Brian Wilson put together this 15-minute compilation of Dan Barker making a case for atheism against Muslim apologist Adam Deen (who doesn’t appear in this particular video). If you aren’t the type of person who likes debates, this is a nice collection of talking points that come up on the atheist side of these conversations: Read more
Cassy Byrne founded Northwestern University’s Secular Student Alliance a few years ago and I’ve had the chance to work with her on a few different events. She’s an awesome person to work with and a terrific activist. So it was definitely a jarring experience for me to read a series of posts she put up on her website today. She talks about being sexually assaulted, why she was silent about it for a long time, what it did to her… Read more
My friend Anu Garg runs the popular website Wordsmith.org. One of the best parts of the site is the Word of the Day section where Anu selects a word/phrase and explains its pronunciation, etymology, etc. For example, this week’s theme is “Latin terms in English” and today’s phrase is corpus delicti: Cool! I learned something new. As he always does, Anu set up the week’s theme with a little introduction: Latin is the preferred language of the Vatican, but don’t… Read more
Note: Letter writers’ names are changed to protect their privacy. Dear Richard, I’m having a difficult time figuring out how to respond to a friend’s superstitious beliefs and thought perhaps you could make some suggestions. My husband and I own a rental house that we are planning to rent to a friend. We are giving her a reduced monthly rate, and in exchange, we know she will be gentle on the house (we are exhausted from all of the college… Read more
American Atheists just put up two new billboards that go after President Obama’s Christianity and Mitt Romney’s Mormonism (though they never mention the candidates by name): The billboards will be located in Charlotte, NC, where the Democratic National Convention will be held, September 3 – 6, 2012. All companies contacted in Tampa, Florida, where the Republican National Convention will be held, refused to display the billboard focusing on Mormonism. Mr. Silverman said, “The election of our leaders in the United… Read more
Twenty years ago, Mary Johnson was a nun. In fact, until 1997, Johnson was serving as a nun under Mother Teresa in the Missionaries of Charity. In her time with the woman excoriated by Christopher Hitchens in The Missionary Position, she travelled Europe, trained other sisters, and studied theology. Since leaving the order, Johnson has married, written a book (An Unquenchable Thirst: Following Mother Teresa in Search of Love, Service, and an Authentic Life), and become a non-believer. As a… Read more
A draft of the book is complete! (With a week before school starts, too. Woo!) Now, the plan is to read through everything 3209423 times over the next several days, clean up the material and make sure the continuity is there (especially since the chapters were written out of order), double check the citations, get some people to look it over to see if they spot any glaring mistakes, format it as nicely as I can… and then hand it… Read more
If you’re an atheist living in North or South Carolina, this conference on September 28th-30th may be of interest to you: The Carolinas Secular Conference is an annual opportunity for Freethinkers from across the Carolinas region to come together and share ideas, plans, and initiatives between themselves, for local groups, and the region as a whole. … This event is a celebration of our growing secular movement and culture, but also a chance to join in a live network of… Read more
Earlier today, the group Atheists Helping the Homeless based in Austin, Texas just held their 41st giveaway — over 100 people went through their line: Among the items they gave away: pre-packaged food, toilet paper, socks, soap, combs, razors, sunblock, and shampoo. If you’d like to donate a little something to help them continue events like this in the future, you can do that here 🙂 Read more
