Up until now, Secular Woman membership for students has cost $10. As of today, that price has been reduced… to nothing! For the next two weeks, student members of the Secular Student Alliance and its affiliates can obtain free membership (regardless of gender): “Secular Woman is very excited about this new strategic partnership with the SSA,” said SW President Kim Rippere. “We are eager to tap into the energy and passion of these secular students as we build programs to… Read more
This is a guest post by Shaun Patrick McGonigal. He blogs about atheism, polyamory, and skepticism at polyskeptic.com. *** The only way we are going to transform this nation is by transforming individuals, by bringing them to Christ. This may not be an exact quote from the America For Jesus event in Philadelphia this past Saturday, but it was as close as I could transcribe after getting my notebook out upon hearing it booming over the speakers to the large… Read more
… or just not going to church anymore. In their minds, it’s all the same and it’s all a slap in the face to the way they raised you: What they don’t understand is that the ethics and values they raised you with haven’t changed. You’re just substituting their truth for your own, one that’s based on what goes on in your head instead of in your heart, one that’s far more reliable and honest. (via nakedpastor) Read more
The very awesome Nate Phelps (son of the not-at-all-awesome “God Hates Fags” preacher Fred Phelps) has received some great media coverage over the past few days because he represents something remarkable: Someone who left a cult-like hate church and became a reasonable, rational atheist: If you haven’t heard it before, the story of how he finally escaped Westboro Baptist Church is amazing: Let’s go back to that night of your 18th birthday. You were determined to leave then. How did… Read more
A month ago, I mentioned that the University College London Union Atheists, Secularists & Humanists were planning to hand out condoms with skeptic-friendly phrases on them at their school’s fall organizational fair. Alex Gabriel reports that a winning slogan was chosen and the reception has been overwhelmingly positive: Clever marketing 🙂 Now I’m wondering: If the Christian groups on campus did the same thing, what would their slogan say…? Read more
I still can’t believe Harrisburg Mayor Linda Thompson gave the opening remarks at the Pennsylvania State Atheist/Humanist Conference this weekend, but she made her way into the lions’ den and spoke to the crowd: Thompson said she was there acting as an ambassador to the city, encouraging the crowd to get out to see the city sights and spend money in Harrisburg. Even though she is a devout Christian who has been criticized by former employees and the public for… Read more
American Atheists just released this video to promote their 2013 Conference — a celebration of their 50th anniversary: I’m not sure who made the video, but AA might want to use that person to design their future billboards, too. More information about the conference can be found here. Read more
This is a guest post by August Brunsman. He is the Executive Director of the Secular Student Alliance. *** Nonbeliever Nation: The Rise of Secular Americans by David Niose sets about to accomplish four main goals: 1) define the existence of a demographic category of “Secular Americans,” 2) establish that the rise of the Religious Right (and its progenitors) played a critical role in the decline of American society since the late 1950s, 3) establish that attempts to embrace religion… Read more
So Catholic League leader Bill Donohue is mad… again. He shouted his way through this video, regarding the American government’s reaction to The Innocence of Muslims. He starts off shouting about “Piss Christ,” a photographic depiction of a small crucifix submerged in artist Andres Serrano’s urine: He continues shouting about how this is an award-winning piece of artwork that is celebrated and being brought back to display in Manhattan while The Innocence of Muslims was almost universally reviled: Why are they… Read more
