Gay blogger Joe Jervis of Joe. My. God. says he received hate mail and even death threats after tweeting factual information about the Family Research Council’s history of hate activism. Shortly after the shooting at FRC last week — and probably around the same time FRC president Tony Perkins was blaming the Southern Poverty Law Center for the incident — Jervis’ posts called into memory the organization’s stance that homosexuality is a mental illness and Perkins’s association with white supremacist groups,… Read more
It’s good to see Rachel Marie Stone, a contributor to Christianity Today’s her.meneutics blog, speak out in favor of vaccinations: I’m one of the moms you might expect to oppose vaccines. We try to eat local and organic, don’t watch television, homeschool our kids, and wear natural fibers. My son was born into a birthing tub with a midwife present. But in November we’re also moving to Malawi, where diseases like polio, typhoid, tetanus, and cholera are not theoretical. We… Read more
In the August 15th edition of the Yell County Record (an Arkansas newspaper), Mary Bentley, a Republican candidate for District 73 State Representative, published this apparent attempt at a campaign ad with a very strong message. The Arkansas Times got wind of it, so now we can enjoy it too! In case the print’s too small to read (all spelling and grammer errors are, well, not my own): Democrat Party backs Gay Marriage on Party Platform This past weekend the Democrat… Read more
Chip Rowe has a lengthy interview with Richard Dawkins in the latest issue of Playboy (link contains sidebar ads that are NSFW). In other words, you’ll actually want to read this Playboy for the article. In the interview, there are plenty of openings for religious people to criticize him… as well as the phrase “buggering the bald transvestite” (take a guess)… and the words “fronkey” and “octocow.” Good times. Most of the questions are pretty basic, but Rowe still managed… Read more
Another right-wing politician has put his foot in his mouth to seemingly defend Rep. Todd Akin’s atrocious comments about “legitimate rape.” The LA Times reports that Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee had the following words of wisdom to share: “Ethel Waters, for example, was the result of a forcible rape,” Huckabee said of the late American gospel singer. One-time presidential candidate Huckabee added: “I used to work for James Robison back in the 1970s, he leads a large Christian organization. He, himself,… Read more
Remember these billboards put up by American Atheists? Pat Robertson doesn’t like them. Ok, ok, that’s not a surprise. BUT. In his rant against billboards (at the 0:57 mark), he manages to rattle off several lies. 1) “Billboards stay up forever unless somebody comes and buys the billboard…” I assure you the atheist billboards come down on the expiration date. No one’s eager to give our groups more time than we paid for. 2) “[The billboard companies] can deny somebody… Read more
I know, I know, you don’t need another reason, and this one is admittedly not as serious as #LegitimateRape-gate, but just to add fuel to the fire… Last summer, when NBC broadcast golf’s U.S. Open championship, the intro to the broadcast featured the American flag, and soldiers, and students reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. But the words “Under God” were omitted from the segment: If you watch the tape, it’s pretty clear it wasn’t intentional. It’s just the way it… Read more
Yesterday, I posted a video of Dr. Pamela Gay’s wonderful speech at TAM 10. For whatever reason, the full post didn’t go up. Just a part of it. But it’s back up in its entirety now, so feel free to check it out. Thanks! Read more
A couple of days ago, I posted a video of HuffPo’s Cara Santa Maria moderating a panel of atheists. Now, there’s a follow-up Q&A session: Hear anything interesting in the video? Let us know in the comments! (Thanks to MegaZeus Thor for the link) Read more
I don’t know how Christian groups in Maryland can complain that legalizing gay marriage would violate their religious freedom when the proposed Marriage Equality ballot measure reads like this: Establishes that Maryland’s civil marriage laws allow gay and lesbian couples to obtain a civil marriage license, provided they are not otherwise prohibited from marrying; protects clergy from having to perform any particular marriage ceremony in violation of their religious beliefs; affirms that each religious faith has exclusive control over its… Read more
