The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, an anti-abortion group based in the U.K., says legalizing marriage equality will lead to a rise in the abortion rate. Say what? In light of the recent push for marriage equality in the U.K., SPUC has been circulating the flyer above. Among other outrageous (and unfortunately common) claims about same-sex marriage, the flyer makes the following argument: “We must protect real marriage because it protects children in the womb. Statistics show that… Read more
Alright, I think I may be onto something here. Over the weekend, the New York Times ran an article on authors who paid to get fake five-star book reviews on Amazon (as well as positive reviews on other websites). This is the part that caught Reader Vani’s attention: [Owner of GettingBookReviews.com Todd] Rutherford’s busiest reviewer was Brittany Walters-Bearden, now 24, a freelancer who had just returned to the United States from a stint in South Africa. She had recently married… Read more
Right now, in this crucial moment in time, we have the opportunity to make history happen. In every state that marriage equality has gone to the voters, the opposition has used dishonest, misleading tactics to persuade voters to vote against allowing same-sex marriage. Groups like the National Organization for Marriage have build a very successful political machine that knows exactly how to play on people’s fears and spread blatant misinformation about what marriage equality means. They raise money like it’s nothing, spending millions without hesitation… Read more
On Sunday, Michele Bachmann spoke at a conservative rally in Florida, and it looks like she’s venturing back into the “national disasters as political commentary” area. You may remember last year when Bachmann made some controversial comments regarding Hurricane Irene and the East Coast earthquake: I don’t know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We’ve had an earthquake; we’ve had a hurricane. He said: “Are you going to start listening to me here?” Bachmann’s… Read more
Once the Republican National Convention gets underway, there will be some representation from the non-theistic side (really!) eager to see if we can actually make inroads into the GOP. Robyn Blumner of the St. Petersburg Times has the brief interview with the Secular Coalition for America’s Executive Director Edwina Rogers: Who is the oddest bedfellow at the Republican National Convention, which officially launches Monday? No, it’s not Log Cabin Republicans, that group of gay Republicans who assiduously ignore the “Unwelcome”… Read more
In Bladensburg, Maryland, there sits a World War I memorial called “Peace Cross.” It’s a 40-foot cross on public property, maintained by the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission. The American Humanist Association is asking the Commission to remove the Christian symbol: “The cross is a Christian symbol, and government should not be in the business of promoting religion. When government oversteps its bounds, as in this case, it sends a negative message to those who don’t hold Christian… Read more
Note: Letter writers’ names are changed to protect their privacy. Dear Richard, I am 32 Male and a Pakistani Passport holder living in Pakistan, and of course, I am an atheist although I cannot live my life freely as an atheist rather I live here as a slave. I wonder sometime that don’t I have right to live my life as I wish to? Rather than being a hypocrite. Here in Pakistan if someone with wrong intentions or with wrong… Read more
Different websites are reporting on the fact that philanthropist Todd Stiefel, through his foundation, gave $65,000 to the Religion News Service over the past two years so that they could write stories about the non-theistic movement. Rob Kerby at BeliefNet wonders about the ethics. Billy Hallowell at Glenn Beck’s site, The Blaze, just takes that article and puts a right-wing spin on it. ***Update***: Billy Hallowell wrote the piece that appears on both websites, though I still feel like raising… Read more
Mexican Fiesta has been celebrated in Milwaukee for over 30 years and it took place this past weekend on public grounds. The cost to enter is $13/person… unless you attend Mass… in which case it’s only $5: As you can imagine, the Freedom From Religion Foundation didn’t like the idea that Catholic attendees would get to pay less than non-Catholic ones. So they sent festival organizers a letter explaining the problem. Just to be clear, this has nothing to do… Read more
Mark Mariakis is the Ridgeland High School (Georgia) football coach who thinks its his job to convert his players to Christianity. It’s not only atheist groups like FFRF trying to put a stop to his illegal actions — leading his team in Christian prayer, putting Bible verses on team shirts, urging players to attend Christian summer camps, etc. Even a columnist for the local newspaper (the Walker County Messenger) agrees that what Mariakis is doing is unconstitutional and needs to… Read more
