Several years ago, before the New Atheist books were ever published, I saw video of a debate between Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz and right-wing nut and former Republican presidential candidate Alan Keyes over the question “Does Organized Religion Have the Answers to 21st Century Problems?” Now that C-SPAN now has their entire archive online, this was one of the first things I searched for. They won’t let me embed it, but here’s the link to the video. If you’ve… Read more
He’s everywhere! Ranker has a list of the Top 20 Funniest Sightings of Jesus. In what can only be called an upset, Cheesus was ranked #2. I thought for sure that would’ve been the winner… (Thanks to Brian for the link!) Read more
President Obama has a “President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships” consisting of 25 people. They help advise the Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Strikingly, there are no atheists on the Council. There are Jews, Catholics, Protestants, Episcopalians, Methodists, Baptists, Muslims, Interfaith-supporters… but no non-theists. When I was at Syracuse University a couple days ago, someone asked me who I thought would make a good representative on that council from the non-theist community. That somebody would have… Read more
The American Atheists convention is taking place this weekend and they’re getting some positive press out of it. CNN covered the story today and there are some amusing soundbytes: “We have a lot of wonderful people,” [AA spokesperson David Silverman] said. “I haven’t sacrificed any Christian babies. I haven’t danced naked under the stars. I haven’t stolen anything.” … He takes pains to say that atheists respect those who believe otherwise. But if that’s so, why hold a convention on… Read more
High school students can really make you proud some days. Look at how these California students came together when they heard Fred Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church was going to be protesting at their school: There’s hope for the future. Read more
The Foundation Beyond Belief is featured in Saturday’s New York Times! Within the next week or so, Mr. McGowan expects to cut checks for a total of $12,025, the first benefits collected and disbursed by the Foundation Beyond Belief. The foundation has 316 donors who each have committed to contributing $5 to $250 per month — a system of regular giving that is modeled on the Christian tradition of paying weekly tithes. “I don’t want to just be about negating… Read more
The Foundation Beyond Belief charity group I work with is slated to receive some great press in the near future. If all goes well, you’ll be reading about it in the New York Times tomorrow and the Chronicle of Philanthropy next week. Executive Director Dale McGowan also shares some fantastic news about how much money non-religious people are giving to the various charities: Thanks to our 324 contributing members, the first quarter of 2010 ended with over $12,500 raised for… Read more
After a long, completely unnecessary battle, Simon Singh has won his appeal (PDF). The short background of the story: Singh wrote an article in 2008 saying that the British Chiropractic Association “is the respectable face of the chiropractic profession and yet it happily promotes bogus treatments.” The BCA didn’t like that “bogus” was an accurate representation of the junk they promote, so they sued. Yesterday, Singh won his appeal. The High Court had said the words were fact not opinion… Read more
I’m finally back home from the last leg of the Spring Break trip. Thanks to Campus Atheists, Skeptics, & Humanists (CASH) for an awesome time last night: You want an example of a well-run student atheist group? They’re among the best (and largest) groups in the country. And it looks like I’m not done with my trips just yet. I’ll be in Los Angeles in a few weeks (April 23rd) — more information on that soon. And Greta Christina has… 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. I’m a male senior in high school, and one of my friends, who is a girl, is going to become a nun. I have no sexual feelings for her, but I truly think she is not meant for that lifestyle. She likes to drink and party, but still wants to become a nun. Everytime I try to… Read more
