The Cirkus Prinsessan Festival is a competition/showcase in Sweden for female circus artists. They are searching for the “world’s best female performer” and 14 candidates will advance to the finals. 13 chosen by a panel of judges, and 1 chosen by the YouTube viewing audience. All finalists get an all-expenses paid trip to the finals in Stockholm! The winner of the competition also gets 60,000 Swedish kronor (about $7678), a trophy, a three-month contract with Circus Scott, and the title… Read more
There’s an almost-accurate and very positive article about Camp Quest in The Economist today. It’s certainly better than the piece of crap in The Sunday Times (UK) last month. Campers are not told that there is no God; only that they should weigh the evidence. They learn about the scientific method… The kids are encouraged to explore ethical questions, too. The more argumentative ones sit in a clearing and debate the nature of justice. The kind of people who send… Read more
While we’re talking about religious professional athletes and their praising of God, here’s yet another story. This one, from The Columbus Dispatch, is about baseball player Matt LaPorta. LaPorta was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2007, traded to the Cleveland Indians in 2008 (with three other players, in exchange for one CC Sabathia), played in his first Major League game in May of 2009, and is current with the Columbus Clippers (the triple-A affiliate of the Indians). He struck… Read more
During my (what the hell was I thinking?) year in medical school, we would often have small group discussions on medical ethics. A scenario would be posed by the doctor leading the group, and we’d discuss possible ways of handling it. Inevitably, we’d get a case where religion clashed with medicine. The classic example: A patient comes into the emergency room after having been in a bad car accident. The patient needs a blood transfusion. But wait! The patient is… Read more
Larry Brand (the producer of Assume The Position, with Robert Wuhl) is currently interviewing atheists for an upcoming documentary on the “atheist movement” in America. One of his stops will be at The Hollywood Improv, where atheist comedian Keith Lowell Jensen is performing Thursday night. It would be cool to have like-minded people in the audience to give the segment a nice laughter boost 🙂 If you’re interested in attending, tickets can be purchased by going here and clicking on… Read more
As I mentioned earlier, FFRF is suing over the “In God We Trust” plaque being engraved in the new Capitol Visitor Center. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel ran an absurd letter today by Antonio Fins, a man who wants to see the words engraved into the CVC and who doesn’t even understand the irony of his own comments: Let’s start by pointing out the First Amendment doesn’t grant freedom “from” religion, just freedom “of” religion. It doesn’t ban religion, it provides… Read more
This week, Dan Savage takes on sex questions from religious readers (or about religious family members). This is fun. I enjoyed this response excerpt in particular: … just remind yourself that things have been crawling on top of each other and madly humping away for 850 million years. Sex came first, then humanity (200,000ish years ago), then religion came along tens of thousands of years after that. Which may explain why religion, when pitted against sex (really old) and human… Read more
It’s no surprise that the Religious Right isn’t a fan of the ACLU. But now, a Christian Right group is attacking the ACLU for supporting… another Christian Right group. Merrilee Carlson, the President of Families United For Our Troops and Their Mission (I don’t think they mean your families, though, you heathen scum), sent out a press release because the ACLU was defending Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church. Maybe there’s a Christian out there thinking, “WBC? They’re not… Read more
It’s always nice to see Christians and atheists (and others) reaching out to each other to have conversations about religion and the nature of God. But don’t do it the way Christian theology professor Randal Rauser does it. Some advice to him is below. Tip #1) Don’t begin a note to atheists like this: I must say that as a general rule I like the atheists I meet. Oh sure, there is the odd mean fundamentalist atheist out there, just… Read more
We already know conservative Christians are attacking Science curriculums across the country. Now they’re trying to revise History classes? Oh. It’s Texas. I get it now. Two of the three reviewers proposing pro-Christian revisionist history are: David Barton, founder of WallBuilders, a group that promotes America’s Christian heritage Rev. Peter Marshall, who preaches that Watergate, the Vietnam War and Hurricane Katrina were God’s judgments on the nation’s sexual immorality In early recommendations from outside experts appointed by the board, a… Read more
