Crispian Jago never fails to make me laugh, this time with his South Parkerizor: The full strip features Ben Goldacre, Carl Sagan, Richard Dawkins, Simon Singh, and Tim MInchin, and it can be seen at his site. Read more
A construction sign in Utah that normally warns drivers of delays on the roads was vandalized on Wednesday to read something very different: The message — “It’s official… God does not exist” — was up there for several hours, ironically, next to a Mormon church. I don’t think the message itself is as big a deal as the news story would have you think, but it is disturbing to know that some atheist could’ve done this. Or… if anyone wants… Read more
Basketball player Allen Iverson recently Tweeted this regarding his future team: God Chose Memphis as the place that I will continue my career. Apparently, God wasn’t feeling too confident because Iverson only signed a one-year contract with the team. The Memphis Grizzlies were ranked among the worst NBA teams over the past few years, never winning more than 25 games in a season. Analysts are also not very optimistic about this pairing. Considering Iverson is also coming off one of… Read more
The Freedom From Religion Foundation will be putting their messages on 75 buses in San Francisco over the next month. In addition to the exterior ads, there will also be 200 interior bus signs. Considering the city already has relatively few believers, this almost seems like overkill. But you never know who may be helped by seeing a message that meshes with their personal beliefs — perhaps the ads will let someone else know they are not alone in their… Read more
Yesterday, I mentioned that the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s ad in the Unitarian Universalists’ magazine UU World garnered several complaints. Business manager Scott Ullrich even issued an apology to the magazine’s readers. I have come to the conclusion that it was a mistake to run this particular ad. While the stated mission of the Freedom From Religion Foundation is entirely consistent with UU values, this ad seems hostile to all religion. To be more specific, I believe that I failed… Read more
There are some pro-gay billboards in Texas that are causing quite a stir… because they quote the Bible just as their opponents do: It’s all part of a campaign called Would Jesus Discriminate. Say what you will about the accuracy of the citations. It’s doing a great job of getting soundbytes from religious people: The billboard angered [Christine] Lutz so much, that she fired off a stern e-mail. “I said how dare you take the scriptures and twist it to… Read more
Gotta say, I could totally get behind this version of the Pledge of Allegiance: Doesn’t that sound so much better?! (I love the reaction on the woman’s face…) (Thanks to Joe for the link!) Read more
Lauren Rumpler at Ball State University is starting an atheist group there. “I noticed that there wasn’t a group for non-believers,” she said. “I feel like everyone should have a place to discuss their beliefs.” The group’s goals will be to talk about what other religions believe, why atheists’ beliefs differ and how to dispel any bad connotations people have about atheism, Rumpler said. She said a lot of people have negative notions about Atheists, such as they are radicals… Read more
They’re saying prayers in public schools! And religious people are mad. Mostly because this is in India and the prayer is “perceived as a Hindu chant.” “The schoolchildren in the state will have to recite the ‘bhojan mantra’ before their midday meals. This will come into force from Sep 5 – Teacher’s Day this year,” says a notice from state School Education Minister Archana Chitnis. The directive has stirred controversy as many Muslims say the imposition of such a chant… Read more
Jussi Kristian Halla-aho is a blogger and politician in Finland. On his blog, he had made comments about Islam that some found offensive (here’s the original posting): Prophet Muhammad was a pedophile and islam revers pedophilia as a religion. Islam is a religion of pedophilia. Pedophilia is Allah’s will. Are these statements illegal? They certainly insult muslim’s religious feelings. Let’s approach the issue logically: As a 50 year-old man Muhammad was engaged to six or seven year old Aisha. Their… Read more
