Focus on the Family is holding a Valentine’s Day Contest! All you have to is write a love letter to your spouse (under 300 words) explaining why you want to grow old with them. As far as I can tell (and I read through the entire set of rules), gay couples are totally allowed to enter. Sure, they say right up front that “marriage between a man and a woman is a sacred commitment,” but at no point do they… 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. Hi Richard, When I married 17 years ago, I was a True Believing Mormon. Since coming out atheist to my wife several years ago, she has only become more fervent in her Mormonism, and consequently there is an understandably heightening of tension when it comes to issues regarding our children. Our oldest is 15, and occasionally is… Read more
Should atheist groups try to make headlines and get attention when their ideas have little to no chance of succeeding? Despite the fact that I like it when groups I support and people I know are involved, it’s hard for me to automatically say yes. … Last week, the Freedom From Religion Foundation issued a boycott against stamps featuring Mother Teresa. Their reasoning was that she was a religious figure and the USPS Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee says: Stamps or… Read more
I know FOX News doesn’t like the Freedom From Religion Foundation… or the GLBT community. But this is ridiculous. FFRF’s co-president’s name is Annie Laurie Gaylor. It takes 0.04 seconds of Google-time to figure that out. But who needs research when you can do this? You can see the full video clip below (the part in question appears at the 1:14 mark): (video via Atheist Media Blog) Read more
There’s a new (to me) type of gathering for atheists taking place near the University of Illinois in a few weeks, courtesy of the Champaign-Urbana Freethinkers: Spirits for Spirits. You put your hand on the Bible and deny the holy spirit — and get a $2 draft beer in exchange! (If you’re 21+, of course.) All the details are here. Maybe they can put in an order for some Jesus Juice. (Thanks to Phil for the link!) Read more
I’m visiting a bunch of schools/cities in the next few months to give talks. All talks are in the evening. Not all the dates/times are set, but if you’re in the area, it’d be great to meet up with people! Let me know if you want to set anything up 🙂 Confirmed: UPCOMING!Jubilee Conference 2010 02/19/10 – 02/21/10 Pittsburgh, PA UPCOMING!Skepchicamp 03/06/10 Chicago, IL UPCOMING!University of Illinois 03/12/10 Champaign, IL UPCOMING!Syracuse University 03/31/10 Syracuse, NY UPCOMING!University of Minnesota 04/01/10 Minneapolis,… Read more
How should you save money for college? Put money in a savings account? Rely on student loans? Invest your money? Purchase a CD? Or… pray and just *hope* everything works out? Reader Roman received the following survey results from his bank. Prayer ranks 3rd!… and it could very easily be 2nd. Now, when people wonder why so many Americans are in debt, I have a new answer for them. Read more
American Atheists wants to buy the naming rights to the stadium in which the Super Bowl will be played. The day after. Just for an hour. For $20,000. Here are excerpts from the press release: An Atheist public policy group is seeking hourly naming rights to the stadium the Sunday, Feb. 7, 2010 CE Super Bowl will be played in. The stadium has had seven names since it was built in 1987, including three names in the last twelve months…. Read more
CBS is still planning to air the Tim Tebow pro-life ad during the Super Bowl. We haven’t seen what this commercial will look like. (Though in an intriguing twist, lawyer Gloria Allred is claiming Tebow’s mom couldn’t have had an abortion even if she wanted to because such a procedure was illegal in the Philippines, anyway — in which case there could be grounds against CBS for airing misleading advertising.) More recent news is that CBS rejected an ad for… Read more
I didn’t know FOX News Channel staged a debate between scientists and Creationists… Hope you didn’t miss the crawl at the bottom 🙂 (via SMBC Theater) Read more
