I love this short little excerpt that’s been making the rounds from a talk Richard Dawkins gave at Berkeley. In it, he talks about how easily we would dismiss science if it shared certain similarities to religion: It’s amazing how easily I would’ve dismissed this for no good reason back when I was religious… Read more
A month ago, there was a push to get atheists to change their Facebook profile picture to the atheist A symbol. I liked the idea. It was a way to show your atheist pride — that there are indeed a whole bunch of us out there and that we’re not afraid to admit it. It’s been weeks since that ended, but people still have the symbol in their picture. Is it because they like the idea of atheist pride? Are… Read more
Five-year-old Jepheth Afum was brought to a hospital in Ghana last week. Doctors found that he was anemic and losing blood quickly. They knew the only way to save him was to give him a blood transfusion, so they began the procedure. And what did his father do during all this? ….Wait! Before you respond, I should tell you his parents are Jehovah’s Witnesses. And JWs forbid blood transfusions… [Father] Kwabena Afum and some members of Jehovah Witnesses besieged the… Read more
Forget bananas. Imagine a 21-foot-tall baby. Spain has built a giant robot baby and unleashed it on millions of unsuspecting visitors to the 2010 Expo in Shanghai, China. So far the baby’s been peaceful, but organizers are hoping it doesn’t have a tantrum. Named Miguelin, the 21-foot tot is an electronically controlled terror that can move its eyes and head, blink, and breathe… And gobble up atheists in revenge, I’m sure. This is why I’m never visiting China. (Thanks to… Read more
Are you a lawyer? Law school student? Pre-law student? Do you like to write about church/state separation issues? (Are you good at it?) If so, contact me. I could use your help… Read more
Yesterday, I mentioned that members of the Atheists, Humanists, & Agnostics group at the University of Wisconsin – Madison were going to draw stick figure images of Muhammad on their campus to stand up for their free speech rights. The Muslim Student Association was not happy with this and said they would contact the Dean of Students. Well, last night, the members of AHA did what they set out to do. They drew upwards of 100 stick figure Muhammads. But…. Read more
(Hemant’s note: This is a guest post by JulietEcho. She is the admin on our Friendly Atheist forum and is currently applying to law schools. She has previously written about polyamory both here and on Daylight Atheism.) … I grew up with the understanding that all things sexual were meant only for married couples. You could kiss and hold hands if you were dating, but anything beyond that was verging into gray territory and then quickly into clear-cut sin. Some… Read more
A few days ago, I mentioned that the Atheists, Agnostics & Freethinkers at the University of Illinois chalked their campus up with stick figure images of Muhammad. Chris Calvey, the president of the Atheists, Humanists, & Agnostics group at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, is planning to do the same thing on his campus. Like the group at U of I, Chris knows this is not an attack on Muslim students. This is a response to the ridiculous rules… Read more
To answer your question, I don’t know. But it needs a caption. (Thanks to Joe for the link!) Read more
Note: When letter writers sign with their first names instead of a pseudonym or nickname, I randomly change their name for added anonymity. Dear Richard, I grew up in a seriously fundamentalist Christian home (e.g. we weren’t allowed to watch most kinds of TV or be good friends with non-Christians). Since leaving home, I’ve become an atheist and come out as a lesbian. My relationship with my mom has become so strained that it’s hard to carry on a conversation… Read more
