As May 21st approaches, reader Amanda has a fantastic idea: Everyone gather up a full set of clothes, including shoes. Place them in a public area on May 21st, as if someone was raptured. Underneath, place a note which says: “The rapture is a MYTH, but people and their needs are REAL, and these clothes were placed there for someone who needs them.” Make it happen! Actions speak louder than the words of crazy people. Barring that, I also approve… Read more
Musician Andrew Fox has a fantastic new song out called “Disco Institute” — Can you guess the inspiration…? 🙂 It’s catchy, awesome, and the only party song I’ve ever heard that mocks intelligent Design and the people who perpetuate bad science. Here are a couple excerpts from the lyrics: Shut your mind off, Toss it down that chute! The dance, you’ll find, has been designed at the Disco Institute! Some lyrics come from the perspective of the Discovery Institute itself… Read more
Reader Alex sent me this beautifully ironic photo that he saw on a street leading up to a cemetery: Read more
For anyone near Oakland, California, there’s a Rapture Party taking place May 21-22! The schedule is here (PDF) and there are a lot of fantastic speakers lined up. Plus, there’s this billboard advertising it. How could you not go?! (Thanks to Larry for the link!) Read more
Reader Sebastian created a lot of awesome t-shirt designs that atheists might like to wear during the Impending Rapture: A few more designs can be found here! Read more
What happens when 10,000 non-religious people take a survey about their sex lives — including people who were raised in one religion but later left it? Well, you get a treasure trove of data that’s never been analyzed before. Dr. Darrel W. Ray and student Amanda Brown sifted through tons of data and put together a report that can be found here. Let’s get the obvious criticism out of the way: You have to take everything with a grain of… Read more
The other day, I mentioned how Illinois was considering adopting Scientology’s “Good Choices Program” into public schools. Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson, was advocating for the program developed by her non-profit group Happy House. Illinois hasn’t accepted or rejected the program just yet, but I was pleased to see the Illinois Family Institute arguing against its adoption. Laurie Higgins and I are on the same page! (It threw me off for a second… I wasn’t sure I could… Read more
In case you missed The Office this week, Dwight is the interim regional manager. One of the things he does with his power trip is make all the employees say the Pledge of Allegiance. The camera then pans in on Oscar keeping his mouth shut while everyone else says “Under God” (sorry, non-Hulu people!): Later in the episode, as Gabe confesses his love for Erin, his lovely monologue includes a whole lot of backpedaling about God: Gabe: Erin, I am… Read more
Last night on Real Time, Bill Maher explained the hypocrisy of many Evangelical Christians: … If you’re a Christian who supports killing your enemies and torture, you have to come up with a new name for yourself. The bit begins at the 2:35 mark: I was really surprised that Maher used the word “Christian” as synonymous with “good.” That seems to go against most of his usually anti-religious rhetoric. Since when are Jesus and the Bible the epitome of moral… Read more