A student in Whitley County, Kentucky was getting ready to run in the high school regional cross country race when she suddenly decided to drop out. The reason? This was her bib number: Yup. The mark of the beast. (Or at least, one interpretation of it.) You see, Codie Thacker is a very religious young woman, and she said just the thought of wearing that number made her “sick.” Along with her coach, Gina Croley, she tried to get a different number, but was turned down by three separate officials. So, rather than run the race under the number 666, she decided to drop out. Read more
Tomorrow, before the Supreme Court hears the oral arguments in Town of Greece v Galloway at 10:00a, atheists and other supporters of church/state separation will gather outside to rally in support of the plaintiffs. At 8:30a (ET), American Atheists will host a rally on the steps of the Supreme Court. Read more
A new post by my very good friend and Patheos colleague Benjamin Corey, a preacher and blogger, shines a spotlight on the sad state of Christian moviemaking. One of his early-on conclusions: [M]any well-meaning Christian families who are making an honest attempt to let their children watch something good, might actually get duped into showing their kids crap. Evidently, Corey’s not alone. Since the days of Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments (1956) and Fred Zinnemann’s A Man For All Seasons (1966), Christian movie fare hasn’t exactly been burning up the box office. (In saying that, I realize I’m using box office receipts as a proxy for quality. Let me know if I’m missing any masterful Christian flicks by that admittedly imperfect criterion.) Here’s how bad it is: Read more
Christian groups practically combusted this week over a (false) claim that the American Psychiatric Association now classifies pedophilia as a sexual orientation — which it undeniably does not. The recently-released fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the APA’s guide to classifications of mental illnesses, has not changed its classification of pedophilia as a disorder. However, in one paragraph of the DSM-V’s text discussion — not the criteria itself, Care2 points out — it is incorrectly referred to as a “sexual orientation” in a place where the text was meant to read “sexual interest.” The anti-gay American Family Association seems to have been the first to send panicked messages throughout right-wing circles about the error, making the sweeping claim that pedophilia was now considered another run-of-the-mill “alternative” sexual orientation. The Christian publication Charisma News published an article quoting the horrifically anti-gay commentator Sandy Rios, who issued an inflammatory statement on behalf of the AFA: Read more
“I have known Larry and Carri to be loving parents with the ability to raise children appropriately,” Richard Long stated for the record. Long is the family pastor of Carri and Larry Williams. The Washington state couple had nine children — seven biological ones, plus two adopted from Ethiopia. Now there are eight; in 2011, adopted Hana Grace-Rose Williams, 13, died of starvation and hypothermia — the result of the parents’ sustained reign of terror that was inspired by a devoutly Christian book on disciplining kids. This summer a jury convicted the Williamses of denying their children Hana and Immanuel food, beating them and making them sleep in closets or washrooms. They were fed a diet of sandwiches that had been soaked in water and vegetables that were still frozen. Some of the couple’s seven biological children sometimes took part in the abuse. Read more
The video below, part of The Atheist Voice series, discusses Why Christian mission trips don’t actually help: 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
The United Coalition of Reason, known for putting atheist billboards around the country, has announced a new radio campaign telling atheists “where to go.” Thankfully, it isn’t Hell. You can hear the ad here (MP3). The text is below: We’d like to tell atheists where to go! Not just atheists actually… but agnostics, freethinkers, Humanists, and anyone who is just plain non-religious. You can go straight to… the Secular Directory at GodlessGroups.org. That’s GodlessGroups dot O-R-G. The place to find other godless people just like you! America today is bursting with atheist, agnostic, freethought, and Humanist groups. If you don’t believe in a god and are seeking to meet others of like mind and interests or just want to find groups that can give you a larger voice in our culture, you need GodlessGroups.org. You can find everything from education groups to support groups to atheist churches! Wherever you live in the United States or Canada you’ll find groups for you. When you get to the site, just type in your city and state and, just like that, all of those nearby godless groups will pop up. We live to tell atheists where to go! So go right now to GodlessGroups dot O-R-G. GodlessGroups dot O-R-G. If you can’t tell, the ad promotes the Secular Directory, a new website that shows you all the atheist/secular groups in your area: Read more
Liberty Counsel is back with their annual list of where you shouldn’t be shopping this year because some stores dare use the phrase “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” in their advertising. Have fun reading the 11th annual “Naughty & Nice list.” This year, you better not waste your time on Tractor Supply Company… where I know you’re all planning your holiday shopping: Read more
Tomorrow, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Town of Greece v. Galloway, a case that could decide the fate of invocation prayers at city council meetings. Americans United for Separation of Church and State is arguing the case for the plaintiffs and they’ve put together a wonderful website offering video evidence of what they’re opposed to. Like prayers being delivered at a meeting when children are present — how is that not a form of indoctrination?: Read more
For decades now, scientists — at SETI and elsewhere — have been sending signals into space for the express purpose of contacting distant civilizations. We have yet to hear anything back. In this simple, beautiful, Saganesque musing on the vastness of space and time, singer/songwriter Peter Mulvey explores why — with an appreciative nod to his friend Vlad, an astrophysicist. Mulvey’s performance took place at the Kaufman Center in Kansas City, Missouri, this summer, as part of the TEDxKC conference. It isn’t an atheism-related video, per se, but its poetic emphasis on the insignificance of our “pale blue dot,” in the scheme of things, might give pause to theists who believe that Earth is the pinnacle of Creation: Read more
