Richard Dawkins will be the guest on The Colbert Report tonight 🙂 He’ll be there to promote his new book, The Greatest Show on Earth It was fun to watch Colbert interview him three years ago, and I doubt this will be any less entertaining. It should be noted that Colbert’s guest the next day is evangelical Christian scientist and head of the NIH, Francis Collins… just a coincidence? … And on Friday, Dawkins will be a guest on Real… Read more
The United Coalition of Reason put up a billboard in Morgantown, West Virginia this week! Why is it important? Neece, the local CoR Coordinator, explains: Here in West Virginia, it seems like everyone must be traditionally religious. People wear crosses around their necks and churches seem to be on every corner. But there are godless people scattered about. When I first moved here I felt like I had to hide my lack of faith in the closet. It was oppressive,… Read more
When the details and effects of the DC Voucher Program are examined, there should be no question that should be considered an unconstitutional violation of the separation of church and state. I’m not addressing the program’s efficacy or effect on public schools – others can debate that – but regardless, it is an affront to religious liberty and the nonreligious community. Since commenters seem skeptical, I’ll explain, laying out the case I used in my debate last night. Nobody should… Read more
A few days ago, the Chicago Tribune’s Pulitzer Prize-winning cultural critic Julia Keller spoke out in favor of Banned Books Week: That day marked my first encounter with banned books. I probably don’t need to point out that my mother’s efforts were utterly counter-productive, that her prohibition only made true-crime books seem even more alluring. Human nature, for all of its rumored complexity, is a simple thing: Tell us we can’t have something and we suddenly want it more than… Read more
It’s Blasphemy Day today. Why do we celebrate it? Blasphemy Day International is a campaign seeking to establish September 30th as a day to promote free speech and stand up in a show of solidarity for the freedom to challenge, criticize, and satirize religion without fear of murder, litigation, and reprisal. Blasphemy Day takes place September 30th to commemorate the publishing of the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons. The purpose of Blasphemy Day is not to promote hate or violence; it is… Read more
Blasphemy Day is tomorrow and Atheist Ireland is ready to make a move. As you may recall, the Irish government recently passed a law making it a crime to blaspheme. What is AI doing in response? Atheist Ireland is seeking your help today to launch and shape a new long-term campaign with two important aims: to repeal the new Irish blasphemy law and to attain a secular Irish Constitution. Specifically, we are asking you to do three things: send us… Read more
I just got back from the DC Young Democrats-sponsored debate on the DC Voucher program. My side — opposing the program — lost by a single vote, but I really enjoyed myself and heard from various members of the audience that I did a great job. We only had an introduction and conclusions, so I used my conclusion period as a rebuttal. It’s usually my favorite part of debates, and I wasn’t going to miss it. Mine went (from memory):… Read more
Today’s Pearls Before Swine shows us a foolproof way to sneak into someone’s house: This strip also confirms what I’ve long believed: Jehovah’s Witnesses are really crocodiles. Or is it Mormons? Crap. Read more
If you’re on campus at Texas Tech on Wednesday (a.k.a. International Blasphemy Day), you’re in for a treat if you stop by the table of the Secular Student Society near the library. All you have to do is sign over your soul and they’ll give you a cookie! Here’s an amusing thought: A Christian student passes by the table, starving because he didn’t have time to eat lunch… What does he do?! Oh, the dilemma… (Thanks to Drew for the… Read more
