One of the most discussed issues from The Amazing Meeting this past weekend was Phil Plait’s talk about how we treat people who disagree with us. In essence, “Don’t Be a Dick.” Here’s the gist of it: Phil says (and I agree) most of us believed in something ridiculous at one point or another — whether it was homeopathy or horoscopes or god or psychics. Eventually, we got over it. Was it because someone called us mean names? Was it… Read more
by Jesse Galef – Someone is suing the church. No, it’s not the Catholic Church and it’s not about the whole “raping children” thing. In Australia, the Agape Ministries used claims about a doomsday to trick the congregation into donating. The predicted doomsday didn’t happen (as you might have noticed). Now, two particular members who donated a combined $1.4 million want their money back. That plaintiff and another former church member, Martin Penney, are suing pastor Rocco Leo and two… Read more
David Hayward points out how times have changed for atheists: Has God gotten nicer? Of course not. Hell, Christians today still think you’re going to burn in hell eternally if you don’t buy into their mythology. The first panel mixes fiction with fear. The second panel is honest. Nothing happens when you lose your faith. God doesn’t smite you. The outside world doesn’t change. Your mindset shifts and you look at the world differently (more accurately, atheists would argue). My… Read more
by Jesse Galef – The funniest thing about the atheist billboard campaigns is that it almost doesn’t matter what they say. The message gets bypassed and the signs turn into a lightning rod for all the religious arguments about atheism. “Don’t believe in God? You are not alone” somehow gets portrayed as “A new billboard questioning the existence of God.” Facepalm-inducing idiocy ensues. Having followed the billboard campaigns (supported by the United Coalition of Reason) for a while, I feel… Read more
Note: Letter writers’ names are changed to protect their privacy. Dear Richard, I have a friend who until very recently identified as Catholic. Her entire family is Catholic, and she had a rather liberal interpretation of the faith, but she believed in God all the same. A few days ago, she “came out” as an agnostic on a small independent blogging site we both frequent, saying she’s “not sure [she] can believe in God.” Since then, however, she has made… Read more
A couple years ago, I started receiving Christian magazines in my mailbox. (I guess anonymous Christians felt if I read them, I’d get converted or something. Who knows how they found my address…) My favorite in the bunch was Charisma because I *facepalmed* through every issue. It was free entertainment. It would have been more fun if I didn’t know that actual subscribers actually agreed with what was in it. That was (and still is) frightening. For example, their most… Read more
“Keiki” is the Hawaiian word for “Baby.” Keep that in mind as you look at the menu that reader Allison and her husband saw at a restaurant during their recent vacation there 🙂 … we ate at this little restaurant with terrible service, but we had to forgive them once we found out they serve Baby Burgers! And only $6. What a deal! I’m paying at least $19 in Chicago. Read more
At Rational Moms, mother Aerin explains why she and her husband sent their twins to a religious preschool despite neither parent being actively religious: Because the program was associated to a church, it was significantly less expensive than other programs. It was also NAEYC accredited (National Association for the Education of Young Children). The teachers were experienced and had years of teaching pre-school either at the school or at other locations. Some teachers/staff were religious, but some of them attended… Read more
***If you want instant updates, I suggest reading the #TAM8 Twitter feed*** Thanks to @UAJamie for the great pictures! You can read previous sessions here, here, here, here, and here. … It’s so early… but I’m up for you! So many questions this morning… Were there cats at the Skepchick party last night? Because I can’t breathe. Why is one of my roommates missing? Why is there a tiger and baby in my hotel room? Anyway, the first paper presentation… Read more
***If you want instant updates, I suggest reading the #TAM8 Twitter feed*** Thanks to @UAJamie for the great pictures! You can read previous sessions here, here, here, and here. … First up: David Javerbaum, the (now-departed-to-pursue-wonderful-other-career-options) Executive Producer and head writer of The Daily Show. Between him and emcee Hal Bidlack, they have an average of 5.5 Emmys. Hal has zero. You do the math. I’m so excited for this 🙂 David begins with a silent prayer. We laugh. He… Read more
