This is a guest post by Conrad Hudson. He is a senior at University of Kansas, and a member of the Society of Open-Minded Atheists & Agnostics (SOMA). “Tell everyone why you’re involved in SOMA’s leadership.” Last year these words struck me with anxiety. As a new officer for the Kansas University Society of Open-Minded Atheists and Agnostics (SOMA), they meant I would be speaking in front of a crowd in 30 seconds. But when it was my turn the… Read more
This is a guest post by Robby Bensinger. He is a senior at Indiana University, and is a member of the Secular Alliance at Indiana University (SAIU). Whether the secular movement ultimately falters or flourishes will rest on how well it can carry on a dialogue with its religious friends and foes. It’s through conversation that we will change our public image, negotiate political gains, and form alliances on specific issues. It is conversation that will determine whether our numbers… Read more
This is a guest post by Stef McGraw. Stef is a Junior at the University of Northern Iowa, and is a member of the UNI Freethinkers and Inquirers (UNIFI) . For those of you who haven’t been following the story of the billboard on a Columbus church’s property, here’s some background: The Freedom From Religion Foundation placed an ad in Columbus, Ohio that simply depicted someone’s smiling face with the phrase, “I can be good without God.” It happened to… Read more
This is a guest post by Aaron Friel. He is a freshman at the University of Northern Iowa and member of the UNI Freethinkers and Inquirers (UNIFI). The Fox network is poised to air a sequel to the critically acclaimed and loved-by-skeptics series, “Cosmos”. The update to the series will be thirteen episodes and—sorry, folks—will be broadcast in 2013. Some unusual names have signed on-board with the series, with Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane on board as an executive producer… Read more
This is a guest post by Jon Nelson. He is a sophomore at Kansas University and member of the Society of Open-Minded Atheists & Agnostics (SOMA). Yesterday China downgraded US debt and Mitch McConnell promised he would be holding the debt limit hostage in the future. On this news, the Dow Jones shed 500 points. This sort of idiocy has no place in our politics. We in the secular movement pride ourselves on reason, but in a democracy we must… Read more
This is a guest post by Sean Gillespie. He is a student at Wichita State University in Kansas and a member of Air Capital Skeptics (SkeptICT). ***Update***: A few updates have been made to this post since it originally went up in order to clarify some confusing parts. The issue of how people should behave regarding sex and conferences has been a hot topic lately. Instead of dredging up old arguments on proper behavior I want to talk about some… Read more
This is a guest post by Conrad Hudson. Conrad is a Senior at the University of Kansas and a member of the Society of Open-Minded Atheists & Agnostics (SOMA) The number of secular student groups has been increasing at a fantastic rate in recent years on college campuses, with high school groups poised to experience a similar swelling. However, when it comes to effective platforms for social work and local community building, size can be just as important to local… Read more
This is a guest post by Jessica Ahlquist. Jessica is a Junior at Cranston High School West. *** On Monday night when I was flying home to Rhode Island from Columbus, I found something interesting in the seat pocket in front of me. It was a little plastic charm with an image of Mary on it. Around her, the charm reads, “O Mary conceives without sin pray for us who have recourse to thee.” This bothers me. I suppose a… Read more
This is a guest post by Matt Cowan. He is a junior at Indiana University and member of the Secular Alliance at Indiana University (SAIU). When you come up to the gates of the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, one of the first things you notice is a pair of dinosaur statues positioned on each side of the main gate. When you walk into the Creation Museum, one of the first things you see is a giant model of a… Read more
This is a guest post by Kelley Freeman. She is a junior at the University of South Carolina and member of the Pastafarians at the University of South Carolina. Maybe you’ve been following the crazy things that Hemant has been documenting about Rock Beyond Belief. It’s a free festival focusing on the other part of the military, the part that many Americans seem to forget. Yes, that’s right! It’s going to be a huge event focusing on the non-religious military… Read more
