David Hayward (a.k.a. nakedpastor) has a knack for drawing cartoons that can be interpreted in different ways by atheists and Christians, but his latest tweets are definitely puzzling to me… Some atheists are the best Christians I know.— David Hayward (@nakedpastor) July 7, 2012 Did you know you can be a christian and an atheist at the same time and be at peace? I’m living proof.— David Hayward (@nakedpastor) July 7, 2012 Embrace your inner atheist. After all, iron sharpens… Read more
Over the weekend, Pat Robertson received the following email from a viewer of The 700 Club: Over the holiday, I heard that America was founded as a Christian nation. If that’s the case, why did we allow slavery? – CHRISTINE Who’s excited to hear what P. Rob had to say? Well, I think there was a blind spot, you know, like it or not, if you read the Bible, in the Old Testament, slavery was permitted. You’d go into a… Read more
Kate Clarkson from Northumberland (in North East England) is a Humanist and did something worthy of that word: She donated a kidney to a complete stranger: In October 2010, the humanist celebrant, who has performed weddings and funerals for 20 years, was asked to speak at a commemoration service for transplant patients and their families. “I’ve been a nurse for 40 years and I thought I was hardened to these sorts of things, but this service was the most heart-rending… Read more
Note: Letter writers’ names are changed to protect their privacy. Dear Richard, I’m an “in the closet” atheist, but I want to start an atheist club at my school. Unfortunately, both of my parents are fundamental Baptists and, frankly, not rational when someone targets their beliefs. I really want to tell them that I don’t believe in god anymore, but I fear their reactions. When they found out that my boyfriend is atheist, they began treating him differently, and frequently… Read more
Many of the bigger secular and civil rights organizations have been making noise about the case of Alexander Aan, the 30-something civil servant of West Sumatra, Indonesia, who was beaten by an angry mob and then arrested and convicted… all for stating his atheism on Facebook. At the Center for Inquiry (where I work), Aan’s situation has been perhaps our primary focus as an organization since the Student Leadership Conference last month, most recently with a protest held this past… Read more
When I posted about S.E. Cupp last week, it was because she was complaining about how “crazy, militant atheists” (a.k.a. the Secular Coalition for America) had released a presidential “scorecard” grading the candidates on how they treated issues of church/state separation. Somehow, I missed the other “revelatory” thing she said: It followed commentary on whether Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith would hurt him in the election. One of the hosts asked how Romney would fare if he were an atheist candidate…. Read more
The Point of Inquiry podcast did something a little different for their most recent episode and put in on the videotubes: This episode features Michael De Dora, Ed Brayton, Jamie Kilstein, and Jessica Ahlquist. It was hosted by Chris Mooney. More of this, please! Not that there’s anything wrong with the podcast, but the more outlets to hear these interviews and ideas, the better. Read more
Intelligent Design proponents are soooooo mad at Wikipedia, calling it a “tyranny of the unemployed.” Because when editors suggest that ID isn’t credible and evolution is a theory on very solid footing, obviously, they’re just haters incapable of properly discussing science: You simply can never outlast these folks. They have nothing better to do with their time and will always erase your attempted correction and reinstate the bogus claim, with lightning speed over and over again. Paraphrased: “We try to… Read more
