If other species were religious, you can bet their gods would look like them, too. (via Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal) Read more
One more result from the new report (PDF) put out by Brookings and the Public Religion Research Institute. It seems that the younger generation (18-30) is far more accepting of minorities of all kinds — including atheists — than those Americans 65 and older: … there is a relationship to education as well: 42 percent of those with no more than a high school education see the Bible as God’s literal word, a figure that falls by two-thirds to only… Read more
A self-professed Christian goes on a murderous rampage and kills nearly 100 people. Is he a True Christian? Does he still represent the faith? According to a new study (PDF) from Brookings and the Public Religion Research Institute, 83% of Americans don’t think so. In fact, only 13% of people say that a self-identified Christian who commits a crime is still a Christian. Meanwhile, if a group of self-identified Muslims fly a plane into a building, should they be considered… Read more
In reaction to last night’s debate between the Republican Presidential hopefuls: Listening to GOP Presidential candidates talk about science is like listening to children talk about sex: They know it exists, they have strong opinions about what it might mean, but they don’t have a clue what it’s actually about. (via The Daily Dish) Read more
Remember when the city council in South Bend, Indiana wanted to give $1,200,000 of taxpayer money to St. Joseph’s High School — a private, Catholic school — so they could get a new football field and athletic track? They knew they couldn’t hand over the money directly. People would notice. So their Plan B was to buy a Family Dollar store, demolish it, and give the land to the school instead. Turns out people noticed that, too. Yesterday, a federal… Read more
***Update***: The American Cancer Society has responded to this post. … This isn’t necessarily a story of discrimination against atheists. But I find it hard to believe a church group would have been treated the same way… hear me out and let me know if you feel the same way. To preface the story, I’m reminded of Kiva, the microlending website. On that site, individuals can loan out a relatively small amount of money, say $25, to a person who… Read more
I know most of you have no intention of voting Republican in the next presidential election, but if you had to pick *someone*, who would it be? Jon Huntsman? Sure, he accepts evolution and climate change, but that ought to be a given for any educated person, right? He doesn’t hide his Mormonism, though, and that could be his downfall. After all, if he believes the Joseph Smith story, what else will he fall for? Herman Cain? He’s awful on… Read more
My friend Jen Hancock has just released a short ebook appropriately titled Jen Hancock’s Handy Humanism Handbook: The Kindle edition is only $0.99! Not only that, but through the end of the month, the Humanists of Florida Association (HFA) will give away a copy of the book to anyone who donates to the organization. You can check out sample chapters from the book (and find out how to get the entire book for free) at her website. Read more
We’re about a month away from the public release of Richard Dawkins’ new book, The Magic of Reality: How We Know What’s Really True. Dawkins’ publishers have given me the opportunity to do an email interview with him and I need your help. What would you like me to ask him? Ideally, your questions are related to the new book, but if there are good ones outside that scope, I’ll try to get them in there. I can’t guarantee he’ll… Read more
