Note: Letter writer’s names are changed to protect their privacy. Dear Richard I’m in a bit of a quandary. I’ve been an atheist for a few years now, and am thoroughly happy and at peace with this state of affairs. My wife, and various other family members who live nearby to us, know I’m an atheist, and accept my beliefs even though they don’t share them. My parents, however, who live halfway around the world, do not know. My father… Read more
I’ll be in Las Vegas over the next few days for The Amazing Meeting 8. The blog’s on autopilot until then. My apologies if your comments don’t get moderated for a while. The goal is to stalk all kinds of celebrities… and at some point sneak over to the Rio for a glimpse at the World Series of Poker Main Event while that’s going on 🙂 I don’t know about the Wifi situation other than I’ll lose less money playing… Read more
Atheist Alliance International is having their 2010 convention from October 1st-3rd in Montreal. Join us in Montreal for AAI’s annual North American convention, “Atheists Without Borders.” This theme expresses our vision of an international movement, going beyond political and cultural borders, uniting atheists and humanists in one virtual nation defined by our commitment to freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, human rights, critical thought, science and reason. Speakers include PZ Myers, Daniel Dennett, Susan Jacoby, and all sorts of other… Read more
Lately, in large part due to this post, I’ve heard from a couple different Christians who insist that while they may believe that homosexuality is a sin, they do love gay people and they think gay people deserve to be treated equally — the includes the right to marry even if their own church wouldn’t marry them. While it’s not perfect, I don’t mind it. If you’re for equal rights for all people, I don’t really care what you personally… Read more
The North Carolina Secular Association put up a billboard along the Billy Graham Parkway recently and it was vandalized within a week: The Institute for Creation Research had put out a message that essentially said vandalism is wrong, but they can understand why someone would do it: While vandalism should not be condoned, these recent events shed light on what some Americans will do when they feel that their freedom of speech is threatened. I thought that was bad. Now,… Read more
***Update***: Bjorn compiled a list of what people are saying about Christians in this thread. It’s not looking so good… … My friend Jim Henderson (he who once bought my soul on eBay) has a new book out called The Outsider Interviews. Jim didn’t ask me to write this (or to promote the book), but I’ll tell you why I like it. There aren’t a lot of books I could give to Christians that would help them understand where I’m… Read more
FOX News host and former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was in Charlotte over the weekend and a reporter asked him what he thought of the North Carolina Secular Association billboard that was recently vandalized: Here’s what Huckabee had to say (about a minute into the video): If people want to spend their money to tell everyone they don’t believe in God, the joy, beauty, and incredible greatness of America is that we let them do it and don’t shoot… Read more
Monica Hesse of the Washington Post has a wonderful light-hearted piece about atheists celebrating Independence Day, one of the few major holidays that isn’t based in religion. She attended a party in Washington, D.C. where several local atheists got together. The piece focuses on the party, but it also uses it as a setup to talk about atheism in general: On the food table, there is a get-well card for “God Is Not Great” author Christopher Hitchens — who recently… Read more
Hi, Help. I’ve just discovered through his Facebook page that my distant nephew who I don’t know well is wasting his life and education apparently. His page says he’ll be studying Political Science and Theology in college. I was afraid his parents reading him the Bible daily when he visited my parent’s home with them as a young child would cause harm, but I didn’t want to interfere. I now wish I had, although don’t know that it would have… Read more
