109 of you donated, raising $5,000 for “drilling equipment that will bring clean water to people in Ethiopia”! And you did it with over a month to spare 🙂 100% of the $5000 you have raised will directly fund water project costs in the field. Water will change everything. Disease will dramatically be reduced. Children will be able to go to school and get an education. Men and women will be able to dedicate more time to their jobs, increasing… Read more
Here’s a present that you can give to anyone on your list… certainly a compassionate Humanist, though I’d love to see an atheist give it to a theistic relative 🙂 The Foundation Beyond Belief is offering gift memberships at a variety of donation levels (starting at $5/month). You pay for a one-year membership and the recipients will get all the information they need to choose the charities they want to support. It’s a win-win situation for everyone. Read more
I grew up in a family heavily influenced by the Quiverfull movement, which holds that parents should have large numbers of children in order to raise up an army for Christ. I have twelve younger siblings and was homeschooled for religious reasons. My parents made their fundamentalist evangelical faith the core of their existence, and it colors how they see the world and everything around them. While they know I left their specific beliefs during college (and boy were they… Read more
The American Family Association released its 2011 “Naughty or Nice Christmas List” indicating which retail stores’ advertisements and employees say “Merry Christmas” (Yay!) and which ones say “Happy Holidays” (Why do they hate Jesus?) For example, Old Navy and Victoria’s Secret apparently hate Christmas, Whole Foods is still up in the air, and Best Buy is where all good Christians ought to shop. The AFA is even asking members to wear a button that says “It’s okay to say Merry… Read more
You would think a “Tree of Knowledge” would be the least controversial holiday display of them all: In previous years, book covers included The Myth of Nazareth by Rene Salam, Why I Am Not a Muslim by Ibn Warraq, and Misquoting Jesus by Bart Ehrman. There were also covers of the Bible and Koran. It’s a good mix of holy books and books that criticize them. That’s what knowledge is, after all — learning enough so you have a set… Read more
The Foundation Beyond Belief is looking for a few good interns who’d like to volunteer their time for a good cause. (You don’t even have to leave your place to help out!) All the details are below: Application deadline: December 31, 2011 Foundation Beyond Belief, a humanist charitable organization, seeks four disciplined, highly motivated interns for a 4.5 month period beginning February 1, 2012. Desirable characteristics include: Self-discipline, self-direction, reliability High personal motivation and perseverance Enthusiasm for and commitment to… Read more
This baby isn’t even a year old but she already knows how she feels about God 🙂 Or maybe she’s speaking in tongues at a *really* young age. Who knows. In any case, she makes more sense than hundreds of Christian pastors combined. (via Justin Griffith) Read more
As I write this, we’ve raised $3,829 of our $5,000 goal! 84 of you have made donations and we’re so close… Just a reminder that we’re raising the money for “drilling equipment that will bring clean water to people in Ethiopia.” It’s not too late to chip in — we have just over a month left. Remember: Friendly Atheists love H2O, too! Please consider making a donation 🙂 Read more
The one and only time I’ll do this all season, I promise. If you’re making any purchases via Amazon during Cyber Monday (or whenever), please use this link to get there! A portion of your purchases will come back to me and Baby Jesus will cry. Win-win for everyone, right? Thanks for indulging me 🙂 Read more
Reader Bob just celebrated his 72nd birthday and his atheist nephew made him this excellent card: Considering how many families would never joke about such things, you have to appreciate their sense of humor 🙂 Read more