Doing anything for the National Day of Reason on May 3rd? I suppose anything would be more effective than whatever the Christian Right folks behind the National Day of Prayer have in mind for that day… The American Humanist Association just updated its NDoR website with resources, a list of events around the country, and a sample proclamation for your city officials to sign. Check it out and add your local events to the listings! Read more
If a baseball and bat cost $110, and the bat costs $100 more than the ball, how much does the ball cost? Go ahead. Do the problem. . . . The wrong answer — the one you come up with when you don’t put any thought into it or simply go with your gut — would be $10. The right answer — which requires a bit of analysis — would be $5. (The bat costs $105.) ***Update***: Here’s another question… Read more
It’s not often I see a slideshow and say, “Wow, that didn’t suck,” but you know what? This slideshow doesn’t suck: Imagine: No Religion View more presentations from Guillermo Ramirez (Thanks to Dorothy for the link!) Read more
Adam Brown acts out what an atheist would say if s/he ever found out God existed (start at the 0:45 mark): The text is by Reddit user Dexmac and you can read it here: Side note: Adam is *totally* channeling Jim Gaffigan in the video, amirite?! Read more
Last week, the Vatican appointed Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle to oversee “reform” of the largest and most influential group of Catholic nuns in the United States, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). And by reform, they mean silence. The LCWR — created in 1956 by request of the Vatican itself — is comprised of 1500 Women Religious (sisters), representing 80% of the 56,000 religious sisters in the United States. In 2009, the Vatican decided to begin an Assessment of… Read more
QualiaSoup clearly walks us through who has the burden of proof when it comes to questions about god… and, as he always does, thoroughly demolishes the theists’ arguments in the process. Read more
Edward Tarte has been having an online debate with a Catholic priest, Father TJ. (Incidentally, Father TJ attended the same seminary Edward went to before he became an atheist.) The latest point from Father TJ is essentially Pascal’s Wager: “What if I’m right and you atheists are wrong?” I love Edward’s response because it gets more powerful the longer you listen to it (begin at the 0:39 mark): Read more
Watch this and learn something. And by “learn something,” I mean “my head hurts from Science but it feels so good”: (via PhD Comics) Read more
***Update***: Dr. Tyson has responded to this thread here. … This is weird for me to say: Neil deGrasse Tyson doesn’t get it. In the video below, he claims to be an agnostic… but when you listen to his reasoning, it doesn’t seem like he knows the difference between an agnostic and an atheist. [Agnostic refers] to someone who doesn’t know… but hasn’t yet really seen evidence for it… but is prepared to embrace the evidence if it’s there… but… Read more
Over at Dogster, Kelly Pulley explains how her pets taught her to believe in god. Because if you *really* hope for something, then it automatically becomes real… My dogs have taught me about faith, particularly about faith in the unknown. They taught me how to take a leap of faith with their undying trust in me. They also introduced me to unconditional love, which encouraged my mind to wander and my heart to seek this amazing thing, whether in the… Read more
