There was an article in The New York Times over the weekend about Mark Driscoll, the unconventional pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. While the article was interesting, what caught my attention was the byline. The writer of the piece was Molly Worthen. I have a connection to her. Here it is: When I was a freshman in high school, I competed on my school’s Speech Team. (Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.) It’s really competitive in suburbs… Read more
Artist Robert Crumb’s illustrated version of the Book of Genesis is slated to be published in the Fall of 2009. That will be awesome. Comic editor Charles Kochman was asked what he thought would be “the biggest story in comics in 2009.” He said this: The long-awaited publication of Robert Crumb’s Book of Genesis, an adaptation of the Bible story, which Norton will be publishing in Fall 2009. I had the privilege of seeing some of the pages in France… Read more
As Richard Wade mentioned earlier, they’re popping up everywhere: The sign reads: La cattiva notizia è che Dio non esiste. Quella buona, è che non ne hai bisogno Rough translation? The bad news is that God does not exist. The good news is that you do not need him. Definitely a change from the “probably” qualifier on the British buses. Intellectually dishonest? Yep. But powerful nevertheless. The campaign comes from the Italian Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics (UAAR)– the… Read more
A little whimsy by Richard Wade When the British atheist bus ad campaign came out, some people were puzzled about the qualifier “probably” on the banner. There were those who complained it weakened the statement as if it was hedging. Others said it was included for intellectual honesty. Still others said it was put there to avoid breaking laws about unprovable claims in advertising. (How many religious ads make unprovable claims?) Whatever the reason, I started to wonder what it… Read more
When they’re weak, apparently, according to this graph: Of course, the graph is wrong. And not just because “athiest” is misspelled. The only way we will know that God exists is when Jennifer Garner knocks on my door and tells me she wants to bear my next seven children. Everyone knows that. (Thanks to Ann Marie and Aaron for the link!) Read more
In a recent New Yorker article by David Remnick, he discusses Barack Obama and says the following: … During the campaign, Obama embodied novelty and a broader American coalition, and everything we heard about his temperament — as a community organizer in Chicago, as a president of the Harvard Law Review, as a legislator, as a campaigner — spoke of someone who, in contrast to the outgoing, faith-based President, possessed a gift for rational judgment and principled compromise… I’ll admit:… Read more
Traditionally, the Boy Scouts of America ask the President of the United States to accept a role as the Honorary President of the organization. Every president since William Taft has accepted this title. The presidents have accepted this role despite the fact that the Boy Scouts actively discriminate against gays and atheists. If you call yourself either or both of those things, you can’t join the group. (In fact, if Obama had tried to join the Boy Scouts as a… Read more
Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Congressperson from Florida, saw the “Divine Performing Arts” show the other night and couldn’t stop raving about it. “I was very moved by the song that talked about the damage that atheism has caused and is causing. It was very moving, but all of the performances were moving, uplifting; they teach us about the eternal nature of mankind and of how we have to be humble. “The songs carry the sense that evil will not prevail, and… Read more
A couple weeks ago, Barack Obama picked Rick Warren to deliver his Inauguration’s invocation prayer. The gay community was (rightfully) mad. At the same time, Obama announced that Rev. Joseph Lowery would give the benediction prayer. Lowery is a little better on gay issues, but he still opposes gay marriage. Atheists were mad that prayer was being used in the inauguration in the first place: Why was he mixing church and state? (We even filed a lawsuit.) What has Obama… Read more
