I became an atheist when I was 14. I remember writing something on both sides of a piece of notebook paper explaining why I lost faith in a god — the first time I had written those thoughts down anywhere — and then asking a friend to read it while we sat in the Green Room during one of our school’s plays. I don’t have that piece of paper anymore (maybe it’s hiding somewhere in my old room), but I… Read more
There’s a drug called lenalidomide that’s being used in a trial with cancer patients. The drug may be able to treat the cancer (yay!), but it has a nasty side effect: if you have children while on the drug, they may be born with birth defects like heart and limb deformities. So if you’re giving patients the drug (or a placebo), you would want to warn them about the side effect, right? In addition, you’d want to inform the patients… Read more
Sorry for the alliteration overload. Texas Governor Rick Perry knows our country has a problem. Right now, America is in crisis: we have been besieged by financial debt, terrorism, and a multitude of natural disasters. But instead of tackling any of those problems, Perry wants to waste time praying… and he wants all of you to join him. As a nation, we must come together and call upon Jesus to guide us through unprecedented struggles, and thank Him for the… Read more
Thanks to former Templeton Prize winner Chuck Colson, we now have a better idea of how homosexuality develops: A little boy I’ll call “Stevie” was a beautiful, healthy child. But by age five, his parents suspected something was wrong. Stevie loved Barbie dolls, the color pink, and dancing around like a ballerina. Oh no! Not PINK!!! Without intervention, [Dr. Joseph] Nicolosi said, Stevie had a 75-percent chance of growing up homosexual, bisexual, or transgender. … In his book, A Parent’s… Read more
In Austin, Texas, State Rep. Donna Howard was invited to give the invocation address for the first day of the legislature’s special session on Tuesday, and she delivered something that, frankly, I’m surprised to hear coming out of that state. It’s educational. It’s inclusive. It has a moment of silence, but maybe we can let that slide… Check it out: Joe Zamecki, the Texas State Director for American Atheists, writes: Of course I don’t support a moment of silence, but… Read more
No, really. I heard it on FOX News. So it must be true. Because we all know how Cookie Monster used all that welfare money on his addiction… And Elmo was red! That Commie bastard. (Thanks to Shannon for the link) Read more
To any Christians out there, reader Amanda wrote an excellent post about why she and her husband Bryan no longer attend church. It’s worth a look — and I’d love to hear your responses to it. Amanda explains one particular illustration that I’d never heard before and it’s another reminder of how Christians view people like us, who dare to question their beliefs and who are proud to be free of religion: … Bryan and I both remember a specific… Read more
Just when I got over the fact that Christians were seriously debating the nature of Hell — a debate that doesn’t even need to take place because there’s no evidence hell exists in the first place — we learn of a new Christian controversy: Did Adam and Eve really exist? The misleading subtitle at the Christianity Today website puts it this way: The center of the evolution debate has shifted from asking whether we came from earlier animals to whether… Read more
There are a few other incredible conferences coming up around the country worth looking into: The Ayaan Hirsi Ali Foundation is putting together “a symposium on honor violence and forced marriage” in New York City this Monday at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. The goal of the symposium is to discuss with criminal justice professionals, first responders and domestic violence shelters the emerging problems of honor violence and forced marriage in the United States. Speakers will provide information… Read more
Imagine a small university where your professors include Richard Dawkins (Evolutionary Biology), Niall Ferguson (Economics), Lawrence Krauss (Cosmology), and Stephen Pinker (Philosophy/Psychology), with the role of Dumbledore played by AC Grayling. That school is being formed right now and it plans to open in a year: The New College of the Humanities in central London will offer degrees in English, philosophy, history, economics and law starting from fall 2012. … “Our priorities at the college will be excellent teaching quality,… Read more
