Larry Alex Taunton is the executive director of the Fixed Point Foundation, a Christian organization that seeks “innovative ways to defend and proclaim the Gospel.” In his own words, he considers atheism “historically naive and potentially dangerous.” Taunton recently conducted interviews with several college students who led their campus atheist groups and, while his research isn’t scientific in the least, he claims that he learned some very surprising things about why they became atheists. The results may be surprising to him, but certainly not to anyone who has given the subject any thought. In fact, Taunton provides us with no new insight. [Click headline for more…] Read more
Someone give this man a Nobel Prize: Strong Nuclear Force my ass. It’s always been Jesus just keeping those protons together against their will. In every atom. In the entire universe. (via Right Wing Watch — Thanks to Kyle for the link!) Read more
Prayer is allowed at school board meetings just as it’s allowed in school. As long as the prayers are private, not disruptive, and done before the formal meeting, no one’s going to stop Christians from talking to their God. But Congressman Tim Walberg (R-MI) wants the government to show its support to Christian prayers that take place during school board meetings. He just proposed House Resolution 250 (PDF) and his argument is essentially that Congress has invocations, so school boards should get to have them, too: [Click headline for more…] Read more
A few days ago, I posted about Minister David Brassfield of the Newalla Church of Christ in Oklahoma. Brassfield had given members of his church a handout proclaiming that no atheists were helping victims of the recent tornado… even though we know several atheist groups and individuals have done just that, with their money and their time. Well, according to Kai Tancredi at Red Dirt Report, Brassfield is about to do what no one expected. Confronted with evidence of just how wrong he was, he’s issuing an apology to his church members this weekend… kind of: [Click headline for more…] Read more
Nirmukta, an organization promoting freethought in India, is celebrating “Hug an Atheist Day” today with all of the other atheist groups in the country: [Click headline for more…] Read more
If you visited Reddit Atheism in the past year or two, you undoubtedly came across a lot of memes like this: But new changes to the site have virtually removed those items in favor of articles and discussions with more substance to them. It’s a welcome change. [Click headline for more…] Read more
I’m working on a project and I’d like to bounce some ideas off of medical school students who are currently in (or finishing) their M1 year or anyone starting med school in the fall. I guarantee anonymity. I won’t spam you or give your emails to anyone else. This is purely for me, so I can ask you all some questions. If you wouldn’t mind being my sounding board, just send me an email with your name, year in med school, and where you go (or will go). Thanks in advance! Read more
June 17th will mark the 50th anniversary of Abington School District v. Schempp, the Supreme Court case that finally ended mandatory Bible readings in public schools. Abington Senior High School, where a young Ellery Schempp took a stand against reading the Bible, is in Pennsylvania, which is why it might strike you as a little strange that the Public School Code of 1949 — the document explaining how the state’s public schools must operate and which gets amended when needed — still includes Section 1516, laying out how “at least ten verses from the Holy Bible shall be read, without comment, at the opening of each public school on each school day”: Yes, it’s completely unenforceable. Yes, the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional. But it’s still in the books. But if Rep. Mark Cohen gets his way, Section 1516 will soon be eliminated. [Click headline for more…] Read more
In 2012, there were no chaplains for atheists in the military while Christians had all they needed and then some: It’s long overdue, but non-religious chaplains had a chance to be included in the Army Chaplains Corps thanks to Rep. Rob Andrews (D-NJ). Yesterday, Andrews (an Episcopalian) suggested an amendment (PDF) to the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act that would bring Humanist, ethical culturist, or atheist chaplains to the military: The Secretary of Defense shall provide for the appointment, as officers in the Chaplain Corps of the Armed Forces, of persons who are certified or ordained by non-theistic organizations and institutions, such as humanist, ethical culturalist, or atheist. That’s an amendment that no reasonable person would object to. So, of course, Republicans objected to it: [Click headline for more…] Read more
