
- “The gay culture war is about to turn chemical” – William Saletan (June 18, 2008)
- “Sexual Antagonism: A genetic theory of homosexuality” – William Saletan (June 25, 2008)
- “Gay Men in Twin Study” (Dec. 17, 1991)
Exposing “Ex-Gay” Ministries
- “The ex-gay files: The bizarre world of gay-to-straight conversion” – Patrick Strudwick (Feb. 1, 2010)
- “Going Undercover in the Crazy, Tragic World of Christian Gay-Conversion Therapy” (Dec. 5, 2009)
- Anything But Straight – Wayne Besen
- “Why Reparative Therapy and Ex-Gay Ministries Fail”
- APA: “Insufficient Evidence that Sexual Orientation Change Efforts Work”
- APA: “Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation [pdf]
- “Is It Possible to Systematically Turn Gay People Straight?” – Melissa Lafsky
Abortion
- “The Great Tim Tebow Fallacy” – Richard Dawkins (Feb. 3, 2010)
- “Abortion’s New Battleground” – Ruth Marcus (Nov. 28, 2009)
- “The Price of Health Reform: Abortion Rights?” – Rachel Morris
- “Whose Team Is It, Anyway?” – Katha Pollitt
- “Some Abortion Foes Shifting Focus From Ban to Reduction” – Jacqueline L. Salmon
History and Separation of Religion & Government
Court Decisions: State & Church
Court Decisions: Evolution & Creationism
- “Ninth Circuit Court allows Univ. of California to reject admissions credit for Creationist courses” (Feb. 6, 2010)
- “Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District” (2005): Intelligent Design (complete decision)
- “Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District” (2005): Intelligent Design
- “Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School Distric” (2005): Intelligent Design
- “Edwards v. Aguillard” (1987): Evolution, Creationism, and Balanced Treatment
School Vouchers
Polls / Surveys / Trends: General
- “Study Links Religion and Racism” (Feb. 10, 2010)
- “Who Needs God?” – Tom Rees (Jan./Feb. 2010)
- “Pope decries growing ‘aversion’ to Christianity” (Jan. 30, 2010)
- “Divorce Rates Higher in States with Gay Marriage Bans” (Jan. 12, 2010)
- “Paranormal Flexibility” (Pew Forum) – Charles M. Blow (Dec. 11, 2009)
- “Many Americans Mix Multiple Faiths” (Pew Forum) (Dec. 9, 2009)
- “New Study Links Religion to Immoral Behavior” (Nov. 19, 2008?) (YouTube)
- American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) 2008
- ARIS 2008: “America becoming less Christian, survey finds” (March 9, 2009)
- ARIS 2008: “Most religious groups in USA have lost ground, survey finds” (March 17, 2009)
- “Atheists as ‘Other’: Moral Boundaries and Cultural Membership in American Society.”
- “Why the Gods are not Winning” – Gregory Paul & Phil Zuckerman
- “Cross-National Correlations of Quantifiable Societal Health with Popular Religiosity and Secularism in the Prosperous Democracies” – Gregory S. Paul
- Society Without God: What the Least Religious Nations Can Tell Us about Contentment – Phil Zuckerman
- “Who Needs God When We’ve Got Mammon?” – David Villano
- “Plummeting attendance shows Canadian church faces ‘extinction’ ” (Dec. 6, 2005)
- “Atheists Are (Happy) People Too, Study Says”
- Intelligent people tend to be more secular
Polls / Surveys / Trends: Young People
- “Atheist student groups flower on college campuses” – Eric Gorski
- “Less Than 1 Percent of Young Adults Hold Biblical Worldview” (March 10, 2009)
- Many In U.S. Drop Their Childhood Religion
- “This Just In: College Will Make You an Atheist” – Susan Henking
- unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity – Kinnaman & Lyons
- “Young adults aren’t sticking with church” (Aug. 6, 2007)
- “Teen Birth Rates Higher in States Where Religion Is Widespread”
Ethics / Morality & Mirror Neurons: Books
- Morality Without God? – Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
- Moral Minds: How Nature Designed a Universal Sense of Right and Wrong – Marc D. Hauser
- The Science of Good and Evil: Why People Cheat, Gossip, Car, Share, and Follow the Golden Rule – Michael Shermer
- Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals – Marc Bekoff and Jessica Pierce
- The Ethical Brain – Michael Gazzaniga
- Mirroring People: The New Science of How We Connect with Others – Marco Iacoboni
- On Being Moved: From Mirror Neurons to Empathy – Stein Braten, ed.
- Mirrors in the Brain: How Our Minds Share Actions, Emotions, and Experience – Giacomo Rizzolatti, Corrado Sinigaglia, and Frances Anderson
- Primates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved – Frans de Waal, edited by Stephen Macedo and Josiah Ober
- Good Natured: The Origins of Right and Wrong in Humans and Other Animals – Frans de Waal
- The Evolution of Morality – Richard Joyce
Ethics / Morality & Mirror Neurons: Articles
- “Biologist sees human morality evolving from the sociality of primates” – Nicholas Wade
- “Deformed Skull Suggests Human Ancestors Had Compassion” – Alexis Madrigal
- Lawrence Kohlberg’s six stages of moral development
- “The Moral Instinct” – Steven Pinker
- “Evolution Easily Explains Morality” – Philip Brocoum
- “Godless Moral Values” – Austin Cline
- Moral Foundations Theory
- “Atheists ‘just as ethical as churchgoers’ ” (Feb. 9, 2010)
- “Atheism and the silly goodness competition” – Susan Jacoby (Feb. 15, 2010)
Humanism
Homeopathy
Faith Healing & Alternative Medicine
Prayer: Heart Study
Placebo Effect
National Health Care
- “Sen. Al Franken humbles Hudson Institute dilettante over health care bankruptcies” (YouTube)
- “Learn to Speak Teabag” – Mark Fiore (YouTube)
- Insurance Reform Watch
- “Abortion’s New Battleground” – Ruth Marcus (Nov. 28, 2009)
- “The Values Question” – David Brooks (Nov. 23, 2009)
- “My Health-Care Story: Over 50 and Out of Luck” – John Hewko
- “The Price of Health Reform: Abortion Rights?” – Rachel Morris
- “Whose Team Is It, Anyway?” – Katha Pollitt
- “Why I Voted NO” – U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich
- “Uncharitable Charities” – E.J. Dionne Jr.
- “Private insurers are in it only to make a buck” – Chris Gay
- “Until Medical Bills Do Us Part” – Nicholas D. Kristof
- “No Country for Sick Men” – T.R. Reid
- “Another take on health care execs’ tale of woe” – Jan Rabbers
- “For Those of You on Your Way to Church This Morning” – Michael Moore
- “As always, Arne Carlson speaks his mind” – Lori Sturdevant
- Sick for Profit
- Sick for Profit: “Was I Hired to Stand in the Way of Health Care Reform?” (Blue Cross)
- The Health Insurance Racket: Cigna (YouTube)
- Fight back against health insurance lies: UnitedHealthcare (YouTube)
Debates
Atheist Humor