The Freethinker's Pantheon

My husband and I were BSing in the car when I mentioned in passing that I'd be praying if I was on the back of a sports motorcycle that was going about 60mph, like the girl we'd just passed. My husband, also an atheist, grinned and asked who I'd be praying to.

Without missing a beat, I said "I'd be praying to our great Lord and Savior, Sagan. All hail his name."

Within seconds we'd put together an atheist pantheon, and I was so amused by the idea that I thought I'd share.

All hail the great and mighty Sagan.

All hail and worship the Son of Sagan, Neil Degrasse Tyson.

The saints of this pantheon would be Saint Dawkins, Saint Dennet, Saint Myers and Saint Harris for the multiple miracles performed in the name of skepticism and science. 

The two apologists for this particular religion (if you can call it such!) would be Hitch and Ophelia Benson.

We giggled all the way home on this. Pure gold.

UFOs?

This video is interesting because you can replace UFO with 'religious experience' and it will still work.

Plus I just love Neil Degrasse Tyson. He is becoming the Carl Sagan of this generation. He has boundless energy and he just loves teaching people about science. Enjoy.

Neil Degrasse Tyson

I don't want students who could make the next major breakthrough in renewable energy sources or space travel to have been taught that anything they don't understand, and that nobody yet understands, is divinely constructed and therefore beyond their intellectual capacity. The day that happens, Americans will just sit in awe of what we don't understand, while we watch the rest of the world boldly go where no mortal has gone before. - Neil DeGrasse Tyson

I got this quote from The Hateful Atheist. I think it is brilliant and sums up a lot of my feelings about science education.