So this happened in Sweden on Saturday: At 11 o’clock on Saturday, [they came] into the Stockholm mosque [in] Södermalm, threw [their] clothes [away, and,] with clenched fists in the air, they shouted in English:… “No to Sharia! No to oppression! Free women!” Skip the first twelve seconds of the following video unless you speak Swedish. The rest is in English. (Please do not click play if women’s breasts offend you.) [Click headline for more…] Read more
Yesterday, American Atheists unveiled a bench engraved with quotations from prominent atheists and church/state separation advocates in front of the Bradford County Courthouse in northern Florida. It was in response to a Christian group’s Ten Commandments monument that county officials had allowed on the premises. Now, we have video of the full ceremony from start to finish (via CRUClEFICTION): Leave any noteworthy timestamps/summaries in the comments! Read more
Back in 2009, a Ten Commandments monument was placed in a public park, near a public school, in Baker, Louisiana: Could this be the site of the next atheist monument? [Click headline for more…] Read more
“I’m important. I’m somebody… I’m the real deal.” If that sounds like a rapper boast, you haven’t been to Pastor Jim Standridge’s church in Skiatook, Oklahoma. That’s how he talks. But when Standridge gets mad, he utters a whole lot more than expressions of comically inflated self-regard. [Click headline for more…] Read more
Tomorrow, at 1:00p (Central Time), a new chapter opens in the long, sordid tale of Catholic clergy raping children. That’s the hour when the Milwaukee diocese, which has found itself in bankruptcy proceedings since early 2011, will make thousands of pages of incriminating records available, including personnel files and secret depositions by the highest Catholic Church authorities in Wisconsin. Both the archdiocese’s site and a website run by victims’ lawyers will publish the documents. There is speculation that the disclosure may be a body blow to New York’s Timothy Dolan (pictured below), the most powerful Cardinal in the United States. Though Dolan denies he did anything wrong, critics say that when he learned the Chapter 11 filing in Milwaukee was inevitable, he had millions of dollars funneled into special trusts, out of reach of abuse victims and their lawyers. [Click headline for more…] Read more
The first time I heard of Will Phillips, he was a 10-year-old who refused to stand up during the Pledge of Allegiance for a novel reason: Will’s family has a number of gay friends. In recent years, [mother] Laura Phillips said, they’ve been trying to be a straight ally to the gay community, going to the pride parades and standing up for the rights of their gay and lesbian neighbors. They’ve been especially dismayed by the effort to take away the rights of homosexuals — the right to marry, and the right to adopt. Given that, Will immediately saw a problem with the pledge of allegiance. “I’ve always tried to analyze things because I want to be lawyer,” Will said. “I really don’t feel that there’s currently liberty and justice for all.” He was 10 and he didn’t support the Pledge because he knew we really didn’t have “liberty and justice for all.” Amazing. It’s been a few years since I’ve mentioned him on this site, but I’m thrilled to report that Will is back. [Click headline for more…] Read more
The video below, part of The Atheist Voice series, answers the question: Do I know for sure that God doesn’t exist? 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
In October of 2010, a Durham man calling himself Pete Moses decided that it was time for four-year-old Jadon Higganbothan to die. Jadon had slapped another boy’s buttocks. This angered Moses, then 27, a self-described prophet and the cult leader of a Black Hebrews offshoot. Moses’ aversion to homosexual behavior knew no bounds. The boy lived under his roof with eight other children and a number of women including Jadon’s mother, Vania Rae Sisk. The adults were all Moses’ disciples. They called him “Lord.” Trembling, Jadon watched as Moses waved a gun around and started screaming at Sisk: “I told you to get rid of him!” “How am I going to do this?” Moses considered Jadon’s bottom-slap proof that the boy was gay. Something had to be done. [Click headline for more…] Read more
The city of Evansville, Indiana, recently approved the public display of 30 eight-feet-tall polyethylene crosses along the riverfront. The church that wants to erect the Christian symbols says that they’re not intended to promote Christianity; they are to be interpreted as an art display, because the crosses will be painted and decorated by the church’s Bible-camp kids. Plus, the exhibit is only temporary, scheduled to open on August 4th and to close just 12 days later. No biggie, right? Well, this week, the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the city. [Click headline for more…] Read more
