Atheists get some wonderful press in the most recent edition of The Nation. Editor Katrina vanden Heuvel writes about “Rediscovering Secular America” and the Secular Coalition for America is at the center of the piece: Within a week the Coalition approached Obama. They let him know they had never been part of that “list” [of belief systems] before — never had had a seat at the table — and they would appreciate it if he would continue to include them… Read more
Reader Shawn sent me this article after he noticed a couple interesting lines. The setup: Juliane Koepcke is getting aboard a flight with her mother on Christmas Eve in 1971: The flight was supposed to last for less than an hour and for the first 25 minutes everything was fine, Koepcke recalled. “Then we flew into heavy clouds and the plane started shaking. My mother was very nervous. Then to the right we saw a bright flash and the plane… Read more
Just think of what you’ve been missing by eating fruit without looking for a sign! (Thanks to Reed for the link!) Read more
At the SSA conference in August, I plan to give a talk on Atheism and Dating. Specifically, I’d like to discuss whether an atheist and theist couple can make things work. Should they consider dating at all? Or should we try to avoid that at all costs? If you’ve made a theist/atheist relationship work, how did you do it? What advice do you have for others? If you only date other atheists, why? You’re welcome to post your thoughts in… Read more
I was clearly being insensitive with this posting from yesterday. I didn’t mean to come off that way and I apologize for it. The situation in that posting was that young teenage girls were duped into having sex with an older man. He worked his way into their lives and used tarot cards to influence them into letting him do what he wanted with them. The thread among the comments is that all the blame should be on the old… Read more
I never got into the whole science-fiction genre. Fell asleep through Lord of the Rings (friends made me watch the Extended Editions). Never understood the appeal of Star Wars (the first one I saw was Episode 2… I went with friends to the theater against my will). I have yet to see an episode of Doctor Who (sorry, Richard Dawkins). And I’ve only seen one episode of Star Trek. It was on a first date. Her idea. It was also… Read more
The other day, at the end of his post about Billy Graham’s advice column on the “ rise of atheism,” Hemant made this remark: We need a syndicated atheist advice columnist. I nominate Richard Wade. Any reader who checks out his comments on this site knows what I’m talking about. At first I just laughed. Hemant’s kidding, right? An advice columnist? An agony aunt? But then my imagination started running. I love reading this blog and interacting with people here… Read more
Some atheists advertise on billboards… Those atheists are not named Rob Sherman. He decked out his entire Sherman-mobile: He’s promoting his blog. And himself 🙂 And he’ll be driving in the fourth of July parades in various Chicago suburbs. If he accidentally runs over a Christian child, our entire movement will be set back four centuries. … According to Michael Miner of the Chicago Reader, Chicago Now pays its bloggers $5 per 1,000 hits. I wonder: What do the Science… Read more
Ken Loukinen is part of the FLorida Atheists and Secular Humanists. Recently, FLASH put up this billboard: I realize many of you dislike the color scheme… but the billboard is already provoking discussion. Many in the community don’t like it. WSVN, a local FOX affiliate, reported on the controversy and found the most ridiculous people to interview in opposition to the billboard: Here’s a partial transcript of another piece by the same station, featuring some of the same clips (Pops… Read more
This morning, President Obama met with a group of reporters for mostly Catholic publications. Among many topics, he discussed his upcoming meeting with the Pope. The not-so-major-but-kinda-interesting revelations: He is considering choosing a group of churches in Washington, rather than a single congregation, to reduce the impact of his presence on any one community. Joshua DuBois, the president’s faith adviser, sends Obama’s BlackBerry a devotional prayer each morning for the president to reflect on. Quote: “I think it’s clear that… Read more