The Seattle Atheists have put up a beautiful Tree of Knowledge at the State Capitol building: The text reads: At this winter Solstice, as people embrace light and hope, Seattle Atheists celebrates human knowledge: Inquiry and discovery, invention and exploration, the investigation of mysteries subatomic to astronomic, ever growing, ever reaching, ever striving According to Jim Camden of The Spokesman-Review: … their tree looks suspiciously like a Christmas Tree, considering it’s about a 6-foot conifer with decorations hanging from the… Read more
Note: Letter writers’ names are changed to protect their privacy. Hi Richard, I’m sure you get questions all of the time about religious girlfriends/boyfriends, but my question has more to do with timing, patience, and viability. I’ve been dating a wonderful girl I met at work for nearly a year. She’s 22, I’m 25. The relationship is fantastic and I can totally see myself marrying her. We’ve discussed it in some detail, but she refuses to concede the raising of… Read more
I am a spelling freak. Outside of typos (which I admittedly make on this site), I get seriously upset if I spell something wrong. If I’m unsure of a spelling, I have to look it up or use a synonym rather than venture a guess. I once misspelled “corrugate” in 7th grade, which knocked me out of my middle school Spelling Bee. Not that I’m bitter. I never “studied” spelling, though. I just tried to take notice of it when… Read more
I just want to preserve the moment when Father Jonathan Morris says on FOX News, “If you have an imaginary friend, there’s something wrong with you.” Would anyone like to break the news to him…? (via Atheist Media Blog) Read more
Repent Amarillo, a Christian extremist group with a crazy website, has a Christmas message for everyone. It involves Santa Claus getting shot at by a firing squad: Of course, as they say in the video, this is all in good fun. They abhor violence. (Can’t you tell?) It was alllllll a fun little joke. That explains why you’re laughing uproariously… (What? You’re not? My bad.) Based on the man’s hoodie, Repent Amarillo also wishes to send another message: fuck peaceful… Read more
According to a new poll from Gallup, 40% of Americans believe in strict Creationism — that a god created us in our present form under 10,000 years ago. Amazingly, this represents an improvement over past years when the number was 44% (2008) and 46% (2006). Meanwhile, the number of people who live in reality is only slightly up from previous years — we’re now at 16%. (Keep in mind, though, that the poll has a margin of error of 4%.)… Read more
I don’t know what prompted a Wall Street Journal blog of all places to print this, but I’m thrilled they did. Comedian Ricky Gervais has an essay on why he became an atheist, what that means for him, and how he has to deal with theists who confront him about it: I was sitting at the kitchen table when my brother came home. He was 11 years older than me, so he would have been 19. He was as smart… Read more
Reader Chas wants to get your ideas about a way to tax churches: I had an employee several years ago who belonged to a pretty liberal church. Somehow the topic came up that their church building needed some work and in debating their budget the church elders compromised and decided they would do the work only if they also raised and spent an equal amount on charitable works. That always seemed to me a pretty responsible ideal. It made me… Read more
During The Amazing Meeting 7 (in 2009), Adam Savage from Mythbusters spoke about the importance of his failures and how they shaped him. JREF has now put the video online: Any particular timestamps you’d recommend watching? … If you’re a JREF supporter, by the way, they’re currently in the middle of a fundraising drive called the “Season of Reason” campaign — proceeds will support educational programs (grants, scholarships, workshops, classroom materials, etc). If you can help them out, please do… Read more
Chandler, Arizona is home to a Christian church with special services just for men: Man Church is church the way a man expects it to be done. No singing, short sermon, time to talk with other guys, no women present, and coffee and donuts. That’s the way men want to do church. The topics of discussion will have a definite manly focus — being the best possible husband, father, employee, leader — being a real man. In fact, every aspect… Read more
