Activist Margaret Downey has (once again) proposed the idea of a Unity Convention — one massive convention for atheists that would bring together all the various national organizations. She has brought this idea up a few times now, each time at an annual meeting of the atheist group leaders. That meeting (the 6th of its kind) is taking place this weekend in Washington, D.C. I’ll be there, representing the Secular Student Alliance. I think bloggers and Internet dwellers everywhere overwhelmingly… Read more
No. That is not Jesus in your bruise. Believe it or not, bruisee Mary Massa is a Christian. Shocking, I know. *sigh* (Thanks to Katelyn for the link!) Read more
This website is written in Spanish but here’s a rough English translation. The purpose is to educate Argentinians about the power the Catholic Church has over the country and how one can leave the church. Reader Néstor explains how the site helps: They provide information and awareness to people here about how the church uses their names, just because they have been baptized and they appear on their database records, as a base to put political pressure on the government… Read more
I don’t watch MTV’s The Real World, but it seems new cast member Ty Ruff is an atheist. And he’s black. Those things don’t go together very often — certainly not on television. His bio says this: … Despite growing up in the church, he is anti-religion and thinks believing in God is a crutch… I can’t find any more information about his faith right now… but if anyone watches the series, I’d love to see a transcript if/when he… Read more
All new commenters on this site have to be approved/moderated by me. After that happens, you’re free to comment whenever you’d like. It’s always nice to hear fresh opinions, whether you’re religious or atheist. So let’s consider this post an open invitation to say hello and introduce yourself! Tell us who you are, where you’re located, what you do, and what your blog is (if applicable). Whatever you feel like sharing 🙂 I’ll periodically approve the comments throughout the day,… Read more
Guess what people will be seeing as of this morning on buses in Hobart, Tasmania (a state in Australia)? Congratulations to the Atheist Foundation of Australia and President David Nicholls for making this happen — especially after getting denied once before. (They haven’t had luck getting money from the government for their conference either.) The success of this ad, and hopefully others like it, should give them reason to be optimistic. (via Sean the Blogonaut) Read more
Well, shit, if everyone’s putting up year-end polls and getting 29821313 visitors and PZ’s getting tons of votes even when he’s not on the list, I might as well join in on the fun: Who was the most godless atheist of 2009?(survey) I wonder who will win… Read more
FOX News Channel’s Brit Hume knows how Tiger Woods can fix all of his problems. He just needs to become a Christian because Buddhism is full of crap. Hume: “The extent to which he can recover seems to me depends on his faith. He is said to be a Buddhist. I don’t think that faith offers the kind of redemption and forgiveness offered by the Christian faith. My message to Tiger is, ‘Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you… Read more
“Allah” is the Arabic word for “God” and we typically hear it used when referring to Islam. In Malaysia, though, the word isn’t limited to Muslims: The Arab word Allah has been used by Malay-speaking Christians for centuries, much as it is used by Christians in Arabic-speaking countries or in Indonesia, where, like Malaysia, the concept of a single God was introduced by Arabic-speaking traders. Rev. Lawrence Andrew, editor of the Herald, says there’s no other appropriate term for God… Read more
Pastor Rick Warren had asked for $900,000 from his church members because of a budget shortfall. And (shocking!) they gave him $2,400,000. Glad to see all is right with the world… Hugh Kramer wrote a nursery rhyme for the occasion: Baa, baa, slack-jawed sheep My coffers can you fill? Yes sir, yes sir, $2.4 M. in the till. Some for our pastor, Some to praise his name, And some for the anti-gay political campaign… I like it. Do “Hickory Dickory… Read more
