This isn’t even subtle: This image was snuck through the Florida Senate: Religious specialty plates offered by Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Valrico, and Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, made it onto a bill Friday even though many members had not seen images of those plates and none was produced for the debate. Siplin didn’t mince words when asked what his “Trinity” plate looks like, saying, “It has a picture of my Lord and savior Jesus Christ.” It, along with a “Preserving the… Read more
We may still be unelectable, but at least today, we are more popular than swine flu: Thanks, New York Times readers! Read more
I posted yesterday about The National Federation of Atheist, Humanist and Secular Student Societies (AHS) and how they were having a recruitment drive this summer to begin campus atheist groups. The Sunday Telegraph (UK) article about the group contained a number of inaccuracies — let’s clear this up. Here’s what Jonathan Wynne-Jones wrote in his article: The federation aims to encourage students to lobby their schools and local authorities over what is taught in RE lessons and to call for… Read more
The New York Times is reporting it this morning: “More Atheists Shout It From the Rooftops.” We are making more progress in getting our message out than ever before. There are several wonderful anecdotes in reporter Laurie Goodstein’s article. One is about the reaction to an atheist billboard in South Carolina: Two months after the local atheist organization here put up a billboard saying “Don’t Believe in God? You Are Not Alone,” the group’s 13 board members met in Laura… Read more
Gordon James Klingenschmitt is a former Navy chaplain who is using his uniform and title (illegally) on his website, Pray In Jesus Name. It gives the false impression he’s still in his Navy role. Barry Lynn (of Americans United for Separation of Church and State) and Mikey Weinstein (of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation) sent a message (PDF) to Admiral Gary Roughead, United States Chief of Naval Operations, asking him to investigate this. How did Klingenschmitt respond? First, he created… Read more
One perk of being an atheist blogger: People draw you: I’m *so* framing that. Flickr user jaynedemarco created it and was nice enough to send me the print 🙂 You can check out the rest of her atheist images here! Read more
You know what you don’t see nearly enough of these days? Mimes for Jesus: Wait. It gets better. Check out the flash intro to their website. Laugh if you want. Given the choice between those guys and a street preacher, I’m going with the mimes. By the way, if you want to book them for your next party, they cost $3,000-$6,000 + three airline tickets + three hotel rooms + food expenses. (Thanks to Ray for the link!) Read more
Today morning, Pastor Ted Haggard will be speaking publicly about his dalliances with gay male escort, Mike Jones. It’s the first time he’s speaking in front of a crowd about his scandal (though a documentary about him did air on HBO earlier this year). He’ll be speaking at Elevation Church in North Carolina: Young pastor Steven Furtick said on his blog that Haggard’s appearance would be a chance for “the story of the deception of sin and the forgiveness of… Read more
Guess what this is? It’s not just any random picture of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and His domain. It’s the original conception. Prophet Bobby Henderson recently found it among his things: I found *the* original drawing. It was in a box in my car, where I keep all my most valuable things. The Smithsonian people should put this up somewhere, am I right? How do we make that happen, internet? Anyone else find that as interesting as I do? I… Read more
This is very promising for UK atheists. The National Federation of Atheist, Humanist and Secular Student Societies (AHS) is going to have a recruitment drive for new campus groups this summer. They currently have 25 societies/groups at schools across the country. Chloë Clifford-Frith, AHS co-founder, said that the societies would act as a direct challenge to the Christian message being taught in schools. She expressed concern that Christian Unions could influence vulnerable teenagers looking for a club to belong to… Read more
