Yesterday, the Boy Scouts of America announced a proposal that would finally allow the inclusion of gay scouts. But gay scout leaders would still be banned. (And forget about atheist scouts altogether.) “While perspectives and opinions vary significantly, parents, adults in the scouting community, and teens alike tend to agree that youth should not be denied the benefits of scouting,” the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) said in a statement on Friday. “For this reason, the executive committee, on behalf of the national executive board, wrote a resolution for consideration that would remove the restriction denying membership to youth on the basis of sexual orientation alone and would maintain the current membership policy for all adult leaders of the Boy Scouts of America.” It’s a *huge* baby step forward. It’s like they were saying, “We’ve decided we’re only going to be kinda homophobic.” [Click headline for more…] Read more
Todd Stiefel appeared on Thursday night’s episode of Current TV’s “The Young Turks with Cenk Uygur” and a clip from his appearance is now online. In it, he talks about why he’s so passionate about the atheism cause: [Click headline for more…] Read more
A bit of history about the Mount Rubidoux Cross: It’s been there since 1907. In 1963, the wooden cross was replaced with a concrete/steel one. So the current incarnation of the cross was up on the hill for nearly 50 years. The city of Riverside has owned the land since 1955. Americans United for Separation of Church and State threatened to file a lawsuit if the city didn’t take it down — their argument was that the cross violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Christian groups were flipping out over this because they saw the case as an anti-Christian group trying to take down their Cross. [Click headline for more…] Read more
Good news from Scotland today: new figures show that Humanist wedding ceremonies are on the rise in Scotland. Not only that but religious wedding ceremonies are in decline. The figures have been published as part of a broader policy of support for gay marriage ahead of the Humanist Society Scotland’s annual general meeting which takes place in Glasgow on Sunday. Scotland has a proud heritage of unbelief and rightly champions David Hume as one of the fathers of modern skeptical philosophy. [Click headline for more… including an amazing infographic] Read more
Christian Right leader Bryan Fischer, of the American Family Association, announced on his radio show today his proposed change to our country’s immigration policy. It’s very brief: Ask the question, “Do you believe that the Koran is the holy book of God?” If they say “Yes,” don’t allow them in: Regarding those who accept the Koran, Fischer added: “We can’t invite that kind of cancer into our culture because Boston is what you get when you do that.” [Click headline for more…] Read more
This is what Massachusetts Republican Senate candidate Mike Sullivan said a few days ago: “I don’t have any doubt in my mind that they are going to identify the person or people responsible for this horrific, cowardly and godless act. I think there is going to be so much evidence available to the investigators that they will be able to put the pieces together.” This afternoon, after many complaints from this site’s readers, his campaign issued this statement: [Click headline for more…] Read more
Quick recap of the amazing story: Christian speaker (and Liberty University graduate) Pam Stenzel was invited to speak at George Washington High School in West Virginia. Student Katelyn Campbell told the media about this how it was not-at-all an optional assembly. In response, her principal, George Aulenbacher, threatened to tell Wellesley College (Katelyn’s future school) about how she was a “backstabber.” Katelyn told that to the media, too. Wellesley responded with open arms for Katelyn. Okay. So what’s happened since then? [Click headline for more…] Read more
Pat Robertson is such an easy target that I almost hesitate to keep blog-kicking him. But the material he offers up is just irresistible. Right Wing Watch caught Pat answering a question about whether it’s okay for a Christian to play video games with magic in them. A little bewildered, Pat reaches back to the 70s and 80s and advises against playing Dungeons & Dragons, which, of course, is not itself a video game. (Yes, it’s spawned countless video games, but you and I both know that’s not what Pat’s talking about.) [Click headline for more…] Read more
The Sunday Assembly, fresh off international press and successful events in London, is coming to Melbourne, Australia this weekend: [CLick headline for more…] Read more
Dannika Nash is the college student who wrote a wonderful open letter to the Christian church at large: I’m writing this because I’m worried about the safety of the Church. The Church keeps scratching its head, wondering why 70% of 23-30 year-olds who were brought up in church leave. I’m going to offer a pretty candid answer, and it’s going to make some people upset, but I care about the Church too much to be quiet. We’re scared of change. We always have been. When scientists proposed that the Earth could be moving through space, church bishops condemned the teaching, citing Psalm 104:5 to say that God “set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.” But the scientific theory continued, and the Church still exists. I’m saying this: we cannot keep pitting the church against humanity, or progress… my generation, the generation that can smell bullshit, especially holy bullshit, from a mile away, will not stick around to see the church fight gay marriage against our better judgment. It’s my generation who is overwhelmingly supporting marriage equality, and Church, as a young person and as a theologian, it is not in your best interest to give them that ultimatum. The very honest, very blunt, very needed-to-be-heard-by-the-church letter had a serious impact. It led the Christian summer camp Dannika worked at to fire her: [Click headline for more…] Read more
