After the 2008 election, I think a person could be forgiven for thinking the tide had finally turned on the Religious Right, as a young, progressive, black politician was elected president. All the fear-mongering and rumors churning about whether Barack Obama was a secret Muslim, or perhaps Satan himself, didn’t seem to stop the dam from bursting on the Bush years. The political elastic, of course, snapped back pretty hard in 2010 (though I would never take a midterm election to be representative of the entire potential electorate, since turnout in those is usually limited to activated partisans), and particularly in state legislatures, we saw Christianists swarm into power. [Click headline for more…] Read more
Troy University in Alabama has a very religious student body (shocking, I tell you). So they’re about to open a 376-bed dorm at a cost of $11,800,000 that will give preference to religious students: The new facility gives preference to students who maintain an active spiritual lifestyle and are actively engaged in a campus faith-based organization. Residents are required to engage at least semi-annually in a community-service or service-learning project that is tied to a church, such as food or clothing drive. The building will also house a (Catholic) Newman Center, as well as three Catholic and three Baptist resident assistants. [Click headline for more…] Read more
I swear, I saw this headline and story all over the Internet last week: Author and noted biopsychologist Nigel Barber has completed a new study that shows Atheism is most prevalent in developed countries, and, according to his projections, religion will completely disappear by 2041. His findings are discussed in his new book “Why Atheism Will Replace Religion.” A new study that clarifies his earlier research will be published in August. His findings focus on studying trends within countries around the world and the fact that “Atheists are heavily concentrated in economically developed countries”- Turns out the story’s not-at-all accurate. What Barber actually said is that, according to his calculations, religious people will be in the minority by 2041. The Nones will have come into the majority. In other words, the headlines are only a few billion people off the mark. [Click headline for more…] Read more
The video below, part of The Atheist Voice series, answers the question: What if you’re wrong? 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
It was just a delightful experience to sit down and talk to these two fine fellows. Bryan Bonner and Matthew M. Baxter make their living as paranormal investigators. Honest-to-goodness, “My attic is haunted,” “The microwave is possessed” paranormal investigators. [Click headline for more…] Read more
She didn’t vandalize the American Atheists bench in Bradford County, Florida, but I thought this was a wonderful gesture from a Christian: What a simple yet sweet thing to do. American Atheists appreciated it, too. Read more
This is a guest post by Pete Marchetti, the founder of Atheist Havens. … The idea for Atheist Havens began when I was reading a post on Reddit about a young man who had been kicked out of his parent’s home after admitting to them that he no longer shared their religious beliefs. I was struck by the injustice of it all. Over many months I had read similar stories. I remember reading stories of verbal and physical abuse endured by young atheists. I read stories of young adults having crosses burned into their flesh, beaten and berated for hours to ‘drive the devil out of their heart,’ kicked out with nothing and nowhere to go. It sickened me, over and over again. Many Americans assume these sorts of things only happen in backward countries with explicitly theocratic governments and barbaric religious cultures. But these stories were taking place in America. And not just in the “Bible Belt.” Something had to be done. [Click headline for more…] Read more
Atheist Sarah Terzo, a member of Secular Pro-Life, writes about how religious pro-life groups want nothing to do with her, even though she agrees with them on the issue at hand: [Click headline for more…] Read more
