Of all the places Camp Quest is needed, Kansas City may be at the top of the list. This year marks the camp’s first year of existence and they’re preparing one hell of an awesome adventure for the campers: Camp Quest Kansas City is a place for fun, friends and freethought for kids ages 8 through 17. We provide a traditional sleepaway summer camp experience with a wide range of activities, including sports, crafts, games, swimming and campfires. In addition to traditional summer camp activities, Camp Quest offers educational activities focused on critical thinking, ethics, scientific inquiry, philosophy and comparative religion. [Click headline for more…] Read more
Sean O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston, has decided to skip this Monday’s commencement ceremony at Boston College (a Catholic university) because the chosen speaker, Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenney, supports abortion-rights legislation in Ireland. [Click headline for more…] Read more
James Croft and Greg Epstein, both of the Humanist Community at Harvard, just signed a book deal to write The Godless Congregation: [Click headline for more…] Read more
I appreciate David Hayward’s take on Pastor Mark Driscoll’s fake apology: … when you instruct me on how or when I am supposed to laugh, you’ve already lost. I don’t care how long or biblical your instruction is. Damn right. Read more
Star Wars isn’t as good as it’s supposed to be. The stiff acting is often a match for the poor scripting. The once-groundbreaking special effects are no longer breathtaking. Many of the plot points — suspension of disbelief notwithstanding — don’t hold water. But that’s not to say I’m not a fan. I love Star Wars. I always have. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been an unrepentant Star Wars geek with unbalanced tendencies toward anyone who begins to speak poorly about the Holy Trilogy or kindly about Episodes I, II, or III. I’ve spent the last 30 years as a Star Wars fanboy. I’m not even sure how I ended up married to a woman who had never even seen the films. I’m also formerly Christian. [Click headline for more…] Read more
The other day, I posted a story about a former Pensacola Christian College student who had awful recollections of the school’s fire drill policy: Of course PCC isn’t known for really caring much about fire safety anyway. For years the rule has remained on the books that all female students must be in “proper” attire before they leave their rooms for a fire drill. If you happen to be sleeping in pajama pants, you must take the time to put on a skirt before you try to escape the flames. If you should perish then at least you’ll know you died for the cause of not tempting the fire fighters to lust after you. It seemed pretty unbelievable, so I sent an email to PCC asking them what their actual policy was in the case of a fire. Did they really require proper attire? This was the response I got back: [Click headline for more…] Read more
The Apostasy Project, starting by the UK-based Rationalist Association, is kind of like the Clergy Project for all those leaving their faith: [Click headline for more…] Read more
Mike Smith isn’t just an atheist. He’s the President of the LaGrange Humanists (in Georgia). And now, he’s running to become the city’s next mayor: Smith, an open atheist, said, “If the voters want to vote for or against me for whatever reason, that is their right, but I am an atheist, I am a war veteran, and I have the same right as every American to fully participate in our secular constitutional democracy.” I love Smith’s tagline: “Rational Representation for the 99%.” [Click headline for more…] Read more
Tom Krattenmaker, author of The Evangelicals You Don’t Know, has written a column for USA Today in which he brings up the other question we’re all asking about the Boy Scouts of America: [Click headline for more…] Read more
***Edit***: This post went up with words clipped and shortened. I’m not sure why, but the intended draft is below. Sorry for the weirdness. … Yesterday, President Obama rightly disciplined two I.R.S. employees for unfairly targeting conservative groups and the IRS’ acting director Steven Miller resigned. Wonderful. I’m glad someone’s taking the fall. (***Edit***: Looking back, it’s unclear what role Miller had in any of this, so while it’s good to see action, this is really more symbolic than anything else.) However, there’s another scandal that’s been taking place at the IRS and it’s gone completely under the radar. Last October (and years before that, too), on “Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” more than 1,500 pastors endorsed a candidate for President during church in complete violation of the law. They did it openly and proudly, people documented them doing it, the material was sent to the I.R.S. … and nothing happened. [Click headline for more…] Read more
