Last week, Max Nielson contacted the Freedom From Religion Foundation to file a complaint against Irmo High School in Columbia, South Carolina. Irmo has a long standing tradition on holding a vote among the seniors as to whether or not to have a prayer during the graduation ceremony. The school district ignored the cease and desist letter (PDF) from the FFRF on Max’s behalf. Attorney Aaron Kozloski sent (on behalf of FFRF) another cease and desist letter (PDF) on Friday…. Read more
CNN is reporting that 160 Afghan girls fell victim to apparent poisoning at their school. Their classrooms might have been sprayed with a toxic material before the girls entered, police spokesman Khalilullah Aseer said. He blamed the Taliban. And the footage above is actually from when the same thing happened the previous week. “The Afghan people know that the terrorists and the Taliban are doing these things to threaten girls and stop them going to school,” Aseer said last week…. Read more
On the National Day of Prayer, a group of Christians were going to gather outside the Idaho Capitol Building. When it began to rain, they were invited inside… As it turned out, Mike Lee (the Religious Antagonist) had a protest of his own in mind: You would think the Christians would have been more thrilled to receive the bananas… they’re supposed to be an atheist-repellent, I thought. Read more
While the percentage of Americans who are “pro-choice” is at a record-low, nonreligious Americans are still the subgroup most likely to support a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion, according to the latest Gallup polling: Americans with no religious attachment (self-identified atheists, agnostics, and those with simply no religious preference) identify as pro-choice by a 49-percentage-point margin over pro-life, 68% to 19%. This represents the strongest propensity toward the pro-choice position of any major U.S. demographic (as distinct… Read more
Reverend Dr. Frederick W. Schmidt, Jr. cannot believe there’s so much press about the Clergy Project. First, he blows off the numbers like they’re no big deal: … “The Clergy Project,” an organization formed to assist those who are confronting a crisis of faith, reports that it has all of 240 members. That’s hardly a tsunami and it’s hardly anything new. … but he’s going to write a whole article about it, anyway. That’s not the point, though. Schmidt thinks… Read more
Note: Letter writers’ names are changed to protect their privacy. The devil, if you’ll excuse the expression, is in the details. Not long ago, I received this email: Hi I am in a relationship with my boyfriend for two years we are completely in luv with one another he is Jewish his parents are religious religious but the do keep the holidays I never met his mother until a. Week ago when I went over her house and she pretty… Read more
Crandall University in Moncton, New Brunswick (Canada) is a Christian school that used to be called Atlantic Baptist University. As you might expect, they have rules their staff and students must adhere to regarding anything that has to do with sex. In fact, the school’s “Statement of Moral Standards” requires them… … to be sexually pure, refraining from such activities as adultery, fornication, homosexuality, and the use of pornographic materials; (Exodus 20:14; I Corinthians 6:18-20; Ephesians 5:3) So if you’re… Read more
There are a few things that I really get riled up about when it comes to religion. You know the obvious ones: priests molesting little kids, the Vatican covering it up, honor killings… But, for some reason, the whole “Pray the Gay Away” movement has always struck a real chord with me. Maybe it’s because I have several friends who have struggled with acceptance after coming out of the closet and it hits close to home. Maybe it’s because I think… Read more
Catherine Dunphy was trained as a Roman Catholic Chaplain before becoming an atheist, and she is now a graduate and board member of The Clergy Project. On May 6th, she delivered the following sermon about her deconversion at West Hill United Church (a relatively Humanistic church) in Toronto, Ontario. *** I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for inviting me to spend this Sunday at West Hill — and for graciously welcoming me. The theme for… Read more
This is pretty vile. The Liberty Institute (a Christian group) is co-opting Memorial Day in order to convince people that religious emblems (like the Mount Soledad Cross) ought to exist on public land. Specifically, they’re promoting this video called “Don’t Tear Me Down”: The video basically implies if you support church-state separation, you have some sort of grudge against the troops. Of course, all these religious monuments are already allowed on church lawns or private grounds. That’s not what the… Read more
