The Foundation Beyond Belief (which I’m on the board of) has begun a new program designed to help local atheist/Humanist groups find opportunities to help other people on a regular basis. We’re calling it Volunteers Beyond Belief: The Volunteers Beyond Belief program launched in July 2011 with chapters in eight U.S. cities and plans to expand to 16 chapters by the end of 2011. The national organization assists local chapters in finding volunteer opportunities and in committing to a regular… Read more
This isn’t going to end well… See the full strip for how that conversation went down. (Don’t forget the red dot!) It brings to mind comedian Louis CK’s hilarious bit about children and the futility of answering their questions: You can’t win, even with the best of intentions… (via Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal — thanks to Dawn for the link!) Read more
Needed: A man and a woman, ideally in their 30s – 50s. When: End of September. Where: Suburbs of Chicago. If you’re interested, let me know and I’ll send you more details. Thanks! Read more
According to new data released yesterday (PDF) from the U.S. Census Bureau, Southern states — including many Bible Belt ones — had some of the highest rates of divorce for both men and women in the country. Nine of the 14 states with divorce rates for women above the U.S. average, ranging from 10.7 to 16.2, were in the South. They included Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. By comparison, four of the 10 states… Read more
I would make a horrible religion reporter. I don’t know if I could talk about someone’s faith without interjecting my own commentary. Good religion reporters keep their own beliefs out of the picture. They just let you know what the subjects of their stories believe. That also makes it frustrating when reading mainstream coverage of the current crop of Republican candidates for president. Despite the fact that many of the popular candidates right now love to tout their faith as… Read more
… unless he says something awful, in which case Christian apologists just have to find some rationalization for it. God never thought this whole “Supreme Infallible Deity” thing through, did he? Read more
The Freedom From Religion Foundation just put up this “Imagine No Religion” billboard in Terre Haute, Indiana (courtesy of a donor who wished to remain anonymous): “There are many nonbelievers in America, including in Indiana, and we want them to know they are not alone. We’d also like to invite believers to imagine a world free from religious wars, sectarian strife and superstition,” said Dan Barker, FFRF co-president. “Like John Lennon, I’ve found that nature and reality are enough for… Read more
This could be controversial, but I think it’s a positive move. The Stiefel Freethought Foundation has just given a $50,000 grant to Religion News LLC (which owns Religion News Service) in order to expand coverage of the “growing community of atheists, agnostics, humanists and freethinkers.” Considering that RNS stories appear in a lot of popular online (and print) publications, like Huffington Post, USA Today, and the Washington Post, that’s a huge boost. …The Stiefel Foundation grant allows RNS to expand… Read more
How would you like it if the new manager at your workplace came in and said you’d have to reapply for your job because there are new requirements for all employees? That’s what happening at a daycare in Waukee, Iowa. Happy Time Daycare and preschool, while housed in a church, didn’t sound like that bad an environment… but under new management, it’s now going to be called the Point of Grace Children’s Academy and all 22 workers will have to… Read more
Last month, popular Christian apologist Josh McDowell made news (at least in the atheist world) when he called the Internet a threat to Christianity: “The Internet has given atheists, agnostics, skeptics, the people who like to destroy everything that you and I believe, the almost equal access to your kids as your youth pastor and you have… whether you like it or not,” said McDowell… … “Now here is the problem,” said McDowell, “going all the way back, when Al… Read more
