Earlier this year, Virginia legislators attempted to pass Senate Bill No. 236. Among other things, the bill would legalize student-led, administration-supported proselytizing at football games, during morning announcements, graduation ceremonies, and anywhere else where students had a public forum. While the bill had stalled at one point, it eventually made it through both the state Senate (on a 20-18 vote) and House (64-34). Proponents of the bill argued that it allowed students to organize religious clubs, plan “See you at the pole” gatherings, and wear religious symbols — but all of those things were already legal. The only thing this bill did was “permit a student speaker to express a religious viewpoint at any school event at which a student is permitted to publicly speak.” It was Christian code, letting students know they could (and should) proselytize at every available opportunity. It was a horrible idea, but the legislators didn’t have the backbone to stand up to the Christian Right. Thankfully, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe had the guts to veto the bill on Friday, citing precisely that distinction: Read more
Yesterday, while the 184th Annual General Conference of the (Mormon) Church took place nearby, two atheist groups led a mass resignation for Mormons who wanted to leave the Church for good. Atheists of Utah and American Atheists (national) led the 75-person march around Temple Square. Afterwards, AA President David Silverman spoke to the crowd: Read more
In 2006, paleontologist and evolutionary biologist Neil Shubin and his team discovered fossil remains of a genus they called Tiktaalik. While anti-evolutionists constantly declare there are no “transitional fossils,” Tiktaalik beautifully represented the shift from fish to amphibians, containing traits of both and countering those Creationist claims. Shubin later wrote about his discovery and how our own bodies give us clues to our evolutionary past in Your Inner Fish, and that book is now being turned into a three-part PBS documentary series that begins airing this week. Read more
Earlier this year, David Suhor gave an excellent non-religious invocation at a meeting of the Pensacola City Council: Read more
The Agnostic Atheist Anti-Theist Foundation on Facebook have been putting up a lot of great videos on YouTube lately, compiling the best speeches and sound bites from prominent atheists. Below is just their latest one featuring Christopher Hitchens (part 7 in the series, natch): Read more
Chili’s Grill & Bar was planning to host a nationwide fundraiser tomorrow night in which a portion of all proceeds would be given to the National Autism Association. That sounds all well and good until you take a look at the NAA’s website, specifically the page listing the causes of autism. For no good reason — certainly, no scientific reason — the list includes “Vaccines”: For that reason, spurred by popular websites reporting on it, people began complaining about Chili’s on various social media networks. It’s entirely possible (hell, it’s very probable) Chili’s had no idea supporting the NAA would be controversial — they just figured they were helping a good cause — but to their credit, they’ve just announced that they will no longer be giving any money to the anti-vaxxer organization: Read more
No, Neil deGrasse Tyson wasn’t actually on Saturday Night Live last night, but Kenan Thompson portrayed the astrophysicist explaining global warming to the dunces hosting Fox & Friends (watch the clip on NBC or Hulu): Read more
Here’s what you need to know about Sherman Alexie’s novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian: It’s won a ridiculous number of prestigious awards since being published in 2007. Every kid you know who’s read it has loved it. A couple of parents in Idaho have convinced a local school board — representing the largest school district in the state — to remove the book from its curriculum because it’s too “obscene” for them. Read more
The Daily Beast has a positive profile of Brown University biologist Kenneth Miller, a devout Catholic whose defense of science/evolution helped destroy Intelligent Design during the Dover trial: Read more
Here’s the most depressing thing you’ll read all day: Someone depriving himself of happiness because of what religion convinced him to believe. Even worse: There are people reading that and smiling because they believe religion has done its job. (via PostSecret) Read more
