Over the weekend, the Ottawa Citizen compiled this collection of perspectives on euthanasia from various religious leaders in Ottawa. I won’t bother quoting most of them because I’m sure you can imagine what was said. For the most part, there was a lot of talk about “God’s plan,” “Life is sacred,” “Condemn murder,” “Life in relation to God…,” etc. You get the picture. Regardless of your personal views on euthanasia, whether it is passive or active, the one thing that… Read more
The Veritas Forum is a national group that brings speakers to various colleges in order to discuss the “relevance of Jesus Christ to all of life.” Recently, they began advertising an event at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and their posters ask if people can be “Good without a God?” That prompted the Cal Poly Alliance of Happy Atheists to respond to the Veritas ads with one of their own: Not bad at all 🙂 But I have… Read more
Last Tuesday, the Freedom From Religion Foundation sued (PDF) to prevent Arizona Governor Jan Brewer from holding another Day of Prayer: FFRF claims that the Day of Prayer proclamation violates Article II, Section 12 in the Arizona Constitution… No public money or property shall be appropriated for or applied to any religious worship, exercise, or instruction, or to the support of any religious establishment. … and Article XX, Section 1: Perfect toleration of religious sentiment shall be secured to every inhabitant of this state,… Read more
Note: Letter writers’ names are changed to protect their privacy. Dear Richard, I’m the only out atheist in my family. We have the occasional argument or discussion but for the most part we all agree to try and be respectful. Tonight that all seems to have fallen apart, and I’m a little torn on how to proceed. I just finished reading Dawkins’ newest book, The Magic of Reality and I decided that I wanted to share it with my younger… Read more
Thanks to $7,200 in funding from the United Coalition of Reason, there is now a billboard reading, “Don’t believe in God? You are not alone” in Fredericksburg, Virginia: Matt Jordan, the [Fredericksburg Coalition of Reason’s] spokesman, says the billboard is not meant to offend people of faith. He says it is to reach out to like-minded folks to let them know that they are not alone and that there is a community out there for them. One comment thread in… Read more
I had posted earlier that Christopher Hitchens’ body would be donated to science, per his wishes. Hearing that inspired Edward Tarte to take action. He just signed the paperwork to donate his body to the Baylor College of Medicine. Thanks for being a great role model for the rest of us, Edward! (And please stay healthy so the donation doesn’t happen for a while.) Read more
As explained by Eugene Volokh, a recent case out of New Jersey has found judicial orders requiring a husband to provide his wife with a “Jewish divorce” (called a get) are unconstitutional. From what I understand, if a Jewish woman is not given a get by her husband, then she is still considered married in more conservative Jewish communities. This means she cannot remarry within that community, and any children she has with another partner will be considered illegitimate by… Read more
Remember when Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George compared participants in the upcoming Gay Pride Parade to KKK members? Well, two weeks later, he finally got around to apologizing: “I am truly sorry for the hurt my remarks have caused,” George said in an interview with the Tribune. “Particularly because we all have friends or family members who are gay and lesbian. This has evidently wounded a good number of people. I have family members myself who are gay and lesbian, so… Read more
Last year, I stumbled upon a really nice honor: I won the 2011 Bloggie for Best Religion Blog. They’re taking nominees for this year over the course of the next week and if you could help out, I’d really appreciate it! You have to nominate three different sites that write about religion and enter your email address, but that’s about it 🙂 Thanks for your help! Read more
