A week ago, Ray Comfort posted to YouTube his latest “documentary” Evolution Vs. God: It’s full of selective editing and bad science… as you would expect. Jaclyn Glenn watched the movie — *shudder* — and responded to all of his points in a video of her own. It’s a much better alternative (and only in part because of the way she says “God”): [Click headline for more…] Read more
I got to sit down with comedian and filmmaker Paul Provenza and had a wonderful talk about how The Amazing Meeting has changed over the years, the Reason Rally, and how he got into stand-up. [Click headline for more…] Read more
Right now, U.S. law prohibits non-profit groups — including churches — from endorsing political candidates: Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position (verbal or written) made on behalf of the organization in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition against political campaign activity. Violating this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes. However, on “Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” pastors have openly defied this law by doing the one thing they’re not supposed to do: Tell their congregations who to vote for. (Some pastors have even sent the IRS videos of their sermons). More than 1,600 pastors participated in the event in 2012 alone, so this isn’t just a fringe group we’re talking about. (If you’re wondering why the IRS hasn’t taking action, the answer is simple: bureaucracy. A “high-level” employee has to authorize the audits and no one is currently in a position to do that. The IRS isn’t rushing to fill the spot, either.) In 2011, Senator Chuck Grassley, who sits on the Joint Committee on Taxation, asked the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability to issue a report proposing answers to questions dealing with taxes and religious organizations. Today, a report was released by the ECFA (which formed the “Commission on Accountability and Policy for Religious Organizations”) and they’re urging Congress to change the law so that church leaders can endorse candidates from the pulpit: [Click headline for more…] Read more
If anyone’s interested in becoming a blogger, I suggest contacting someone at The Telegraph (UK) since they seem to be taking anyone with an opinion, no matter how uninformed they are. Today alone, they have two pieces that are heavy on polemics and light on facts. The first is from Sean Thomas, who claims that atheists are mentally ill: In 2004, scholars at UCLA revealed that college students involved in religious activities are likely to have better mental health. In 2006, population researchers at the University of Texas discovered that the more often you go to church, the longer you live. In the same year researchers at Duke University in America discovered that religious people have stronger immune systems than the irreligious. They also established that churchgoers have lower blood pressure. It goes on like that for a while… Thomas neglects to point out the thing that I was silently screaming the entire time I was reading it: None of those facts have *anything* to do with anyone’s religious beliefs being true. It has *everything* to do with having a strong support network, and dedicating your life to something you’re passionate about, and having a stable force in your life. Even though we’re non-religious, many of us have alternatives for those things which churches provide to religious people. [Click headline for more…] Read more
If you were an atheist vandal with a mischievous streak, you couldn’t possibly top what the devout Cecilia Giménez pulled a year ago. The octogenarian wannabe painter took it upon herself to restore a water-damaged Spanish church fresco by renowned painter Elías García Martínez. The work, entitled Ecce Homo (Behold the Man) used to depict Jesus, head cocked coquettishly, wearing a crown of thorns. But by the time Ms. Giménez was done with it, the portrait more closely resembled a hirsute bonobo monkey, no doubt giving ammunition (and laughing cramps) to Darwinists everywhere. The well-intentioned-but-very-botched transformation, horrifying and comical at once, finally brought the rogue restorer a measure of attention that her original works hadn’t. Juan Maria Ojeda, the local city councilor in charge of cultural affairs, initially proposed that “If we can’t fix it, we will probably cover the wall with a photo of the painting.” But even though a fix was indeed impossible, the diocese that owns the painting decided to leave the ruined fresco up, perhaps as a reminder that not everyone is equally capable with a paintbrush. And guess what? Last year’s Internet infamy is this year’s shot at bona fide fame… [Click headline for more…] Read more
Here’s some helpful advice: If you’re a fundamentalist Christian, and you’re writing a book about the Bible Principles of Child Discipline (such as “You cannot raise the kids without a paddle”), and you’re looking for a perfect family to put on your book’s cover, you should do a little bit of research when picking a photo… [Click headline for more…] Read more
Adding to the conversation about why millennials are leaving the church, Rachel Ford (a Christian herself) offers her own list. I love this item for obvious reasons: 2. Atheism and agnosticism do present appealing, intellectually honest alternatives When you’re talking about something that no one has seen, no one has witnessed, no one can reproduce — and the only “evidence” in its favor is an ancient manuscript that has been altered, re-translated, and mistranslated a thousand times — is it really a puzzling thing that so many people are saying, “to be honest, I just don’t know”? Factor in that information has become more easily accessible — a person can become well-informed on many topics with but an internet connection, a tablet, and a discerning eye — and the exclusive “truth” of any given religion seems to fade… This is why it’s so important that more atheists keep speaking out. Even if we don’t convince people to fully lose their faith in a God, we can at least give them reason to second-guess those beliefs, making them a little more rational in the process. [Click headline for more…] Read more
Back in May, former American Atheists president Ed Buckner visited a state park in Georgia and found a Bible in his rented cabin. That wouldn’t be unusual in a privately-owned hotel… but a state park?! It’s not that the Bible was “offensive.” It’s just that, on principle, it shouldn’t have been there. It suggested government endorsement of Christianity. At the time, park officials removed the Bibles from the cabins, but Governor Nathan Deal quickly put them right back in because he (wrongly) believed they were legal: “These Bibles are donated by outside groups, not paid for by the state, and I do not believe that a Bible in a bedside table drawer constitutes a state establishment of religion,” Deal said. “In fact, any group is free to donate literature.” O RLY?! Any group can donate literature?! You can imagine how the staff at American Atheists was salivating when they heard those magic words: “We appreciate the governor’s invitation to place atheist books in the cabins and look forward to providing visitors with the opportunity to learn more about atheism when they visit Georgia’s beautiful state parks,” said Managing Director Amanda Knief. … “American Atheists does not believe the State of Georgia should be placing Bibles or atheist books in state park cabins; however, if the state is going to allow such distribution, we will happily provide our materials,” said President David Silverman. Well, it’s finally happening… [Click headline for more…] Read more
Rush Limbaugh made the argument on his show yesterday that you can’t believe in both God and manmade global warming, an idea many evangelical Christians have long embraced: See, in my humble opinion, folks, if you believe in God, then intellectually you cannot believe in manmade global warming. You must be either agnostic or atheistic to believe that man controls something that he can’t create… Even for Christians, that’s a weird belief to hold… [Click headline for more…] Read more
First, the newsweekly The Week has a love-advice column. Who knew? But that’s not what’s important. The reason we’re bringing it up here is because the columnist, one “Starshine Roshell” — if that is her real name — tackles the perrennial question from a reader: I really love my husband… but he is a devout atheist and I am a devout Christian. [ . . . ] but we are having a hard time deciding how we will bring up our child. What do people do in this situation? Can an atheist and a religious person have a successful marriage? How do they decide how to raise the kid? If I’m Christian/Hindu/Baha’i/whatever, do I have to celebrate Humanlight? It sounds so dorky! We see these questions crop up all the time. And too often, we see the question, however it’s asked, answered at best with the presumption that it’s the atheist who has to “reach across the aisle,” with the hopes that he or she will see the light, and at worst with advice to end the relationship because this nonbeliever is just not worthy. [Click headline for more…] Read more
