I’ve never been much of a drinker, but I think I’m going to have to start… I can’t tell if it’s real or not, but this explanation was offered at a website: … Given the explosion of capitalism and the influx of money into the former Soviet empire, there has been a huge rise in this market as neuveaux riche wish to show off how riche they are. Hence, Kabbalah Vodka with Christian Infants, the premium wheat vodka enfused with… Read more
Yesterday, I got an interesting email from a producer of a radio show asking if I could come on to talk about Nativity scenes on government property. Which radio show? The one hosted by former congressman Mark Foley… The guy who sexted with underage pages. He has a radio show now. It was strangely uneventful. I was on air for all of 30 seconds, I think. I said that religious or non-religious displays had no business being on government property,… Read more
The New York City Atheists are trying to reach out to the local Spanish-speaking population by conducting services in their native language. The meetings are small right now, but they’re growing: [NYC Atheists president] Mr. [Ken] Bronstein said that the meetings were still relatively small, with about 15 members attending, but that there were around 50 people on an e-mail list. “We’re going to bust out pretty quickly in attendance,” Mr. Bronstein said. “We think there’s a major group of… Read more
Julia Sweeney explains why the label “one-woman show” is a perfect way to describe Letting Go of God. Unlike her previous projects which had corporate backers and some creative input from other people, her show about atheism is hers all the way — right down to shipping the CDs and DVDs to Amazon warehouses. I moved last year and got to know the folks at my post office. I did absolutely no advertising and no publicity for Letting Go of… Read more
David McCalla, the principal of (public) Albany High School in New York, wanted to purchase SMART Boards for all the classrooms in his building. (For those who don’t know what SMART Boards are, I use them in my math classrooms every day and *trust* me when I say they’re amazing. I’d be lost without them.) Anyway, for McCalla, the total cost to put the equipment in each classroom was $275,000. Not a good-looking number when you already have budget issues…. Read more
Note: I have edited and paraphrased these two letters to protect the privacy of the writers, whose jobs might be jeopardized. I indicate where I have completely summarized with italics and parentheses. However, I have made every effort to preserve both the essence and the intentions of what was said. Dear Richard, I work for a large agency funded by the government of a southern state with taxpayer dollars. Recently, every employee in our organization received a long e-mail from… Read more
This year, no religious or atheistic displays will be allowed inside the Olympia, Washington capitol building… but displays are allowed on the grounds outside the building. Including this one from Seattle Atheists: In this holiday season, let us remember that kindness, charity and goodwill transcend belief, creed or religion. Assuming the child is part of the display, I now have a new favorite 🙂 If only FFRF had included a baby with their plaque from last year, all that controversy… Read more
Looks like the Cecil Bothwell case is getting quite a bit of national attention. Bothwell is the newly-elected Asheville, North Carolina city councilperson… who also happens to be an atheist. Some of the attention has been good… One man from Brooklyn, N.Y., sent him a $50 campaign donation. And he’s just sold 19 copies online of his self-published book, “The Prince of War,” a criticism of world-famous evangelist the Rev. Billy Graham, who lives in Montreat. “I usually sell about… Read more
Cecil Bothwell is the newly-elected city councilperson from Asheville, North Carolina. Because of an archaic law in the NC books, atheists aren’t allowed to hold public office in the state, even though this is completely illegal and wouldn’t hold up in court. FOXNews Channel wants to know what you think: At the moment, the “No” votes are winning, but not by a huge margin. Might as well nudge it in the right direction… Read more
by Jesse Galef – Tim Minchin’s name is associated with snark and humor to me. When I saw he had a song about Christmas, I expected more of the same. But I was thrown off-balance by this heartwarming song. There are still plenty of critical references to religion, but they’re not the focus – it’s more about the value of family and togetherness. It’s particularly special when someone known for comedy can do things like this or vice-versa. If you… Read more
