This guest post is by Jesse Galef, who works for the American Humanist Association. He usually blogs at Rant & Reason. … President Barack Obama gave a promising speech on science yesterday to the National Academy of Sciences pledging to devote 3% of our GDP to research and development, proclaiming: “We will not just meet, but we will exceed the level achieved at the height of the Space Race… This represents the largest commitment to scientific research and innovation in… Read more
I don’t get why everyone gets so offended by every depiction of their gods. Especially when those gods have nifty attack moves. Video game company Molleindustria released a free online game called Faith Fighter and they’re under fire as a result. There are two versions of the game, normal and uncensored. One features Muhammad (fighting God in the image above). The other features the same character with his face blocked out by a black circle. The obvious solution here is… Read more
In case you missed it yesterday (I did), this graphic appeared alongside the atheist article in The New York Times: It’s not brand new info — we knew it last month from the American Religious Identification Survey. But still. Woo! We should blow that up and frame it. Read more
Yesterday, the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released the results of a survey on religious affiliation. Here’s what they found: Americans change religious affiliation early and often. In total, about half of American adults have changed religious affiliation at least once during their lives. Most people who change their religion leave their childhood faith before age 24, and many of those who change religion do so more than once. They focused on people who were raised as Catholics… Read more
Only a few groups would have the balls to oppose legislation intended to protect victims from hate crimes. Some of those are conservative Christian groups who (once again) see themselves as the victims. Check out this PDF from the Illinois Family Institute (when they go after my Republican Congressperson Judy Biggert, you know it’s a big deal to them). My favorite excerpt: The bill is not about stopping crime, but about giving sexual preference the same legal status as race…. Read more
Trina has a story about a student at Indian River State College in Fort Pierce, Florida who had the following bonus question on a final exam: Bonus Question 02 — What Book in the Bible describes the End Times (i.e. The Seven Seals, Tribulation, Armageddon, etc.)? A. Revelations B. Joshua C. Galatians D. Leviticus E. Genesus [sic] F. Exodus G. Matthew This was for an Introduction to Computer Applications for Business course. WTF? Trina says this about the extra credit:… Read more
Reader Chiara sent me an updated list based on your suggestions from the previous posting. There are still a few blank cells in case you can help! Remember, you’re trying to think of words that atheists use to refer to ourselves and what other people use to refer to us. What We Call Ourselves What Others Call Us Atheist Amoral Brights Blasphemers Cynical Confused Disbelieving Distrustful Educated Elitist Freethinker Fool God free God damned Humanist Heathen Irreligionist Infidel Jesus deniers… Read more
Jesusophile tells men how to have sex, the Christian way. Step one: Find a woman. Step two: Get married. Step three: Say, “Woman, I’d like to have sex with you now.” It goes on from there. (I didn’t know you had to sound like Cartman in order to get it on…) He also has advice for women. The advice includes: not having a career and not being too picky. Oh. And God hates condoms. They confuse God, whose plan was… Read more
Mark at Proud Atheists raised this question the other day: “Why do Christians visit atheist blogs?” Some of them do it to preach via comments, we know that. But others have reasons we should take pride in — They find something on our blogs that they don’t find elsewhere. One commenter (a practicing Jew) pointed this out: When Creationists try to shove their views down our throats, when religious beliefs endanger the lives of others, and when people can’t seem… Read more
This was being sold on eBay but it has since been taken down. That’s apparently the “Hand of God”: Paul Grayhek, 52, listed the rock formation he dubbed the “Hand of God Rock Wall” on the online auction Web site eBay. The highest bid was $250 early Sunday, with three days left to go in the auction. The hand-like formation, approximately 9 feet tall and 4 feet wide, appeared in Grayhek’s backyard after a rockfall during Lent on March 8,… Read more
