The Center for Inquiry on Campus members at Broward College in Florida are holding a fundraiser for their Light the Night team — they want to help atheists raise $1,000,000 to fight cancer. They got a pretty decent speaker, too: James Randi: Randi is giving a talk called “Faith Healers: Fake Healers.” The event is free (but donations are appreciated), and it takes place on Tuesday, April 17th at 7:00p in Bailey Hall. Come. Donate. Learn! (Thanks to Elizabeth for… Read more
This is one of the more powerful It Gets Better videos I’ve seen: As awesome and hopeful as it was to hear their words, their problems would decrease dramatically if they stopped buying into the Mormon Myth. Maybe after they graduate… (via Religion Dispatches — Thanks to Lauren for the link) Read more
In the letters I receive that deal with “coming out,” usually the atheist is alone in a religious family, and must delicately weigh the possible consequences. These can include the possibility of shunning, abuse, loss of financial support, or even being kicked out of the home. Often he or she is also concerned about reducing the anxiety or hurt feelings that family members might suffer, not just the difficulties he or she might face. In this letter, it is a… Read more
Regarding that atheist sign that was stolen in Streator, IL: The Freedom From Religion Foundation is offering a $1,500 reward “for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator(s).” Both the theft of the banner and vandalism to its supporting posts are classified as misdemeanors. Because FFRF’s nonreligious message was targeted, the act also qualifies as a Class 4 felony under Illinois’ hate crime law… FFRF is working to place a new freethought banner as a replacement within… Read more
In yesterday’s New York Times, Nicholas Kristof tried to argue that atheists ought to have more respect for religious beliefs. He cites Jonathan Haidt, author of The Righteous Mind: … Haidt, an atheist since his teens, argues that scientists often misunderstand religion because they home in on individuals rather than on the way faith can bind a community. Haidt cites research showing that a fear of God may make a society more ethical and harmonious. For example, one study found… Read more
The Bluewater school district near Toronto, Ontario has a decades-old tradition of handing out Gideon Bibles to 5th graders. Why this was allowed for so long, I don’t know, but the school board recently decided to put a stop to it, banning “distribution of all non-instructional religious materials.” As you might expect, many of the Christians in the community were very understanding: “When are you ‘politically correct’ idiots, with your heads buried in the sand, going to realize that every… Read more
The daughter of Billy Graham, Anne Graham Lotz, spoke about the nature of religion and politics on yesterday’s Meet the Press. At one point, host David Gregory asked her about the likelihood of Evangelical Christians voting for the Mormon candidate, Mitt Romney: David Gregory: … Evangelicals… are deeply suspicious of Mormons and the Mormon faith and do not consider them to be Christian… [With] the likelihood now of a Mormon Republican nominee, is there not an opportunity for more national… Read more
I’ve never seen this before… A survey conducted by the Montreal-based Association for Canadian Studies has revealed two amazing things: 42 per cent of those polled agreed with the statement “religion is an important part of my life”… Fewer than half the people surveyed said religion was important to them! But wait… it gets better: 67 per cent of those surveyed said they trusted “people who are religious” in general, and even more respondents — 73 per cent — expressed… Read more
Yesterday, a US Navy fighter jet crashed into an apartment building in Virginia. Predictably, the religious are calling the disaster a “miracle.” Their justification in this case is the fantastically improbable fact that no one was killed. They have, however, managed to overlook the blazing inferno and widespread property destruction. Admiral John Harvey came out with his religious sentiments, although he distinguished himself by at least recognizing his revelations had no place in official reports: “I don’t speak for anybody’s… Read more
