Lauren Nelson is an advocate and aspiring ally focused on intersectional justice. When she's not gabbing on social media or chasing after her precocious seven year old, you'll find her researching and writing extensively on the subjects of politics, policy, culture, neurodiversity, and faith for The Friendly Atheist and Rethink the Rant.
In yet another Republican primary debate, the cast of clowns that pass for presidential candidates convened for a performance that more closely resembled a schoolyard Three Stooges routine on steroids than any form of civilized political discourse. It’s not that the hours-long collective temper tantrum was remarkable on its own; such a spectacle is par for the course at this point. What distinguished it from past debates, though, was that the candidates weren’t just raging at the wind this time. No, they’ve turned on each other in breathtaking fashion. Donald Trump slammed Jeb Bush and former President George W. Bush, lumping them together as he ranted about the war in Iraq. Bush responded by saying that while Trump had been building a reality TV show, his brother had been building a security apparatus. Trump responded by sneering that 9/11 had taken place under W’s watch and that Bush’s mother should be running instead of him. Read more
I will not miss Antonin Scalia. I’m not going to rejoice and gloat, because as much as I detested his influence on the Supreme Court, I know there were people in his life who loved him. They’re in a great deal of pain right now, and my heart goes out to them. I cannot revel in their pain. But that doesn’t mean I can’t be glad he’s no longer on the court. Scalia was a man of great intellect and a prolific writer. Say what you will about his actual decisions, his articulation of those decisions was always colorful, detailed, and articulate. I will cede that. But I’m still happy he won’t be presenting said opinions from the bench of the highest court in the land. Read more
On the show Christian Today, Eric Hovind and Paul F. Taylor recently posed a question to atheists: Absent Christianity, why is suicide a bad thing? The pair made the case that Christianity is what fostered the idea that suicide was wrong to begin with, citing everything from ancient Roman times to the Synod of 425 AD to prove their case. They seem to believe that all atheists embrace the idea that suicide is a legitimate, acceptable way to exit life, because our godlessness means we have no reason to value it. Read more
If you had any doubt that GOP rhetoric is ushering in another era of McCarthyism, I present you with the fruit of their efforts. On a day when the President visited a mosque and called for tolerance, the Pew Research Center released a new poll regarding Americans’ beliefs about Muslims in the country. What did they find? Read more
Watching the National Prayer Breakfast as an atheist is really an act of masochism. To see the separation of Church and State made a mockery by national leaders is like nails on a chalkboard. So don’t worry — I did it for you. Most of it was what we’ve come to expect from such affairs, but it was the comments made by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan this morning that truly highlighted the crux of the problem with the Religious Right and public office (32:40 – 36:40): Read more
