Yes, it’s cheesy and has scary “commercial” music. But I’ll admit I have a soft spot for CompletelyLovely’s infomercial: Shuffleboard: The sport of atheists everywhere. (Thanks to Ashley for the link!) Read more
It’s not as big of a deal in the summer, but during the school year, I rely on timestamps for this site. In other words, I can schedule posts to go up at, say, 11:00a and 3:00p ahead of time, for when I’m at work. For whatever reason, even though WordPress lets me schedule future times for postings to go up, it often just “misses” the time and the post never goes up. Since the move to Patheos, we’ve tried… Read more
Comedian Ricky Gervais is in the process of writing a TV show called Afterlife about an atheist who finds himself in heaven… [Gervais and former Dexter showrunner Clyde Phillips] are writing the pilot episode now and plan to film in early 2012, though no studio is yet attached. Gervais will take a cameo role. I’m all for more Ricky Gervais and we could always use another popular TV show starring an atheist character (House, M.D. isn’t enough!), though… Read more
It’s bad enough that gay people men who have sex with men are forbidden from donating blood because of a decades-old antiquated policy that began because we didn’t have tests to check the blood for HIV. Now that those tests exist, even if they’re not perfect, it’s hard to argue that the policy should be kept in place. Or, if it is kept in place for the purpose of preventing HIV from getting into the blood supply, then should the… Read more
A new building dedicated to preaching Creationism will soon open in Nampa, Idaho, though it doesn’t look like they’ve even broken ground yet. They call it the NorthWest Science Museum: What is the purpose? To lead people to a better understanding of God by viewing His Creation and to show that creation science can explain the evidence we see in the world around us and that it is not just religion. … Our dream for the Treasure Valley of Idaho… Read more
The Tutor went to a midnight premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 to find out if moviegoers were well-versed in the Bible. Turns out JK Rowling ranks a little higher on their priority list… (via HighpantsResistance) Read more
Ok, my headline isn’t accurate, but the reality of the situation is equally ridiculous. Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin asked citizens to pray for rain yesterday — because, as the science books teach us, rain only falls if you ask God nicely. “I encourage Oklahomans of all faiths to join me this Sunday in offering their prayers for rain,” Fallin said. “For the safety of our firefighters and our communities and the well-being of our crops and livestock, this state needs… Read more
After Georgia state administrators screwed up the online voting for a new license plate by “tagging” a few of them with the phrase “In God We Trust,” they’ve released details about a revote (PDF): The Department of Revenue announced today it will reopen its online 2011 Georgia License Plate Design Contest for a revote by the public beginning at 3:00 p.m. on Monday, July 18. Voting will be for three weeks and end on Monday, August 8 at 3:00 p.m…. Read more
Note: This letter is similar to one I published in December of 2010. Both letter writers have some financial challenges, but the first writer was intimidated by bullying parents, while today’s writer has parents who are supportive in important ways, but they are being deceitful. Many atheist parents are faced with the thorny problem of grandparents indoctrinating grandchildren. The details of each situation can make big differences in what might be the best solutions, but there are no perfect or… Read more
***If you want instant updates, I suggest reading the #TAM9 Twitter feed*** Thanks to @UAJamie for the great pictures! We’ll be providing updates on the conference all day while getting interviews with many of the speakers. Stick around and refresh the page for more info! You can read about the Friday Morning Session here, the Friday Afternoon Session here, the Saturday Morning Session here, the Saturday Afternoon Session here, the Sunday Morning Session here, and the Sunday Afternoon Session here…. Read more
