When it comes to church/state separation, the #1 rule is (usually) pretty simple: If you’re getting taxpayer money, you can’t discriminate against a group for their race/gender/orientation/etc. for any reason. If you’re paying for everything on your own, go do what you want. That’s overly simplified, I know, but it’s the gist of the law. In Illinois, Catholic adoption agencies used to be given taxpayer money to run their businesses. In the process, they wouldn’t allow gay couples to adopt… Read more
My friend Danielle and a couple of her colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania are working on a neat project called Resolution12. The idea is simple: Instead (or in addition to) making a resolution for yourself — lose weight, get healthier, etc. — make a resolution that’s more outwardly focused and that’s going to help people besides yourself: There are a lot of Christians posting there so let’s add some atheists to the mix. I’ve already posted mine: What’s yours? Read more
Two decades ago, Herb Silverman ran for Governor of South Carolina in order to challenge the state law which said atheists could not hold public office. He may have lost the race but succeeded in raising people’s consciousness about that issue. (Technically, the law is still in the books, but it can’t be enforced.) Today, he is the Founder and President of the Secular Coalition for America. Those two events may bookend his public life as an activist, but his… Read more
The New York Times has an article in today’s paper about the recent proliferation of incidents in which public school teachers/administrators are proselytizing to students — or letting others do it on their behalf. It’s not enough that they can teacher children about Christianity. They want to convert the kids, often against the wishes of their parents. One anecdote regarding rapper B-SHOC was covered on this blog before: At a school assembly here in South Carolina on Sept. 1, a… Read more
Dave Silverman models the pose: What’s the difference between Tebowing and Thinkering? Dave responds: The difference is we don’t bow our heads in blind submission, rather we consider and conclude for ourselves. I’m sure a website dedicated to Thinkering will be created in 5… 4… 3… Read more
Steven Weinreb suffers from chronic lymphocytic leukemia and has new white blood cells in his body, making him vulnerable to diseases the rest of us don’t have to worry about. So he makes an important plea in today’s New York Times: … if 75 percent to 95 percent of the population around us is vaccinated for a particular disease, the rest are protected through what is called herd immunity. In other words, your measles vaccine protects me against the measles…. Read more
The brilliant journalist Tom Junod tackles the question of why so many Americans are transfixed with quarterback and one-man-spokesperson-for-Christianity Tim Tebow and writes that, without the Christian storyline, Tebow would hardly be the athlete people are making him out to be: … [Tebow is] strong, so he can shot-put and corkscrew the ball all over the field, but he often looks like he’s throwing the ball away when he’s not, and he avoids interceptions by coming nowhere near his intended… Read more
There’s a nativity scene on the courthouse lawn in Athens, Texas and the Freedom From Religion Foundation says 1) it must be taken down or 2) their own banner must be put up alongside it. Neither is acceptable to the locals — as if that matters — and last weekend, they staged a rally in support of Jesus: Nathan Lorick, the pastor of the First Baptist Church in Malakoff and one of the organizers of Saturday’s rally in Athens, said:… Read more
Tim Minchin recently recorded a song comparing Jesus to Woody Allen (“short, Jewish, philosophical, a bit hesitant”) for the Jonathan Ross Show on ITV. It’s hilarious and worth a watch: The problem is that after that song was taped, the director of television for ITV, Peter Fincham, stopped it from going on the air. He didn’t want to offend anyone, you know, what with the song being humorous and all… So Minchin put the song online along with the following… Read more
