I used to think it was ok to be religious as long as you were in support of things like social justice, good science, and church/state separation. Anyone who’s read this site for a while knows I don’t really feel that way anymore. I don’t “attack” people who are religious, but I don’t see a need to let that slide anymore even when they agree with me everywhere else. PZ Myers made this point at the recent Secular Humanism’s Next… Read more
I’ll be giving a couple local talks and a couple far-away talks over the next few weeks. If you’re in the area, come check them out! All the cool kids are doing it. Who: Humanists of West Suburban Chicagoland Where: DuPage Unitarian Universalist Church, Naperville, IL When: 10/13/10 at 7:30 p.m. Who: AA : Atheists & Allies at the Illinois Institute of Technology Where: E1 Auditorium, Chicago, IL When: 10/14/10 at 7:00 p.m. Who: Dartmouth College Secular Student Alliance Where:… Read more
When Paul Sullivan’s company created shirts for the Pope’s visit to the UK, he had high hopes: In August, Canon Pat Browne, dean of St Chad’s Cathedral in Birmingham, told the BBC: “The producers tell me it will raise somewhere in the region of £50,000 for the papal visit fund.” The shirts were a combination of the England team colors and the colors of the Vatican Flag. How well did they sell? Well… just check out the blunt headline at… Read more
I’m trying to interpret this (real) church sign: Skeptical Rockhead asks some good questions about it: Does it mean atheists are worthless? Does it mean you can’t have good without a god? Does it mean goodness without a god is meaningless? I’m not sure what the intended meaning is. All I’m getting from it is that whoever wrote the sign can’t understand why non-Christians could, would, or should be good. Isn’t that just frightening…? I can’t understand why anyone would… Read more
I was watching Comedy Central recently and saw stand-up by comedian Bret Ernst. Watch the clip below… around the 0:49 mark. Jokes.comStand-Up: Bret Ernst – Kept His Wordcomedians.comedycentral.comFunny JokesFunny VideosDaniel Tosh Stand-Up For a moment, let’s put aside the fact that Ernst is completely wrong about atheists being “responsible for 300,000,000 deaths.” Usually, it’s religion that fodder for comedians. You don’t hear a lot of maintream comedians pick on atheists (Dane Cook’s joke being an exception) because, I suspect, so… Read more
Got some free time this weekend? Here’s 15 minutes of Christopher Hitchens at his finest 🙂 It only gets better toward the end. Read more
The Foundation Beyond Belief — a charity organization aimed at non-theistic donors — recently released their latest list of beneficiaries. (Full disclosure: I’m on their board.) Animal Protection: Animal Welfare Institute “Big Bang”: The Ayaan Hirsi Ali Foundation Child Welfare: Camfed USA (the Campaign for Female Education) Education: Vidnyanvahini Environment: Center for Biological Diversity Health: Foundation for African Medicine and Education (FAME) Human Rights: Soulforce Peace: Federation of American Scientists Poverty: Trenton Area Soup Kitchen While all the groups do… Read more
Now, it all makes sense: Don’t forget to click on the red dot! (via Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal) Read more
For a moment, I almost agreed with Laurie Higgins. I know. It freaked me out, too. She was writing about the recent, awful trend of young gay men committing suicide and mentioned Tyler Clementi, the teenager who jumped off the George Washington Bridge to his death after his roommate secretly broadcast Tyler hooking up with another guy in their dorm room. Laurie writes: Despite what homosexualists immediately pronounced, there is no indication that the taping was motivated by anti-homosexual animus…. Read more
When you have to spend a few months or a few years in prison, one way to pass the time is to surround yourself with literature. (Activist Leslie Zukor learned about how atheist books were rarely found in prisons and began a freethought books to prisoners drive. It was incredible how many prisoners requested books from her.) It seems that acquiring atheist books isn’t anywhere in the radar for the Berkeley County Detention Center in South Carolina, though. They’re far… Read more
