After activist Rob Sherman heard that a science teacher at Libertyville High School in Illinois was teaching Creationism — you can see the teacher’s handouts here (PDF) — all he had to do was speak up at a school board meeting to put a stop to it. It was that simple: Libertyville High School teacher Beau Schaefer has been ordered by School District 128 to stop teaching creationism during the evolution chapter of his biology class. The order came only… Read more
After military officials at Fort Bragg cut off the resources for Rock Beyond Belief, many people have been complaining to their local politicians. That includes George G. Cleveland, a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives. He’s also chair of the state’s Homeland Security, Military, and Veterans Affairs committee. So it’s even more incredible that he responded to one complaint with this (emphasis mine): Ms. [name witheld] — This is a Federal issue not a State issue. With that… Read more
I don’t know why this video is appearing everywhere, but it is: Is it a Poe? I don’t even care to find out. (***Update***: The commenters all say this is indeed a Poe.) Even if it were true, one young, crazy Christian doesn’t say anything about the other people following the faith. It’s easy to point to her as a victim of Christian brainwashing, but I don’t know a single Christian who would agree with what she says. (Even the… Read more
Note: Letter writers’ names are changed to protect their privacy. Richard I recently came out to my mam as an athiest. You see im 15 and at first my mam brushed off my ideas as “teenage hormones”, but when I pushed further saying that I have already decided to be athiest she said that as long as I live here in their house I have to be a catholic and go to mass. Now im just confused and weight of… Read more
My old nickname for Mike Lee, the religiousantagonist, was “Dammit Mike.” My new one is “The Johnny Knoxville of atheism.” That’ll make more sense after you see this video, featuring the aftermath of his “conversion” to Mormonism. There’s the part where he apologizes to people on behalf of the Mormon church for offending them (I love the reaction from the anonymous guy at the 1:37 mark when Mike explains that the Mormon church didn’t allow black people to become priests… Read more
First Baptist Church made a video recapping a recent married couples’ retreat. They asked the couples to share their experiences and urge others to attend the retreat in the future. Nice video. But I just don’t get the feeling like I’m hearing from everyone…: Wow. By the third couple, it’s kind of funny… by the sixth couple, it’s downright sad. As Darrell at Stuff Fundies Like puts it: From this video I gather that Rule 1 of a Happy Marriage… Read more
In a couple of weeks, I’ll be speaking at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County! The details: Where: LH2 – Meyerhoff Chemistry Building When: Wednesday, March 30th at 7:00p Cost: Free! Sponsors: UMBC Secular Student Alliance Secret word: Mambo. Hope to see you there! And while we’re at it, it’s my first time coming to Baltimore — any suggestions on places to visit if there’s some downtime? Read more
If you’re planning to fill out an NCAA tournament bracket this week, consider Vaxing Your Bracket! 1. Go to your PayPal account and send $10.00 to Vax.Charity@gmail.com. (Note: PayPal may charge you a fee of $0.56) 2. In the message section, please give us the email you will be using to join the Pool. 3. Once we get your payment, we’ll send you an invite to the Pool at the email you provided. Half the prize pool will go to… Read more
Even though I love Math and Biology, none of my college classes were all that great. I just sort of came and went. My grades were fine, but I probably learned more from reading books on my own and having discussions with friends than from any textbook or professor. The Political Science and Philosophy students always had the more interesting class discussions. Which is why I’m jealous that this class is being offered at The Ohio State University this Spring…. Read more
