A new billboard campaign from American Atheists, in anticipation of their upcoming national convention, attempts to show Utahns that Mormons aren’t the only game in town: Read more
As all atheists know, blasphemy is a victimless crime (it’s a joke, people!), but tell that to the hopping mad French Muslims who are suing the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo over this cover, which reads: “The Qur’an is crap; it doesn’t stop bullets.” The website of the National Secular Society explains: Read more
Last week, for a local newspaper, Rev. Seth Pickens wrote a brief list of reasons he supports the LGBT community: 2. Some want to get married, and some don’t; go figure. They also bleed red if you cut them. 3. With the bullying and hate many face, they qualify as an oppressed people. Christians support oppressed people. … 7. Homosexual behavior is documented in many species of animals; maybe some are just born that way. 8. As much respect as I have for the soul of animals, I have even more respect for human beings. I have a couple of complaints about the list, but on the whole, it’s quite a breath of fresh air compared to what we usually see from pastors. Yet that simple list got him in a lot of trouble with his church community. (It probably didn’t help matters that he performed a wedding ceremony for a lesbian couple last year.) At Religion Dispatches, Sikivu Hutchinson tells the story of why she and some of her atheist friends are supporting him as he goes through this ordeal at church: Read more
In case you haven’t read it yet, philosopher AC Grayling’s book The God Argument: The Case Against Religion and for Humanism is available in paperback beginning today: Read more
When news of Archbishop John J. Myers’ extravagant weekend and vacation home leaked out last month — renovations include a 3,000 square feet addition and a second pool — many Catholics in the Newark Archdiocese were disgusted. Now, some are saying they will no longer contribute to the archdiocese, at least for now. But rather than withholding their contribution in silence, they’ve hit upon a pretty neat grassroots idea to stress their displeasure in a way that the padres will notice. They’re still be sending in the customary donation envelopes, but the envelopes will contain… nothing. Read more
I understand that California’s going through a dry season right now… but this is not the way to solve the problem: The nation’s fourth-largest wine maker, Bronco Wine Co., says it uses dowsers on its 40,000 acres of California vineyards, and dozens of smaller farmers and homeowners looking for wells on their property also pay for dowsers. Nationwide, the American Society of Dowsers, Inc. boasts dozens of local chapters, which meet annually at a conference. “It’s kind of bizarre. Scientists don’t believe in it, but I do and most of the farmers in the Valley do,” said Marc Mondavi, a vineyard owner whose family has been growing grapes and making wine since the mid-20th century in the Napa Valley. Dowsers are “magical” tools that use “natural energy” to find water and minerals. You basically dig where you think the dowser is telling you to dig… you ignore all the times when there’s nothing below and count the successes as a miracle. Often, the dowser “tells” you to dig precisely where you’d expect water to be found — who’d have guessed?! Read more
I spent most of Friday afternoon speaking to multiple people involved with the Pisgah High School saga and you won’t believe what’s happening there now… I thought the story ended after I wrote my last post about it, but there’s so much more to it. And it’s nasty stuff. First, a quick recap: Earlier this year, student Ben Wilson attempted to begin an atheist group at the Canton, North Carolina school and claimed a school official told him he should just try joining a different club because this one wouldn’t “fit in” with the community. The Secular Student Alliance sent a letter to the school on his behalf, stating that the school had to allow the group to form, but no response was sent back. Ben left the school after first semester, so his sister Kalei (pronounced KAY-lee) decided to continue what he started… and she was also denied. That’s when the Freedom From Religion Foundation and the state’s ACLU got involved, sending a letter of their own. The school quickly agreed to allow the club to form after that. Almost immediately, students expressed interest in joining the club and two faculty members offered to be the club’s sponsors. But Kalei made it clear last week that the club would not be forming after a series of threats and verbal attacks. That gets us up to speed. As I said, I thought the story ended there. It wasn’t a happy ending but I couldn’t blame Kalei for her decision. If I were receiving threats and feeling picked on at school, I’d probably do the same thing. But I had to admit it was an abrupt 180 from a student who had already shown an incredible amount of courage… Read more
Over the past couple of years, what began as a personal blog has turned into a hub with several contributors and multiple posts per day. I like to think the quality of posts has gone up significantly along with the increase in quantity and I’d like to expand the reach of this site. That means bringing on additional writers in various niches. In addition to this site, I’ve also started making YouTube videos, a new world for me, and the reception has been overwhelmingly positive. I’m finally ready to explore new ideas and additional methods of outreach that I’ve put aside because of other obligations. I don’t plan on stopping what we normally do — I just want to do even more while the opportunity is here and there’s no reason to keep those ideas on a perpetual backburner. That’s why I’ve created a page at Patreon. If you’d like to support the work we do here, you can pledge a certain amount every month (with rewards along the way!) from $1 to $100. Depending on how that goes, we can finally start to tackle a few of those projects we’ve set aside, including the creation of an online magazine. Rest assured that the contributions will go right back into making this site bigger and better. As always, I’m grateful for the kind words and support you all send my way. I don’t usually post about them, but rest assured they never go unnoticed. Many of you have emailed me asking if there’s any way to donate to this page, and I always say no, but I think Patreon offers a really incredible way to subsidize what we have done and will continue to do. Thanks in advance for your help. Read more
Late last week, George Leo Thomas, bishop of the Helena, Montana archdiocese, received an unwelcome surprise: a petition calling out the Catholic hierarchy for the callous dismissal of a pregnant schoolteacher. The statement had been signed by 20,000 people and received national attention. The case centers on Shaela Evenson of Butte Central Elementary-Junior High School, a literature and phys-ed teacher of eight years. An anonymous letter the school received a few months ago charged that Evenson, who isn’t married, was pregnant; when she confirmed it, the Catholic institution felt it had grounds to fire her. Read more
Here’s how you know the college you go to is a really shitty one: Administrators force faculty members to sign pledges that they won’t teach real science. That’s what’s happening right now at Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee. If the name sounds familiar, that’s because it’s named after William Jennings Bryan who defended Creationism in the Scopes Money Trial nearly a century ago. The current Statement of Faith that professors at the school must adhere to says this: [We believe] that the origin of man was by fiat of God in the act of creation as related in the Book of Genesis; that he was created in the image of God; that he sinned and thereby incurred physical and spiritual death; If you believe in theistic evolution — that God started the process but evolution took over after that — you could twist that statement to suit your needs. But on Friday, school officials told faculty members they had to sign a clarification to that statement, one that would eliminate theistic evolution as a possible interpretation: Read more
