Can atheists really participate in “interfaith” work? It’s been a touchy subject lately, and I’m not convinced we can. No doubt people from different backgrounds can work together to advance common goals, and President Obama alluded to this late last week with a new proposal: The White House is launching the President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge, an initiative inviting institutions of higher education to commit to a year of interfaith cooperation and community service programming on campus. This… Read more
You all asked for a reminder, so here it is: Today begins A Week! Show others that you’re an atheist and proud of it. Start some conversations with people who may not know what the OUT Campaign symbol is all about! A Week is not about being disrespectful to religion or people who have religious views, it’s about quietly showing that there are more people than may be [realized] who are ‘Good without God’ and who don’t need religion to… Read more
***Update***: Commenters are right to point out that the celebrities are not necessarily atheists, but their quotations certainly resonate with atheists. … These aren’t the latest atheist billboards, but they sure as hell should be. George Clooney, Natalie Portman, Frank Sinatra, and Jon Stewart look even more fantastic when surrounded by their godless words: You can see the rest of the collection here. (Designed by Truth-Saves) Read more
The evolution of god in the minds of atheists: The Doctor Evil picture seems particularly apt for god: Seems sweet at times, maybe even well-intentioned… but, at the end of the day, just a bully with bad ideas. (via Atheist Cartoons) Read more
This may be my new favorite response to “What Would Jesus Do?”… By the way, if you haven’t read them already, the Cyanide & Happiness books are hilarious. Read more
Reader Daniel points out that at the website TeeFury (where t-shirts are sold for only 24 hours), today’s shirt has an image of some famous scientists… together in a rock band: That’s Charles Darwin on bass, Sigmund Freud on drums, Thomas Edison on electric guitar, Ivan Pavlov on cowbell (yeah!), and Albert Einstein on vocals. The deal lasts for another 11 hours or so… and the shirt’s $10. The only woman I see is the silhouette inside the flask. Feel… Read more
Last month, members of the Secular Student Alliance affiliate at the University of Illinois set up a table on their quad. A sign on it invited people to “Ask an Atheist” anything. The members sat there ready to answer any questions people had about not believing in a god. Other campus groups have put on similar “events” over the past few years, but the Illinois group wants to make this a national thing — there’s more impact that way –… Read more
You already know about the “classic” Coexist bumper sticker: I’ve posted about an atheist alternative to it: But I just found out there’s a version of it just for Chicagoans: I suppose if Cubs and White Sox fans can coexist, Christians, Jews, and Muslims should have no problem, right? 🙂 (Thanks to Matthew for the link!) Read more
It’s bad enough that some politicians waste taxpayer money on pet projects… but you won’t believe what Coun. Michael Thompson did in his first act in office: Toronto city hall watchers are raising questions after Coun. Michael Thompson paid a pastor $300 of taxpayers’ money to have his office blessed. The blessing of Thompson’s office took place on Dec. 7 — the day all new council members were inaugurated… So instead of getting down to business and just working hard… Read more
There’s a debate on whether veganism is truly Humanistic taking place at the Humanist Network News. I’m betting none of you have an opinion on this. Jason Torpy presents Team Vegan: Humanist values, as I understand them, put a premium on health, animals, and the environment. Humanists should be able to suffer some inconvenience to reduce their carbon footprint and their cruelty footprint. Doing the right thing can sometimes be difficult, but it shouldn’t be in this case. When wondering… Read more
