Note: Letter writer’s names are changed to protect their privacy. Kate wrote a long letter, the first part of which I am summarizing: She was born into a basically non-observant Catholic family. When she began dating her husband-to-be in high school, she was completely uninterested in religion, and he was nominally a Christian. They got along very well, but his parents are very heavily religious. (She did not specify the denomination.) She attended church with them so that they would… Read more
Let me summarize what you’re about to see Christian apologist Sean McDowell say: Of course we want to show love to our gay friends. But love only goes so far. I knew of a guy who came out as gay. His parents supported his decision. And then he died. Because of homosexual AIDS. Moral of the story? Christians need to stop “accepting” gay people. You can see it for yourself: Good to see Christian kindness is still alive and well…… Read more
***Update***: Mike Lee, the religiousantagonist, has posted a comment below. He is sincerely apologetic (and I believe him when he says that), but he wants to explain his thought process in making this video. … This video from religiousantagonist encourages atheists to reshelve the Bibles in the public library — because they ought to be in the fiction section (or possibly horror). Ugh. Don’t do that. Please don’t do that. I get it. Really, I do. The Bible is fiction…. Read more
Scott VanDenPlas, an atheist from Chicago, recently heard Christopher Hitchens say the following in an interview: “I’ve had an amazing number of letters from people, I still get them. Hand written ones to my house, as well as emails to my office in New York. Saying really, the nicest things, most of them… not all. And trying to assure me that, in their minds, my life hasn’t been a waste of time, even if it ends prematurely. I’m 62 in… Read more
When Christian author Rachel Held Evans heard about the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn controversy, she was upset because she loves the book so much. How dare people change the book by revising parts they don’t like?! And what about the House Republicans’ desire to read the Constitution aloud… but only after omitting that whole Three-Fifths Compromise? How dare people change the Constitution by getting rid of the parts that don’t sit well with the public? That’s when she realized she… Read more
A month ago, the Atheists of Florida were threatened by the Cape Coral City Council because they were wearing shirts that read, “One Nation, Indivisible”: This is what happened last time: During the mid-meeting break, Cape Coral Mayor, John Sullivan, and city manager, Gary King, reiterated their demands for members to replace or cover up the shirts. King indicated that the shirts were in violation of council policy. He further warned that if the shirts were still visible, anyone wearing the… Read more
I’ve posted a number of things about the Quiverfull movement, most notably an interview with the author of a book on the subject, Kathryn Joyce. The Quiverfull movement believes in nonstop procreation as long as the married Christian couple can make it happen (e.g. The Duggars). They also believe in a patriarchy, very formal courtship, Vyckie Garrison birthed seven children before leaving the movement for good. She now writes at the blog No Longer Quivering. Julie Mullen and the folks… Read more
You want to know how important the Secular Student Alliance is? There’s an incredible testimonial on Reddit from a high school student in Oklahoma who wanted to begin an atheist group his junior year. After word about the group got out on Facebook, the student was called in to the principal’s office… … On my way there I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why I was going. I walked into the office with a myriad of dirty… Read more
I got an email from an atheist student attending a Christian college yesterday. She has to do the following assignment for a class: Read Peter Kreeft’s webpage ‘Twenty Arguments for the Existence of God’… Evaluate arguments 6, 14, 16, 18, and 19 and select the one that you would feel most comfortable using when trying to convince an open-minded non-believer in the existence of God. Write an essay analyzing your argument. Be sure to take into account of the following… Read more
