(Hemant’s note: This is a guest post by JulietEcho. She has been the fantastic admin for the Friendly Atheist forums for over two and a half years!) … Some contemporary Christian artists write songs that are hard to distinguish from secular music. As South Park parodied so well, many secular songs can be interpreted (or re-written by changing only a word or two) to have Christian messages. What’s an artist to do when their work is mistaken for Christian music?… Read more
In the wake of the Koran-Burnings-That-Didn’t-Happen, I have a question and a comment. When is it ok to burn a book? I used to be against book-burning in general because I saw all books as valuable in some respect… for some reason, that seems silly to me now. I don’t care if you burn your own books. I don’t care if you buy 983423 copies of a book that everyone loves or hates for the sole purpose of throwing them… Read more
Charlie’s Playhouse is running a fantastic contest for children (under 12) that involves thinking about evolution. In essence, pick an animal you like and an island with a different environment from the one your animal is used to living in… now, think about the evolutionary shifts that animal would undergo. Now imagine that millions of years pass. How would the animal evolve to fit the environment on the island? Draw us a picture of your animal after it has evolved,… Read more
Ever since I first saw it, I thought this was a bold and clever way to respond to a campus preacher who rails against homosexuality: But you don’t even need to do that. The Campus Atheists, Skeptics, and Humanists at the University of Minnesota are aware that notorious Christian Brother Jed is coming to their campus. So they’re planning a Kiss-In As a counter protest to the preacher Brother Jed, we want to get as many people as we can… Read more
Note: Letter writers’ names are changed to protect their privacy. Richard, Hello. I’m a fan of your page and I’ve have enjoyed your advice and opinion. I’ll be brief. I have a question. Today is 9/11. It is an event that helped me become cured of religion. I love my country. How can I respond to the words “God Bless America” when uttered in the context of 9/11 remembrance? More importantly, what can I say that expresses the equivalent sentiment… Read more
Here’s a church/state separation problem waiting to explode. A maximum-security prison in Texas will soon be the home of a religious seminary, “a first-of-its-kind program that authorities hope could eventually make the entire prison system less violent.” They say the program wouldn’t be paid for with taxpayer money, but aren’t taxpayers paying for the prison costs as a whole, anyway? I don’t know how that works, but I’m sure some of you do. Texas has religious programs at all of… Read more
Rapper Dan Bull knows the Pope is visiting his hometown in the UK soon, so he wrote him a welcome letter. And made it rhyme a lot. Funny stuff 🙂 (Thanks to Jeff for the link!) Read more
It seems like I say this all the time but, at last count, the Secular Student Alliance has more affiliates than ever before! “The secular student movement is growing faster than we ever expected,” said SSA Executive Director August Brunsman. “It’s a challenge to keep up with the demand for services. That’s a nice problem to have.” … “We envision a future in which nonreligious students are respected voices in society,” said Brunsman. “The increasing numbers and organization are promising… Read more
You often hear from atheists who left Christianity and occasionally from atheists who left Islam. You rarely hear about atheists who leave ultra-orthodox Judaism. But apparently, there are many non-believers in their ranks and they’re starting to tell their stories: Matan (a pseudonym like all names in this article) was an ultra-Orthodox Jew who stopped believing several years ago. “I don’t believe there is a God, but I also don’t really rule it out,” he said. “It can’t have an… Read more
Mmm…. I’ll take mine with cheese, spinach, and extra infant. I wonder if they stick to the original recipe or skimp on the baby to save some money… (Thanks to everyone for the link!) Read more
