It was only a couple of weeks ago when Senator Ted Cruz told the audience at a Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators conference that he played a significant role in keeping “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. That was a lie. After Justice Antonin Scalia recused himself from the case, 5 of the 8 remaining justices dismissed the case altogether saying that Newdow didn’t have proper standing to bring the case to court. There was no official ruling on the case’s merits. Cruz didn’t “win” anything. Yet, he’s still repeating the lie, most recently, during a speech yesterday at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University: Read more
If you were running for political office, would it makes sense to open up about your atheism? Former Secular Coalition for America Director Sean Faircloth and philosopher Peter Boghossian offered differing answers to that question at a recent event. Faircloth, while not suggesting candidates disavow their atheism, said that pragmatism was key. Boghossian, on the other hand, suggested putting it all out there: Read more
Atheist Randall Jackson had been serving time in the Western Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in St. Joseph, Missouri when he learned about an opportunity to get early release on parole — all he had to do was attend the center’s “Offenders Under Treatment Program.” Just one problem: The program was faith-based, requiring him to both pray and acknowledge the existence of God. (Another treatment program promoted Alcoholics Anonymous which is also religious in nature.) When Jackson objected, the response wasn’t very helpful: Read more
If some doctors like to play God, Dr. Kim Seok-Kwun is content just correcting the Big Guy’s goofs. As Dr. Kim Seok-Kwun begins surgery to create a functioning penis for a Buddhist monk who was born female, he is well aware of the unease his work creates in deeply conservative South Korea. The devout Protestant known as the “father of South Korean transgender people” once wrestled with similar feelings. “I’ve decided to defy God’s will,” Dr. Kim, 61, said in an interview… Read more
Appearing on Creationist Eric Hovind’s show Creation Today, Jeff Swanson explained how the earth wasn’t created in 4004 BC as Archbishop James Ussher calculated hundreds of years ago and as Young Earth Creationists believe today. No. That would be crazy! The universe (i.e. “Adam”) was actually created in 3960 BC. Which means he thinks our universe is less than 6,000 years old. And the show’s hosts just accept that without question. Read more
When Deborah Mitchell posted an article on iCNN about why she doesn’t raise her children with religion, it became a viral sensation. Now, she’s written a complete guide to atheist parenting. It’s called Growing Up Godless and it’s full of nearly 100 short essays on tackling the various obstacles atheist parents face in a predominantly religious world. In the excerpt below, Mitchell talks about how to discipline your children when they’re not raised to believe God is watching over them: Read more
This Sunday, as the 184th Annual General Conference of the (Mormon) Church takes place in Salt Lake City, two atheist groups will be leading a mass resignation nearby for Mormons who wish to leave the Church for good. Read more
Allah, it seems, is cool with brutal human-rights violations. Or at least the Sultan of Brunei is. The Sultan of Brunei, one of the world’s wealthiest rulers and a close ally of Britain, will this week oversee his country’s transition to a system of Islamic law with punishments that include flogging, the dismemberment of limbs and stoning to death. Read more
David French, a conservative commenter who also blogs here at Patheos, thinks we (“the secular Left”) pay waaaaaay too much attention to Creationists: … I look at this obsession as a symbol of leftist ignorance of Evangelical culture. Yes, if you ask most Evangelicals what they believe about the age of the earth and the origin of the universe, they’re going to side with the more literal interpretation of the Genesis story. But I would describe this as a “soft” or low-priority belief. Whether the Earth is a few thousand years old or several billion isn’t fundamental to their understanding of the Bible, the world, or their faith. It’s simply their default position. French thinks we should ignore Creationism because most Christians just don’t think very much about it. But there are many, many problems with that: Read more
For the second time in less than a week, the Carroll County (Maryland) Board of Commissioners has defied a judge’s decision and opened a meeting with a prayer to Jesus. Last week, a day after a judge told them to stop the illegal practice, commissioner Robin Bartlett Frazier chose to break the law: Read more
