Jesse is a career atheist, and is currently Communications Director for the Secular Student Alliance. Before that, he worked for the Secular Coalition for America and the American Humanist Association. He also blogs about science, philosophy, and rationality at Measure of Doubt with his sister Julia.
(The views expressed are not representing the Secular Student Alliance or any other organization.)
by Jesse Galef – “How Should Rationalists Approach Death?” That’s the title of the panel I’m moderating this weekend at Skepticon, and I couldn’t be more excited. It’s a big topic – we won’t figure it all out in an hour, but I know we’ll get people to think. Do common beliefs about death make sense? How can we find comfort about our mortality? Should we try to find comfort about death? What should society be doing about death? I… Read more
by Jesse Galef – I know, I know, the Ten Commandments aren’t a good moral code. We reject the very notion of following rules passed down from an authority figure. But what if we didn’t take them as absolute rules? What if they were decent, secular guidelines? And what if the authority figure *cough* was Penn Jillette? It’s a fun idea. Apparently, Glenn Beck challenged Penn to come up with the atheist’s version of the 10 Commandments and Penn did… Read more
by Jesse Galef – It’s not every day you see USA Today call out a sitting Supreme Court Justice. Apparently Justice Antonin Scalia isn’t quite as accomplished a theologian as he is a judge. Speaking at Duquesne University about the death penalty, he said some pretty revealing things. In a great article by Lisa Miller, he’s quoted as saying: “If I thought that Catholic doctrine held the death penalty to be immoral, I would resign. I could not be part… Read more
by Jesse Galef – Want a heartwarming story of progress? Patrick Henry High School in San Diego just made history by crowning the nation’s first lesbian homecoming couple. The students voted Rebeca Arellano (left, below) Homecoming King last Friday, and this week they named her girlfriend Haileigh Adams Homecoming Queen. What a sign of the times. We already know that younger generations are more supportive of GLBT rights, but this goes above and beyond. The two girls told ABC News… Read more
by Jesse Galef – [cross-posted on Measure of Doubt] Somehow, it went viral. In just 24 hours, the Secular Student Alliance’s Facebook page exploded from 6,500 supporters’ “likes” to 18,000. I found myself thinking, “How the hell did that happen?” And then thinking, “Hmm… how can we do it again?” The whole thing started with Kenny Flagg, one of our group leaders with the Freethinkers of UND. After noticing that the SSA’s Facebook presence was much smaller than Campus Crusade… Read more
