I got a nice little present in the mail on my birthday (coincidentally, of course). It was the Germany version of I Sold My Soul on eBay! I’d known the book existed but I hadn’t yet gotten ahold of a copy. It’s all about the exclamation point. That is *so* what the English version is lacking. The best part of the package: It came with a certificate of congratulations from my Christian publishers (who are awesome, by the way). My… Read more
Reader Doug tried a little experiment (a la Omar Call) where he stood on a street corner in New Orleans during Mardi Gras and “preached” atheism. Maybe preached isn’t the right word. He stood with a sign (which read “Atheism: All of the Mardi Gras, None of the Lent”) — on the other side of the street from the Christian preachers — and spoke with people about atheism rather than yelling at them about the horrors that would befall them… Read more
Here’s a cool experiment (with severely flawed methodology). Pastor Tommy Jackson pretended to be a drunk and homeless man wandering around his Texas church’s parking lot. As church members drove in for service that morning, they saw a man staggering around… Jackson wanted to test his congregation on their compassion for those in need. Playing the part to the fullest, he even had the police called on him. Some church members were [leery], but others offered food and shelter, not… Read more
What’s the simplest way to show that astrology is bunk when logic and rational arguments just won’t work? The always awesome Neil deGrasse Tyson tells us a quick experiment we can do in under a minute: I can’t wait to read his new book The Pluto Files. (via Atheist Media Blog) Read more
This one by Adrian uses a few more criteria, ranks more blogs, and can be easily updated! He notes that there are still bugs in the system — plus, in the near future, you will be able to submit your own site to the list and sort indivudual columns. When it’s really up and running, it’ll be a nifty little tool. Again, popularity in the blogsphere is like popularity in high school — the most interesting blogs may still be… Read more
Richard Wade here. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously today that the city of Pleasant Grove, Utah does not have to allow a little known religious group called Summum to install their privately funded monument in the city park, despite the fact that there is already a Ten Commandments monument there. From the New York Times: (emphasis mine) The case is of keen interest to local and state officials across the country for several reasons. Not least is that officials… Read more
Last week, we heard about the Muslim man, Muzzammil Hassan, who beheaded his wife. This was the same man who made a name for himself by “founding a Muslim-American television station to help fight Muslim stereotypes.” Right… Almost as worse as the crime itself is the suggestion that this may have been a honor killing. Now, we hear the story of the Christian father who stabbed his son. What horrible thing did the son do? Police said a 58-year-old man… Read more
It’s my birthday (yay!) and with all the Speech Team stuff going on, I haven’t had time to plan any sort of celebration. That, and it’s not really a big deal to turn 26. (It was much cooler last year when I turned 25 on the 25th.) Just for your amusement, though, here’s me sometime during my first year or so: I was a stud back then, too… Anyway, if you’re so inclined to get me a present… it would… Read more
Jessica Hagy sums up how censorship really works: I wonder where that intersection point is… what’s the happy (unhappy?) medium between knowledge and danger? And when is too much knowledge a bad thing? (via Indexed) Read more
Here’s a cool fundraising idea: Hanne Stinson, the head of the British Humanist Association, promised to tattoo the “Happy Humanist” logo on her arm if the fundraising goal of £20,000 was met — the more money past that amount that was raised, the larger the tattoo would be. Ultimately, £25,000 was raised and the (slightly larger) logo is now permanently displayed on Stinson’s arm: Very nice. And very positive. Much better than, say, a burning cross or something else anti-religious…. Read more
