After the Speech Team finishes the state tournament this weekend, I’ll be giving a totally-not-boring talk about math for the Secular Alliance of Indiana University (Bloomington) on Monday night at 6:00p. Come! For what it’s worth, this talk doesn’t really get into atheism, so don’t be afraid to tell your religious friends to join you, too 🙂 Read more
I was dismayed to see a headline from NPR today saying, “Military pokes holes in acupuncture skeptics’ theory.” Acupuncture is founded on the hypothesis that needles will redirect bodily energy to improve overall well-being. The problem? The bodily energy (called “qi,” pronounced chee) doesn’t exist. Acupuncture can’t work, just as antibiotics couldn’t work if germs didn’t exist. And so, with soldiers facing real medical issues and NPR being a reputable news source (normally), is there anything to this article? In… Read more
Guess who just found out he’s being awarded the American Humanist Association’s 2012 Humanist Pioneer Award? Our friend Damon Fowler: He’s well-deserving of the award — and he’s just one of many young activists over the past year standing up for his (lack of religious) beliefs despite the fact that it would be so much easier if he just kept his mouth shut about it. These students are really showing up the rest of us… and we owe them a… Read more
Get this: A Christian is complaining because his high school’s (voluntary after-school) choir is singing a song that includes the phrase “There is no truth except Allah”: James Harper, a senior at Grand Junction High School in Grand Junction, put his objection to singing “Zikr,” a song written by Indian composer A.R. Rahman, in an email to Mesa County School District 51 officials. When the school stood by choir director Marcia Wieland’s selection, Harper said, he quit. “I don’t want… Read more
There’s a popular meme making the rounds called “What I Really Do”… here’s a perfect example: But there isn’t one for atheists… so reader BenZ came up with this: Think it’s accurate? Read more
Last week, I mentioned how the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors in Virginia began each meeting with a prayer to Jesus Christ. An anonymous woman had sued the city in response — but a judge ruled that the only way for the lawsuit to proceed was if she revealed her identity. In a country where atheists can get harassed for simply suggesting, “If people want to pray, they should do it privately, not during the taxpayers’ time,” it’s no surprise… Read more
***Update***: Commenters are quick to point out that Ken Ham has no problem asking people to vote for the Creation Museum in the poll — that’s ethical and perfectly fine to him. But when atheists tell people to vote against it, we’re “unethical” and “intolerant.” How’s that for hypocrisy? … Ken Ham is *furious* with atheists: For atheists, there really is no basis for their ethics, therefore they believe they can do whatever they want if they can get away… Read more
***Update***: The Patch has a wonderful timeline of what happened during the meeting. … After a night filled with speeches by Christians who don’t understand that public high schools are not proxies for churches, the Cranston School Committee voted 5-2 in favor of NOT appealing Judge Ronald R. Lagueux’s decision to take down the Prayer Banner. That means the banner will come down for good: The banner, put up in 1963, has been covered since a federal judge last month… Read more
This is a guest post by Alise Wright. You can connect with her at her blog or on Twitter or Facebook.. … I’m sorry I waited a month and a half to write this. You see, there have been a few big fluff ups in the Christian world that have needed my attention. There were some Christians who have been saying not-so-nice things about other Christians, writing books and giving sermons that denigrate women in the faith. They have an… Read more
