The cover story in this week’s Time magazine, written by Joe Klein, is all about how volunteering and doing service projects may help curb the effects of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on our veterans: As part of his reporting, Klein joined one of the disaster relief groups and worked at a site damaged by the Oklahoma tornadoes… and that’s when he wrote this: … there was an occupying army of relief workers, led by local first responders, exhausted but still humping it a week after the storm, church groups from all over the country — funny how you don’t see organized groups of secular humanists giving out hot meals — and there in the middle of it all, with a purposeful military swagger, were the volunteers from Team Rubicon. Wow. My jaw dropped while reading that because it’s absolutely not true. [Click headline for more…] Read more
The video below, part of The Atheist Voice series, answers the question: Is atheism a religion? I can’t believe I left out my favorite response: If atheism is a religion, then bald is a hair color, “off” is a TV channel, and health is a disease 🙂 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 Evansville, Indiana, 30 decorated crosses will soon be erected in public spaces, right on the city’s downtown riverfront. But don’t worry, they’re really sculptures, so it’s all in the name of art, as well as for the good of the people: “We’re doing it on behalf of the community. We will feel like it will bring people to the riverfront who wouldn’t otherwise come.” That comment is courtesy of Roger Lehman, the West Side Christian Church member who successfully requested permission from Evansville’s Board of Public Works. The polyethylene crosses — which will be temporary, going up this August 4th for about two weeks — are going to be decorated by children attending a Bible camp at the church. [Click headline for more…] Read more
Since working as legal counsel for the Iowa legislature, Amanda Knief has held positions of tremendous responsibility within our movement. She worked as the lobbyist for the Secular Coalition for America and currently serves as the Managing Director for American Atheists. She is the perfect person, really, to write a book about how regular citizens can become effective lobbyists because she’s been doing it herself for years, with and without an official title. Amanda’s new book on the subject is called The Citizen Lobbyist: A How-to Manual for Making Your Voice Heard in Government (Pitchstone Publishing, 2013). It’s all about what lobbying actually is and why you should do it — a great blueprint for grassroots activism that’s ideal for casual reading and high school libraries. The Kindle version of the book will be available on July 1st, but the paperback is available right now. In the exclusive excerpt below, Amanda explains the 10 things to remember when lobbying an elected official: [Click headline for more…] Read more
A few years ago, Austrian Niko Alm won the right to wear a colander, the official headgear for Pastafarians, in his driver’s license picture: In February of this year, 25-year-old Aaron Williams of New Jersey tried to do something similar but got rejected. And now it’s happening again. [Click headline for more…] Read more
The video below, part of The Atheist Voice series, focuses on the purpose of the Hotline Project, which will allow people struggling with their religious doubts to call in and talk to somebody about them. (More information on the Hotline can be found here.) 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
On last night’s Real Time with Bill Maher, one of the New Rules focused on Rick Perry’s unnecessary signing of the “Merry Christmas” Law, Sally Quinn’s reprehensible criticism of Hillary Clinton for not including her faith in her Twitter bio, and how the thing Christians fear more are atheists like Rebecca Vitsmun who aren’t as scary as the stereotypes would suggest: [Click headline for more…] Read more
The Daily Show aired this segment earlier in the week about how Christians have it sooooo rough: Well, Matt Slick, the apologist at the center of the interview, appeared on Christian radio host Janet Mefferd’s program yesterday to talk about the segment. [Click headline for more…] Read more
I wrote yesterday about the lack of self-reflection by U.K. Archbishop John Sentamu, whose Anglican Church is both ultra-wealthy and keen on special tax breaks; His Excellence nonetheless believes he has the moral standing to harangue smart taxpayers into coughing up more money to save dying children. An attentive reader sent me a picture of the Archbishop’s residence, called Bishopthorpe Palace, near York. And a palace it is indeed. I found some additional photos of the mega-mansion for you. [Click headline for more…] Read more
