In Islamabad, Pakistan, an 11-year-old girl with Down syndrome supposedly burned “pages of a Noorani Qaida, a booklet used to learn the basics of the Holy Quran.” In response, Islamic protesters beat her and her mother up (the rest of the family escaped)… and local authorities sent the girl to juvenile prison. Have I mentioned she’s 11 and has Down syndrome…? Hardly evidence of purposeful blasphemy. It doesn’t help, though, that her family is Christian and that’s a minority faith… Read more
Three members of the anti-Putin Russian group Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in prison yesterday on charges of “hooliganism” for this act of defiance: There’s not much to add that hasn’t already been said. But I’ll add to the growing number of voices who are calling it shameful that anyone could be arrested for what basically amounts to “blasphemy” and dissent. Mother Jones has an excellent summary of what this story is all about from start to finish…. Read more
Yesterday, American Atheists’ Dave Silverman appeared on FOX News Channel with host Megyn Kelly to talk about AA’s lawsuit over the 9/11 Cross. In short, Christian groups want a cross they claim was found in the World Trade Center wreckage to go into the Ground Zero Museum. Silverman says the cross isn’t part of 9/11 history — it was “created” after the fact (believe it or not, when steel beams fall, many of them will form cross shapes) and it’s… Read more
Yesterday, I met up with Chris Johnson, whose Kickstarter campaign to create a book featuring atheists talking about what gives them joy and meaning in life reached its fundraising goals. Based on the stories I heard from him and the kinds of topics we talked about, I’m really excited about this book. In addition to the pictures he’s taking, he’s also interviewing his subjects (partly to write text for the book, partly for bonus material). He posted an excerpt from… Read more
Danica McKellar (who portrayed Winnie Cooper on The Wonder Years) has written her fourth book aiming to make math more accessible for young women. That’s made her both a bestselling author… and one of the more controversial figures in the math education world, given the Cosmo-like feel to her books. Her latest one is called Girls Get Curves: Geometry Takes Shape: This follows her previous books Math Doesn’t Suck: How to Survive Middle School Math Without Losing Your Mind or… Read more
I met Edward Falzon a couple of weeks ago at a conference — awesome guy — and he’s written a book humorously paraphrasing the first five books of the Bible called Being Gay is Disgusting. His book tour will stop at Ball State University on August 27th where he will be hosted by the school’s Atheists for Science and Reason group: This event will take place at Ball State University in the Student Center, Room 310 A/B at 6pm. Seating… Read more
Alan Litchfield just did an interview for his Malcontent’s Gambit Podcast with the Secular Coalition for America’s Edwina Rogers. They spoke about the SCA’s 50-state expansion, the current presidential race, and her Republican party affiliation. One of the things the struck me was when she was asked about the #1 issue the secular community faces that she’s working on. She responds by mentioning the White House Faith Based Initiatives office and how religious groups are getting taxpayer money (and discriminating… Read more
For many Christians, it’s not enough that they can pray silently to themselves before a big game. It’s not even enough that they can pray out loud while they’re sitting in the bleachers. They won’t rest until their Christian prayers are recited over the intercom system so the whole stadium can hear them. And that’s where the Freedom From Religion Foundation draws the line: The Freedom from Religion Foundation has issued a warning to the Mississippi’s 151 school superintendents not… Read more
This man makes my head explode. Why does anyone still listen to Pat Robertson? He pretends to be a moral leader and a good Christian. But doesn’t that mean taking care of those in need, especially when they’re children?! When asked by a viewer why she was having trouble finding a man willing to date her after finding out she had three adopted children from around the world, Robertson had this to say (emphasis mine): A man doesn’t want to… Read more
Christian pseudo-historian David Barton, whose book about Thomas Jefferson was pulled from the shelves by his Christian publishers for all the lies it contained, has announced Plan B: [Barton] is in negotiations to publish a new edition of the book with Mercury Ink, Glenn Beck’s publishing arm… … Barton said the new edition “will not include any substantive changes, but I will rephrase some things to remove any potential confusion.” He also plans to add back some of the content… Read more
