Maryam Namazie, Spokesperson of the One Law for All campaign against Sharia Law in Britain and the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, gave a rousing speech against religious intervention in politics. You *have* to listen to this: The enforcement of religious laws… is an attack on the rights of women, children and gay people, non-believers and people of other religions. Secularism is the only way to protect all human rights, and it is under attack from militant faith, globally. So… Read more
One of the hardest things to do when you’re a religious person is step outside the orthodoxy, but here are a couple responses to that from people inside the faith. David Hayward shows what happens when a Christian steps out of line from the rest of the congregation: It’s easy to talk the talk of diversification. It’s another thing to practice and embrace it. Especially if you are all alone. … On a somewhat similar note, Jon Acuff at Stuff… Read more
The Southern Baptist Convention has a problem. “We’ve always had a global mission and a global task and we need to seriously look at the question of does our name — ‘Southern’ — cause us to be hindered from accomplishing that global task that God has given us,” he asked. “Southern” is scary. “Baptist” is scarier. “Convention” is just unnecessary. The best part about this? They want your suggestions: SBC President Bryant Wright is seeking your input on a new… Read more
How do you get publicity for your campus atheist group when you’re brand new and very few people know you exist? If you’re the new Secular Student Alliance affiliate at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, you grab all the chalk you can find and get your messages out there: Love it! Their next meeting is Monday, October 3rd (location TBA), so if you’re in the area, check out their Facebook page for more updates. (Thanks to Mandi for… Read more
Aaron Baldwin at Activate the Mechanism asked his Tumblr followers to send him their pictures and he turned it into this beautiful atheist photo mosaic 🙂 (You’re going to want to click on the image to enlarge it.) What a cool version of the American Atheists logo! Read more
There was a very positive profile of Richard Dawkins in today’s New York Times by Michael Powell. It’s not everyday you see such glowing coverage of an outspoken atheist, so savor it while it’s there. I especially liked that it didn’t focus on his atheism. It focused on science education, which has always been his passion. Atheism is just a sidetrack for him — it’s like religion was getting in the way of his teaching people how evolution worked, so… Read more
The Real Michael Brown has a post-worth-discussing about circumcision. Surely, nothing controversial… … I am weeks away from welcoming a newborn baby. I found myself praying for a little girl, just so I wouldn’t have to make this decision. A barrage of information, mixed with doubt and anxiety. I had been hearing stories about how women are freaked out by uncircumcised men. Would my son be sad, that his “didn’t look like Daddies.” There were a dozen other issues, that… Read more
At Rachel Held Evans’ site, gay Christian Justin Lee answers readers’ questions. This one in particular stood out to me: From Karl: Is it possible in your view for someone to disagree with you – to believe that the Bible consistently teaches sexual activity is intended for heterosexual marriage only – and for that person to not be a bigot, homophobe, motivated by ignorance or fear? Absolutely! Some of my best friends disagree with me on this issue. I recognize… Read more
Comedian and activist Lee Camp offers a new analogy for religion. (Commentary is NSFW. Also, ouch.) Read more
I have no idea what it has to do with Manhattan Mini Storage, but does it really matter? This one’s not bad either 🙂 Alright, they can have my money. (Thanks to Rowdy for the link!) Read more
