Soon Missourians will take to the polls to decide the fate of a new amendment to the state’s constitution that would, at first blush, do nothing. Surely I jest. Let’s look, with a little help from BallotPedia. The measure would ensure… That the right of Missouri citizens to express their religious beliefs shall not be infringed; Well, that’s already in the U.S. Constitution, it’s a basic right of all Americans, so no big deal there… That school children have the… Read more
What do you do when you’re sitting in an airport waiting for your delayed flight? Read all 13,000+ words of the ongoing debate on the efficacy of profiling Muslims at airport security checkpoints between Sam Harris (We’d be crazy not to profile them!) and Bruce Schneier (You have no idea what you’re talking about). In a nutshell, Harris argues that the suicidal terrorists who want to use airplanes to kill innocent people are obviously Muslims and we’d be foolish not… Read more
This past week, adult magazine Hustler (published by Larry Flynt) printed a photoshopped picture of S.E. Cupp, a conservative female pundit (who also happens to be an atheist), looking like she’s performing oral sex, with the headline “What Would S.E. Cupp Look Like with a Dick in Her Mouth?” Here’s what the accompanying article had to say (emphasis mine): “S.E. Cupp is a lovely young lady who read too much Ayn Rand in high school and ended up joining the dark side…. Read more
Jerry Coyne has published a new paper in the journal Evolution about… well… take a guess. More specifically, it’s about “Science, Religion, and Society: The Problem of Evolution in America.” These graphs tell a much larger story (click to enlarge): Coyne also has a message for science organizations: … when scientific organizations argue for the compatibility of religion and evolution, or of religion and science in general, they are engaged not in science or philosophy but in theology. That is… Read more
This is the second post in a series of interviews with secular students and leaders in the U.S. military, inspired by comments on this post. Different Academy students correctly pointed out that each branch of the military has a different culture and levels of religiosity, yet you will see here that all are fairly religious. Non-theistic student groups in the military do not have the same ease-of-formation or resources as found on civilian campuses. So, to get a handle on what… Read more
A few years ago, I graduated from Irmo High School in Columbia, South Carolina. Over the past few years, Irmo has been no stranger to controversy. In 1998, they cancelled a concert by the Indigo Girls due to the duo’s homosexuality. During my senior year, they tried to block the formation of a Gay-Straight Alliance — in fact, the principal resigned over it due to his “professional beliefs and religious convictions.” While I was still there, they had a graduation… Read more
My latest piece for the Washington Post’s On Faith blog is on how the Internet is killing faith. (See? It’s not just for porn.) An excerpt: It wasn’t long ago when statements made in a pulpit were simply assumed to be true. Now, a child with an iPhone in the pew can find ample evidence contradicting whatever the men of God are saying. That “true story” your pastor is telling? Snopes.com debunked it long ago. Gay marriage is destructive, he… Read more
