Sierra Stambaugh came to an important realization a few years ago: She identified as a male: Sierra cut her hair short, and her mom bought her men’s pants. She changed her name to Issak Wolfe and has used it ever since, with full parental support. As you might expect, that change hasn’t been easy for him, but it could’ve been far worse. For the most part, his classmates and teachers have been pretty respectful. [Click headline for more…] Read more
In 2009, Kent Schaible, the two-year-old son of Herbert and Catherine Schaible, contracted bacterial pneumonia. Kent could have been saved by doctors, but his parents didn’t give him that chance. Instead, they prayed for ten days… and, to nobody’s surprise, that didn’t help. A few doses of Tylenol could have saved Kent’s life, but his parents decided they had a better solution in mind. The Schaibles belong to First Century Gospel Church of Juniata Park, Pennsylvania. It’s a place where the pastor preaches the gospel of faith-healing — if you have enough faith, God will heal you and those you love. You don’t need a doctor if you just believe hard enough. And if you don’t, you’ll be punished… [Click headline for more…] Read more
Over the weekend, after atheists were excluded from the “interfaith” service for the victims of the Boston bombings, the Humanist Community at Harvard held a secular memorial service to pay their respects to the victims and the wounded. Speakers included representatives from the Harvard group, the Secular Coalition for Massachusetts, and the Boston Atheists: [Click headline for more…] Read more
American Atheists President Dave Silverman recently filmed a segment for Chris Johnson’s multimedia book about atheists and what gives them joy and meaning in life. In the segment below, Silverman talks about how there’s good reason for already-out atheists to be public about their lack of faith: (via The Atheist Book) Read more
A little more than two years ago, a teacher in a district very close to mine was charged with “aggravated criminal sexual abuse” when she was caught with a 16-year-old male student inside a car at night behind a department store. Take the fact that she’s attractive, throw in society’s double standards, and you can guess the kind of attention this scandal received. I bring this up now because the teacher just got sentenced — “two years of probation and 30 days in jail.” There’s a separate discussion to be had about the (lack of) weight of that sentence, but articles mentioned a letter she wrote to everyone involved in her fiasco — I’m not sure if it was voluntary or not — in which she apologized for everything she did. Part of the letter, written in January before her sentencing, included an update on her life and how she’s changed for the better: [Click headline for more…] Read more
Last night, I watched a sermon given by a fundamentalist Christian pastor talking about complementarianism, where only men can be the leaders in the church and home. I know some of you are sick of hearing about that because I’ve just giving them exposure, but in this case, we’re not talking about Pastor Steven Anderson and his church of a few dozen. We’re talking about Pastor Mark Driscoll and his church of several thousands. Coincidentally, he was talking about the same ideas Anderson presented the other day — the idea that wives should submit to their husbands. I’ll give Driscoll credit — he cloaks his misogyny in Bible verses much more discreetly than Anderson does, but the effect is the same. Just check out excerpts from the sermon starting at the 4:22 mark (transcribed here): [Click headline for more…] Read more
Fundamentalist faiths are bad for everyone, but women undoubtedly suffer more than the men do. Whether they’re evangelical Christian, Mormon, or Muslim, the message is clear: If you’re female, God has a special, shitty role for you. But every now and then, the women break free. They escape the faith — or at least the more extreme version of it — and serve as inspirations for others. Beyond Belief: The Secret Lives of Women in Extreme Religions (Seal Press, 2013), edited by Cami Ostman and Susan Tive, compiles several stories by these women. They write about the “pain that comes from the rigid expectations and diminishment of women so often built into religious orthodoxy.” It’s as frightening and powerful a book as you might imagine. [Click headline for more…] Read more
The group Secular Woman is launching a new project today that… well… just rubs me the wrong way: Abort Theocracy is focused on the intersection of religious power over a women’s bodily autonomy, dedicated to terminating that connection by opposing religious influence in government. The idea behind it isn’t bad at all. The larger the spotlight we can shine on legislation that’s bad for women, that serves to control their bodies, that spurs women (and men) to contact their legislators to vote against the bills, the better off we are. But the metaphor of treating that legislation as something to be “aborted,” or to be “terminated,” just doesn’t make sense to me. [Click headline for more…] Read more
A couple of weeks ago, the 27-year-old son of Pastor Rick Warren and his wife Kay committed suicide. It was especially sad to learn that Matthew Warren had suffered for so long with mental illness. I commended the Warrens for taking him to professionals — something that may have helped prolong his life for an additional ten years. One of the problems in the Christian church is that mental illness is often seen as a sign of weakness, an indication that Satan has latched onto you. Prayer is the cure and professionals are not. To their credit, the Warrens didn’t (and still aren’t) taking that approach. [Click headline for more…] Read more
God had to be the first cause?! What an irrefutable argument! Boston College Philosophy Professor Peter Kreeft uses that argument to suggest believing in God is totally rational in this video… and the comments are somehow not turned off! [Click headline for more…] Read more
