A few days ago, I posted about a Christian student who said in his high school German class that “being a homosexual is wrong.” That student, Dakota Ary, was suspended after he said that when his teacher, Kristopher Franks, cited him in a disciplinary referral. I defended Ary at the time, but noted that we were only hearing his side of the story… Now, we’re starting to hear the teacher’s side. The Dallas Voice reports what a spokesperson for a… Read more
This is a guest post by Todd Stiefel. Todd is the President and Founder of the Stiefel Freethought Foundation. For background on this letter, I suggest reading posts here and here. In short, the American Cancer Society rejected the Foundation Beyond Belief’s National Team for this year’s Relay For Life events. There is good reason to believe that, if we had that opportunity to contribute to a National Team, atheists and Humanists around the country could have raised at least… Read more
What happens when your plan to give non-violent criminals the option of going to church instead of jail makes its way into the media? Everyone complains. The media calls. You realize this plan isn’t going to go under-the-radar like you had hoped. That’s why Police Chief Michael Rowland in Bay Minette, Alabama is reconsidering his idea… or, in his words, he’s “running it back through” with an attorney: Implementation of a church-based alternative sentencing plan in Bay Minette that has… Read more
Alright, I’ll admit I don’t know what they plan to teach or research… but at least their goals are promising? The Atheist Centre [in India] will open the country’s first atheism university and research centre, coinciding with the centenary celebrations of social activist Saraswathi Gora on Wednesday. The centre had been promoting a casteless society with a scientific outlook to help remove superstitions on a path shown by popular atheist Goparaju Ramachandra Rao (Gora). No castes? Less superstition? More science?… Read more
John Shook of the Center for Inquiry offers a Humanist take on the death penalty: Humanism cannot support the death penalty. … Humanism stands for valuing the lives of all, individual human rights, justice for everyone, and governments that defend all of their people. These grounds alone are sufficient for abolishing the death penalty. Humanism also stands for elevating human dignity and pursuing the nobler virtues of common humanity. Even if some perfected criminal system could execute only the truly… Read more
Registered college organizations have to adhere to a few rules, one of which is that they must not be discriminatory. You can’t reject homosexuals or black people or Republicans or atheists from your organization because you don’t agree with their views. Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee audited the constitutions of around 300 campus groups and found that 12 of them were violating that rule. Five of those were religious groups. Four of those were Christian groups. (Surprise…) “Each officer is… Read more
One thing we’ve all learned from the Jessica Ahlquist case is that many public schools have religious symbols in the buildings — and they justify their placement by saying it’s “tradition.” It’s always been there, so it should always be there. Tradition is overrated, though, and in these cases, it doesn’t make it right. You need people like Jessica pointing out that the religious banner should never have been allowed in the first place, no matter how sentimental it may… Read more
The Washington Post reported on a trend last week that might be linked to a decline in religious influence as well as the growth in secular values: It looks like more couples are having their friends preside at their weddings instead of members of the clergy. Their decision to forgo the more traditional route is a slightly extreme example of a once-quirky trend that is becoming more mainstream. A study last year by TheKnot.com and WeddingChannel.com showed that 31 percent… Read more
Note to readers: “Faithful Reader,” who wrote last week’s letter wants to respond to your comments, which were wonderfully caring, encouraging, and full of helpful practical suggestions. Here she offers an update on her situation, and answers a question about the way I had used the term “Muslima.” She also asks another question about protecting her privacy while using the internet. I’m publishing it here as a new post rather than as a comment on the original post because very… Read more
Read this message from the ACLU and try not to get furious: Recently, a South Carolina middle school held a worship rally that sought to convert students to Christianity. The worship rally took place during an in-school assembly and featured a Christian rapper, a sermon delivered by a local minister, and volunteers who prayed with students, urging the students to accept Jesus Christ. The school district may be planning to hold similar rallies at other schools. More specifically, New Heights… Read more
