I don’t have time to write much right now, but how wonderful it is to hear that Iowa (Iowa!?) is going to make same-sex marriage legal — starting in three weeks. In a unanimous opinion, no less. I live next door in Illinois. My neighbors are so damn awesome. (Thanks to Jeff for the link!) Read more
It comes from a non-mother, but Laci’s advice for atheist parents is still worth hearing: Her advice in a nutshell: 1. Raise children with a cultured understanding of world religions 2. Explain your own viewpoint and WHY (danger of religion) 3. Make sure an array of resources/information are available. Encourage education! 4. Try to take unbiased stances. 5. When questioned, at any age 6. Answer…and answer honestly! 7. Encourage tolerance of diversity. 8. Engage children in conversations and encourage them… Read more
That is all. I’m not sure why it was taken down, but hopefully we’ll find out the reason soon enough. Read more
***Update***: Victory. … You all make me so proud sometimes… Victory is ours. All the problems in the world are solved. Don’t you feel great?! 🙂 Read more
Tony Dungy used to be the coach of the Indianapolis Colts (and, therefore, Peyton Manning). Now, he’s been tapped to join President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The downside: He supported a gay marriage ban in Indiana in 2007. “We’re not trying to downgrade anyone else,” Dungy added. “But we’re trying to promote the family — family values the Lord’s way.” The upside (rather, the neutral-side): He would be only one of twenty-five voices on the Council…. Read more
This comes via the Alliance Defense Fund, so I’d take it with a grain of salt. For now, I can’t find any other information about this case. Here’s what it boils down to: A Christian mother wants to form a Christian club for her Christian child at his middle school in Atlanta, Georgia. The school said student or parent-led clubs cannot officially form. (i.e. This has nothing to do with religion.) Only teacher-sponsored clubs can form. The plaintiffs identified teachers… Read more
U.S. News & World Report is running this poll on their site (in the sidebar): President Obama is opening many of his public events with prayers from local community leaders. Do you support this new White House tradition? So far, the results don’t look right…: Can we fix this? Read more
When Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church come to your town to protest outside a funeral or near some site of tragedy, there are many ways to counter-protest. At the University of Chicago last month, some students had clever signs: They also staged a fundraiser while they were at it. But I’m thinking this form of protest might be more effective…: I still think I’ll stick with the signs… but that’s just me. (via My[confined]Space) Read more
To paraphrase the old saying: It’s good to be open-minded, but don’t be so open-minded that your brain falls out. QualiaSoup explains this well: (via Atheist Media Blog) Read more
This is troubling. On a couple levels. Stacie Murphy, a policy associate at Population Connection, decided to take an online test to become a “Certified Abstinence Educator.” I have no medical background, no public health training and no teaching certification, but according to the Abstinence Clearinghouse I am now qualified to go into schools across the country and teach your children “everything they need to know” about sex… … A little digging led me to the Web site of the… Read more
