I’m so excited about this announcement… JT Eberhard, Captain of the Missouri State University Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and one of the leaders responsible for putting together the incredibly popular Skepticon conference last month, now has a new job: … I was offered the position of Campus Organizer and High School Specialist with the Secular Student Alliance. I immediately accepted, as this was the job at the top of my list… … If you are a high school… Read more
When Richard Dawkins appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher last season he brought Bill a present: That’s your set up for this uncomfortably stereotypical Funny or Die sketch by Sam Sero: On a serious note, is there anyone who would feel uncomfortable wearing that shirt, despite its evolutionary truth? Read more
It’s amazing how much publicity a couple atheist ads can get. For a while, American Atheists President Dave Silverman was seen all over FOX News Channel for the “You know it’s a myth. This season, celebrate reason!” billboard. Now, the Dallas – Forth Worth Coalition of Reason bus ad is getting attention from the New York Times. A quick history: After the ad above went up on four buses earlier in the month, some Christians boycotted the transit system and… Read more
Anyone who reads, comments on, or writes atheist blogs knows exactly who Crispian Jago is imitating… Start of with an insane threat. Remembering to ensure that you leave CAPS-LOCK on for a FEW WORDS and finish with an exclamation mark! Leave a couple of BLANK LINES! Insert a few underscores, ___________________________________________ The remainder of the comment is irrelevant as no one ever actually reads any further down THAN THIS! That’s only the beginning… It’s spot-on, really 🙂 Read more
After local Catholic bishops sent out 400,000 DVDs to churchgoers telling them “there should be a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in Minnesota,” one group of Catholics decided to fight back. And they brought 3,000 of the DVDs back with them. The project’s organizer, Bob Radecki, of Burnsville, said the group was denied a meeting with Archbishop John Nienstedt to discuss the DVD controversy. Nienstedt directed them to put their concerns in writing. … In response, Radecki, his wife… Read more
Rev. James T. Meeks, a pastor and Illinois State Senator, is running for mayor of Chicago — he has little chance of winning — and the Chicago Tribune ran a front-page story yesterday about how he’s just egging the IRS to go after him: Nearly every Sunday since announcing his bid for mayor, Meeks has taken to the pulpit to preach to the faithful at the 10,000-seat House of Hope about their religious duty to be civic-minded and support candidates… Read more
“He who complies against his will Is of his own opinion still.” ~Samuel Butler (1612-1680) Note: Letter writers’ names are changed to protect their privacy. Richard, I know you get a lot of emails about people having difficulty reconciling their atheism and their parents, but I need your advice. My family is heavily religious (Christian) – both my parents and my younger brother are prominent members of their respective churches. For several years, my atheism has been an open secret… Read more
Brookville, Indiana residents want to keep a nativity scene on government property. The Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter to Franklin County commissioners and the Brookville Town Council demanding the removal of the scene from the courthouse lawn. The group said that the display violates the First Amendment and said it had received a complaint about it. … Brookville Town Council President Michael Biltz said the display, owned by the city, has been at the courthouse for at least… Read more
A couple months ago, I wrote this: It’s been a while since I’ve written about John Freshwater, the middle school science teacher who was accused of burning crosses into his students’ arms and teaching Creationism. Since his firing in 2008, he’s been on “unpaid administrative leave pending an appeal.” At the time, Freshwater dropped the lawsuit without a settlement. It looks like there’s finally resolution to the case. Freshwater is the clear loser, just as he always should have been…. Read more
From PostSecret: What would they do? Kick him out of his leadership position. Try to cure him of The Gay. Make him feel guilty for who he is. What wouldn’t they do? Love him and accept him as he is. I don’t know how any GLBT person (or straight ally) can support evangelical Christianity. The church has done nothing but cause harm to and spread misinformation about that community. (***Update***: I should have clarified that there are obviously some Christians… Read more
