I asked and Brielle delivered! Here’s an actual prayer calculator: Type in the number of hours per day you prayed and how many years you were religious, and it’ll let you know how many hours were spent on your unheard thoughts 🙂 Read more
Whether you’ve visited in person or not, you’ve probably seen all you need to of the Creation “Museum” in Kentucky. But reading about someone else’s journey through it never gets old. Viceland Today has a visual-friendly jaunt through the place: (Thanks to Joe for the link!) Read more
If you’re in Pittsburgh this Friday night (2/19), I’ll be attending Drinking Skeptically with HealthyAddict and a bunch of awesome locals! All the details are here if you’d like to join us! (That is, assuming my flight gets in on time, and the car I’m in doesn’t skid into a ditch. If we make it, though, we *totally* deserve root beer floats.) … And, since we’re talking about social gatherings, there’s a Skeptics in the Pub meeting in Ann Arbor,… Read more
Got a few spare minutes? Here’s an interesting idea: Calculate how many hours your spent praying when you were religious. Let us know what you get. Do you consider it all wasted time now? Or was there at least an emotional benefit to it that you wouldn’t consider a bad thing? If someone can make a quick website/application that lets users punch in the number of years they were religious and how many hours per day (or week) they prayed,… Read more
There’s a slew of new atheist billboards that have popped up in the past couple weeks, courtesy of United CoR! In Seattle, Washington: … In Sacramento, California: … In Tampa Bay, Florida: … I’m not hearing as much negative publicity about these campaigns as much I’ve heard with others (really, why should there be any?), but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. These billboards are becoming so commonplace — and so is, I hope, the idea that atheists are all… Read more
Mmm… Taco Baby… I prefer soft-shelled babies myself. They go down more smoothly. (Thanks to Richard for the link!) Read more
Mike Smith is promoting a really positive idea that I hope others will help promote: a Global Atheist Solidarity Day. It’s a day to stand up together as one and provide support for those who struggle to be non-religious in their communities. There are many around the world who have to hid their beliefs because of social pressures, taboos, threat of violence, and even death. Everywhere there are people who have to hide out of necessity. This day will be… Read more
by Jesse Galef – In honor of the impending Valentine’s day and for a fun way to end your workweek, I thought I’d put up this clip of Tim Minchin’s song “If I Didn’t Have You.” He addresses love and fate in his typical form: Normally I would type up some lyrics, but I think you need to just hear it for yourself. I’ve written a post on love before, so I won’t talk about it much. As wonderful as… Read more
Hi Richard, Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. From what I’ve read, you typically give advice concerning family and jobs, rather than matters of the heart. I sincerely hope that you can help me resolve this problem. I’m a young female college student, and I consider myself an anti-theist atheist. I’ve developed a romantic interest in a close friend who I’ve known for several years. We are compatible in the areas that are important to me… Read more
You hear about major, organization-changing donations — over $100,000 in my mind — in the religious world all the time. But it’s not as common in the atheist world. The largest amount I’ve ever seen given to a nontheist group is philanthropist Lou Appignani’s $1,000,000 matching offer to the American Humanist Association in 2008. If the AHA could raise at least that much money that year, Appignani said he would match it. The AHA came through on their end and… Read more