What should atheists do at the dinner table while everyone else is bowing their heads for a Thanksgiving prayer? Jeffrey Weston explores some options in Ape, Not Monkey: The full strip is here. I’m partial to the fourth panel 🙂 Read more
One more update from Andy, the owner of Gelato Mio: Via our email exchanges, he’s told me he’s very grateful for the forgiveness he’s seen from many atheists. I told him not to let the ones holding grudges get to him. Three of the people behind Skepticon (Organizers Kayley Olson and Micah Weiss are in the picture below) have also forgiven him and they left a message saying as much on Reddit (***Edit***: The post says that JT made threats… Read more
A group of “Iraq War veterans and two Marine widows” recently erected a 13-foot cross to honor friends who lost their lives in battle. If that’s all it was, I wouldn’t have a problem with it. I might think the cross was excessive — my god’s dick is bigger than yours — but I wouldn’t try to stop them. The problem is that they put it up at Camp Pendleton, a military base that’s public space. It’s as illegal as… Read more
How much should an employer have to budge when it comes to respecting a worker’s religious beliefs? Whatever the answer is, this story gets out of hand from both directions. Pliant Corp. has its workers wear stickers showing how many days it’s been since the last accident. One day, it approached Day 666… You can figure out where this is going: [Billy E. Hyatt] grew nervous in early 2009 as the number of accident-free days crept into the 600s. As… Read more
I was contacted by a (credible) reporter who’s looking for atheists to speak to for a possible story: I am embarking on a holiday story about atheists/free thinkers whose views keep them separated from their families at the holidays. Know anyone with a good story to tell? I want to write about how bridges are built (or not), how new holiday rituals are crafted (or not), how the holidays are coped with (or not) when you can’t be with your… Read more
***Update***: I forgot to link to this video featuring Lew Payne, organizer of the Boise Atheist, Non-Theist, and Humanist meet-up group. … You’ll never see an article where the subject is “Christians have a place to meet!” But when we’re talking about atheists — in Idaho — the fact that there’s coverage isn’t all that surprising. When people find out Susan Harrington is an atheist, they’re surprised. Not just because Harrington, of Nampa, doesn’t believe in God, but because she… Read more
It’s the end of Season 4 and Mr. Deity is going out with a bang: “Just pretend you’re Catholic.” Heh 🙂 Read more
There’s a nice article making the rounds by Kimberly Winston of the Religion News Service about the “We Are Atheism” campaign: “It’s time for us to all stand up, speak out and be counted,” said Amanda Brown, 25, one of the co-founders. “It is time for us to put up our videos and change the face of atheism. We want people to see we are normal people who have children and lives and do good in the community.” Brown was… Read more
In case you missed picking up a copy of Sam Harris’ e-book Lying (currently $1.99), it’s now available as a PDF for $2.99. I really liked it and I hope Harris comes out with more of these essays. Here’s one classic thought experiment he refers to in the book: A Nazi soldier comes to your door and demands that you tell him where Anne Frank is hiding. You know she’s hiding in your attic. What do you do if you… Read more
A couple of years ago, the Atheist Longhorns from the University of Texas at Austin adopted a street… but like so many campus atheist groups, this one disappeared, presumably when its leader graduated. Now, there is new blood in the organization. They’ve rebranded themselves at the Secular Student Alliance at the University of Texas at Austin and they’re focusing on service projects: The group is primarily a service organization and participated in National Secular Student Service Day on Oct. 3… Read more
