Krystal Myers is exactly the kind of student you want at your high school: editor of the school paper, captain of the swim team, honors student. But based on how her administrators are treating her, it’s like they wish she didn’t attend the school at all. Why the opposition? Krystal wrote an article for the school paper, the Panther Press, about discrimination against atheists and the proselytizing going on at the school: “Why does atheism have such a bad reputation?… Read more
As I’m sure we all know, Lent is in full swing and we have successfully survived Ash Wednesday. As a former Catholic, who always wiped off my ashes as soon as church was over, I have to say that Lent seems to be a bit of a publicity stunt. Wear ashes on your head all day on Ash Wednesday. Tell everyone within earshot how close to Jesus you are by gloating about what you are sacrificing for Lent. Proclaim you… Read more
Tim Tebow drove everybody crazy. His conspicuous religiosity, and the adulation it won him from so many quarters, was a kind of slow torture of Christian privilege for anyone who thinks faith should be a private thing. Now there’s a new kid in town: Jeremy Lin, point guard for the New York Knicks. Lin, a Taiwanese-American born in California, graduated from Harvard with a degree in economics and a fierce desire to play professional basketball. Cementing his status as scrappy… Read more
Just over a month ago, the Supreme Court said they didn’t want to hear an appeal from the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners (in North Carolina), putting the final nail in the coffin on their attempts to keep praying to Jesus before meetings. An hour away, it looks like the Rowan County Board of Commissioners don’t want to take the hint. In fact, they prayed to Jesus at their meeting earlier this week: “We prayed like we normally pray,” said… Read more
Back in October, two members of the “Parading Atheists of Central PA” marched in a Halloween parade dressed as Zombie Pope and Zombie Muhammad. You can decide for yourself whether that was hilarious or dickish. (I voted for the latter.) But regardless of your answer to that question, we should all be appalled by what happened to Ernest Perce, the atheist in the Muhammad costume. A Muslim man in the crowd — Talaag Elbayomy — ran out and began choking… Read more
This looks like it’s going to be a great movie about a fascinating human being: If you’d like to help turn “An Honest Liar: The Amazing Randi Story” into a reality, please contribute anything you can here. Read more
You may have heard of Helen Ukpabio, the evangelical Christian from Nigeria who holds some despicable beliefs: … Ms. Ukpabio’s critics say her teachings have contributed to the torture or abandonment of thousands of Nigerian children — including infants and toddlers — suspected of being witches and warlocks. Seriously, a horrible excuse for a human being. And she’s supposedly set to tour the United States to spread her Gospel of I-Made-This-All-Up: Even though the poster says the events are taking… Read more
After seeing religious groups of all kinds form at the University of Pennsylvania, a few freshmen have started a group for atheists called “Rekindle Reason: Atheists, Agnostics, and Freethinkers.” Navin Sasikumar, a grad student there, is pleased with their mission statement, which includes this excerpt: Association with individuals of similar philosophies is oft lost for the irreligious, and we aim to make certain these members of the Penn community have such access and are aware that they are not alone… Read more
