Second grader Dexter Thielhelm wanted to hand out homemade Valentines earlier this week, but the evil administrators at his school confiscated them before he had a chance to hand them out! … at least, that’s the story that’s making the rounds. A couple things to point out: 1) This is part of the valentine he wanted to hand out: There’s no message better than, “Jesus loves you! And if you don’t agree, you’re going to be tortured for all eternity.”… Read more
You all remember the debacle when Todd Stiefel (along with the Foundation Beyond Belief) wanted to help raise up to $500,000 for the American Cancer Society? In short, the ACS said they wanted nothing to do with atheist-tainted money. Alright, fine. If the ACS doesn’t want the money, there’s no shortage of important causes and good organizations who would love to have our support. And if the ACS suffers as a result, I hope other, more welcoming cancer-fighting organizations step… Read more
The Virginia House passed a bill 63-36 requiring that women who wish to have an abortion must submit to a “transvaginal ultrasound.” This would be a mandatory procedure and women would not have the right/freedom to refuse. The ultrasound legislation would constitute an unprecedented government mandate to insert vaginal ultrasonic probes into women as part of a state-ordered effort to dissuade them from terminating pregnancies, legislative opponents noted. “We’re talking about inside a woman’s body,” Del. Charnielle Herring, a Democrat,… Read more
Even though the Indiana Creationism Bill has been effectively killed (for now), there’s still a anti-evolution bill pending in New Hampshire. Thankfully, someone testified against it in front of the House Education Committee yesterday: “It would be a blow to our educational system, which is already in a bad state,” he said. “If evolution was not presented in the scientific sense, but rather the colloquial, people would be denied modern scientific information,” which would be disastrous for society, he said…. Read more
This past weekend I attended ReasonFest, a regional convention held on the University of Kansas, with over 500 attendees. When I arrived at the KCI airport Friday afternoon, I immediately regretted forgetting my jacket in Houston, as the temp was in the twenties and dropping rapidly. After an afternoon of restful fireside reading, there was a casual pre-convention party at my host’s home that kicked off the weekend right with great conversation and local brews. It’s fascinating to watch a… Read more
As the Cranston school district holds their meeting tonight tomorrow night, they would be wise to take JT Eberhard’s advice to heart: In summation, you have a job to do. It is not to rewrite America’s laws, it is not to pass judgment on Ms. Ahlquist, it is not even to listen to the mob on the basis of the volume of its uproar. Your job is to maximize the quality of the education of students in Cranston. If you… Read more
Here’s a wonderful way to spread a positive message around Valentine’s Day, courtesy of the Secular Student group and Gay-Straight Alliance at Collin College in Texas: That banner reads “Safe Sex is Great Sex.” [Our groups] got in contact with Planned Parenthood and other local health organizations, and distributed condoms, lube, and other safe sex literature the last two days. We accepted donations and got more than $100! One of the students said they gave out 1300 condoms (and many… Read more
I must admit that this week’s comic presents a bit of a straw man. If only for the earnest regret the character expresses for his dogma’s inherit flaws. Its hard to capture the thought process of folks who genuinely see these contradictions as a problem yet choose to walk the line of making excuses. (that life seems so far from where I am now) Of course, not all apologetic discussions are this patently weak, but its been a while since… Read more
In the week following the 2011 UK Census, the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science decided to commission their own poll (with their own questions) to find out just how religious people in Britain were. It turns out a lot less than even they imagined: More than 2,000 people were polled for Dawkins’ centre by respected pollster Ipsos Mori during census week last April. Just 54 per cent identified themselves as Christians, compared to 72 per cent in 2001…. Read more
The Backyard Skeptics and American Atheists have joined forces to put up this billboard in Westminster, California just in time for Valentines Day: It reads: “Atheists make better lovers. (After all, nobody is watching.)” “Atheists make better lovers because they have less guilt about sex, while people believing in religious superstitions attach a negative aspect to sex,” says Bruce Gleason, the Backyard Skeptics founder. “We do not think a supernatural deity is watching us — neither in life nor in… Read more
