Next Monday night, December 18, the Sundance Channel will premiere an hour-long documentary called Godless in America. The documentary will show “the plight of the estimated 30 million American atheists and their struggle not to be ignored.” It will also focus on Madalyn Murray O’Hair, the founder of American Atheists, self-proclaimed “Most hated woman in America,” and (sadly) murder victim. Variety had written about it a couple months ago– read that article here. I don’t get Sundance, but I’m sure… Read more
A couple news stories today show that people can’t handle the truth. A pastor from Colorado has stepped down from the pulpit because he’s gay. (Fark headline: “Evangelical megachurch preacher in Colorado admits he’s gay. No, not that preacher, the other one. No, the other other one”) Rev. Paul Barnes of Grace Chapel in Douglas County says, “I have struggled with homosexuality since I was a 5-year-old boy… I can’t tell you the number of nights I have cried myself… Read more
Jonathan Tilove of Newhouse News Service wrote about the religious firsts in the new Congress. The summary: The new Congress will, for the first time, include a Muslim, two Buddhists, more Jews than Episcopalians, and the highest-ranking Mormon in congressional history. Some other interesting points: Of the 43 Jewish members of Congress, there is only one Jewish Republican in the House and two in the Senate. … In the new Congress, two-thirds of all Catholic members will be Democrats. …… Read more
You know you have been wanting to give money to a good cause all holiday season. So before the year ends, consider giving a donation to the Secular Student Alliance! The SSA is the only democratic, national organization catering to atheist/agnostic/Humanist college students across the country. And the SSA’s budget is only a fraction of the $400,000,000 that Campus Crusade for Christ receives annually. (And by fraction, I mean one of those fractions with exponents in the denominator.) Full disclosure:… Read more
(Thanks to Logos for the link) Americans United for Separation of Church and State reports on an interesting case that backfired on the Religious Right. A public school in Virginia didn’t allow for religious material to be distributed to children. That is, until a church couple wanted to distribute a flier advertising Vacation Bible School in the students’ backpacks. The school told them no. So they went to Liberty Counsel, a group affiliated with Jerry Falwell. Liberty Counsel must have… Read more
