Reddit user hecatin heard that a friend’s mom passed away. In the midst of people saying (on Facebook) that they’d pray for the friend’s family, hecatin offered something different and poignant: Beautiful. To paraphrase some commenters on Reddit, I’m going to remember that line… but I hope I never have to use it. (Thanks to Eli for the link) Read more
Today’s Washington Post has a really terrific article about Camp Quest Chesapeake: … Perhaps one should begin with what these campers believe in. They believe in critical and creative thinking. They believe in mutual respect and living ethically. They believe in arts and crafts. But here in a wooded national park south of Manassas, under shade trees and American flags and the mosquito haze of a swimming hole, they do not believe in God. Camp Quest Chesapeake is a summer… Read more
During The Amazing Meeting 9, one of the panel discussions (which I happened to be on) was about “Diversity in Skepticism.” I’ll admit I thought we would talk primarily about gender/ethnic/racial diversity — because that’s what we always talk about — and maybe we’d touch on topics like age/class/education diversity (JREF president DJ Grothe even suggested “religious diversity,” which is a completely separate discussion)… but we ended up focusing on something very different. The gist of the conversation was this:… Read more
Of all the atheists in the news over the past year, these may be the most important voices we hear: the high school activists. At the Center For Inquiry’s Student Leadership Conference a month ago, they had a panel featuring Jessica Ahlquist, Harrison Hopkins, Damon Fowler, and Zack Kopplin, all of whom have seen the power of religion in the public school system first-hand and all of whom have done something about it. I haven’t seen this yet, but I’ll… Read more
I’ve never read The Knight Life before, but maybe I should start… Moral of the comic strip: Changing your baby’s diaper turns you into an atheist. That’s gotta be it. (Thanks to David for the link!) Read more
For anyone in the vicinity of suburban Chicago, I’ll be giving a talk on Thursday night about math (yeah!) and critical thinking (woo!) for the West Suburban Chicago Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. It takes place at the Naperville Municipal Center. Doors open at 7:00p and the talk starts around 7:30p. A few more details are here (PDF). Be there! The first 12 people to arrive get a free side hug from me. Read more
David Hayward points out something we’ve all witnessed: I don’t even think you need the word “Hate” in there. Hell, the people who oppose civil rights for gay people are among the first to say they “love” homosexuals… I’m putting you in that box in my mind the moment you start quoting the Bible to justify your shitty behavior. (via nakedpastor) Read more
What do 50 of the most renowned academic minds have to say about God? Dr. Jonathan Pararajasingham put together a film with their responses. It’s over 30 minutes long, so if there are any particular parts you think we should pay special attention to, please leave the timestamp in the comments! Someone at 3quarksdaily pointed out that the roster includes 47 white guys, 1 Indian guy (Partha Dasgupta), 1 black guy (Neil deGrasse Tyson), and 1 woman (Rebecca Goldstein). (Those… Read more
This is a depressing video, but it’s one you’ll want to watch. It’s about how American society has no problem treating atheists like shit. As it says, we’re the “least violent, most tolerant, most intelligent, most progressive” group out there… but we’re also the most hated and mistrusted. There’s discrimination and outright bigotry against us. But there’s also hope. More and more people — famous people — are going public with their non-belief. Some have even made a career out… Read more
