Hey all, Mike Clawson, the (woefully delinquent) Christian contributor here. (But I have a good excuse, honest. My doctoral program is seriously kicking my ass. 🙂 ) Anyhow, I stumbled upon this satirical blog post by Kim Fabricius over at the Faith and Theology blog, entitled “Twelve point guide for ripostes to militant atheists,” and thought that some of you might find it humorous (or at least provocative) as well. Obviously his purpose is not to raise serious conversation on… Read more
Jen McCreight appears in the latest issue of More magazine as part of the “New Feminists” spread: There’s a very Jen-like self-description, too: “Grad student; liberal, geeky, nerdy, scientific, perverted atheist (all her words)” Congratulations to her 🙂 It’s a well-deserved accolade after all the Boobquake frenzy. If you see the magazine at a bookstore or elsewhere, pick up a copy and make Jen sign it when you see her! That’s my plan, anyway. Read more
After the Soulforce debacle, Foundation Beyond Belief has a new beneficiary in our Human Rights category: We are pleased to announce that MARRIAGE EQUALITY USA has been selected as our new beneficiary in the Human Rights category for 4th quarter 2010. MEUSA is a U.S. national organization dedicated to securing the legal recognition of same-sex marriage through education and outreach. … “Our sincere gratitude to you and the Foundation!” wrote Christine Allen, leadership coordinator for MEUSA. “We function on a… Read more
After a TV show about homosexuality and the church aired in Finland, people began leaving the church in droves. At the moment, more than 20,000 people have resigned. On Saturday, some 4,500 members resigned from the church. On Sunday, a further 5,600 had quit, according to figures released by the Finnish-language online service “eroakirkosta.fi”. Under normal circumstances, resignations total about 400 members over the course of three days. Is that all it takes? An online form and the acknowledgment that… Read more
The brand new Washington DC Area Coalition of Reason has put up ads on bus shelters by the National Mall reading, “Don’t Believe in God? Join the club.” The cost? $7,875: Reaching out to the like-minded isn’t the only goal of the effort. “We also want the public to see that there are many humanists, agnostics and atheists living here as part of the community,” added Shelley Mountjoy, coordinator of Washington CoR. “We’re your friends, neighbors, coworkers and relatives. And… Read more
If it worked, every company would’ve jumped on the bandwagon: The hidden text: Not to be confused with ‘making money selling this stuff to OTHER people who think it works’, which corporate accountants and actuaries have zero problems with. (via XKCD) Read more
The poster for The Social Network is just ripe for parody… I love this Darwin version 🙂 (Thanks to Bryan for the link!) Read more
***Update***: There were a few errors in this piece regarding the names of schools and their public/private status when I originally posted it. I think they’ve been corrected now. … A couple years ago, George Mason University was in the news because it seemed to be giving preferential treatment to Muslim students. It seemed odd that a university would make such concessions. At George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., Muslim students using a “meditation space” laid out Muslim prayer rugs… Read more
Another article about religious demographics, another sign that we’re heading in the right direction: As recently as 1990, all but 7% of Americans claimed a religious affiliation, a figure that had held constant for decades. Today, 17% of Americans say they have no religion, and these new “nones” are very heavily concentrated among Americans who have come of age since 1990. Between 25% and 30% of twentysomethings today say they have no religious affiliation — roughly four times higher than… Read more
Here’s a quick, wonderful story from a reader, Sydney: I had an experience today that was memorable for just how ordinary it was. I was in a Gender class and we were partnered and asked to pick apart what a stay-at-home mother does… After putting down the obvious, my partner said, “How about religious center? I don’t know what your religion is, but my mom’s our religious center” to which I replied, without thinking, “Oh, we’re atheists.” I immediately regretted… Read more
