I spoke at Elmhurst College a couple nights ago about atheism, our image, and my book. Many thanks to the students who put the event together! Including Josh, who invited me, and Ben, who injured himself while chalking up the campus in promotion of my talk and then saw his efforts wiped away by a snowfall later that day. Among the thank-yous I received, none was better than this gift from the Secular Students Association at the school: Talk about… Read more
A reminder that not all Christians are the same: I’m Not One Of Those ‘Love Thy Neighbor’ Christians… I’m a normal Midwestern housewife. I believe in the basic teachings of the Bible and the church. Divorce is forbidden. A woman is to be an obedient subordinate to the male head of the household. If a man lieth down with another man, they shall be taken out and killed. Things everybody can agree on, like the miracle of glossolalia that occurred… Read more
If you want to know where not to shop this holiday season, don’t waste time poring over the list of stores which are naughty or nice. Instead, check out the list of people, companies, and organizations that gave over $5,000 in support of Proposition 8 in California, ending same-sex marriage in the state. They don’t deserve your patronage. (via The Daily Dish) Read more
At a book talk last night, I mentioned that my definition of an atheist was someone who didn’t believe in a god. That prompted the following (paraphrased) question from an audience member: Is a dog an atheist? I think the questioner wanted to discredit my definition. But I thought it made perfect sense to say a dog was an atheist. (It’s not going to pray anytime soon, after all.) Did I misspeak? Read more
American Atheists’ Dave Silverman writes: … After the [Elizabeth] Dole commercial, I’m considering going GODLESS. Godless also has no ambiguity, and leaves no room for debate as to what I mean or how I think. It also, perhaps, has an even more negative meaning than Atheist — thereby allowing me to do more damage to other people’s thought processes by showing how nice a godless guy can be. And, while we can debate the definitions of Atheist and Agnostic all… Read more
The (Christian) American Family Association is selling a DVD of an apparently frightening movie: Residents of the small Arkansas town of Eureka Springs noticed the black community was growing. But they felt no threat. They went about their business as usual. Then, one day, they woke up to discover that their beloved Eureka Springs, a community which was known far and wide as a center for Christian entertainment — had changed. The City Council had been taken over by a… Read more
I love the notion that a 13-year-old would write a letter like this to her parents: Kate is in her late twenties now. She’s an atheist 🙂 (via Cuddly Atheism) Read more
In case you wanted a way to catch up to the oversexified Christians, there’s now a new dating website for the non-religious. Sexed Up Atheists. Founder Claire writes this: … I hate the turn-key “atheist” dating sites that I find in searches for “atheist personals,” ugly, boring automated spin-offs of much larger dating networks. Sexed-Up-Atheists.com, which went live in October 2008, is a labour of love. A finger up to organised religion, it’s a 100% FREE personals service for every… Read more
Here is the list of atheist (and skeptic) conventions occurring in 2009: ConventionLocationDates American AtheistsAtlanta, GA4/9-4/12 Center for Inquiry’s 12th World CongressWashington, D.C.4/9-4/12 American Humanist AssociationPhoenix, Arizona6/5-6/7 The Amaz!ng Meeting 7Las Vegas, NV7/9-7/12 Freedom From Religion FoundationUnknownUnknown Atheist Alliance InternationalUnknownUnknown Secular Student AllianceUnknownUnknown What do you notice? CFI and AA’s conventions overlap on Easter Weekend. Atheist Alliance International used to have their main event on that same weekend but moved it in 2007 for the sake of cooperation. Why isn’t… Read more
I don’t know why I keep hearing about babies in food costumes, but I wholly approve: How does a baby crawl with that thing on…? (via omg blog — Thanks to Becky for the link!) Read more
