Pastor Chuck Phelps heads up Trinity Baptist Church in Concord, New Hampshire and he played a key role in covering up the rape of a 15-year-old girl in the church. Not only did he try to keep it hidden, he made the girl apologize to the congregation: The victim said Phelps told her she would be put up for “church discipline,” where parishioners go before the congregation to apologize for their sins. She asked why. “Pastor Phelps then said that… Read more
This is a guest post by Cate Laskovics. Cate is the president of the Secular Alliance at the University of Pittsburgh. For more background on this article, click here. … Yesterday afternoon, more than twenty students from three different universities came together to support nontheistic and secular students at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh who are being denied the ability to form a secular club on their campus. Some backstory: On November 1st, Nick Shadowen, a senior at Duquesne, submitted the… Read more
Adding to the list of things Catholics don’t know about their own religion… (via The Onion) Read more
David Hayward drew this while thinking about the time he walked away from the church he called home — though he still remains a Christian to this day: Like so many of his cartoons, his feelings are shared by a lot of atheists who left a church, too. (via nakedpastor) Read more
***Update***: There’s better video and more excerpts at Justin’s blog. … There’s one main reason church/state separation advocates don’t support school vouchers: It would allow parents to send their kids to religious schools on the taxpayer dime. (Want a second reason? The private schools also wouldn’t be held to the same accountability standards as the public schools.) In Philadelphia Pennsylvania, Justin Vacula and several other atheists attended a rally in the state capitol building in support of school choice so… Read more
You remember reader Jessica. Her daughter’s Wichita, Kansas elementary school was host to the book fair featuring pro-Christianity books… The FFRF sent a letter to the school letting them know they were not legally allowed to push one particular religion onto children that way. It doesn’t look like the school learned its lesson. They have no fear of a lawsuit. In fact, they’re only getting worse. Next week is a short week since kids will be on Thanksgiving break Wednesday… Read more
In anticipation of this weekend’s Skepticon IV in Springfield, Missouri, the Ozarks Area Coalition of Reason have put up a billboard for the closeted atheists out there — thanks to $5,000 in funding from the United Coalition of Reason: “We hope that folks will realize we are a regular part of the community,” said Steven Olsen, coordinator of the Ozarks Coalition of Reason. “Atheists and agnostics like us live throughout Missouri. We’re your neighbors, your family members, your friends, your… Read more
If you haven’t heard Sean Faircloth speak, you’re about to get a treat. Sean was the “opening act” on Richard Dawkins’ recent book tour and in the video below Sean shares his “Ten Point Vision of a Secular America.” The list begins at the 12:40 mark: He elaborates on these points in his new book Attack of the Theocrats! Would you add anything to his list? Read more
My friend Jeannette spotted an interesting church sign in Bedford, Virginia on the way to work this morning. It speaks for itself… Read more
Remember when the state of Georgia accidentally put “In God We Trust” on certain license plates and then included them in the lineup during a vote? They had to conduct a revote because the motto wasn’t actually included on the plates — it was just an optional $1 tag you could put on your own plate. Now, State Sen. Bill Heath (R-Bremen) wants to make “In God We Trust” a permanent fixture on all state license plates: Motorists can already… Read more
