According to the latest Gallup poll, the percentage of Americans who believe in God is still in the 90s… but there’s been a significant drop since the last time the question was asked in 1967, from 98% to 92%. They didn’t ask the question between those years, but I’d guess than most of the drop happened in the past decade. There is a margin of error here, but I’ve never seen the percentage of actual atheists (and not just “nones”)… Read more
I know you’re all wondering what happened at the Medina Valley Independent School District’s graduation in Castroville, Texas yesterday since the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said prayers would be allowed there. Have a look: The headline at the Christian Post says it all: “Texas Graduation Takes Advantage of Prayer Ruling, Goes All Out” The graduation ceremony at Medina Valley High School in Castroville, Texas, on Saturday was filled with prayers and was likened to a revival meeting. Or… Read more
Remember Donna Hunter? She was the parent from Morinville (in Alberta, Canada) who was doing everything she could to get at least one secular school in the area to combat the four Catholic schools already there. When I posted about it in April, the school board had rejected her request, but they were “conducting a survey” to see how many other parents felt the way Hunter did. Hunter moved out of the city before any results were revealed so her… Read more
How I wish I could’ve been at the World Atheist Convention in Dublin, Ireland this weekend… When a Muslim Intelligent Design advocate asked Richard Dawkins if he “could be honest” and admit that even if all the evidence pointed to a designed universe, he would continue to say it came about by “chance,” Dawkins let the guy have it. The smackdown is beautiful 🙂 I was expecting Dawkins to scream back, “Haven’t you read any of my bestselling books where… Read more
I don’t know the ins and outs of the Australian government, so this article was a bit confusing to an American like me, but reader Andrew was nice enough to explain a new bill passed by the country’s Parliament: In Australia we have very good anti-discrimination laws which prevent establishments from discriminating against people for any number of reasons… However, in the state of Victoria, faith based groups have been pushing for an exemption to these laws, as they feel… Read more
Quick: What’s wrong with this billboard? If you guessed “IT PROMOTES PREMARITAL SEX!” then you win! The billboard, just outside Bryson City, North Carolina, is the focal point of a lot of controversy because of the “FREE Condoms” part of it. [David] Monteith,… a county commissioner, worries the billboard sends the wrong message to kids. He said it doesn’t square with his beliefs, and it’s not one that should be paid for with government money. “I come from a generation… Read more
According to a submission at PostSecret today, it’s harder to come out as an atheist than as a gay person when you have Christian parents… As someone who’s not gay (and who doesn’t have Christian parents), I don’t think I’m qualified to say which is tougher. But for the gaytheists out there, which was harder for you? Read more
Remember how the Catholic Charities of Rockford (Illinois) were so freaked out by the possibility that children might have to be placed in the homes of gay couples because of the new civil unions law that they shut down their state-funded adoption services altogether? Well, the Catholic Charities of Peoria and the Catholic Charities of Joliet are now doing the same thing. Catholic Charities of Peoria and Joliet have informed the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services that they… Read more
Alcoholics Anonymous is a religious organization. We’ve known that for a long time. These are the infamous “Twelve Steps” (PDF) you must overcome to cure yourself of alcoholism, according to AA (emphases theirs): We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood… Read more
