Dating website OKCupid ran an analysis of emails sent by people making first-contact with someone else. They wanted to know which words/phrases were more or less likely to generate a response from the other person. (They compared all results to the overall average response rate of 32%.) We analyzed over 500,000 first contacts on our dating site, OkCupid. Our program looked at keywords and phrases, how they affected reply rates, and what trends were statistically significant. The result: a set… Read more
Jesusophile is back and he’s talking about homosexuality: That ending is a bit awkward, but the beginning is shockingly hilarious (only because you know it’s fiction). Poe strikes again. Read more
Qualiasoup provides you with a basic philosophical explanation of why the theist position makes little sense. The video’s a bit long for my taste, but the first couple minutes are excellent, and the accent gets you through the rest of the way 🙂 (Thanks to Claudia for the link!) Read more
Kent Jones explained the “controversy” over the new movie Creation on The Rachel Maddow Show last night: It’s always nice to see the horror of rational thought coming to light on national television 🙂 (via Atheist Media Blog) Read more
Interesting question from reader 1minion: Given that the current calendar we’re using was constructed thanks to a committee retroactively selecting Christ’s birth year as Year Zero (or One?), if atheists were to get together to select a new Year Zero to reflect our credo, whose birth should get the honors? Not that this should sway you, but I was born in 1983. Read more
Dear Richard A while back I was waiting for a lecture to start with a friend when I casually used the word “God” in a sentence. I don’t remember the exact sentence, but it was probably something like “oh my God,” certainly not an uncommon turn of phrase. She then asked me, politely, if I could not use the word “God” because it goes against her religion. Well, for that lecture at least I stopped using the word, but that’s… Read more
Dr. Ed Buckner, the president of American Atheists, is going on a speaking tour in and around the Virginia/Washington D.C. area next week. The college events are free and open to the public. Topics include the future of his organization and why we do not live in a “Christian nation.” A nicely formatted schedule of events is below (click to enlarge) and the list of stops is right below that. Date: Tuesday, September 22nd Time: 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Location:… Read more
North Carolina is on a roll here. (Hey, South Carolina, learn a lesson!) A campus atheist group is forming at Duke University. If you’d like to get involved (or you just want to support them), join their Facebook group here. (Thanks to Nina for the link!) Read more
I hear that Bill Donohue has a new book coming out. Miranda Hale has a nice piece on Examiner.com about it, and by nice I mean it trashes his very purpose and goal in life. She mentions his crazy outbursts – and even links to my story here on FriendlyAtheist about laughing at his accusations. But she brings up something important to remember: As Galef says in his account, it’s almost impossible to do anything but laugh when faced with… Read more
I’ve been reading a book called Write These Laws on Your Children: Inside the World of Conservative Christian Homeschooling (Beacon Press, August, 2009) by Robert Kunzman. The book is a look at six Christian families and how they homeschool their children. Not every family fits the stereotype I know I have in my mind. Some are impressive; others leave much to be desired. In the following passage, the authors talks to one (relatively sane) mother about specific criticism toward homeschooling… Read more
