— by Brittany Meyer Another day, yet another “God” lawsuit thrown out due to lack of standing. Recently, The Freedom from Religion Foundation sued the Architect of the Capitol in federal court to get the “In God We Trust” and Pledge of Allegiance engravings removed from the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, D.C. Like my last article on Newdow’s struggle to get “so help me God” taken out of the presidential oath, this case was thrown out on an unfortunate,… Read more
A week ago, I mentioned that I would be attending the Jon Stewart “Rally to Restore Sanity”/Stephen Colbert “March To Keep Fear Alive” in Washington, D.C. on 10/30/10. (Soooooooo excited…) With the help of the American Humanist Association, there’s now a way to make that day even better. We’ve reserved space for a gathering of about 150 people at the Lauriol Plaza Restaurant! It’s just a short walk from the AHA offices and a few blocks away from the Dupont… Read more
The Secular Student Society at Texas Tech University spent their Blasphemy Day offering cookies to students who were willing to give up their soul. Sounds like an amazing deal to me. Hell, depending on the type of cookie, I’d be willing to exchange a few of my souls. “The point of this is not to antagonize people. We’re promoting critical thinking among various religious perspectives with students at Tech.” [public relations manager Austin] Fielding said. Rebecca Stacks, a junior history… Read more
A lot of Christians these days use this argument when they rail against homosexuality: A homosexual struggling against the temptation to act homosexual is no different from anyone else struggling to resist a sinful temptation. John Shore has a great response to this: Here is that Big Difference between homosexuality and other sins: There is no sin I can commit that, by virtue of committing it, renders me incapable of loving or being loved. I can commit murder. I can… Read more
Note: Letter writers’ names are changed for their privacy. Richard, My non-religious (as of yet) kids (ages eleven and eight) go to my in-law’s church occasionally when they stay over Saturday night. They then attend the Sunday school portion with their rather religious cousins. When they get home, we discuss what they talked about and they are welcome to ask me or my husband questions about it. I figure it is a good way to get them exposed directly to… Read more
Yesterday, I ran my first 5K. You all gave me excellent advice and I used absolutely none of it. Dinner the night before the race? Indian food. Breakfast the day of the race? Donuts. Warmup? Who needs that. Clearly, I was destined to win this race. Here’s how things went down: [Race starts] Me: We’ve only gone two blocks. Why are people running in the opposite direction? Ladyfriend: Because they’re almost done with the race. Me: Are you &$*%ing kidding… Read more
Let’s say a close relative gave you this t-shirt: And let’s say the relative knows you’re an atheist. What’s the best way to respond? A reader would love some advice… Read more
The Rock is a notable part of Northwestern University. With the first painting of the rock in the 1940s, it became a canvas for student art, opinions, advertising, messages, proposals, and jokes. Tradition holds that if a student wishes to paint something on the Rock, he or she must guard it from sunup until the early morning hours (24 hours) before painting. Many student groups start guarding even earlier to ensure that they will be able to claim the Rock… Read more
Here’s Wiley Miller’s “controversial” Non Sequitur comic strip which you may not be seeing in your local newspaper today. Harmless. Inoffensive. Not a big deal. Anyone who overreacts to this is crazy. No editor should be caving in and banning this strip out of fear of the lunatics. Read more
Take note of Wiley Miller’s comic strip Non Sequitur in your newspaper this weekend if it regularly appears there. Several newspapers are rejecting this Sunday’s strip in advance. What’s so offensive about it? [It] depicts a lazy, sunny park scene with the caption, “Picture book title voted least likely to ever find a publisher… ‘Where’s Muhammad?’” Characters in the park are buying ice cream, fishing, roller skating, etc. No character is depicted as even Middle Eastern. So that’s where we’re… Read more
