Remember John Freshwater, the Creationism-spewing science teacher who branded his students with a cross? He had been fired (after a long court battle)… but he appealed the decision. Today, Judge Otho Eyster denied the appeal. … there is clear and convincing evidence to support the Board of Education’s termination of Freshwater’s contract(s) for good and just cause… Freshwater can appeal again if he wishes, but this has been a losing battle for him since day one. There’s no reason to… Read more
Singer/songwriter Billy Franks has an album called “Sex Laughter & Meditation” and he gave me permission to let readers download one of the songs off that CD. It’s called “Sometimes I Wish There Was a God So I Could Pray For Him To Watch Over My Children” and you can download it for free by clicking here. Sometimes I wish there was a god so I could Pray for him to watch over my children Where do the days go?… Read more
This is the first line of a description for the book A Lost Argument: A Latter-Day Novel (Strange Violin Editions): The summer after her freshman year at all-Mormon Brigham Young University, Marguerite Farnsworth falls in love with philosophy by way of falling in love with an atheist philosophy student. Blasphemous! I like where this is going… Author Therese Doucet has some experience with the subject since she’s an ex-Mormon herself. She was kind enough to offer a slightly risqué excerpt… Read more
Quick: What are these? If you said Candy Corn… you’re apparently wrong. Rebekah Kuschmider of the Washington Times found that out when she went shopping recently: I saw a bag of candy corn in the prematurely erected Halloween display in my grocery store, and needless to say, I had to get closer to investigate this… when I got closer to the display I realized the bag I saw contained not loose candy corn that could be scooped up by the… Read more
You wouldn’t think there are a lot of atheist groups at “religious” campuses, but a number of religiously-rooted schools have pretty diverse populations and they support the freedom for atheists groups like ours to thrive. Now, there’s one more to add to the growing list. Harrison Hopkins, a student who made news as a high school senior last year when he stopped a public prayer from occurring at his graduation, is now a freshman at Presbyterian College in South Carolina…. Read more
The first mainstream media article is now up regarding how the American Cancer Society rejected a potential $500,000 from the Stiefel Freethought Foundation because it would have involved atheists doing the fundraising. You can read background on the story here, here, and here. The American Cancer Society has rejected an atheist group’s bid to field a national team to raise money for cancer research, and organizers suspect it’s because of the volunteers’ godless beliefs. … The American Cancer Society said… Read more
Here in Illinois, the state mandates that we have a Moment of Silence in the classroom every day. (At my school, we do it over the loudspeakers during morning announcements.) That law was called the “Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act” until state officials revised its name to make it less Christian-y. It’s unenforceable and there’s no penalty for not doing it… but it’s still part of the law. Anyway, local activist Rob Sherman and his daughter Dawn have been… Read more
I know the Central Arkansas Coalition of Reason had a rough time getting its ads on local buses… But now that a judge ruled in their favor and the ads are set to make an appearance on buses this week (if they’re not up as we speak), it’s good to know that some members of the coalition are taking every opportunity to spread their message… and I do mean *every*. For example, in a local (just for fun) kickball league,… Read more
When it comes to how the Christian church has treated LGBT individuals, there are two ways to look at it. You could say their overall intolerance has helped us as atheists. Teens just don’t want to be associated with the likes of James Dobson and Pat Robertson and any of those other bigots who have done everything possible to make life hell for the gay community. This issue — arguably moreso than any other — pushes young people away from… Read more
Reader Katherine sent along this conversation she had with her mother a day after she lost her job… The frustration. It had to hurt. Katherine: I really hope I get that job I interviewed for. I am tired of unemployment — one day of it is enough for me. Mom: Well, why don’t you say a Rosary Novena if you want the job. Katherine: … Mom: You know, that is how [X]’s son got his job with the Royal Canadian… Read more
