I couldn’t make this stuff up. In response to ex-congressman J. D. Hayworth’s angry rant (on his NewsMax television “America’s Forum”) show about how Muslims are striving to impose sharia law on Minnesota’s good ol’ Christian boys, Ralph Reed observed that “bigotry against evangelical Christians is the last acceptable form of bigotry.” Seriously. He responded to a litany of bigoted stereotypes about Muslim Americans by bemoaning how awful it is when people hold bigoted views about Christian fundamentalists. Read more
Senator Ted Cruz said a lot of crazy things at the Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators conference Tuesday, many of them about atheists. In one instance, he told the audience about how he fought against Michael Newdow to keep “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance (4:05 in the video below): “Texas brought together all 50 states before the U.S. Supreme Court defending the Pledge of Allegiance — and we won unanimously.” That’s a lie. Cruz didn’t win anything. 5 of the 8 justices — Justice Scalia had recused himself — essentially threw out the case altogether saying that Newdow didn’t have proper standing to bring the case to court. While the other three ruled against Newdow, there was no official ruling on the merits of the case. It’s like Cruz is taking credit for winning a boxing match even though his opponent was disqualified. Then, it got worse (5:39): Read more
America’s biggest hater is dead. Fred Phelps was 84. In 2010, Huffington Post reporter Joshua Kors asked how the frontman of the widely reviled Westboro Baptist Church saw his own demise. Kors: Everybody’s going to die at some point. I’m wondering about your thoughts on going to heaven. Phelps: The Lord himself should descend for me with the angels. I’m not looking for an undertaker — I’m looking for an uppertaker. Kors: Describe that heaven for me. Phelps: When the time comes, I will leave… Read more
Writing for Charisma, J. Lee Grady has a list of 7 things that prove God is real. Seven?! And they PROVE God is real?! Man, this list should be really good. (Hell, I only need one reason!) But let’s see how he plans to convince atheists he’s right… 1) Babies How can anyone deny the reality of God when they see a baby? I’ll just let The Onion rebut this one… Read more
Last month, non-religious Californian Adriana Ramirez, a legal immigrant, applied for U.S. citizenship… but she was rejected after officials read her response to the question about whether she would bear arms for our country (in the event of a war): Read more
This April, Richard Dawkins will be back in the U.S. for a tour to promote his movie (with Lawrence Krauss) The Unbelievers. He’ll be appearing in San Diego, Las Vegas, and Columbus (Ohio) and you can get your tickets here. Sure, just skip over Chicago, why don’t you… Read more
The video below, part of The Atheist Voice series, discusses whether or not Hollywood is biased against atheism-themed movies: You can read more about this issue here. We’d love to hear your thoughts on the project — more videos will be posted soon — and we’d also appreciate your suggestions as to which questions we ought to tackle next! And if you like what you’re seeing, please consider supporting this site on Patreon. Read more
These turn-of-the-last-century photos are a visual cabinet of curiosities, all the more wondrous for having convinced anyone, at any point, that spirit mediums and visits from beyond the grave are real. On the other hand, it doesn’t surprise me very much to learn that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, was convinced that the images below were genuine. While his famous protagonist was a cynic who believed in evidence, logic, and reason, Conan Doyle himself was P.T. Barnum’s proverbial sucker, a man so keen on believing in the existence of the paranormal that he went to his grave with the certitude that fairies exist, based on a hoax photo made by two young girls. Anyway, this is what you would have seen at a séance a hundred or so years ago: Read more
