There’s good news in Illinois for those of us who support church/state separation. After our state passed the recent Civil Unions bill, state-funded adoption agencies (including religious ones) had to allow gay and lesbian couples to adopt children. Since Catholic Charities was more interested in advancing their form of bigotry instead of put children in safe, loving homes, they were eventually forced to comply with the law or shut down their services. They chose to shut down. That’s what their… Read more
Comedian Bill Maher appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show tonight. While Occupy Wall Street was the more important topic, they (not surprisingly) got into religion — specifically, Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith — in the second segment: Highlights: [Speaking as Romney] “Yes, I’m a Mormon. That’s different than a Christian. But what’s important is that we all believe in nonsense.” … [Speaking as himself] “All religion is nuts. But Mormonism just takes it to a different level. I mean, all religion… Read more
You all saw the front page of the Providence Journal today, right? Because it’s pretty freakin’ amazing (PDF): Paul Davis’ cover story highlights Jessica Ahlquist’s legal battle against Cranston High School West and how its leaders have stubbornly refused to obey the law and take down the unconstitutional Christian banner hanging in the auditorium: In March, the School Committee voted to keep the prayer because it is a historic document created more than 50 years ago — along with a… Read more
Just so you know, you’re all going to hell for laughing at this: (via Cyanide & Happiness) Read more
Note: Letter writers’ names are changed to protect their privacy. I recently came out to my parents (I am 17). My father handled it well enough and we had a good discussion on the matter. My mother, on the other hand, not so much. When we talked she told me about what she was like at around my age. She told me, through tears, that she was a terrible person back then, who was selfish and rebelled in any way… Read more
by Jesse Galef (crossposted at Measure of Doubt) – “Should we be offensive?” is a common question in the secular movement. It’s also the wrong question. The title of this post comes from Phil Plait’s “Don’t be a Dick” talk at TAM 8, which sparked conversation about the wisdom of offending people in the cause of critical thinking. Though it generated the most attention, it’s not the first time we’ve asked these questions: Should we condemn people for opposing LGBT… Read more
This is a guest post by readers Heather and Rod. Along with their respective partners, both attended a recent “Marriage Symposium” (PDF) sponsored by the Illinois Family Institute and Patriots United — undercover, on my behalf. Their reports are below, with Heather in regular font and Rod in red font. … When I heard that the Illinois Family Institute and Patriots United were going to host a Marriage Symposium I was excited to go check it out. I knew that… Read more
Over the weekend, at the Texas Freethought Convention/Atheist Alliance of America convention, Richard Dawkins presented the award named after him to Christopher Hitchens. More on Hitch’s acceptance is here. For now, we have the text of Dawkins’ introduction (and a bit of video): He is a debater, who will kick the stuffing out of a hapless victim, yet he does it with a grace that disarms his opponent while simultaneously eviscerating him. He is emphatically not of the (all too… Read more
You know, if your country club is fortunate enough to host Richard Dawkins, you ought to offer a discount to his publishers. He’s going to draw a huge crowd, talk about the importance of science education, and get your company a lot of free (positive) publicity. If you’re afraid he’s going to offend religious clients, then you shouldn’t offer him a contract in the first place. I don’t know why that would even happen right now. His latest book, The… Read more
Here’s your feel-good story of the day: The Atheist Community of Tulsa was on a mission to raise $5,000 for Charity: Water (a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations) beginning in June… Millions are good without God. Are you? In Africa alone, people spend 40 billion hours every year just walking for water. Women and children usually bear the burden of water collection, walking miles to the nearest source, which is unprotected and… Read more
