CNN’s Dan Merica has a great profile of Jerry DeWitt, a graduate of The Clergy Project and the executive director of Recovering from Religion. DeWitt is now helping other pastors break free from faith: During his speeches, he talks about the process of leaving his preacher job. “If you don’t believe, then you will be like me — you’ll suddenly find yourself where you only have two choices,” DeWitt told a group in Johnson County, Kansas, earlier this year. “You… Read more
Don’t you love it when reporters ask someone a “gimme” question and the person misses it completely? In Ardmore, Oklahoma, all City Commissioners meetings begin with a prayer. The Freedom From Religion Foundation is trying to put a stop to that. That might be tough since it’s a completely non-denominational prayer, right? When asked directly, “Do you pray in Jesus’ name?” City manager J.D. Spohn responded, “We always have. Yes, we do.” Umm… wrong answer. “They’re praying to Jesus every… Read more
Max Nielson has made sure that the lawsuit he’s filed against Lexington/Richland School District 5 will live on even though he graduated at the end of May. He now has two co-plaintiffs who have signed on (PDF): Dakota McMillan (class of 2014) and Jacob Zupan (class of 2013). Both “reasonably anticipate constitutional injury” similar to Nielson’s due to prayer at their upcoming graduations. That means that, despite Max graduating, the lawsuit will still be able to move forward. Hooray! (It’s also proof… Read more
This is seriously despicable. John McGlone’s grandmother passed away on February 20th. Her funeral was held a few days later. Like you might expect, it took place at a church. A pastor delivered a eulogy. Nothing too out of the ordinary. It’s what the family wanted. At the end of the eulogy, the pastor recited the typical “God loves you” bit. He said that nothing — not hardship, not distress, not peril, nothing — could ever separate us from the… Read more
Remember how city officials in Santa Monica, California had a lottery last winter to determine who could put up holiday displays? Atheists won 18 of the 21 slots (though they only used 3 of them): A Jewish group won one slot. And Christians won the remaining two — which made it difficult to put up a Nativity Scene that used to take up 14 spots. As you can imagine, the Christians were pissed off. They weren’t used to this “fair”… Read more
Actor David Arquette — you might know him best from the Scream films — celebrated his bar mitzvah Monday on a 28-year delay while filming a segment of a travel show in Israel. According to the Associated Press, Arquette was an onlooker of the ceremony of a teenage boy and was asked if he wanted a ceremony of his own. He went for it: “I had my Bar Mitzvah today at the wall…” the “Scream” actor said Monday on Twitter…. Read more
The problem with conservative atheist author S.E. Cupp is that she doesn’t care about telling the truth. She thinks people’s beliefs automatically deserve respect no matter how untrue or harmful they may be. So when atheists call out religious people for their incorrect views? When people point out what Mitt Romney believes as a Mormon? We’re the problem, says Cupp, not the people who hold the faulty religious beliefs. She’s an atheist who doesn’t see a problem with religion. No… Read more
I’ve been doing a super intense crochet-a-thon for the Secular Student Alliance this week as part of their efforts to raise $100,000 in ten days. Thus far, I have made it through seven days, and I SHALL NOT REST… until Friday. I have cranked out some really quality things this week at the risk of possibly giving myself carpal tunnel syndrome, so you should check out the awesome stuff! ALL the proceeds go to the Secular Student Alliance, so you… Read more
In what might prove to be a career-challenging move, country singer Carrie Underwood told British publication The Independent that she supports same-sex marriage: “As a married person myself, I don’t know what it’s like to be told I can’t marry somebody I love, and want to marry,” she said. “I can’t imagine how that must feel. I definitely think we should all have the right to love, and love publicly, the people that we want to love.” The singer and… Read more
