Who knew Toronto, Ontario was located in the Bible Belt? The four candidates running for mayor are all paying homage to a god and promising church groups a larger role in the government: Four of Toronto’s mayoral candidates have vowed to give faith-based groups a bigger role in city affairs, with Rocco Rossi proclaiming: “God hasn’t left city hall — city hall has left God.” At a Monday morning debate hosted by the Toronto Area Interfaith Council, Rossi, George Smitherman,… Read more
The Mojave cross at the center of the recent Salazar v. Buono Supreme Court decision has been stolen: The National Park Service confirmed that the seven-foot high symbol had been ripped down sometime on Sunday or Monday by thieves who cut through bolts attaching it to Sunrise Rock in the Mojave National Preserve. Park Service spokeswoman Linda Slater told AFP that authorities in California had kept the cross covered up with a wooden box during a long-running lawsuit where activists… Read more
Tina Harden’s daughter brought home a couple young Gossip Girl-inspired novels in 2008. When Tina flipped through the books and saw the bad language and references to sex/drugs, she did what came naturally to her. She stole the books. She has had them in her possession since the fall of 2008: Harden owes $85 in fines but hasn’t paid them. She said she is hoping the library will waive the fines. “It’s not that I lost the books or I… Read more
After Constance McMillen was forbidden from attending her own high school prom because she was a lesbian — and after “adults” in the community sent her to a fake prom — the American Humanist Association and philanthropist Todd Stiefel stepped in to make a difference. They donated money to give her (and her classmates) a Second Chance Prom. Green Day pitched in money as well, and Lance Bass made a personal appearance. That event took place over the weekend and… Read more
Members of Canada’s Parliament are sponsoring a National Prayer Breakfast this week. There’s a dinner tonight and a breakfast tomorrow. The purpose of the National Prayer Breakfast is to invite leaders to meet in the spirit of Jesus Christ in order to pray together. … The purpose of the Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast is to call men and women to God, and then to entrust them with the application of what it means to live out God’s grace as leaders. The… Read more
Members of the Secular Humanists for Inquiry and Free Thought (SHIFT) group at Northwestern University in Illinois took a cue from the students in Madison, Wisconsin and drew stick figure images of Muhammad on campus Sunday night. “We wanted to express the idea that there is no policy against talking about the prophet Muhammad,” Weinberg sophomore and SHIFT president Cassandra Byrne said. “It’s become a cultural taboo because of fear. We’re trying to dispel that taboo.” … “It’s not directed… Read more
Dear Richard, I am an atheist, yes, and like many other readers of this blog, I also identify myself as a skeptic. This is a new point of view — or way of life — to my now girlfriend of one year. We have had emotional discussions about religion and God on one or two occasions and more frequently have got into it over our disagreements over skepticism, paranormal, ghosts, etc. She thinks my constant need to question the validity… Read more
There’s been a controversy in the Australian education system lately. A bit of reposting: Australian law mandates that students receive one hour of religious training per week. The Christians who run these services get tens of millions of dollars per year to make this happen. If you don’t attend these classes, you can just sit around and do nothing. One alternative that is being tested in a few schools is a (secular) ethics course. Churches and religious leaders are actually… Read more
You could say this headline is misleading: Priest conducts ‘bizarre’ faith healing This one’s “bizarre,” as opposed to all the others which are…? Anyway, what makes this one stand out is that the priest tried to heal a girl who was mentally and physically disabled. He tried to get her to walk. Even the parishioners knew this was crazytalk: Catherine Roatch, who saw the faith-healing service, said it appeared to be an attempted exorcism. “He prayed in some gibberish and… Read more
I don’t personally know the person who will soon don this… but I want him to preside over my future wedding: Now, all we need is a Flying Spaghetti Monster wedding cake and my plans will be set. Can’t think of anything else I’m forgetting… Read more
