I tried to read Sarah Palin’s new book Good Tidings and Great Joy. Really. I tried. Hell, her people even sent me an autographed copy of the book. (The inscription reads “God Bless You,” as if she needed one more way to stick it to atheists…) The whole book is a lesson in patience. You have to find a way to flip the pages without knocking out everyone around you since every chapter just makes you progressively angrier. Ever read a Creationist textbook that you know others read in complete earnest? This is just like that. It’s not that she holds different opinions from me; I deal with that all the time and it’s never a problem. At first, I thought what upset me the most was just how uninformed she was. She spent chapters writing about atheists and clearly didn’t even bother to talk to any to make sure she was on the right track. But then I realized I had it completely flipped. It wasn’t that she was willfully ignorant. It’s that she knew damn well what we’re all about and she was deliberately misrepresenting us just to rile her base. Once that hit me, I saw the book in a completely different way. Here: Just look at some of the things she said (by way of a ghostwriter, of course): Read more
Last week, American Atheists launched a billboard in Salt Lake City, Utah to promote their upcoming convention. It featured West and Lennie Monnett along with their two sons and niece (of whom they’re guardians). The sign pointed out that they were not Mormons and not just “ex-Mormons” — they were atheists: At the time, I wrote about the one concern I had with the sign: The billboard could use a little more clarity since it’s unclear whether just the parents are Mormons-turned-atheists or if the kids, too, left the faith at some point as well. But, you know, it’s a road sign. Not a lot of room for nuance. The Salt Lake Tribune thankfully settles that matter: Read more
Eve Brannon, president of the Upstate Atheists in South Carolina, is offering Christians a chance to send her to church by bidding on eBay. (Whoa. Déjà vu.) Read more
This is the scene in front of the Baxter County Courthouse in Mountain Home, Arkansas: As you can see, it’s a giant Nativity scene (with what appears to be Santa Claus and a Christmas tree thrown in for good measure). Well, we know how the rules for this work: You can’t *just* promote Christianity with your holiday displays on government property. And that’s exactly what the Appignani Humanist Legal Center said to County Judge Mickey Pendergrass in a letter sent on Wednesday: Read more
Last week, the Florida LGBT publication Watermark published an interview with former Florida Governor Charlie Crist, marking the governor’s first-ever interview with the LGBT press. While this could have been a prime opportunity for the Republican-turned-Independent-turned-Democratic politician to atone for his past sins against LGBT folks in his state, he did little more than admit how wrong he was. Crist says he left the Republican Party not because he changed, but because “the Republican Party went nuts.” But Crist adhered to the party’s anti-gay policies — which haven’t changed — without protest a few years back. In 2008, Florida voters just barely approved of Amendment 2, which added a provision to the state constitution banning same-sex marriage. Crist had initially expressed apathy toward the measure, but then had an apparent change of heart and told Floridians to vote for it. Watermark interviewer (and publisher) Tom Dyer called him out on it — and didn’t accept his apology: Read more
I wanted to put together a list of all the places where Americans are allowed to pray unhindered, but it occurred to me that I should just present a picture for slower readers. Here it is. I hope this is clear enough: Prayer is one hundred percent permissible everywhere. In every home. In every office and factory and shopping mall. In every church, mosque, and synagogue. Also, in every car, bus, or train; in every park and every forest; and (get this) in every school and every government building. If you’re a believer, you may pray quietly any time, any place — plus, if you’re not in a well-frequented library, a classroom, or a theater, you may even talk to your God out loud. But that’s not enough for millions of Christians. They support what 10 god-bothering South Carolina lawmakers propose to do with House Bill 3526: push communal prayer onto the daily program of every public school: Read more
For reasons that I can’t understand right now, Bill Nye the Science Guy has agreed to debate Creationist Ken Ham at the Creation Museum on February 4. The topic: “Is creation a viable model of origins in today’s modern scientific era?” There’s no debate to be had here. The answer is already an unqualified “Not a snowball’s chance in hell.” So why bother with the charade? No matter what Nye says, this will only end in victory for Answers in Genesis. Here’s why: Read more
Chris Kluwe (pronounced CLUE-wee) is the NFL punter and LGBT activist who made headlines in 2012 after a letter he wrote to bigot Democratic Maryland delegate Emmett C. Burns Jr. went viral. He didn’t stop being outspoken after that, either, a fact that’s quite courageous considering the NFL ranks only slightly above the Catholic Church when it comes to acceptance of gay people. He’s also speaking at the upcoming American Atheists convention this April and authored a book titled Beautifully Unique Sparkleponies: Today, in a post for Deadspin, Kluwe explains that his support for LGBT rights, done as a private citizen and not as an NFL representative, may have cost him his job: Read more
What do you do when your teenage son turns into a devil (as they do)? For 51-year-old Gary Sherrill (seen below), the answer involved something darker than a mere exorcism. Read more
Ryan J. Bell is a professor and former pastor of a Seventh-day Adventist church, and after a lot of frustration within the faith, he’s decided to go a year without God: Read more
