South Carolina’s “I Believe” license plates (shown in a mockup above) are not going to issued in the state, thanks to an injunction by a district judge. In a five-page order, [Judge Cameron McGowan] Currie said she issued the injunction because federal courts would likely find the law that created the plates a gross violation of the Constitution’s ban on government establishment of religion. Currie noted that federal courts under 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, by which South Carolina… Read more
Admit it: for a few minutes when you knew the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s atheist sign in Olympia, Washington was stolen, you were angry. People could disagree with it — maybe even get offended by it — but to the point that they would steal it? How “Christian” of them. Then the sign was recovered and all was back to normal. So what’s your reaction when you hear that, in Georgia, Mount Carmel Christian Church’s drive-through living Nativity Scene was… Read more
Last week, I mentioned that the librarians at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill decided not to put up Christmas trees in its libraries. It was the right decision. I’ll admit having trees would be less egregious than a full-blown Nativity Scene, but the sentiment was a good one — let’s be inclusive to all of our students this Winter. That didn’t last long. Yesterday, they had a Christmas tree on their property. And his name was Jared Pike. Jared’s… Read more
The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s atheist plaque in the Olympia, Washington Capitol building has inspired so many other people to apply for their own private displays to be placed alongside the others, that state officials have put a moratorium on all further displays: The ban will remain in effect until the Department of General Administration can review its policy for private holiday and religious displays in the Capitol. Everything that’s in place now will stay up, along with a previously… Read more
One of my car’s headlights wasn’t working. Last night, I replaced it. Then I put the keys in the ignition for the drive home and the car didn’t make a sound. Because the battery died. So last night, I replaced that, too. Then I *really* started to go back home and I realized that my radio was no longer working. This forced me to drive in silence for over 30 minutes. Freaky… That will be fixed shortly. Between all that,… Read more
It’s the Prosperity Gospel taken to a whole new level… Edward Current strikes again. (Thanks to Debbie for the link!) Read more
Richard Cizik is probably still seen as intolerant from this side of the fence since he’s still not sure about that whole “gay marriage” thing. But he does support civil unions. He was on NPR’s Fresh Air last week: In a short portion of the program, [host Terry] Gross asked him, “A couple of years ago when you were on our show, I asked you if you were changing your mind on that. And two years ago, you said you… Read more
Just add that to your checklist of things to do for tomorrow. Tonight’s episode should be available early tomorrow. So far, he’s mentioned the Freedom From Religion Foundation (and video of Dan Barker) and American Atheists’ lawsuit against the state of Kentucky! Very exciting. And funny. Read more
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal was on the short-list to be John McCain’s vice-presidential choice (you know, before McCain made a far more amusing selection). Now, Jindal’s seen as a potential Republican nominee for president in 2012. This is a problem. As I wrote before, why would I not support Jindal? He voted against expanding research to more embryonic stem cell lines. He’s completely anti-abortion, even in cases of rape or incest, getting a 100% rating from the National Right to… Read more
The other day, a colleague at work told me to pray for a snow day. He knows I don’t believe in God — He just figured my atheist prayers would be much more powerful than his own 🙂 No snow day. Epic fail. Maybe I should give it a shot, though. Reverend Tom McDaniels from Lifebridge Church in Longview, Texas seems to think his prayers had something to do with his recent windfall. In 2007, [McDaniels] wrote one million dollars… Read more
