eHarmony is finally offering a dating service for gay people — though it’s not part of their flagship site. It’s a separate-but-equal site. They’re getting flak for it, though, from religious conservatives. Like this woman, for example: From: Jan Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2008 5:34 PM To: ncwarren@eharmony.com [Dr. Neil Clark Warren, founder, eHarmony.com] Subject: unbelievable Dear Mr. Warren: I was absolutely shocked that you would cave into the homosexual agenda, by offering date-matching for homosexuals on your “Christian” dating… Read more
Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa is a Christian school. Earlier this year, they premiered a musical called Terror Texts which re-enacts the lesser-known, more-disturbing, unbelievably grotesque stories from the Bible. This past week was the encore performance of the show. Don’t expect to hear these Bible stories at church. Cannibalism, rape, a bear that mauls children — this is the Bible? They’re among six stories from the Old Testament acted out in “Terror Texts,” a musical at Northwestern College… Read more
In response to the Atheist Bus Campaign in Britain, a Christian pastor created There Probably Is — a website which seeks out testimonials from those who have been Saved. In response to that site, an atheist has created a clone site called There Probably Isn’t. Feel free to add your own atheist testimonial! There are already a lot of interesting personal stories on the site! (Thanks to Mark for the link!) Read more
Glendale Community College in Arizona recently staged The Laramie Project, a play about Matthew Shepard, in honor of the tenth anniversary of his murder. Guess who was there to protest? Westboro Baptist Church, of course. But more than 100 people from several organizations (including the Secular Freethought Society from Arizona State University and a local atheist Meetup group) were there waiting. Rebelxtnut says this: The people from the church ended up just driving by and shouting that we were all… Read more
Columnist Jim Griffith of The Times-Herald in Georgia doesn’t think atheists can have a wonderful Thanksgiving: Thanksgiving must be a terrible time for atheists. They have no God to thank. They do not have the privilege of gathering with family and friends to express gratitude by saying: “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.” An atheist on his deathbed faces serious uncertainties. Gazing upward, he pleads: “Oh God, if there is a God, please save my soul — if I… Read more
I was notified by email from Atheists United in Los Angeles of the following incident: On November 20, 2008, the city of Rancho Cucamonga pressured General Outdoor Advertising to remove a controversial billboard with the message “Imagine No Religion” on it because some of its citizens were offended by it. The billboard, paid for by Freedom From Religion Foundation, a national non-profit advocacy group for atheists and agnostics, included only the words “Imagine No Religion” and the contact information of… Read more
Do you have any advice for this atheist reader? I’m an atheist living in Lynchburg, Virginia: Home to the Falwells, Liberty University and Thomas Road Baptist Church. Last year, I went (as a huge, huge, huge favor) with my mother to the church’s Christmas Show. Towards the end they started their pitch about how the proceeds from ticket sales goes towards the Liberty Godparent Home. It was the first time I’d heard of the program, and it was hard to… Read more
You’ve already seen the Sarah Palin video where chickens are slaughtered in the background: Everywhere I’ve seen, websites and TV stations offer disclaimers: It’s not for the weak of heart. Don’t watch this if you haven’t eaten lunch yet. Etc. I don’t get it. Maybe this is just my own ignorant, vegetarian self writing… but non-vegetarians know damn well where their meat come from. Why would any of them be disturbed by this video? Are you surprised?! Read more
The question comes from reader Nick. Are there racist atheists? To my knowledge, I haven’t met any… racism is completely contrary to any sort of rational thought. I guess I’d be surprised to meet an atheist racist. Or an atheist homophobe. Or an atheist sexist. But we’re a big group. Those types have to be within our community, right…? Have you met any? Read more
I posed the question the other day: Can a dog be an atheist? Reed has shown me proof that dogs can indeed be Godless: The debate has been settled. Read more
