Normally, when we hear about Christian groups pushing faith in public schools, it’s always atheists who push back against it. So I’m glad to finally see Muslim parents complaining about an Easter event flyer (not the image below) sent home with their elementary school children in Detroit: Read more
In 1994, the Bronx Household of Faith (an urban church) filled out an application to rent out space at a New York City public school for its Sunday morning services. Their application was rejected because of something now known as “Standard Operating Procedure” (SOP) §5.11. No outside organization or group may be allowed to conduct religious services or religious instruction on school premises after school. However, the use of school premises by outside organizations or groups after school for the purpose of discussing religious material or material which contains a religious viewpoint or for distributing such material is permissible. So it was okay for groups to rent out the space to teach kids about religion… but if it became too church-like, that was a no-no? (What was the difference? Saying “Amen”?) Read more
A day after another tragedy at the Fort Hood Army post in Texas, it’s not surprising that people would be searching for answers or trying to figure out if anything could’ve prevented the shooting. Thankfully, we have the American Family Association’s Christian mouthpiece Bryan Fischer to answer that latter question for us: Read more
The Foundation Beyond Belief has just announced its five beneficiaries for the new quarter — each charity will likely receive several thousands of dollars, courtesy of atheist donors: Read more
In case you haven’t been following the Pastor Mark Driscoll saga lately — and consider yourself lucky if you haven’t — the man’s ego is finally exploding all around him. Former colleagues are speaking out against him, mistakes made with his publishing career (faking sales numbers, plagiarizing) are coming to light, and his past offensive statements are all coming back to bite him in the ass. It’s beautiful, really, to witness his comeuppance. If you have missed the details, Valerie Tarico has an excellent summary at AlterNet that’s worth a read: Read more
During a recent speech at the National Federation of Atheist, Humanist and Secularist Student Societies 2014 Convention, philosopher A.C. Grayling went on a tangent from his talk about Humanism to discuss the Creation Museum (19:10 mark): Read more
New York State Senator Jeffrey D. Klein has re-introduced legislation that would impose harsher penalties for crimes that take place at houses of worship or cemeteries. Senate Bill 2368 passed through the Senate last May, but didn’t go anywhere, so Klein’s trying it again now. You can understand his reasoning for the bill. A break-in or burglary (or worse) that takes place at, say, a synagogue is arguably no different from a hate crime: it sends a message to the wider community and should be treated the same way. But Sarah Kaiser of the Center for Inquiry explains why, despite the good intentions, she opposes the bill: Read more
What do you get when you cross beating the shit out of each other to prove your manliness… with Jesus? (Besides one of Pastor Mark Driscoll’s dreams, I mean.) Fight church! (No, really. That’s the name of the upcoming movie.) Read more
A walking punchline already, Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-TX) did himself no favors by working on a World Net Daily-sponsored promotion for an upcoming Christian TV event. During his lengthy monologue, Gohmert stretched the definition of church-state separation so far back that he broke it beyond repair (at the 2:35 mark): Read more
