You remember this shirt? That was the shirt worn by some high school band members in Sedalia, Missouri… that is, until religious parents called to complain they were offended by evolution: [Assistant Superintendent Brad] Pollitt said the district is required by law to remain neutral where religion is concerned. “If the shirts had said ‘Brass Resurrections’ and had a picture of Jesus on the cross, we would have done the same thing,” he said. Band parent Sherry Melby, who is… Read more
The city of Lodi, California used to allow non-denominational, non-sectarian prayers before City Council meetings. That was a bad idea back in May when it was instituted. Somehow, they’ve made it worse. On Wednesday night, the Lodi (California) City Council voted unanimously, 5-0, to allow uncensored prayers before meetings. That is to say, you can now “pray in Jesus’ name” before council meetings. This story is getting a lot of attention from Christians everywhere… I wonder how many of them… Read more
A Klondike bar in your freezer begins talking to you, claiming to be the voice of God. It instructs you to slay your firstborn son. What would you do-o-o? (via McSweeney’s) Read more
Members of the Followers of Christ church in Oregon City, Oregon don’t seem to like babies… an unusually high rate of them are dying, and all of these deaths are preventable. According to Myrna Cunningham, a former church member: Mothers and their newborns in an Oregon City church that practices faith healing routinely died during or shortly after birth because medical help was not sought… And why wasn’t medical help sought? Because church members were too busy praying for the… Read more
Just once, It would be incredible to hear a pastor or televangelist say, “You know, we’re ok for now. No need to give to us today. Give it to a good charity instead!” (via David Hayward) Read more
Pat Condell is back and he releases a lot of pent-up frustration in this video: George Carlin would have been proud. He never was a fan of the clergy, either… Read more
Sam Harris (yes, that one) and colleagues recently published a paper titled “The Neural Correlates of Religious and Nonreligious Belief.” The main finding is that both factual beliefs and religious beliefs are processed in our brain the same way. Whether we think Xenu brought people to Earth on his spacecraft (a belief) or that 2 + 2 = 4 (fact), the information is treated identically by the brain. Lisa Miller summarizes the study in Newsweek: Our believing brains make no… Read more
There’s a major atheist conference taking place in Melbourne, Australia next year and tickets are finally on sale. The 2010 Global Atheist Convention will include presentations from people like PZ Myers, Peter Singer, Richard Dawkins, and AC Grayling. It takes place March 12th-14th at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Tickets can be bought here. (If you’re able to go, I suggest getting them now before the sellout occurs.) I’ll be there, too… as soon as I find a generous… Read more
A couple years ago, The Coexist? Comedy Tour was making the rounds — a collection of comedians from many religious (and non-religious) backgrounds told stories and jokes about their faith. John Ross was the “Christian” in the group. The key words there is “was”… Ross is a Christians no more. It’s a surprising admission from a man known as the Christian in the Coexist? Comedy Tour, a troupe of stand-up comedians who tell jokes about religion. Halfway through his two-year… Read more
