Sometimes an ethical question can strike you when you least expect it. A few days ago I found myself wandering idly through the book section of a charity shop, lazily looking for something requested by a friend for her three-year-old son. I picked out a thin book at random, and stopped dead when I realized what I was looking at. The book, titled The Creation Series Book 6, Animals, is part of a Creationist book series oriented towards children ages… Read more
It’s not everyday the Archdiocese of Washington responds to something I wrote… but Monsignor Charles Pope isn’t happy with a post I made about how the Catholic Church is Now Pissing Off the People Who Actually Like Them. Here’s the gist of my very brief piece: A Catholic Diocese mandated that Sunday School teachers sign a “Profession of Faith” in order to teach. A few teachers weren’t happy with that — I mean, why trust Church leaders 100% on issues… Read more
This is a follow-up to Hemant’s recent post about the re-affirmation of Boy Scout discrimination. This issue is well-known, with a 1995 article from The Humanist surveying federal funding of the Boy Scouts, activities by reform group Scouting For All, and Margaret Downey’s lawsuit against the Boy Scouts. The Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers (which I lead) has called for an end to federal support of the BSA: The Boy Scouts of America holds a Congressional Charter while discriminating against atheists. The BSA ejects openly… Read more
The Foundation Beyond Belief is looking for a few interns for the fall: Interns assist the Foundation with membership development, researching and selecting featured charities, donor management, outreach, communications (including blog and social media), program design, and creative organizational development. It’s a great organization and you may even be able to earn college credit (if your school does that sort of thing). More information is right here. The deadline is July 23rd, so apply soon! Read more
I’ll begin with the lede: There is a critical petition launched by the Center for Inquiry on behalf of Alexander Aan, the jailed Indonesian atheist (I promise this won’t be the only thing I write about here, but this is very important). We want the White House to speak out on his behalf, but I describe this as critical because in order to guarantee a response from the Obama administration, we need to muster 25,000 signatures by August 16th, 2012…. Read more
Director Angela Tucker has been putting out a video series called “Black Folk Don’t…” which offers a funny, serious, honest look at black perspectives on a variety of often-stereotypical issues. Black Folk Don’t: Swim. Black Folk Don’t: Have Eating disorders. Black Folk Don’t: Go to Therapy. And, as of today, Black Folk Don’t: Do Atheism: Don’t get mad as you watch it. Just listen to what they say, even if you know it’s untrue, and find out what black atheists… Read more
Last week, I posted about how the Minnesota Atheists and American Atheists are promoting their groups by sponsoring a minor league baseball team for a day. They’re turning the St. Paul Saints into the Mr. Paul Aints. Now, there’s a billboard up promoting the event (and the Minnesota Regional Atheist Conference): Love the tag line: “Unbelievably fun weekend!” More information on both events can be found here. Read more
