I cannot tell you how many times in my life, especially when I was a young girl, that I heard people say, “it will be a cold day in Hell when a black man becomes president.” Oh, how I would like to rub this day in all their faces. I suppose those who are still living are having it rubbed in their faces well enough without my help. Well, today was a cold day, to be sure, but I wouldn’t… Read more
Funny how three little words can make a difference. I watched President Barack Obama’s inaugural address today, very much moved by his message of dizzy hope balanced by sober acceptance of responsibility, of grim acknowledgment of our flawed past balanced by inspired resolve to build a better future. When in his speech he addressed the rest of the world, talking to friends and foes, to the great and the small, I was very happily surprised to hear myself included in… Read more
As Mike has done, I am posting an article here that I included in my Atheism column a couple of days ago. I will have some fresh content later for this site. I have not had the opportunity to post here as often as I would like to. Only recently, at my request, Examiner.com allowed me to pick up another column. So, now in addition to being the National Atheism Examiner, I am the National Science Examiner under the Education channel. As… Read more
Mike Clawson here. This won’t have much to do with atheism or religion, but Hemant asked us to post our thoughts on the inauguration. Here’s what I posted on my blog and decided to cross-post here: I don’t want to be naive about Obama and think that just because he’s President suddenly everything will get better. Nor am I a political partisan to be overjoyed simply that we have a Democrat in the White House now. Not to mention that… Read more
Barack Obama is one of the best orators in political history. He knows how to emphasize certain words and give them inflection better than just about anyone. So how will he say the controversial words “So Help Me God” after he takes the Presidential oath of office? The Washington Post gives us a reminder of how it has been said in the past. Harry Truman said it with dramatic half-beats between words in 1949. Lyndon Johnson uttered it softly, almost… Read more
It’s the Bible, super-abridged! Tell the kids they no longer have to go to Sunday School. (Thanks to Ashley for the link!) Read more
The good news is that this doesn’t look like it will get very far. The bad news is that this is actual legislation in Parliament. [Note: It’s not legislation. Sorry. It’s just a way of MPs to express their opinions. Thanks to those who pointed that out.] Last week, MP Gregory Campbell put on the table this motion: That this House notes the recent advertising campaign based on London buses, There’s Probably No God, the brainchild of the British Humanist… Read more
It’s been almost two decades since author Salman Rushdie was the subject of a death threat from Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini because of the publishing of his book The Satanic Verses. (Valentine’s Day will be the actual anniversary.) He reflects on the fatwa in the latest issue of Newsweek: The Ayatollah is long dead and Rushdie has stopped worrying about his safety, although the fatwa has never been withdrawn. On Sunday night, he questioned the accuracy of the Quran, used profanity… Read more
In tomorrow’s special Inauguration editions of The Washington Post, the American Humanist Association will be running the following full-page ad: The ad uses Barack Obama’s own words about his Humanist mother to show that you can indeed raise excellent, moral, hard-working children without resorting to religion. “We hear so much these days about how traditional religious family values are necessary for raising moral children who can grow into accomplished adults,” said American Humanist Association Executive Director Roy Speckhardt, father of… Read more
I knew it… This does not explain why kittens always try to attack me when they see me. You figure they would like me more… (Thanks to all of you who sent the links!) Read more
