Note: Letter writers’ names are changed to protect their privacy. Hi Richard! My husband and I have recently moved from a small town in the bible belt famous for its wholesome, christian values to probably the most liberal college town in the state, which isn’t saying much. Before we moved I made sure I had a job lined up because we could not afford to be jobless. During orientation, I learned that my new job was a Christian based company,… Read more
I mentioned American Atheists may be putting up a new ad in anticipation of their national convention… and it’s now up! (Five of them!) Can you believe it’s causing some controversy…? “Even within the atheist community, the idea of ‘You know there is no God’, there are various difference of opinion about how far that goes — if it’s too far, not far enough — but that’s the objective. Get people thinking, catch the eye and create some dialogue,” said… Read more
In the latest issue of Rolling Stone (full article not available online), comedian Ricky Gervais talks about his atheism. That’s not new. I just like this accompanying picture: I’m pretty sure that’s what fundamentalist Christians think about when they hear the word “atheist”… Gervais isn’t alone in talking about his atheism, though. He’s joined by Kari Byron from Mythbusters, who discusses it in an interview at Suicide Girls: Keith Daniels: Well one thing I’m curious about. Do you believe in… Read more
I love how Creationist “logic” works when faced with someone armed with the facts… First, a Christian website posted this ridiculous cartoon: Of course, we know the two situations are completely different. Snakes don’t talk. Neither do amoebas. We do, now, after billions of years of evolutionary progress. You’re crazy if you think a snake actually existed and actually spoke to an actual Adam and an actual Eve. Several commenters point this out to the author of the post, C… Read more
This is what happens when you express doubt in the religious world: Even when you get the chance to ask a question to a pastor, the response is usually full of bullshit — the meaningless recitation of some Bible verse or a made-up answer that has no basis in the truth. The church doesn’t know how to reconcile its beliefs with an often harsh reality, so instead of saying “I don’t know the answer,” they overcompensate by saying “Christianity has… Read more
Reader Alex has several questions about the supposed Islamic belief in men receiving 72 virgins in the afterlife: Where do these 72 virgins come from? Does anyone specify that these virgins are all female? Assuming they are, are they supposed to be the souls of women who died before having sex in their mortal life? Or is there some virgin factory in heaven producing females for the sole purpose of having sex with dead men? Doesn’t that make god a… Read more
You know how pastors get a ridiculous “housing allowance”? They get to exclude the cost of housing from their reported income, so that money never gets taxed. Essentially, that means free housing, courtesy of the government, for reasons that no one can quite understand. A government commission is looking into this issue and Christianity Today has a collection of opinions on the issue. One of them caught my eye because it comes from Gene Edward Veith, provost at super-Christian-conservative Patrick… Read more
The Bible Tutor is back and she’s teaching us all about 1 Samuel 17-18 and what David did to get his wife: I love the last line 🙂 And now I know what I need to show my future bride’s father when I’m ready to propose: Read more
***Update***: The video is back! … Well, hand it to pastor Mark Driscoll, he doesn’t care about being politically correct. You may want to get some popcorn before watching this. It’s great. Will everyone who doesn’t know about Jesus go to hell? Yes! Yes! Yes. It greatly disturbs me when well-known pastors and preachers and authors get invited onto television studio sets where the lights are on them and the world is listening to them and the interview inquires of… Read more
You may remember Cecil Bothwell, the atheist who won an election to become city councilperson in Asheville, North Carolina. When he ran, his atheism was used against him by his opponents. Despite that, he won the race… but that didn’t stop opponents from claiming atheists couldn’t serve in elected office because it was unconstitutional. Rachel Maddow even ran a segment covering the Bothwell controversy: Of course, the law was on Bothwell’s side and he was able to keep his seat…. Read more
