Julie Anne Smith used to attend Beaverton Grace Bible Church in Oregon. After her family left, other church members began to shun her — it was as if the pastor told them all to avoid the Smiths at all costs. So Smith wrote up some 1-star reviews of the church online… and began a blog called “Beaverton Grace Bible Church Survivors.” How did Pastor Charles (Chuck) O’Neal respond? With forgiveness? With an apology for her bad experience? Nah. He’s suing… Read more
Hey, check it out: I’m not the only person calling out Neil deGrasse Tyson on his video about why he doesn’t call himself an “atheist.” ZOMGitsCriss doesn’t approve of it either: Read more
We’re at a point when even a notable Republican pollster is warning the party that it’s to their own detriment to fight equal rights for gay people. You would think Christian groups would come around to that way of thinking eventually, too, but that may take another generation or two. Most Christian leaders refuse to accept the fact that gay people just aren’t a problem for most people, including younger Christians. The Illinois Family Institute, a SPLC-certified hate group, offers… Read more
***Update***: The group’s founders have responded to a couple of my questions below. … Biola University, an evangelical Christian school in southern California, is one of those schools that will expel you if they find out you’re gay. (Because, you know, they love everyone.) In fact, they just put out a Statement on Human Sexuality (PDF). Biola University affirms that sexual intimacy is designed by God to be expressed solely within a marriage between one man and one woman. This… Read more
The Secular Student Alliance just released the schedule for their 2012 national conference (July 6th-8th) and it looks great: Besides the huge collection of speakers, they end late on Friday and Saturday night — which makes sense since most of the attendees are still wide awake – and begin relatively late on Saturday morning (because, you know, why not?) That means no speaker will get an unenviable time slot on Sunday morning… it also means there’s plenty of time to… Read more
Yesterday night, Arizona governor Jan Brewer signed two controversial bills, HB 2625 and SB 1365, into law. If you’ve been keeping up with the controversial things coming out of the Grand Canyon State in the last year, you probably felt the same chill I did. It was, well, merited. HB 2625 expands the number of businesses who can deny access to contraception for their female employees. Arizona is already among one of 20 states which allow some religious companies to… Read more
Reader Sharla created these nifty necklaces promoting two things dear to so many atheists: Equality and the Flying Spaghetti Monster. She has more jewelry available at her Etsy shop — check it out, buy something, and support crafty atheists! Read more
Continuing the conversation from before, I received this email from an atheist who worked for a church nursery. If you’d like to share your experience as an atheist in a Christian workplace, please shoot me an email. … When I was 16, I started working at a church nursery. At the time I was a junior in high school and I was still an ardent Christian. They started me as a floater and teaching assistant. I was put in whatever… Read more
I don’t know why, but I read the articles at Christianity Today. It’s helpful to see what the conversation is on that side of the world. Often, they throw out a question to a panel of guests and post their responses. That Christians offer a diverse array of responses isn’t surprising. What stuns me is the fact that the CT folks still feel like these questions are worthy of debates: The Lord’s Prayer? The one that begins, “Our Father in… Read more
