Kate has a few helpful suggestions for anyone who is thinking about coming out as an atheist: Step Six: Remember that you’re not alone. Participating in meet-up groups and forums will help you feel like you’re a part of something, especially if you live in an area of the world where being an atheist is particularly bad for your social status. And if all else fails, come out to me. I’ll accept you. Her advice is helpful. Not that Kate… Read more
An ongoing question in the non-religious world: What should we call ourselves? Atheists. Humanists. Secular Humanists. Brights. Freethinkers. Non-theists. Pastafarians. If we’re looking for something short and slangy, Ron Lindsay has a different suggestion: If brevity is what we want, why not “Secs”? One thing we all share, presumably, is a commitment to secularism. For those who also think of themselves as secular humanists, “Secs” is a mere abbreviation. For other nonreligious, the term should be sufficiently vague that they… Read more
The new Ice Age movie — Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs — is set to open next summer. What problems do you see with the following poster (and the premise of the movie in general)? Scientists are going to have a field day with it. Apparently, dinosaurs are taking over the earth after the Ice Age… Evolution is going backwards, too. Dinosaurs are taking over the saber-toothed tigers and mammoths even though dinosaurs went extinct millions of years… Read more
A question posed to advice columnist Amy Dickinson today deals with an atheist, her semi-religious boyfriend, and her boyfriend’s more-religious family. The setup is this: The (atheist) girl visited her boyfriend’s (religious) family for dinner. The family says grace before meals, so this was done. No big deal. Now, the (atheist) girl wants her boyfriend’s family to join her own for a Christmas dinner: My mother and I want to invite Brian and his family over for Christmas dinner, but… Read more
You know how you want to search on the Internet… but you want your results to be Catholicized? Here’s the search engine for you: What is this “Catholic Google”? CatholicGoogle is a custom search engine powered by Google, just for Catholics. We strive to provide an easy to use resource to anyone wanting to learn more about Catholicism and provide a safer way for good Catholics to surf the web. It’s not sponsored by Google. In fact, it was made… Read more
Robin Shulman of the Washington Post has an article in today’s paper about how non-religious parents are trying to recreate a “church” environment (community, values, rituals) without the religious factor. They are not religious, so they don’t go to church. But they are searching for values and rituals with which to raise their children, as well as a community of like-minded people to offer support. Dozens of parents came together on a recent Saturday to participate in a seminar on… Read more
It’s always difficult, whether you run a college atheist group or an off-campus local one, to get people to attend meetings. It’s even harder to keep them coming back for more. The Secular Student Alliance’s Campus Organizer, Lyz Liddell, offers suggestions on what atheist groups can do to get bodies in the seats! The full list (with details) is at the SSA website. More importantly, perhaps, is Lyz’s short list of what *not* to do if you want people to… Read more
For everyone who comments on sites like this and others, it is often said it’s all talk and not enough action. One way to take action is to support the myriad groups who work to spread rational thought and church/state separation. Consider making it a New Year’s Resolution this year to donate to one or more of these organizations. I do it. I give to a number of freethought groups. It’s not because I have the money to throw around… Read more
Reader Alexis passed along these fantastic (and repurposed) Flying Spaghetti Monster cards she plans to send out to her friends to celebrate the New Year: It makes me want 2009 to come even sooner! And if you’re in the San Francisco area, and would like to join Alexis and others in their godless heathenistic atheist hiking group, feel free to sign up. Read more
What are the religious affiliations of members of the 111th Congress? Pretty similar to the American public. Except for one category… The “Unaffiliated”? They apparently don’t exist in Congress. Before atheists ask the obvious question, here’s a more specific breakdown from a report released yesterday by the Pew Forum On Religion & Public Life: The first question that came to my mind: What about Congressman Pete Stark? Isn’t he an atheist? Well, yes he is, but he is technically listed… Read more
