We’ve known for a long time that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia bases his legal decisions on what the Constitution’s original writers would have wanted, regardless of what society may think or believe today. (Somehow, in his mind, that legal theory can apply to technologies that only became available in the past few years as well as social changes that couldn’t have been anticipated when our nation was founded.) In an interview with New York Magazine’s Jennifer Senior that’s getting a lot of press today, we “learn” that Scalia’s not just conservative, he’s a conservative Catholic who believes in the Devil: Read more
When the Yale Humanist Community formed last year, they were hoping to eventually become one of Yale’s Religious Ministries — given the same sort of credibility and weight, so to speak, as the Roman Catholic, Quaker, Sikh, Hindu, Baptist, etc. communities. Yes, they were non-religious, but they offered many of the same benefits to students as the other groups did, provided a solid foundation and identity for non-religious students on campus, and sought to become a part of the larger dialogue about faith on campus. Unfortunately, they recently received word that their application was rejected: [Click headline for more…] Read more
A couple months ago, I wrote a bit about Ball State University, its president, Jo Ann Gora, and a science class that was not very scientific. I was pretty excited to be writing about BSU because Gora was taking a stand for all that is good and true in this world — namely, teaching science in science classes. After Ball State hired a professor (Eric Hedin) who was encouraging the “theory” of Intelligent Design in his physics class, the Freedom From Religion Foundation filed a complaint. In a great move, Gora and Ball State put the kibosh on that situation, drawing the ire of The Discovery Institute. A representative from the pro-creationism group criticized Gora, calling her insistence of teaching science in science courses “Orwellian.” Since then, it seems that they have been keeping their beady little eyes on Ball State, ready to spring into action for any real or perceived religious offenses. They found what they were looking for in an honors course called “Dangerous Ideas.” [Click headline for more…] Read more
The video below, part of The Atheist Voice series, discusses 15 more things Christians should never say to atheists: In case you missed the initial list, you can check that out right here: [Click headline for more…] Read more
Answers in Genesis’ Ken Ham is taking a page from the atheist playbook and putting up some billboards of his own in San Francisco and Times Square to promote… Creationism? No, that’s not it… his museum? Not quite… Actually, the billboards’ message pretty much boils down to: “Suck it, atheists.” Read more
While the Christian-led ex-gay movement is dying down in the United States, some “reparative therapy” or “conversion therapy” programs are still alive and well in other parts of the world. In Canada, for example, a government-registered charity called Living Waters (not affiliated with Ray Comfort’s ministry of the same name) has chapters across the country to help gay people overcome their same-sex attractions. Hearing of the program, an undercover reporter named Graham Slaughter from the Toronto Star joined a Living Waters chapter from January to May and recently published his account of the experience. In reality Slaughter is openly gay — contentedly so, it seems — making his description of the Christian program all the more interesting (and terrifying). Read more
I guess the Cincinnati Police Department has given up. They can’t figure out how to stop crime so they’re now teaming up with pastors and members of 25 local congregations to walk and pray through the city: Read more
Professor Jerome Baggett of the Santa Clara Jesuit School of Theology is conducting a study on American Atheists and he’d like to hear more from those in minority atheist communities (specifically atheists who also identify as African-American, Latino/Hispanic and Asian/Pacific Islander). If you’d like to participate, feel free to email Baggett directly! Read more
The Houston Oasis is putting a lot of awesome videos online and one of them features student activist Zack Kopplin speaking about his fight against anti-science legislation in Louisiana. (This is an older video but still worth checking out!) If any parts stand out to you, please leave the timestamps/summaries in the comments. Read more
Chris Mooney and Indre Viskontas were the hosts of the excellent Point of Inquiry podcast before a kerfuffle of sorts. They’ve since started a new podcast called Inquiring Minds: [Click headline for more…] Read more
