June 3rd is the first Friday in June and you know what that means: It’s “Hug An Atheist Day”! But you already knew that… right? Right. Here’s the basic information: 1. Find an atheist, agnostic, ignostic, nontheist, antitheist, antireligionist, apatheist, secular humanist, skeptic, misotheist, dystheist, structuralist, freethinker, naturalistic pantheist, absurdist, deist, therevada buddhist, nihiilst, marxist, pastafarian, spagnostic, existentialist, or anyone else who doubts the existence of a god. 2. Run up to that nonbeliever, and give him/her a gigantic hug!… Read more
Atheists are doing some awesome things on college campuses in Kansas. I’ve spent the past two weekends there. The first was at Kansas State University where I spoke to a large gathering of Christians and atheists. This past weekend, I was at the University of Kansas, where the Society of Open Minded Atheists and Agnostics put on ReasonFest — a student-run conference where attendees could come for free to hear speakers like Dan Barker and Darrel Ray. Now, Air Capital… Read more
There’s no one way to run a political campaign, but we certainly need more atheists running for public office. Cecil Bothwell is currently a City Council member in Asheville, North Carolina. He’s one of a small handful of local politicians who is openly atheist, and he’s running for Congress in 2012. He spoke at the recent American Humanist Association conference in Boston for the Secular Student Alliance’s “Leadership Track” for students. In the video below, he tells his own story… Read more
The Washington Post On Faith moderators sent this question to all the panelists this week: Radio evangelist Harold Camping believes that he has calculated the exact date of the rapture: May 21, 2011. While many are laughing at the suggestion, Camping’s followers are taking him seriously, bringing his message of impending doom to billboards and public spaces around the country. ??What does your tradition teach about the end of the world? How does end time theology impact real world behavior?… Read more
The cover of Richard Dawkins’ new book has just been released! It’s called The Magic of Reality: How We Know What’s Really True. I love the title — it’s much better than the original “working” title, What is a Rainbow, Really? But judging from the table of contents, it looks like it’s aimed at a younger generation as well as science novices: Some people might be glad to see Dawkins writing another book about science instead of religion. I don’t… Read more
