No atheist or church/state separation group is directly involved in this story. But the fact that such groups exist is a major part of it. In the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Rep. Will Tallman asked his pastor Rev. Gerry Stoltzfoos to deliver a “non-denominational prayer” to open the House’s legislative session. Stoltzfoos submitted a draft of the prayer to the House Speaker: “… I wrote it out and sent it to them. They said my prayer was rejected because it… Read more
By now, you’ve heard of the Turkish game show where religious figures from different faiths (priest, rabbi, Imam, etc.) try to convert a group of atheists. The show is called Penitents Compete (Tovbekarlar Yarisiyor in Turkish). British magazine The Week is running a contest. They want you to answer the following question: If an American network stole this TV idea, what should this show be called in America? The rules: No “Idol” jokes, please! (Too easy) Submissions should be emailed… Read more
Frank McCourt, the author of Angela’s Ashes, died today. He taught at Stuyvesant High School in New York. I know Harvard’s Humanist Chaplain Greg Epstein went to school there, but I don’t know if he ever had McCourt as a teacher. One person who did have McCourt as a teacher was Daniel Radosh, the author of the hilarious book about Christian pop culture, Rapture Ready!. He reminisces about his teacher and offers a brief god-free eulogy: Over the years I’d… Read more
***Update***: It’s old news. Australia’s just now catching up to the rest of the world 🙂 … Former President Jimmy Carter may still be religious (despite the misleading headline in the linked piece), but he has left the Southern Baptist Convention after 60 years. His reason: the treatment of women in his denomination and beyond. It was, however, an unavoidable decision when the convention’s leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to… Read more
Governor Mark Sanford says “God will make him better” after he had an affair with an Argentinian mistress. Apparently, God was missing when Sanford was secretly emailing the mistress, catching a flight to see her, and getting it on: It’s in the spirit of making good from bad that I am committing to you and the larger family of South Carolinians to use this experience to both trust God in his larger work of changing me, and from my end,… Read more
Crispian has compiled a list of the number of iPhone apps that cater to the religious/pseudoscientific. Here’s a taste of it: Paranormal Woo Astrology – 65 Apps Tarot Cards – 61 Apps Psychic – 60 Apps Fortune Telling – 41 Apps Voodoo – 41 Apps Numerology – 32 Apps Palm Reading – 28 Apps Ouija – 15 Apps Dowsing -1 App My concern is that these apps are being made because people are downloading them and some are taking them… Read more
Professor Byron R. McCane is chair of the Religion Department at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina. I don’t know what it takes to earn that title, but it can’t be much. In an opinion piece for The State newspaper, he shows his complete ignorance about atheism in America. New atheism looked like the wave of the future. But not anymore. “Religulous” got mixed reviews and disappeared quickly. Rebuttals to Dawkins, Dennett and Hitchens have appeared, culminating with Karen Armstrong’s… Read more
I want to empathize here, but it’s tough. I understand how comforting it would be to *think* someone was listening to (and maybe answering) your prayers. But how could any atheist think it’s “nice” to pray… when you know no one is listening? It just seems futile at best, silly at worst. Read more
Now that we know how to meet and woo the atheist women, people are asking me for the list of how to woo the men. I didn’t realize we needed one of those. If you breathe and have estrogen, we’re already into you. (I speak for straight guys.) But if you have suggestions for where to find atheist guys, how to get their attention, and what to look for when seeking one, please leave them in the comments and I’ll… Read more
Troy Conrad is offering suggestions to those atheists who find themselves becoming religious, but who are not sure how to make that transition happen. As freethinkers, we’ve gotten a bit rusty in the worship department. When working out the faith muscle, we must start slowly so it doesn’t get overtaxed. Start out at the Joel Osteen level, before you consider going full Falwell. Some of the advice: Use the “caps lock” on your keyboard. Many atheists are prone to using… Read more
