A new study by the Public Religion Research Institute and the Brookings Institution has a couple of notable results (PDF) regarding religious demographics in America and whether you need God to be moral. First, the demographics: A couple of things stand out there, neither of which is particularly shocking but both of which are still worth celebrating: [Click headline for more…] Read more
Aaron Buer is a pastor at Ada Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and he’s made up some very important facts about sex (emphases his): [Click headline for more…] Read more
Howard Storm was one of those “educated college professors” who didn’t believe in God… until he had a really weird out-of-body experience and visited Hell. Now he’s here to say that you, too, can stop being educated like him, if you only give yourself up to Jesus! Highlight comes at the 9:48 mark, where he tells us what you have to yell if you want Jesus to come alive. (I guess standing in a dark bathroom and saying “Jesus” fives times in front of a mirror doesn’t do the trick.) [Click headline for more…] Read more
Jezebel’s Lindy West posted an article today called “How to Be an Atheist Without Being a Dick About It”… which gives you some indication of where her mind is at. It’s the sort of thing people say when their impression of how atheists act is limited primarily to reading Internet comments written by anonymous jackasses. It’s especially rich coming from the same person who wrote a piece titled “Fuck the Pope.” It’s not that she’s wrong — of course we shouldn’t be dicks. Of course, in any large group of people, there’s bound to be a handful of awful individuals who deserve our condemnation. But that’s not just a lesson for atheists. It applies to damn near everyone, especially when it comes to issues where good people can have serious disagreements. Matt Dillahunty has done an excellent job of breaking the article down and responding to her (lack of) points. [Click headline for more…] Read more
Back in April, Han Hill delivered a secular invocation at a meeting of the Wilmington City Council in North Carolina. (He was labeled a “Humanist Minister,” though “Humanist Celebrant” would have been more accurate.) It was short and sweet: [Click headline for more…] Read more
Marriage equality officially became law this week in England and Wales, after the British House of Commons passed landmark legislation Tuesday and Queen Elizabeth subsequently granted her royal assent. The bill has had British Prime Minister David Cameron’s full support since 2011, when he famously called on the Conservative Party to reevaluate its priorities: Yes, it’s about equality, but it’s also about something else: commitment. Conservatives believe in the ties that bind us; that society is stronger when we make vows to each other and support each other. So I don’t support gay marriage despite being a Conservative. I support gay marriage because I’m a Conservative. [Click headline for more…] Read more
Daniel Libeskind is the son of Holocaust survivors and he was thrilled to be selected as a finalist to construct a Holocaust memorial that would be displayed on the grounds of the Ohio Statehouse. His eventual submission featured the story of an Auschwitz survivor told on two giant tablets… with a Star of David in the negative space between them: The monument would mostly be paid for with private donations of up to $2,000,000, but the state would kick in about $300,000 for the preparation of the site. … It raises a very interesting question: How do you oppose a memorial like this without coming off as disrespectful? [Click headline for more…] Read more
There’s a wonderful, hilarious book called Illustrated Stories from the Bible (that they won’t tell you in Sunday School) by Paul Farrell, published by American Atheists Press, that’s pretty self-explanatory. The book tells all those gruesome, despicable, disturbing stories that pastors love to gloss over lest people think the Bible isn’t really a Good Book. Of course, that book is geared toward adults. Just as it should be. But what if it was aimed at children? What if those horrific… Read more
These aren’t your great-grandma’s indulgences. In modern Catholicism, indulgences are typically granted for activities that demonstrate extra faith: certain prayers and pilgrimages, for instance, will get all or part of your currently accrued sin wiped off your slate (assuming, of course, that you confess to a priest and show proper contrition). In September of 2012, Pope Benedict announced a fresh slate of indulgence-worthy acts for the upcoming Year of Faith (2012-2013), where he mentioned the possibility of gaining indulgences by reciting specific prayers “at a moment when the words of the Supreme Pontiff or of the Diocesan Bishops are broadcast via the television or radio” — a bit like a video game player inputting the proper cheat codes at the correct moment of game play. And if you can do it with television or radio, why not with Twitter or Instagram? [Click headline for more…] Read more
