The country of Romania has some serious financial problems — they already received a multi-billion dollar bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2009. Romania also has a lot of state-supported churches — approximately “10 new places of worship completed every month” — with more on the way. You do the math. Some residents already have and they’re not happy at all: [Click headline for more…] Read more
I’ve heard of people getting fired from Christian schools for being gay or lesbian… but Harold Scott, an educator for 22 years and the superintendent of Parkview Christian Schools in Nebraska since 2011, was just let go for a very different reason: Harold Scott says he was fired as superintendent of Parkview Christian Schools because he performed in a community theater production of “The Producers.” … In an email response to questions Wednesday, he said he was told the reason for his termination is that Calvary’s pastor, Dr. Carl Godwin, felt his participation would have a negative reflection on Calvary Community Church and Parkview Christian School. [Click headline for more…] Read more
A new poll just released by Public Policy Polling shows that only 17% of Republicans in Georgia accept evolution — including, I presume, theistic evolution. 70% of Republicans, unfortunately, embrace Creationism. Stop smiling, Democrats. Only 29% of you accept evolution while Creation fans hover at 53%. Independents can quit smirking, too. Nearly half of them are Creationists. So, really, it’s just a problem with the state. What the hell, Georgia?! You can see the full results here (PDF): [Click headline for more…] Read more
Nearly a year ago, a “Religion and Foreign Policy Working Group” made a recommendation (PDF) to Secretary of State John Kerry to establish some sort of “institutionalized mechanism” with which to advise the State Department on religious engagement: Yesterday, Kerry formally announced that he was taking that advice and creating the State Department’s Office of Faith-Based Community Initiatives: [Click headline for more…] Read more
The cover story of this week’s Oklahoma Gazette is all about how atheists are coming out in the Bible Belt and it features our friends Kai Tancredi, Red McCall, and Wolf-Blitzer-embarrasser Rebecca Vitsmun: [Click headline for more…] Read more
The United States Marine Corps’ training manual for commanders (PDF) has a very interesting section regarding how to recognize when soldiers are at risk for suicide. They should look out for soldiers who recently suffered a breakup, soldiers whose family history includes members who committed suicide, soldiers who have serious financial concerns, soldiers who have lost their spiritual faith, soldiers who have a past or current substance abuse problem, soldiers who—-wait, what?! The manual cited “lack or loss of spiritual faith” as a subset of one of the 11 factors that could increase the risk of suicide. Specifically it was a subset of the “Guidance/Moral Compass” category, a detail that’s equally problematic. The factor would put all atheist soldiers on The List; that sort of stigma could eventually prevent them from getting promotions or certain assignments: [Click headline for more…] Read more
Here’s a question that’s always fun to ask pro-lifers: If abortion were illegal, what should the punishment be for women who have one? The Facebook group “Life Begins At Conception” asked its members and the responses were a big bowl of terrifying: [Click headline for more…] Read more
I thought “Preachers of L.A.” was going to be the strangest religion-based reality TV show this year… I was wrong. It turns out there’s another show that makes Christians look even weirder: [Click headline for more…] Read more
Yesterday, #ConfessYourUnpopularOpinion was trending on Twitter. You would think people using the tag would be declaring, you know, their unpopular opinions: They think MySpace is still cool, or the Cubs will win the World Series this year, or Anthony Weiner will make another comeback. Nope. Turns out that believing in God — and being part of the powerful Christian majority — is somehow “unpopular.” Take a look: Jesus is Lord. #truth, not opinion. #confessyourunpopularopinion— Jeremiah Bonds (@JeremiahBonds) August 8, 2013 [Click headline for more…] Read more
The free, massive, amazing Skepticon conference in Springfield, Missouri takes place November 15-17, and registration is now open! (You’ll want to sign up before all the seats fill up, even though there’s no cost.) Check out the schedule and speakers’ list on their site. If you like what you see, please consider kicking in a donation to help offset the costs for the organizers. Read more
