After the international media drumbeat about the Boko Haram mass abduction built to a deafening noise in the past 72 hours, the U.S. White House and the State Department have decided to get involved, probably militarily. #167846563 / gettyimages.com Read more
Earlier this year, Bob Jones University, a very conservative Christian school, realized it had a reputation for being home to a lot of unchecked sexual abuse. They vowed to seriously get to the bottom of this and hired a ministry group called Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (GRACE) to investigate. That didn’t go so well. They fired GRACE before it issued a final report, only to rehire GRACE after a major outcry from students and alumni. The final report still hasn’t been issued. Kathryn Joyce, who had written a couple of jaw-dropping books about aspects of Christian culture, has now written a #longform profile of Boz Tchividjian, the grandson of Billy Graham and GRACE’s Director. Through his eyes, Joyce looks at the future of Protestant institutions: Read more
From the New York Times comes a gut-punching article about the continuing “honor killings” of young women in Afghanistan: Read more
Zach Phelps-Roper, grandson of Westboro Baptist Church founder Fred Phelps, has left the church, making him the fourth of his ten siblings to walk away from the anti-gay hate group. Aly Van Dyke of the Topeka Capital-Journal tells his story: Read more
For obvious reasons, it’s rare for anything that’s published on Friendly Atheist to get attention on the “Islam” subreddit. Yesterday was an exception. A discussion broke out there that ran the gamut from concern and outrage over the Boko Haram mass abduction, to (surprise!) the good old No True Scotsman fallacy, to a Patheos-bashing the likes of which you’ve never seen. Here are three interesting /r/Islam responses to the Boko Haram blog post, from across the spectrum. Read more
The video below, part of The Atheist Voice series, offers 78 tough questions for Christians. It’s a video I’m very excited to share with you! Read more
I know it’s child’s play to rip on Pat Robertson, but he always bring it upon himself… and this time, he’s blaming the GOP for nominating candidates that are extreme enough to win a primary but too extreme to win a general election: Read more
The other day, I posted about how atheist activist Justin Vacula of the NEPA Freethought Society paid for a banner to be hung on the scaffolding in the Wilkes-Barre (Pennsylvania) public square. Local officials hung it, but three days late and almost completely out of sight. When Christians celebrated the National Day of Prayer in the square last week, they saw an NDoP banner… but not the one reading “Nothing Fails Like Prayer.” Yesterday, Vacula went to City Hall to inquire about the decision. How come his banner wasn’t placed somewhere easily visible? Was there a reason? He got a reason… and it made no sense whatsoever. Read more
Back in January, I bookmarked an interview with well-known charlatan Susan Miller (pictured, center) that was published in the U.K. Observer — but the paper didn’t call her that. Her fans never do, of course, and journalist Aaron Hicklin is a fanboy for sure. He declared himself bewitched by “America’s most popular astrologer,” and gushed that she is … garrulous, warm and utterly unpretentious. She is also, according to her many, many fans, uncannily accurate. Well then, by all means, let’s… Read more
Carl H. Esbeck, a law professor at the University of Missouri, writes at Christianity Today why today’s Supreme Court ruling in favor of sectarian prayers in Greece, New York was a bad decision for Christians: Read more
