The upsides to Jen McCreight’s Boobquake event: Massive amounts of unintended publicity and the opportunity to ridicule an Iranian cleric who clearly deserved it. The downside: A lot of people said Jen’s idea was a bad one in the name of feminism. (A day for women to make their opposition to the foolish cleric known, and a chance to band together in the name of Science (kind of)… and it involved showing off their boobs?!) Greta Christina doesn’t think Boobquake… Read more
Lately, bananaman Ray Comfort has been reaching out to atheists in his own unique way — he’s been giving out $100 food vouchers and giving away handmade vests. As it turns out, reader Amy “won” one of the vests. She does appreciate the gesture, but she thinks she can do something even better with the gift: Auction it off an eBay and give most of the proceeds to Foundation Beyond Belief! For your bidding pleasure… a brand-spankin’-new, genuine cowhide vest,… Read more
I’ve been involved with and heard about interfaith dialogues at colleges, where representatives of various faiths talk about their beliefs. It’s nice, everyone is friendly, but you don’t really get anything out of it. Brendan Woods, a student at Dartmouth, isn’t a fan of that approach: I’ve noticed the same phenomenon at the various “interfaith” discussion forums and dinners I’ve attended here. While the conversation starts down an interesting path, it soon devolves into the same platitudes and uninteresting discussion… Read more
The skeptics among us know that James Van Praagh is a con and a fraud. He’s one of those people who can “talk to dead people” who have “crossed over.” Just like John Edward. It’s hard to convince believers that it’s all a game of cold reading, though, when their TV shows are edited down to 20 minutes from hours of taping. But perhaps this clip will help. It’s a five-minute, unedited clip of Van Praagh on an Australian talk… Read more
The deadline for this contest is Friday night, but it might be of interest to some of you. All you have to do is create a video explaining what you don’t like about church. You could win $500. Considering the winner is decided by public vote, I think a Pharyngulation could be in order. Oh… and it’s sponsored by a church. Ekklesia Detroit. Which makes it all the more interesting… There are some rules you should look at (e.g. videos… Read more
Despite what some men may want to think, there’s nothing holy about their semen. Here’s what’s disturbing. Someone claimed just that. Some women fell for it. Nissim Aharon, a former employee at the Israeli defence ministry, was convicted of rape, sodomy, indecent acts and aggravated fraudulent acquisition. Women paid him large sums of money, believing he was a holy rabbi who could heal body and soul, the court said. … He would claim to be a rabbi, and impersonate figures… Read more
This year, on the day when others are celebrating the “National Day of Prayer,” the city of New Orleans is doing something much more sensible. They’re declaring May 6th, 2010 a citywide Day of Reason: Whereas, the City of New Orleans is renowned for its food, festivals, famous citizens and foreign visitors; and Whereas, the City Council takes great pride in paying tribute to events and activities; now, therefore Be IT PROCLAIMED BY THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS that the… Read more
Dear Richard, Lately, I’ve been feeling like I’m in danger of becoming depressed again. I recognized the signs early and decided to try to prevent it by forcing myself to get out of the house more often. I told one of my best friends about it, and she is extremely religious. She offered to take me to church with her, and I accepted, partially because I was in desperate need of social interaction and partially because I’ve never actually been… Read more
Put yourself in the shoes of the children and administrators of Itawamba Agricultural High School for a moment. So far, administrators canceled prom so that lesbian student Constance McMillen couldn’t attend. Then, to make it worse, many of the adults and students were in on a prank against Constance in which they sent her to a fake alternative prom. But now comes a dilemma for them. Fred Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church is coming to town to protest the school’s graduation… Read more
Which contestant wins in a Bible trivia game — with all yes-or-no questions — when both of them are correct…? My favorite bit begins at the 1:55 mark 🙂 I like the 2:45 mark, too. And 5:27. Hell, it’s all pretty awesome. (via NonStampCollector — Thanks to Tamara for the link!) Read more
