This is the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s newest billboard in St. Louis, Missouri. Following their previous full-page newspaper ads, the message encourages people to Quit the Church: “Most Americans are not Catholic, yet the Catholic Church wants our civil laws to bend to the will of one church,” noted FFRF Co-President Dan Barker. “The Catholic Church is free to preach its irrational doctrine that contraception is a ‘sin’ to its own membership — the vast majority of whom disregard that… Read more
There’s video of me and Jesse Galef on CNN! The transcript is here. A few things to note: 1) I didn’t know I was sitting at an angle. Awkward… 2) No one told me about the image behind me. I knew there was a green screen, but I wasn’t expecting that… 3) When I’ve appeared on FOX in the past, I spend several minutes before going on air having makeup put on me. At CNN, no makeup. What’s up with… Read more
John Richards, a retiree living in Boston (in England), decided to put the following sign on his door: Religions are fairy stories for adults Seems harmless. People display their religious beliefs on their property all the time — a cross in a window, a “god loves you” welcome mat, etc. But, because he’s an atheist, the police are telling him he could be arrested for his “threatening” message: [Richards] told The Standard: “The police said I could be arrested if… Read more
This is the first half of today’s Cyanide & Happiness: The second half is here 🙂 (Thanks to Chris for the link!) Read more
Just a quick update with some better news about Sanal Edamaruku, the Indian skeptic who faces jail time for exposing a “miracle.” After being repeatedly asked to turn himself in to the nearest police station, Sanal has decided to whisk himself off to Finland and he is currently staying in Helsinki while he appeals the decision not to grant him “anticipatory bail” (which would keep him in jail until his trial). This means the threat of arrest and imprisonment has gone for… Read more
That was the topic on the Ask An Atheist podcast this past weekend: A few months ago we put our an open call to our listeners to provide us with non-religious reasons to oppose abortion rights. While some listeners responded with a few arguments they’d encountered, we heard very few atheist abortion opponents. … The majority of arguments against abortion are religiously motivated and not based on science. Science says nothing about souls, about any god giving the breath of… Read more
It seems like the CNN interview I did on Saturday isn’t online anywhere. Boo… since I haven’t seen it yet and I kind of want to 🙁 (If you get me a video copy, I’ll give you $9834913123 of Internet money.) But the transcript is online! Anytime there’s a TV interview, facial reactions and tone carry a lot of weight and you’re not getting any of that below. Feel free to use your imagination: LEMON: OK. So this topic really… Read more
This week’s PostSecret was Father’s Day themed, and I thought I misread this one at first: How do I tell my Dad I believe in God? I guess this isn’t a thing I’ve put much thought into — a theist kid coming out to non-believing parents, but I am sure it happens. If I’m being completely honest, I am not sure how I would react if I had a kid (I don’t) who came to me and told me that… Read more
20-year-old Manju Kunwar had been living with her parents in Rajasthan, India for two years, ever since she left her husband. Two weeks ago, she eloped with another man. On Sunday, her father forced her to return home. On Monday, he beheaded her. According to police, her conservative Hindu father , Ogad Singh became increasingly upset because his daughter was engaged in a “series of affairs” with men. Not only did he behead her, he paraded her head through his village before turning… Read more
