I receive hundreds of letters, far more than I could ever answer even privately, and that is a constant frustration for me. So sometimes I try to answer those letters which come close to representing an issue common to many, hoping that the people whose letters I could not answer might gain something from my response to a similar letter. The largest category of presented problems is young people who are worried about the prospect of coming out as atheists… Read more
At the Center for Inquiry’s 2012 Women in Secularism Conference, the Secular Coalition for America’s new Executive Director Edwina Rogers spoke about the group’s mission, key issues, and how “Religiously Motivated Legislation Particularly Harms Women”: Because of prior obligations (and as a last-second addition to the conference), Rogers was unable to do a Q&A during this session. I haven’t had a chance to watch the full discussion yet, but if any particular parts stand out for you, leave the timestamp… Read more
This isn’t breaking news or even close to it, but the latest New Yorker has a long profile of Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane. In it, writer Claire Hoffman mentions one of his honors that, with other celebrities, may have gone unacknowledged: [MacFarlane] has a more visible public persona than he did in the early days of the show. He pals around with Bill Maher, serves as a regular roast master for Comedy Central, and has become an advocate for… Read more
A couple of months ago, I posted about a family from Boston that was suing to get “Under God” out of the Pledge of Allegiance. When Michael Newdow made headlines for taking his case to the Supreme Court a decade ago, his argument was that the Pledge violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment because it promoted religion. Essentially, he argued for separation of church and state. (The Supreme Court ultimately said he didn’t have proper “standing” and threw… Read more
Rep. Timothy Walberg (R-MI) has introduced a resolution in the U.S. House that would allow prayer at school board meetings across the country. Right now, he has 38 co-sponsors, all of whom are Republicans. House Resolution 662 states (emphases mine): Expressing support for prayer at school board meetings. Whereas the freedom to practice religion and to express religious thought is a fundamental and unalienable right guaranteed under the United States Constitution; Whereas the United States was founded on the principle… Read more
Dale McGowan tells this story of a conversation his family had in their car a while back: CONNOR (then 13): Well it was Muslims who flew the planes into… DAD and MOM, simultaneously: AAAAAAHHHH!! AAAAAHHH! WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT!!! CONNOR, miffed: What?? DAD: Well…when somebody’s first learning about a big group of people, you don’t start with the worst things. CONNOR: But she asked what was wrong with being a Muslim. DAD: That’s not the same as, “What are some… Read more
Imagine this scenario: A father and mother take their child to a park and the child falls into a lake. The parents can swim, but their child cannot. Despite this, they do nothing and watch the child drown. What should happen to the parents? Immediate arrest? Removal of all their other children? Jail time for manslaughter? Some combination of those options? How about letting them take advantage of a law that allows them to let their children die and a… Read more
Dale McGowan just announced that he will be writing a book that (to my surprise) doesn’t exist yet: Atheism for Dummies. There were already Dummies books for each of the major and several minor religions, as well as some weirdly specific titles like Lost Books of the Bible for Dummies. Now publisher Wiley & Sons has decided it’s time to get a playful-but-instructive popular intro to atheism on the market. I’m grateful to Hemant Mehta for pointing them my way… Read more
I’m not a fan of Christians who say they’re allies of the LGBT community while refusing to admit homosexuality (acting on it) isn’t a sin or, more importantly, that they would support same-sex marriage. So it’s good to see a real Christian LGBT ally, John Shore, call one of the more-well-known middle-grounders out on it (emphasis his): Like so many of today’s “progressive” Christian “leaders” who have mastered the fine art of making Happy Christian Sounds whilst never actually articulating… Read more
Way back in March of this year, the President of the Indian-based skeptic organization, Rationalist International, was invited by an Indian TV channel (TV-9) to visit the Church of Our Lady of Velankanni in Vile Parle, Mumbai to offer his opinion on a supposed miracle. The President, Sanal Edamaruku, is like the Indian version of James Randi or Penn Jillette. He is well known in the country and has been debunking miracles for over 30 years. The miracle in question… Read more
