The Columbia Coalition of Reason recently put up this digital billboard in two places in anticipation of the big football game between the University of South Carolina and Clemson: As inoffensive as that is, it caught the eyes of the local ABC affiliate — they say the billboards “strike a nerve” — and they invited spokesperson Dustin Tucker on air to talk about it: The reporter treated Dustin well and the questions were answered straightforwardly-yet-friendly. It’s very welcoming for any… Read more
From PostSecret: Here’s a thought: Why not just raise your children with proper ethics and morals? Why not teach them right from wrong? Why are the superstitions and Christian mythology so damn important to you? Because if you teach the kids how to think, you don’t have to teach them what to think. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Christian parent or a Muslim parent or an atheist parent. There are wonderful children who grow up in non-Christian and non-religious… Read more
I’ve seen this talk several times, and Greta Christina gets a well-deserved standing ovation after each performance. She speaks for so many of us while answering the question, “Why Are Atheists So Angry?” (via HamboneProductions) Read more
CFI Canada has branches and paid staffers in several cities and they’ve had quite a bit of media attention as the result of a couple ad campaigns, but the organization looks like it’s in chaos right now. The former National Director Justin Trottier was fired by the Board of Directors months ago. His replacement Derek Pert resigned last week because he felt he wasn’t getting the support (PDF) from the board that he needed. The group is hemorrhaging money and… Read more
The New York Times’ Emily Brennan writes about a subject we can’t talk about enough in our community: the plight of African-American atheists (under the headline “The Unbelievers”). The story will appear in tomorrow’s print edition: … [Ronnelle] Adams did not meet another black atheist in Washington until 2009, when he found the Facebook group called Black Atheists, which immediately struck a chord. “I felt like, ‘100 black atheists? Wow!’ ” he said. In the two years since, Black Atheists… Read more
Reader Dave made this image (click to enlarge): I’m not sure I agree with it. (Since when are Jews and Muslims on the same side for anything…?!) Want a more appropriate image? Have all those faiths pulling from all different directions with a couple nukes flying in for good measure. The atheists would be the ones furiously trying to push the halves of the Earth back together. Read more
The University of Michigan’s football stadium — the Big House — has a seating capacity of 109,901, making it the largest such stadium in the country. But what’s up with that extra 1? Wouldn’t 109,900 seats just make more sense? Turns out the extra seat was installed during a 1956 renovation… or was it? It’s possible that seat doesn’t even exist. A 1964 article from Sports Illustrated has former coach Fritz Crisler only added to the legend of the “extra… Read more
Gotta love this story from Reddit, about an atheist who walked into a Christian store… They had a t-shirt printer that was used to put verses. I asked if a printing of a Timothy 2:12 shirt was reasonable. Being Christians, they had never looked that far into the Bible, so they looked it up with their handy dandy on site Bible. When they recited the verse (A woman happened to be the reader of the Bible) they informed me of… Read more
I always thought a Hemant pony would be brown… Nevertheless, I think it fits! You can see Johnny Kaje’s other atheist ponies here 🙂 Read more
FOX News and religious conservatives are pissed off at President Obama because they didn’t like his Thanksgiving address. Here are some excerpts — see if you can figure out why they’re angry: As Americans, each of us has our own list of things and people to be thankful for. But there are some blessings we all share. … We’re also grateful for the Americans who are taking time out of their holiday to serve in soup kitchens and shelters, making… Read more
