Over the past couple days, you may have heard the story of Jaycee Lee Dugard, the woman who was abducted at the age of 11 and kept in captivity for 18 years. During that time, she was raped and gave birth to two children (one child was born when Dugard was only 14). The kidnapper is Phillip Garrido, a 58-year-old and registered sex offender. While so much of the story is disturbing, what’s particularly relevant to me is how Garrido… Read more
“Bob” was reading a book about Hell and had a question I couldn’t answer: I was wondering if you could direct me toward any studies that show people who believe in Hell value other people less. [A Christian friend] claims the opposite. Can anyone direct Bob to good sources of information for this? Read more
This is what the Internets was made for: Boobs. And booze. And using their combined power to raise money to find the cure(s) for breast cancer. You can donate in advance by going here. (via healthyaddict) Read more
Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann was recently on a “teletownhall” meeting to spread lies about the health care bill in Washington. She also offered this solution: “That’s really where this battle will be won — on our knees in prayer and fasting,” she told the listeners. “Remember: faith without works is dead. So we’re asking you to do all of it: pray, fast, believe, trust the Lord, but also act.” Yes, let’s pray that millions of Americans continue to be denied… Read more
The ending to this exchange is priceless: Me: “That will be 17.50, please.” Customer: “Are you a Christian, dear?” Me: “Why do you ask?” Customer: “Are you?” Me: “Well, no. Why do you want to know?” Customer: “Oh. I would like to be helped by someone else, please.” And this happened in the Netherlands!? I wonder what this scene would look like in America… (via Not Always Right — Thanks to Becky for the link!) Read more
Chris Brown is the entertainer who assaulted and threatened singer Rihanna several months ago. A couple days ago, his sentencing came down: five years of probation, a year of domestic violence counseling, six months of community service, and a restraining order. What does Brown’s mother have to say about all this? I just want to say from the bottom of my heart thank you for your continued support. I’m sorry I wasn’t allowed to speak to anyone as this case… Read more
Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi is the newly-released-from-prison Lockerbie bomber whose act of terrorism killed hundreds in 1988. He was recently released on “compassionate grounds” because he has prostate cancer and will likely die within months. This quotation is of particular interest: [Scottish] Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said Megrahi, dying from cancer, faced a sentence “imposed by a higher power”. Here’s a little more context for that quotation from another source: Scotland will forever remember the crime that has been perpetrated against… Read more
Over the weekend, I did an interview for the Atheist News Podcast about my recent school controversy. The podcast is now available online. Thanks to Joe and Richard for the invite. (If you’re not subscribing to their podcast already, you should be!) Read more
A few kids in Gainesville, Florida (including a 10-year-old fifth-grader) were kicked out of their public schools for wearing the following shirt: It seems obvious why this type of shirt would not be allowed in schools — It’s offensive speech and it would disrupt classes. (I wonder how many Muslim students go to these schools…) That doesn’t seem to bother Wayne Sapp, senior pastor at Dove World Outreach Center. He got the shirts printed up: Wayne Sapp said he believed… Read more
Reader wall0645 posted in the Friendly Atheist Forums about his potential conversion to vegetarianism. Part of me wants to be vegetarian. I am really big on the philosophy of “efficiency”, and fruits/vegetables require much less energy to grow than meat for the same amount of food. Also there is the problem of unnecessary suffering of animals. Add to this that fruits and vegetables are very good for you. Vegetarianism is very very appealing to me. However, another part of me… Read more
