First he fires a semi-automatic weapon, then he tells us who the bullets are for. For infidels. Insha’Allah. Imagine this beautiful four-year-old kid, unsoiled by adult hatred and indoctrination, on a playground in Beirut or Amsterdam or New York. Imagine him drenched in late-afternoon sunlight, and in the easy, near-inexhaustible love of parents and siblings whose thoughts are free of revenge, rancor, and rage. Think of what he could accomplish, down the line, with his friendly demeanor, his engaging smile, and his bright mind. Read more
Fox News’ Todd Starnes has a nasty habit of parroting every story of Christian persecution he hears… even if there’s no truth to them. He was on a roll in December, writing about a Georgia school that confiscated Christian cards (even though they didn’t) and a Texas school that banned Christmas trees (even though they didn’t). Starnes is back in top form now, writing about Fort Collins High School in Colorado because administrators supposedly decided to cancel a spirit day honoring America because they didn’t want to offend non-Americans: The student council at Fort Collins High School had proposed having a day to celebrate the United States during next week’s Winter Spirit Week. The young people pitched “’Merica Monday” and invited their classmates to dress in patriotic colors. Their proposal was promptly shot down by administrators. “They said they didn’t want to be exclusive to any other country,” a 17-year-old member of the student council told me. … The irony, said the students, is that they are required to participate in Cinco de Mayo celebrations. One member of the student council pointed out the hypocrisy — and noted that students were not being forced to dress in red, white and blue for “’Merica Day.” “We were confused why we couldn’t do one day that was for America,” the student told me. Of course, the reality of the situation is that Starnes chose to ignore the school’s side of the story because it didn’t fit into his jingoistic narrative. Here’s what really happened. Read more
Messiah is in the Top 400 most popular baby names for boys in the United States. Strange, but no stranger than Hispanic couples calling their child Jesús. No skin off my back, I guess. But “Messiah” (below, via WBIR) gave Tennessee resident Lu Ann Ballew, a Child Support Magistrate, conniption fits. Last summer, she took it upon herself to order parents who’d given the name Messiah to their newborn son to change it. Read more
The British government will soon be announcing plans to deal with the problem of female genital mutilation, likely requiring doctors to report any instances of FGM that come their way. Even though the practice has been illegal for nearly 30 years, it’s still happening and medical professionals know it. Even worse, no one has ever been prosecuted for the crime, but that may be changing soon now that an FGM case is finally going to trial for the first time: Read more
The video below, part of The Atheist Voice series, lists 9 things atheists should stop saying: Vic Wang inspired the video and you should check out his extended list here! I should point out that, for #2, I didn’t mean to suggest that those who make extraordinary claims shouldn’t be held to high standards of evidence, only that they never seem to meet even very basic standards of evidence. Matt Dillahunty offers his criticism of the list here, though I think it’s worth mentioning that the video was intended to be about how these statements came across to Christians; Matt’s critique focuses on how accurate the statements actually are. I think there’s a noteworthy difference between those perspectives. 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! Read more
I’m no expert in copyright law, but I’m pretty this company doesn’t have any experts on staff, either. They make Christian versions of all your favorite board games. Like Cranium: Bible Edition: And Outburst: Bible Edition: Read more
The United States Air Force Academy has not been a very pleasant place for non-Christian cadets. (It was only this past October when the phrase “So help me God” was made optional in the Honor Oath.) But there was a major shift in the right direction yesterday when recently-appointed Brigadier General Andy Armacost (below) addressed the entire faculty and told them in no uncertain terms that they could not proselytize while on duty. Once faculty member wrote to Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation to explain the details: Read more
I think the Bill Nye-Ken Ham debate (liveblogged by me and Hemant) turned out to be a net-win for science and reason. I know that many of us in the skepto-atheosphere disagree; that the debate put reality on the same plane as nonsense, or thought that Nye wasn’t up to the task of fully enlightening Ham or his audience. I understand and respect those criticisms, but I think they overlook what Nye really did accomplish. Read more
