The video below, part of The Atheist Voice series, answers the question: What should an atheist do if asked to say grace during Thanksgiving dinner?: 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
If you’re looking for a controversial shirt that looks perfectly pleasant at first, you’re going to love this one: (via Chibi T-Shirts) Read more
Curiosity is a wonderful monograph by British science writer Philip Ball. He chronicles how, many centuries ago, under the influence of religion, curiosity became a shameful characteristic, a twin to arrogance (mostly because being curious signaled you weren’t content to merely gawp in gratitude at God’s creation). Eventually, to humankind’s credit, curiosity morphed into a trait celebrated for its role in scientific progress. At my request, Ball’s U.S. publisher, the University of Chicago Press, sent me three hardcover copies to give away to readers of this blog.** To make it interesting, I asked you to share your favorite autobiographical story involving curiosity, and you did! Here are, in my highly subjective opinion, the three best submissions, in no particular order. Read more
I know the “Heaven is for Real” trailer made you cringe… … but Dusty Smith’s version of the trailer is far more honest than the book or movie: Read more
We’ve had to do without Maurice Sendak for a year and half now. The famous author died in May of last year, at 83. Hemant commemorated him here. Sendak is, as the phrase goes, gone, but not forgotten. This weekend marks the 50th anniversary of his Where the Wild Things Are — the dark masterpiece of children’s literature, not least because of its remarkable economy with words (the whole book contains only 338 of them, plus plenty of Sendak’s magical illustrations). Read more
The United States Postal Service has several Christmas-themed stamps for sale right now: … but you wouldn’t know that if you just glanced at a particular section in their latest holiday mailer: Sarcastic or not, @RennaW’s tweet (below) provided fodder for those looking for any sign of “intolerance” toward Christians: Read more
When I posted this back in July, the video was removed from YouTube shortly after. It’s back up now, hopefully for good! Here’s a wonderful compilation celebrating 50 years of Humanism in “Doctor Who,” courtesy of Brandon Fibbs: Read more
The New York Times, yesterday, published an obituary of “psychic” Sylvia Browne that is strikingly accurate without giving her more credit than she’s due. What makes it worth reading aren’t the descriptions of the major details of her life, but how the reporter suggests that her claim to fame was suspect all along. This is how William Yardley puts it: Read more
The video below, part of The Atheist Voice series, answers the question: Would I want to live in a world where everyone was an atheist?: 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
Tom Carver has written the first five books of the Bible from the perspective of someone who cares far more about science than faith. His Pentateuch is called The Newer, More English Version: In the excerpt below, we go right back to the beginning: Read more
