This one’s not for the squeamish. Here’s the short version of the story: Decades ago, in Montreal, an 8-year-old boy was accused of masturbating (?!?)… so a priest at his church-run boarding school grabbed him one night, took him to another room to see a mohel, and had the boy forcibly circumcised. “No anaesthetic, no disinfectant, no nothing.” Paul Tinari has been an “intactivist” — arguing against circumcision — ever since, and Vice’s Dave Dean interviewed him: [Click headline for more…] Read more
The American Humanist Association’s “I’m a Humanist Because…” Tumblr has some great images: [Click headline for more…] Read more
Reader Angela’s family was visiting Fort Zachary Taylor in Key West, Florida when they came across a rundown chapel with the most appropriate warning sign you’ll see all day: Read more
James Watson is the Nobel Prize winning scientist who (with Francis Crick) discovered the structure of DNA in 1953. He recently filmed a segment for Chris Johnson’s multimedia book about atheists and what gives them joy and meaning in life, Watson is no stranger to controversial statements, but in the segment below, he speaks about DNA as a “beautiful truth” and how it didn’t quite upend religion as Crick thought it would: (via The Atheist Book) Read more
Bill Gates is one of the forces behind the Big History Project, a free online course spearheaded by historian David Christian that takes high school students through the history of the universe: By sharing “the big picture” and challenging students to explore the relationship between key events over time, big history ultimately helps young people develop key critical thinking skills and the ability to better synthesize and apply complex information. These are skills vital not only to more advanced, discipline-specific work in the sciences and humanities, but also to help students understand and evaluate individual and collective impact — and potential. I haven’t gone into the curriculum in depth, but it sounds like a great way to educate students. And the more free, quality resources that there out there, the better. So guess who’s upset about this project? Creationist Ken Ham. [Click headline for more…] Read more
The video below, part of The Atheist Voice series, answers the question: Why am I 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
The Associated Press’ Diaa Hadid has an encouraging story about brave atheists in the Arab world. Despite having to constantly look over their shoulders to make sure no one catches them, there’s clearly a small-but-growing presence: [Click headline for more…] Read more
Stephanie Singer was raised by “two lesbian mothers and a Christian father.” More specifically, she had a mother and a father who divorced when Stephanie was two. When she was four, her mother moved in with her lesbian partner. Her dad, a Christian, would tell Stephanie “that my mothers and my gay uncle were all going to hell for being homosexuals.” It made no sense to her since her mothers “had done nothing but love me, protect me and really let me do or think anything I wanted.” Stephanie is now thanking her mothers by condemning their homosexuality-driven “brokenness”: [Click headline for more…] Read more
Somehow, it was okay to be a gay liberal in Congress, but saying he was an atheist would’ve been taking things too far… Read more
Demure girls’-school teacher by day, super-powered destroyer of villains by night. That’s the Burka Avenger, a female Pakistani superhero who helps children fight corruption, child labor, discrimination, and, most of all, the Talibanesque oppression of girls who are just trying to get an education. She can fly, and she immobilizes enemies by shooting pens at them and clonking them on the head with books. The TV show, set to debut this month, was created by Aaron Haroon Rashid, a local pop star known as Haroon. [Click headline for more…] Read more
