This guest post is by Jesse Galef, who works for the American Humanist Association. He usually blogs at Rant & Reason. … Read this exchange and tell me who you think the speaker is: Question: “Immanuel Kant said that without the afterlife morality couldn’t survive. What’s your response to that idea?” … “God is blackmailer. God is warden of the prison. He created us all in his image — probably a mistake — and then allows us to run wild… Read more
Paul Rudnick has a great piece in the latest issue of The New Yorker where he writes (a fiction piece) about a Christian pastor who is a closeted homosexual. It mentions Ted Haggard a few times, and no doubt the story is a satire of what went through Haggard’s mind the past few decades. I’ll be honest; I was curious. I needed to know exactly what sexual activity with another fellow might entail, so I could be ashamed of it…. Read more
The Religious Right keeps saying gay-rights activists are “redefining marriage”: Changing the definition of marriage would undermine the very nature that gives marriage its unique status in society. Ultimately, forcing marriage to mean all things will force marriage to mean nothing at all. (The Heritage Foundation) The same group of people also goes on about how God loves gay people: God loves homosexuals. He loves them just as he loves every other human on the planet. … People living a… Read more
I serve as the chair of the Secular Student Alliance, an umbrella organization that creates and supports atheist (and the like) college groups across the country. This is how fast we’re growing: In 2007, we had 81 active affiliates. Today, we have 149. During the 2007-2008 school year, we set up 22 speaking events on campuses. This year, we’ve already set up 49. During the 2007-2008 school year, we gave out $1,978 in direct support to student projects. This year,… Read more
Jesusophile explains why priests are pedophiles. Satan did it. (I knew it!) The logic is just flawless. Read more
Who is Roy Moore? He’s the former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court who installed a monument of the Ten Commandments into his courthouse. When he was told to remove it, he refused. He was later removed from office — which was good. You don’t want a man to be in charge of enforcing the law when he doesn’t follow the rules himself. He’s back and he’s going to run for governor in 2010. Moore told the Associated Press… Read more
I can’t believe this sort of thing still goes on in this day and age. The best description I can find of the video below says: five people suspected of witchcraft were brutally murdered — burned alive — in Nyamataro, a village in Kisii, Kenya. The victims are the elderly (over 80) and four of the five are women. You can see victims trying to get out of the ditch only to be pushed back in. Some victims are just… Read more
This guest post is by Jesse Galef, who works for the American Humanist Association. He usually blogs at Rant & Reason. … I’d never heard of the Illinois Family Institute, but… well, watch this if you can: There were too many things wrong with this video to count. I spent those 6-and-a-half minutes staring at it with a disbelieving rictus on my face. For those of you who can’t watch it, it’s a movie objecting to the way schools are… Read more
I can’t verify this story, but it’s not a stretch of the imagination to believe. Military atheists have had to endure a lot under the direction of Christian superiors. This is one of the smaller battles, but if it happened, it’s disappointing: My friend is in the military and on deployment. They had a mandatory potluck to attend (this is the Army — you are not volunteered, you are “voluntold” to do things) and after arriving, she started eating because… Read more
