A lady attending a Catholic Church says the priest “expelled her from Mass because her vehicle sported painted signs in support of president-elect Barack Obama.” So reporter Ryan Chalk of the Vacaville Reporter went to talk to the priest in question, Rev. Sebastian Meyer. He asked Meyer if the allegations were true. The priest said they were not and the reporter went on his way. I’m just kidding. Actually, the priest attacked the reporter: “He became very agitated,” Chalk said…. Read more
I went to visit my sister in Arizona recently. When I arrived at Midway Airport on a Friday afternoon, I parked my car in the economy parking lot — it cost $14/day. My flight arrived back in Chicago that Sunday night. The way the rates worked out, I owed a full three days worth of parking costs — $42. When I pulled up to the parking lot cashier, I grabbed my ticket from the nearby cup holder and reached for… Read more
The Mormon Church gave millions of dollars to support Proposition 8 in California. The measure passed and, as a result, gay people in the state will have to wait a little longer before they obtain equal rights. Jodi Mardesich tells an incredible story about how she was a practicing Mormon for so long but her own research into the faith drew her away from it. The Mormons’ support of Proposition 8 was the final straw that forced her to get… Read more
We’ve conquered billboards and buses. What will atheists do next? Scamp has some ideas: There are more ads over at Scamp. If you make any atheist ads of your own, please let me know! Read more
You always hear about how conservative Christians are all for abstinence until marriage. What you don’t always hear about is how they are completely pro-sex after marriage. Freaks, really. But how much is enough? A church in Dallas is asking congregants to get it on for seven straight days. And the pastor will be doing it, too: “We’re going to give it a try,” said the Rev. Ed Young, who has four children with his wife of 26 years. Young,… Read more
There’s been a lot of reactions (good and bad) to the American Humanist Association’s atheist bus campaign. In short, the AHA will be running the following ad on buses in the metro Washington, D.C. area: The Christian Right thinks this is an attack on them. Conservative commentators aren’t happy either. Today, AHA’s Jesse Galef was on FOXNews discussing the ads. The Catholic League’s Bill Donohue was also there to offer a counterpoint… which included the mentions of Hitler, Jeffrey Dahmer,… Read more
Last year, I wrote about an anonymous girl who became an atheist while she was a student at (evangelical Christian) Wheaton College. She has since graduated. One of the people she met along her journey is writing a book about student culture at Wheaton and he has an entire chapter about our anonymous girl. The draft chapter can be found here (PDF). It’s especially insightful for Christians who claim to desire open dialogue about faith, but in reality make our… Read more
Here are the answers in order: Women. Mormons. Jews. Muslims. Hindus. Gays and lesbians. Atheists. What’s the question? Which minority group has the best chance to win the White House next? *sigh* Here’s what Mark Oppenheimer of Slate said about us: When the lion lies down with the lamb, when the president is a Republican Muslim and the Democratic speaker of the House is a vegan Mormon lesbian, when the secretary of defense is a Jain pacifist from the Green… Read more
Democratic pollster John Anzalone says that Elizabeth Dole’s “Godless” ad against North Carolina Senate seat opponent Kay Hagan “doomed Dole’s chances to keep the race close.” Hagan’s numbers “skyrocketed” after the ad was aired. “It would have been a much closer race [if she didn’t air the Godless ad]. Kay would have won by 3-4 points but instead she won big,” Anzalone said. “I just think Dole, in the end, did herself a disservice. She was going to lose that… Read more
Because he was abused in second grade. No, really. It all makes sense now… I’m wondering why, if this is true, it took him two years to admit it. I’m also wondering: would it really be that hard at this point in his life to come out and just say he’s gay? If he did — and spoke out in defense of homosexuality and against the Christian treatment of gays — he could still be a hero to many people… Read more