Barring any breaking news, I will be appearing on “Fox & Friends” (Weekend edition) on Fox News Channel at approximately 7:50a (Eastern time) on Saturday morning to discuss the church vandalism story. Pastor John Bluebaugh of Christian Life Center will be there, too. Read more
The U.S. Department of Education has just released legal guidelines regarding the Equal Access Act. Nothing really changes now, as far as I can tell. But the document and group guide (DOC) reaffirm the right for LGBT and atheist students to start their own clubs in public high schools. The Act applies to: (1) any public secondary school (2) that receives federal funds (3) and creates a limited open forum by allowing one or more noncurricular student groups to meet… Read more
I had mentioned before that I spoke with Pastor John Bluebaugh at Christian Life Center about the vandalism issue. The church had cleaned up the mess and didn’t need the funds, but he was grateful for the gesture. Today, I spoke with Pastor Jason Myhre at Westside Church. He said that a volunteer or two had helped them with cleanup and they didn’t need the funds either. He added that he appreciated what you all did. … Ok, so now… Read more
Jerry Coyne asks a valid question: Are there too many atheist meetings? I know this is a sign of a successful and burgeoning movement of disbelief throughout the world, and I recognize that they give us greater visibility, and I understand that they serve as a useful venue for people to make connections as well as listen to their atheist “heroes.” But to me the speakers and talks have often seemed repetitive: the same crew of jet-set skeptics giving the… Read more
Remember how Amazon.com got rid of their whole Atheism section for some reason? Well, they’ve informed me everything is fixed now — and it’s true! No explanation was given for why it disappeared in the first place… but your complaints must have annoyed them enough to fix it 🙂 Nicely done! So have at it and get your atheism-related books. Next time, we’ll complain about getting the category out of the damned “Spirituality” section… as if that makes any sense…. Read more
Yesterday, news broke that two churches in Bend, Oregon — Westside Church and Christian Life Center — had “Praise the FSM” (Flying Spaghetti Monster) graffiti painted on them. Many of you came together to pitch in over $2,500 to help with the cleanup. (And many of you have commented about what an awful idea this was.) (***Please don’t donate more at this point. See below.***) Despite the backlash, I still think it was a worthwhile thing to do. I spoke… Read more
Adam Lee asks a great question at AlterNet: There Are 10 Times As Many Atheists as Mormons: When Will Non-Believers Become a Political Force? The answer’s pretty simple to me. For most Americans, Mormonism is pretty weird… but it’s their kind of weird. It’s religious weird. It’s someone who looks to a “higher power” for guidance instead of experts or themselves. It’s lunacy, but it’s the kind most Americans live out every day in some form or another. Meanwhile, atheists… Read more
After the Louisiana House voted unanimously to erect a 10 Commandments monument at the State Capitol building, a state Senate committee voted 5-2 to table the bill (effectively defeating it). Yay! And why did they oppose it? Some members of the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee expressed concerns that House Bill 277 would lead to litigation. “These are tight times. I’d rather spend money on services than litigation,” said state Sen. Lydia Jackson, D-Shreveport. … The bill stipulated that private… Read more
A lot of you want to know (and deserve to know) what’s going on with all the money you helped raise for Damon Fowler. If you’re unfamiliar with what I’m talking about, DarkMatter2525 created this helpful summary of Damon’s story: After asking for your support, you all raised over $31,000 for Damon: I want to make sure the money goes toward Damon’s education, but I don’t feel comfortable holding on to the money for so long, and I’m also not… Read more
The Guardian has put out their list of the “100 greatest non-fiction books” of all-time. Forget the debate about the list for a moment. I just love this explanation of why no religious texts made the cut: … after some debate we decided that religious texts were a little too, well, fictional. Didn’t know a debate was needed to make that decision, but it was the right one 🙂 (Thank to Rich for the link!) Read more
