You remember Julea Ward. Ward was a graduate student in counseling at Eastern Michigan University. Because she was a Christian, she refused to treat a suicidal gay student because her faith prevented her from “helping him feel better about himself.” Now, Tennessee legislators are working with Ward’s lawyers and conservative activist David Fowler (president of the Family Action Council of Tennessee) in order to pass a similar bill. Because why wouldn’t someone want to reward such admirable bigotry…? Read more
Over the weekend, a story broke about plans by Flintshire County Council in North Wales to offer free school bus passes only to children of religious parents. Not only that, but such parents would be required to prove their kids’ religiosity — wheeling out the baptism certificates or a letter from a local priest vouching for their attendance at church would be sufficient. The plans are only at the public consultation phase, but one suspects they won’t get much further than that. Read more
The Kansas City St. Patrick’s Day parade takes place this Sunday and many local organizations will be marching in it… but not the atheists. The Kansas City Atheist Coalition requested a slot in the parade but, according to a statement given to KMBC-TV, they were rejected by the organizers because their presence would have been disrespectful to St. Patrick: Read more
There are a lot of online sites that sell atheist-themed shirts, but I hadn’t seen an entire collection of products I’d love to wear until I checked out Reasonist. Read more
Robert H. Schuller is best known as the founder of both the Hour of Power television program and the Crystal Cathedral. He’s easily ranked among the kings of televangelism. That’s why it’s a something of a shock that his granddaughter, Angie Schuller Wyatt, has just written a book exploring the intersection of faith and sexuality. It’s called (no joke) God and Boobs: Read more
Let’s get this straight right now: Students are allowed to pray in school. No one has ever taken that right away from them. What public schools can’t do is force everyone to say a prayer over the loudspeaker, at a football game, at an assembly, etc. So you have to wonder why Senate Bill 2633 (PDF) in Mississippi is even necessary. The bill, called the “Mississippi Student Religious Liberties Act of 2013,” would take those rights and then tack on a whole bunch of illegal methods of pushing religion in school. Read more
In nearby Meade County, the Commissioners want to “show their solidarity” with their Rapid City counterparts by praying at their next meeting. At least one person (not on the council) had the good sense to speak out against it: Read more
Chicago-based advocacy group SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) is keeping a close eye on the upcoming conclave, hoping for a Pope who will responsibly address the problem of priestly sexual abuse and the ensuing cover-ups, with due focus on protecting the victims instead of protecting the Church. To that end, they’ve taken a close look at the papabili and released a list of those who they think would be disastrous for Catholic children… and who would be “least worst”. Read more
In Sunday night’s episode of The Simpsons (titled “Black-Eyed, Please”), Richard Dawkins made an appearance in Ned Flanders’ nightmare. The setup: In a rare showing of rage, Ned Flanders lost his patience with Homer Simpson and punched him in the face. Wracked with guilt over his actions, Flanders has a nightmare about how he’ll end up in Hell… alongside partially nude statues, people who have non-Jesus-y beards, and giant demon Richard Dawkins: Read more
The Secular Coalition for America is sponsoring a Lobby Day this April. With the schedule the way it is, it almost seems like a full-fledged conference. The event takes place April 24th-26th, they’re expecting to be addressed by two sitting members of Congress as well as a White House official, and the panels are focused on issues we can actually change through legislation (e.g. Science education, religion and taxes, etc). Read more
