Good. Put Dale Neumann away. I know some of you are saying that extended jailtime won’t do much to change his views or the views of other Christians who feel God trumps doctors when it comes to the health of their children. But I still think an example needs to be set. These parents shouldn’t be allowed to get away with it. Does anyone else find the BBC News picture of Neumann unsettling? (Thanks to Jennifer for the link) Read more
Can you imagine the uproar if atheists dared to put up a billboard similar to that of Answers in Genesis…: (via Atheist Cartoons) Read more
This post is by Jesse Galef, who works for the Secular Coalition for America. He also blogs at Rant & Reason … Last Friday I was quoted a few times in an article by David Gibson entitled “Non-Believers Losing Faith in Obama.” [Sidenote: I found the title amusing, considering the Politico piece which mentioned us in June was titled “Atheists keep faith with Barack Obama.”] The article itself is devoted to highlighting ways the Obama administration has disappointed the secular… Read more
I’ve been following the health-care debate as best I can… but a lot of the information I’ve come across is either too broad or too irrelevant or even contradictory. I really want to support a public plan — I know something needs to change and it sickens me that so many people don’t have any coverage. I recently read many of the comments on my Christian friend Anne’s website when she asked her readers’ thoughts on health care. Many of… Read more
There’s a nice article about atheists in the Fort Wayne (Indiana) Journal Gazette by Rosa Salter Rodriguez. Not surprisingly, it features FreeThought Fort Wayne: For several months, [Joel] Klinepeter says, he thought he was alone in the universe, let alone Fort Wayne. Raised in an evangelical Christian home headed by a father who was an ordained minister, Klinepeter knew well what a prominent role religion played in Fort Wayne life. But then he found FreeThought Fort Wayne, a group that… Read more
Leo Igwe is a Humanist and Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Humanist Movement. He recently returned from a conference run by the British Humanist Association, having also given an interview about superstition in his country to the BBC. He was ready to attend a conference he helped organize on “Child Rights and Witchcraft.” The conference took place in Calabar, in southeastern Nigeria. It’s an important topic because accusations of witchcraft could (and have) lead to the accused being killed. As… Read more
It’s rare I read an interview where every question is interesting and the responses are even better. Internetmonk interviewed atheist Valerie Tarico and the exchange is great reading for both religious and non-religious people. Specifically, the interview is aimed at evangelical Christians. Internetmonk lays out why that is: 1. Evangelicals are constantly mischaracterizing non-theists. We need to listen and not preach. 2. There is some common ground of concern here for many of us, especially in the area of the… Read more
Last week, Rev. Gerry Stoltzfoos was invited to deliver an invocation address to the Pennsylvania state House. When he found out he could not say “In Jesus’ name, Amen” at the end, he decided not to accept the invitation. He said he “had carefully crafted the prayer not to be offensive in any way.” Of course, it it offensive to many of us who don’t buy into the Christian faith. The Pennsylvania Senate, on the other hand, is more relaxed… Read more
Kent Hovind’s Dinosaur Adventure Land, a creationism theme park, is about to be seized by the government so that it can be sold off to pay the money Hovind owes for committing tax fraud. U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers’ 16-page order released late Thursday gives the government the green light to divide up the nine properties in and around the 5800 block of North Palafox Street and begin to sell them until the $430,400 forfeiture amount is satisfied. I’d love… Read more
Lamar Advertising recently rejected this FFRF billboard in Alabama: Here’s what the general manager of the company said at the time: “It was offensive to me,” said Tom Traylor, general manager of Lamar Advertising in Birmingham. “We have the autonomy to decide what’s in the best interests of our company and what’s offensive. I don’t think it was the kind of message we wanted to stand behind. “You have to know what area of the country you’re in,” he said…. Read more
