A new study hasn’t been released, but Cathy Grossman of USA Today has an article about how 19% of Americans have no religious affiliation, referring to surveys put out by the Pew Center for the People and the Press: The rapid rise of Nones — including atheists, agnostics and those who say they believe “nothing in particular” — defies the usually glacial rate of change in spiritual identity. Barry Kosmin, co-author of three American Religious Identification Surveys, theorizes why None… Read more
Whenever atheists talk about Pat Robertson or James Dobson, moderate Christians are always quick to say those men don’t represent them. So which pastors are the good ones? Rick Warren always seems to end up on that list. After all, he’s the pastor the presidential candidates are willing to talk to heading into the elections. Let’s hear those Warren-defending Christians explain this tripe that the pastor tweeted earlier today: So, according to Rick Warren, pastor extraordinaire, teaching scientifically-sound evolution is… Read more
Earlier today, I criticized a statement from an atheist speaking about the Colorado tragedy, not on behalf of his organization (though it seemed that way from the article), but on his own. The Center For Inquiry’s Ron Lindsay put out a statement today on behalf of the entire organization. It’s brief, but it’s exactly the kind of thing that’s called for at this time: “A tragedy like this reminds us of how fragile and precious this one life of ours… Read more
The Upshur County Commissioners Court in Gilmer, Texas just got a new donation: An “In God We Trust” sign. (Several of them, in fact.) Long-time Ore City Fire Chief Gaston (Bubba) DeBerry and his wife Hughleen donated such signs not only to the Commissioners Court, but to three of the county’s four Justice of the Peace offices, after Pct. 2 Comm. Cole Hefner convinced his fellow commissioners months ago to join some other area governmental entities in posting that message…. Read more
President Obama, in his remarks about the Colorado shootings, said this: “I’m sure many of you are parents who had the same reaction I did when we heard the news… My daughters go to the movies. What if Malia and Sasha had been at the theater as so many kids do each day?” “I hope all of you will keep the people of Aurora in your hearts and minds today. May the lord bring them comfort and healing in hard… Read more
Republican Rep. Louis Gohmert is taking well-deserved heat for suggesting that taking God out of school is the reason James Holmes killed people in a movie theater in Colorado: “People say … where was God in all of this?” Gohmert said. “We’ve threatened high school graduation participations, if they use God’s name, they’re going to be jailed … I mean that kind of stuff. Where was God? What have we done with God? We don’t want him around. I kind… Read more
The Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij (SGP) is a Dutch political party known for its fundamentalist Christian beliefs. The SGP didn’t support women’s suffrage a long time ago and, more recently, they didn’t allow women to become a Member of Parliament on behalf of their party. The SGP professes the absolute authority of the Word of God over all areas of societal life. The SGP rejects the idea of absolute equality of human beings, which it sees as false teaching of the… Read more
In the wake of a mass shooting like the one in Aurora, Colorado this morning, it seems like the obvious response should be to keep the victims in your thoughts and not jump to any conclusions about who the murderer was and what his motives were until that information becomes available. In other words, don’t be Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-TX), who went on a radio show this morning and blamed the shootings on our nation’s increasing godlessness: Ernest Istook, the… Read more
Steve Major has a nice list of the Top Ten Atheist Characters on Television at Humanist Network News. #2 is Daria: Is anyone missing from the list who should be on there? Read more
The August/September 2012 issue of Free Inquiry is out and I have an article in it about how atheists can be pretty abrasive online… to other atheists. The backdrop of the issue is “the new activism,” one that looks beyond just the logic and reason and arguments and actually helps people get through the day. As editor Lauren Becker writes: Secular humanism should not be about defeating one’s fellow humans. Yes, of course we need to win arguments, but the… Read more
