Kirk Cameron. “He clearly is a pro-life advocate, and for that, I respect him,” said the former “Growing Pains” star, speaking on CNN’s “Starting Point.” “He said that he misspoke and that he misphrased something and that he apologized.” … “I’m the kind of person that believes that I would like to be evaluated by my entire career and my entire life, not two words that I would misspeak and then later apologize for,” he said. “So he’s in a… Read more
The ACLU of South Carolina has launched a “Religious Freedom Goes to School” campaign in the state by sending this letter (PDF) to every district: … the campaign seeks to ensure that schools do not impose or promote religion. Unfortunately, based on complaints received by the ACLU, many school districts are failing to honor this vital constitutional mandate. We have received a growing number of reports from students, parents, teachers, and others detailing clear constitutional violations in South Carolina’s public… Read more
Last week, the High Court ruled that Tony Nicklinson, a paralyzed man, could not be euthanized: Today, just days after the ruling, his family informed the world that Nicklinson died of pneumonia late last night: Police said they would not be investigating Nicklinson’s death. “We can confirm he passed away,” a police spokesman said on customary condition of anonymity. “His death certificate has been signed by a doctor, so it is not a matter for Wiltshire Police or the coroner.”… Read more
Preacher-turned-atheist Jerry DeWitt will be featured in the The New York Times Magazine this Sunday and the article by Robert F. Worth is already up: DeWitt quickly repurposed his preacherly techniques, sharing his reverse-conversion story and his thoughts on “the five stages of disbelief” to packed crowds at “Freethinker” gatherings across the Bible Belt, in places like Little Rock and Houston. As his profile rose in the movement this spring, his Facebook and Twitter accounts began to fill with earnest… Read more
This is a guest post by Michelle. Michelle was raised Lutheran, attended a Christian college, and graduated as an agnostic. She now lives in Oswego, IL. … Andrew Wommack is a Southern pastor with a worldwide ministry based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Like other televangelists, he preaches the “health and wealth” prosperity gospel. He doesn’t label himself with any denomination, but you might think of him as Pentecostal due to his emphases on healing and speaking in tongues. Also, like… Read more
The Pennsylvania Nonbelievers are hosting a statewide conference in September — students can already get in at a steep discount — but you can win free tickets! All you have to do is send your favorite freethought quotation and contact information to contest@atheistpa.org. The winner will be selected randomly and will have their name and quotation read by Dan Barker at the conference! (***Edit***: Only PA residents over 18 are eligible to enter the contest and that travel and lodging… Read more
Kacem El Ghazzali is an Arab blogger who was forced to leave Morocco and move to Switzerland to avoid persecution because of his views. He’s a Deist, but he might as well be an atheist considering what he’s up against. It was a life or death situation for him and staying silent wasn’t an option. He recently spoke on the show Qarib Jiddan about his plight: Dr. Amna Nosseir, also interviewed in the video, doesn’t get what he’s up against…. Read more
San Diego State University’s The Daily Aztec has a nice profile of Professor Roy Whitaker, who teaches classes like “Hip Hop and Religion” and “Atheism, Humanism and Secularism.” After giving a lecture talk in 2008, Whitaker began to develop the idea behind his hip-hop course, slowly integrating the issues into a world religions course. At least one week would be dedicated to pop culture and religion. Eventually, this concept became its own class, focusing on how hip-hop culture and religious… Read more
Focus on the Family put together back-to-school packets for kids and parents (PDF). Notwithstanding the references to prayer, they’re actually pretty commendable — If they focused on things like this instead of stopping gay couples from experiencing the same kind of joy, maybe everyone wouldn’t despise them as much. Anyway, they give parents a brief “cheat sheet” so they know about abbreviations they might see in their kids’ text messages or online chats… and this one caught me off-guard: Yes…… Read more
ESPN loves shows featuring talking heads. They’ll invite columnists with personalities to talk about any sports-related topic and the worst sin they can commit is being boring. On Friday, one of their regulars, Skip Bayless, was eager to talk about this picture from GQ featuring a Jesus-like Tim Tebow: Bayless tweeted this in advance of his TV spot: Religious persecution? Really? I’m sure it might upset some Christians… but it’s not like Tebow was magically photoshopped in the image. He… Read more
