This is a big deal. The Freedom From Religion Foundation just won a legal battle against the former and current governors of Colorado regarding their proclamations in support of the Day of Prayer. The three-judge panel issued this unanimous ruling today (PDF): A reasonable observer would conclude that these proclamations send the message that those who pray are favored members of Colorado’s political community, and that those who do not pray do not enjoy that favored status. … … the… Read more
Neil deGrasse Tyson was born to be autotuned: You know, for someone who doesn’t call himself an atheist, he’s kind of awesome… 🙂 (via melodysheep) Read more
A month ago, I posted about how one of the cast members of “Teen Mom 2,” Kailyn Lowry, openly talked about her atheism on Twitter. Yesterday, one of her followers questioned her status as a role model because of that: @kaillowry you are atheist? And you are considered a “role model” ?— Alex Mendez (@amaaazing_alex) May 9, 2012 Not one to shy away from the label, Kailyn not only reaffirmed her atheism, she did it while giving a shout-out to… Read more
When the Secular Coalition for America opened for business in September of 2005, it was led by Lori Lipman Brown, a former state senator from Nevada who managed the SCA and lobbied Congress until she left the organization in January of 2009. (Lori was also hilariously interviewed by Stephen Colbert in a “Better Know a Lobby” segment.) With Edwina Rogers taking the helm of the organization, I asked Lori what the thought of the new appointment — especially in light… Read more
Last June, after a contentious battle that ended in a Ten Commandments banner being taken down, the school board in Giles County, Virginia voted 3-2 to rehang the display, surrounding it with other historical documents. Is that still government endorsement of religion? That battle is playing out in the courts right now. During oral arguments this week, Judge Michael Urbanski offered up a possible compromise as the case goes into mediation: “If indeed this issue is not about God, why… Read more
Over the weekend, this was posted at Postsecret: I’ve heard from a few of you who are in that type of predicament right now. Turns out the secret’s owner isn’t alone. From one reader: Five years ago, after growing up in and being educated in church institutions, I lost my faith. Trouble is, I’m married to a pastor and have since entered church employment myself — I lost my non-church job early in the economic crisis and a number of… Read more
In the wake of President Obama saying he supported same-sex marriage yesterday, most people were thrilled. I was. And why not? No American president has ever said that before and symbolic affirmation is significant. Yeah, some people weren’t impressed, but what else is new? Here’s a hypothetical: Regardless of what Obama said, what if it was Mitt Romney who had come out in support of marriage equality instead? What if he figured out that most of the people voting for… Read more
Alright, how many of you see a Facebook status update regarding religion… and feel the urge to response with snark? If you do, is it even worth it? (Also, how the hell does a pig type on a computer?) (via The Atheist Pig) Read more
Back in 2008, the popular Christian rock band Haste the Day kicked out one of its guitarists, Jason Barnes, because he was an atheist. When I posted about it then, I had no idea what prompted his deconversion. Roy Culver recently caught up with Barnes and asked him about what made him walk away from his faith (and, therefore, his band) and what it was like telling the people close to him: And what began that journey to begin thinking… Read more
Ex-Pastors Teresa MacBain and Jerry DeWitt appeared on NPR’s Talk of the Nation on Monday to discuss how and why they left their faiths. The audio and transcript are now available. Here’s one of the happier moments: [Host] Neil Conan: Was there a moment when you decided you had to come clean about your beliefs? Jerry DeWitt: Yeah, there actually was. It came for me — I began to realize that there was no way that I could live a… Read more
