Every time we see the word “none” or “unaffiliated” in a religious survey, we always need to take it with a grain of salt. “None” is not the same thing as “atheist” and “unaffiliated” can mean just about anything. A new study released by the Pew Forum only confirms this. First, the good news. They asked the following question: “What is your religious preference? Is it Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, some other religion, or no religion?” That dot at the top… Read more
Atheist ads will be appearing on the side of buses in Detroit during March, courtesy of the Detroit Area Coalition of Reason. If you live near Detroit, there’s a fantastic list of events you may be interested in on this page. (Thanks to Ruthe for the link!) Read more
Met someone the other day who used the word “spiritual”… I think her intention was that I would be thrilled to hear she wasn’t religious. Instead, I made funny faces at her… in my mind. The wife search continues. (via Atheist Cartoons) Read more
The Freedom From Religion Foundation just announced their 2010 essay competition topics. Anyone can enter and the prize money is pretty sweet. Each first-place winner gets $2,000; second-place gets $1,000; third-place gets $500; and it goes from there. College-bound high school seniors are asked to write on the topics of either “The Harm of Religion” or “The Harm of Religion to Women.” Entrants may write about the harm of religion from a historical, psychological or topical perspective or about the… Read more
This email comes from a female reader in Malaysia: I’m an atheist and proud to be one although I can’t exactly reveal my true self since I live in Malaysia where ethnic Malays are ‘MUSLIMS’ and can’t convert to other religions. My dad was previously a Catholic Filipino (who converted to Islam) and my mum is Malay. When I was born, I was a Muslim by default. I’ve been an atheist since 4 years ago (before that I was just… Read more
It’s always nice to see campus atheist groups forming in states not generally known for their tolerance of Secular Americans. The most recent example of this is the new Auburn Atheists and Agnostics group starting at Auburn University in Alabama: Christopher Chabot, freshman in aerospace engineering, and communication director of the group, said the group’s goal is not to convince and convert people into becoming atheist or agnostic, but to spread awareness and acceptance and provide a venue for people… Read more
I’m off to Pittsburgh tonight for the (Christian) Jubilee conference! Ashley will be there, too. She made a video explaining our panel discussion and asks a couple great questions: Since we’re speaking in front of several hundred young Christians, what are the things you want us to tell them? And what should we refrain from saying? … My flight gets in late, so I won’t be at the bar until around 11:00 p.m., but if you’re in town, come join… Read more
It would be terrific if the Atheist Bus Campaign ads could just be applied to everything else as pseudoscientific and ridiculous… (via Science, Reason and Critical Thinking) Read more
Dear Richard, My boyfriend and I are both atheists, although he identifies more strongly with agnosticism. While all my close friends are atheists (not by my intention, it just ended up that way), his are Christians — very conservative Christians. Both of us, but especially him, get into heated arguments/debates with them over religion, gay rights, and the current administration. (Obama is the Devil, apparently, and Bush was the bees knees.) I’m writing to you about the way he *handles*… Read more
This story’s been all over the place since yesterday. Kay Burley, a host of Sky News, was reporting on a Joe Biden speech during which he had ash on his forehead because it was Ash Wednesday. She didn’t recognize what it was, though, and that led to hilarity (beginning at the 0:26 mark): “What’s happened to his head? I’m sure that’s what everybody’s asking at home… it looks like he’s walked into a door.” She and her (also oblivious) co-anchor… Read more