Who do you think gave this nod to feminism in an interview? Feminism certainly addressed problems that needed to be addressed. Before the late 1960s, when the women’s movement came into full force, women were treated like sex objects, and there was not equal pay for equal work. There’s now a level of respect for women that was not as evident, say, 50 years ago. I’ll admit it: it surprised me. But then he dug himself right back into the… Read more
by Jesse Galef – How do you feel when people say they’re praying for you? I’m not talking about them praying for you to “find your way” (which I find rather condescending) but the times they genuinely care about your well-being and think their prayers will help. Two days ago, Rev. Robert Barron wrote a piece on CNN.com about why Christians should pray for Hitchens. They got enough responses from both sides that CNN posted a new piece yesterday entitled… Read more
A number of city councils are heading for disaster. I swear, all these problems would stop if local mayors just did away with pre-meeting prayers… but they won’t. They get off on pushing their personal faith. It’s one thing when only atheists oppose them. But when you have a minister against them, shouldn’t that be a sign you’re doing something wrong? That’s what’s happening in Spartanburg, South Carolina (home of anti-gay ranter Linda Dogan). Their prayers have gotten out of… Read more
I’m doing a couple events this weekend for those who might be interested. On Saturday, I’ll be in Des Moines speaking at the Iowa Secularists Conference. There will be entertainment. And there will be Math. You’ve been warned. On Sunday night, I’ll be at the Evangelical Free Church in Bloomington, IL to do an atheist/Christian dialogue alongside Dr. Todd Daly, professor at Urbana Theological Seminary. That event is still open to the public and tickets are $4 for adults ($2… Read more
Jerry Andrus was an American magician who created a lot of terrific optical illusions in his day. I met a guy named Rex Young at The Amazing Meeting 8 who demonstrated a few of Andrus’ illusions to me. This one in particular was really amazing to look at: For more videos and illusions like this, check out Rex’s YouTube page! Read more
Last week, the Humanist Association of Ottawa found out that there was an event in their community that they really needed to attend — “The Psychic Experience” with Matthew Stapley. Basically, Stapley was going to perform cold readings (a la John Edward). So the Humanists decided to take action. We were armed with pamphlets from Ottawa Skeptics entitled “How To Be A Psychic” (PDF here). Inside, it gives basic instructions on standard techniques such as cold-reading and the Barnum (also… Read more
One of the personal highlights for me at The Amazing Meeting was the chance to interview David Javerbaum, the former head writer and executive producer of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He was one of the lead authors of America (The Book): A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy Inaction and the sole author of What to Expect When You’re Expected: A Fetus’s Guide to the First Three Trimesters. Thursday was his last day on the job. He’s now pursuing other… Read more
My mind is being blown. The Illinois Family Institute and several atheists are on the same side of a controversial issue. The issue is that Dr. Kenneth Howell, a professor at the University of Illinois, taught a class on Catholicism. He’s Catholic himself, but that’s irrelevant. He sent out an email to students in his class that referenced his own personal beliefs about homosexuality being immoral. How did U of I officials respond? According to Ann Mester, associate dean for… Read more
Dave Niose, the President of the American Humanist Association, has some excellent advice at Salon about what secular students ought to do. He goes into more depth in his piece, but here are the bulletpoints: [Stand] up for what’s right Identify openly Talk about the concept of religious identity Join a national group Join or start a local group Remember your secularism when it comes time for ceremonies Question friends who “drift back” insincerely Defend all secular identities Speak up… Read more
by Jesse Galef – Yesterday, Hemant implied that we can’t know anything about the afterlife, and called out the evangelical Charisma magazine for printing an FAQ about Heaven. (Turns out we have jobs in Heaven…) Well, I don’t read Charisma magazine, so I don’t know what it said about Hell. But I already know what it must be like. I have it on good authority: Rowan Atkinson before he starred as Mr. Bean. It looks like we’ll be seeing the… Read more
