Designers are going to cringe (Yellow! Comic Sans! Random baby!)… but it’s hard to argue that these new billboards in Minneapolis (put up by the Minnesota Atheists and American Atheists) aren’t going to get attention: (***Edit***: Commenters points out that the font in question is not Comic Sans. It’s Chalkboard. This doesn’t make me feel any better.) The message is solid: Kids don’t deserve to be indoctrinated with religious nonsense. Let them ask questions and figure things out on their… Read more
The fantastic Christian Nightmares Tumblr is providing video entertainment between sets at a show at Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia this Saturday night. Here’s a preview of what you’ll see: I don’t know anything about the bands or DJs playing, but if Christian Nightmares is a part of the show, it has to be good, right? Read more
As part of President Obama’s health care reform, almost all employers will be required to provide their employees with health insurance that covers birth control free of charge. That includes religiously-affiliated organizations, too. The Obama administration announced it will provide these religious institutions with an extra year to meet the requirement, but will not completely exempt any institutions other than churches from the contraception requirement. Some of those institutions, such as Catholic hospitals and religious universities, have requested… Read more
A new billboard created by the Boulder Atheists (on behalf of the Colorado Coalition Of Reason) just went up in three locations — two in Denver and one near Colorado Springs: “God is an imaginary friend; Choose reality, it will be better for all of us.” Somewhere, those of you who love professional design are cringing… But maybe there’s a silver lining for those of you who like seeing more blunt messages on these atheist billboards. [Marvin] Straus said the… Read more
Rep. Joe Walsh, a Tea Party-backed Republican, represents an area not too far from me (the 8th district of Illinois). During a recent town hall meeting, Jacob Kramer of the National Atheist Party had a chance to ask him about his 0% rating from the Secular Coalition for America: It’s a surprising video… partly because there’s an actual dialogue. No yelling or screaming or protests or fights. The conversation is very cordial, and Walsh at least gives lip service to… Read more
Today marks the release of Katherine Stewart’s new book The Good News Club. You can read Tessa de Leeuw’s review here. Katherine was gracious enough to answer questions about her book and our exchange is below: Hemant: The book’s subtitle is “The Christian Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Children.” Can you explain the “stealth” part of that? What exactly is the Christian Right doing that’s somewhat secretive or sneaky? Katherine: Many of the initiatives I looked at rely to a… Read more
Katherine Stewart heard about a Christian group forming at her daughter’s school, and instead of closing her eyes and wishing it would go away, she dove in. She researched and researched and researched. She talked to people, went to symposia, delved into a world that wasn’t hers and where she very much did not want to be. Then she wrote a book. The book (which comes out today) is called The Good News Club, and as innocuous as that sounds,… Read more
In response to all the awful threats thrown in Jessica Ahlquist’s direction, a group of Christians are coming together in her defense: … The Rhode Island State Council of Churches will hold a news conference in support of Jessica Ahlquist, the 16-year-old atheist who challenged the Cranston prayer banner, on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. The news conference “in favor of tolerance and civility” will include faith leaders in Cranston and throughout Rhode Island speaking out to support Ahlquist’s right to… Read more
Rick Santorum attempted to justify one of his most bizarre stances in an interview with Piers Morgan on Friday, and the results were predictably scary: Morgan: Do you really believe, in every case, [abortion] should be totally wrong, [including] cases of rape and incest? You’ve got two daughters… If you had a daughter that came to you who had been raped, and was pregnant, and was begging you to let her have an abortion, would you really be able to… Read more
In Prince Edward Island, Canada, giving public school children a copy of the Gideon Bible has been the tradition for decades. But just because something is tradition doesn’t mean it’s right. (Just ask Jessica Ahlquist.) And one parent is finally pushing back: “I’ll be held responsible for my child’s belief system, not the schools,” Michael Arsenault told the local CBC. “I’m not against religion, any form or fashion… I just don’t like how the schools are getting involved in handing… Read more
