If you’re like me and the rest of the Internet, you’re a fan of (Dancing) Matt Harding, the guy who traveled the world, danced with the locals, put it all on YouTube, and made everybody smile. His most recent video came out last summer: Matt’s a Humanist and he spoke on Friday at the American Humanist Association conference (which is still livestreaming today). Carl Wong did a nice job of turning the livestream into a YouTube video and you can watch Matt’s speech here: [Click headline for more…] Read more
Atheist rapper Ensomniak is back with his latest song! (You can hear his others here, here, and here.) The song is called “Parable” and it tells the story of a man who gets a little too wrapped up in the words of the Bible: Parable by Ensomniak [Click headline for more…] Read more
On his show this week, Glenn Beck spoke about Jonathan Hardwick’s Christian graduation prayer at Lincoln County High School and the fact that atheist students successfully stopped a formal prayer from taking place at the ceremony. Beck argued that atheists tried to stop it because they were offended… and no one has a right not to be offended: Your browser does not support iframes. After playing a clip of the prayer and the audience’s rousing applause, Beck says: I think the school should get a very clear message that the people… in this town say “Enough is enough.” Now, that’s not a hateful thing against atheists… It’s really not. I don’t understand — I really don’t understand… You don’t have the right to not be offended. My gosh… You know who’s going to survive in the end?… I contend it will be the people of faith or the people who are currently being ostracized because of their point of view. The people who this system has beaten up and told to shut up for a very long time. Because there’s not hatred in our hearts… [Click headline for more…] Read more
About two months ago, Katrina R. Jackson, a Democrat from Louisiana, tried to pass awful legislation that would have all the state’s elementary and high schools reciting the Lord’s Prayer. House Bill 660 said those recitations would be “voluntary” in the sense that you wouldn’t be punished by the administration for not joining in… but ignored the fact that most students would be pressured by their peers to join in with the majority. Jackson went on to say that “these exercises [were] not meant to influence an individual’s personal religious beliefs in any manner” and saying the Lord’s Prayer would help students learn about “America’s great freedoms, including the freedom of religion…” It made no sense and was rightfully hammered in the media. [Click headline for more…] Read more
Author Stephen King was recently interviewed on NPR’s Fresh Air and the conversation at one point turned to his views on God. While King referred to organized religion as “a theological insurance scam,” he wasn’t quite so dismissive of God in general. Here’s what he said to host Terry Gross (around the 15:45 mark): [Click headline for more…] Read more
On last night’s Real Time, Bill Maher talked about the flap between the Pope and the Vatican over whether atheists can be “redeemed.” (To be fair, both sides are pretty much on the same page, believing that atheists are going to Hell unless they repent, that Jesus died for all of us, and that even the Godless are capable of doing great things.) Still, Maher said he believed that, like Obama, the Pope must secretly be an atheist, which led to this soundbyte: [Click headline for more…] Read more
Just when you think the Pope has won the hearts of atheists, the Vatican steps in to ruin everything… (via nakedpastor) Read more
Our friend Jessica Ahlquist recently received the “Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment” award for her successful lawsuit to take down a prayer mural at her public high school. John Iadarola, host of TYT University, interviewed Jessica at the (*ahem*) scenic Playboy Mansion just after she received her award (video below is totally safe for work): You know, Jessica was always a well-spoken young woman, but she’s really become fantastic at talking about religion without making other people get all defensive about it. That’s no easy task. Read more
