In the post-Tim Kaine era, Virginians elected Bob McDonnell to be their next governor. He’s not just a Republican; he’s a Republican with deep ties to Pat Robertson: … Robertson’s connections to McDonnell extend back decades to when McDonnell earned a degree from Robertson’s Regent University School of Law with a 1989 thesis on putting Religious Right dogma into law. Soon thereafter, McDonnell won his first elective office with the backing of the Christian Coalition, which was founded by Robertson…. Read more
If only atheists knew the secret, we’d all be believers: The Greater Wichita Heating and Plumbing Little Sluggers say a team prayer before the big game. Three hours later, they win, and each player is given a personal pan pizza coupon for their hard work during the season. Hundreds of miles away, a small, starving girl in Honduras, delirious with fever, begs God for a single grain of rice to sustain her through the night. By morning, she is reduced… Read more
Who needs a Christian Side Hug when you can have an Original Front Hug? There’s no real video here — it’s just an amusing (NSFW) song to listen to 🙂 Umm… I don’t really want to hug the singer now. But the rest of you will do just fine. (Thanks to Richard for the link!) 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. Dear Richard, I was hoping to get your advice on how to warm a parent up to the idea of evolution being true and readily observable. My mother seems to be wholly against evolution for reasons that even she doesn’t seem to understand. When ever I ask her what’s wrong with evolution, she says something to the… Read more
This pretty much sums it up: I wonder what the unit for “stupidity of theological explanations” is… (via nakedpastor) Read more
I’m doing a quick project and I could use your help. Specifically, I’m looking for atheists who have: experienced the coercive religious climate in the military been affected negatively by the faith based initiative program or organizations that have received money through the faith based initiative program suffered debilitating illnesses as a result of a parent’s medical neglect connected to “faith-healing” during childhood witnessed how religious child care center’s lack of health and safety standards have put children at risk… Read more
I’m sure A&W restaurants want to tailor their advertising to the masses, but combining Jesus with cheese curds may not be the most appetizing way to do it. Reader Joey sent in this picture of one such restaurant in Frisco, Colorado. He adds that it’s not the first time they’ve used the sign for Christian evangelism, either: That is *so* not sacrilicious. Read more
Brent Rasmussen is calling it quits for his longstanding atheist blog Unscrewing the Inscrutable. Among his other contributions, Brent created the Carnival of the Godless. His blog was active for nine years! I have no stats to back this up, but I think most blogs die after nine posts. Back then there were only a few “atheist blogs”. There was The Raving Atheist, Stupid Evil Bastard, World Wide Rant, and a few others. There were a lot of atheist web… Read more
Now I understand why I don’t have a wife (PDF): In contrast to the high rates of acceptance of marriage to those of a different racial or ethnic group, the majority of Americans affiliated with a religion would have a difficult time with a family member’s decision to marry someone who does not believe in God. Almost seven-in-ten of those associated with a religion say they would either not accept such a marriage (27%), or be bothered by it before… Read more
