For anyone in the area, I’ll be giving a talk to the Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago tomorrow (Sunday) morning at 10:30 a.m.! All the details are on their website. Let’s face it: It’s not like you have anything else to do on a Sunday morning… 🙂 If you come, I’ll wish you a personal Happy Monkey. (And I think you know what that means…) Read more
The Christian Right group Culture and Media Institute has put out their list of the 2008 Worst Grinches (PDF). The winner: Playboy for putting out an issue in its Mexican edition with a seductive cover girl posed as the Virgin Mary: Yep. That one ruined Christmas for all Christians, I know. Runner up? The Freedom From Religion Foundation for their “offensive” signs in state Capitol buildings. What did they score? Dan Barker of the Freedom From Religion Foundation said during… Read more
Well, this is disturbing… The email comes from a student in Canada. I need some advice! I have a brother, Kyle, who is in grade 8 high school here in North Vancouver, BC. Kyle told me today that his science teacher has just started teaching his students about intelligent design in the science class. This is especially disturbing given that Kyle’s science teacher is also his social studies teacher, and when studying various religions, he explicitly emphasized his endorsement of… Read more
This is the best picture I’ve seen all day: This needs a good caption… Also, someone please get me that jacket for Christmas so I, too, can be cool. (via bitchcakesny) Read more
You don’t have to keep proving it to us. An Arkansas woman has given birth to her 18th child. Michelle Duggar delivered the baby girl by Caesarean section Thursday at Mercy Medical Center in Rogers. The baby, named Jordyn-Grace Makiya Duggar, weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces and was 20 inches long. “The ultimate Christmas gift from God,” said Jim Bob Duggar, the father of the 18 children. “She’s just absolutely beautiful, like her mom and her sisters.” The Duggars now… Read more
A couple notable responses to Barack Obama picking Rick Warren to deliver his Inauguration invocation: The Secular Coalition for America has a problem with Obama claiming that his will be an inauguration (and administration) of inclusivity: “… the choice of two Protestants to open and close the ceremony suggests otherwise.” They’ve sent this letter to Obama: … Your spokesperson has said that yours will be “the most inclusive, open, accessible inauguration in American history.” How is opening the program with… Read more
We know Barack Obama has chosen Rick Warren to deliver the Inauguration Invocation in January. 23/6 conjures up how they think the deal went down. Here’s a preview: You can read the rest of the conversation here. Read more
A reader has a problem with religion in her family and she could use your help. My mother-in-law is starting to indoctrinate my child! I suppose I may have played some role in triggering what seems to be a recent surge in proselytizing. In recent months, for the first time, I have discussed my own beliefs openly to my in-laws during meal times, I suppose setting off the warning sirens: Save the granddaughter! Save the granddaughter! On the other hand,… Read more
Alexandra Pelosi, the director of the HBO documentary Friends of God, is going to air her new HBO film at the end of January. This one should be fascinating: Disgraced evangelical leader Ted Haggard has agreed to help promote a new documentary following his life in exile after a 2006 sex scandal — no longer bound by an agreement with his former church that prohibited him from talking publicly about the events that led to his downfall. “The Trials of… Read more
