The Freedom From Religion Foundation is suing the president and many others over making the National Day of Prayer a federal holiday. Here is the actual complaint (PDF). The national proclamation issued this year asked God’s blessings on our country and called for Americans to observe the day with appropriate programs, ceremonies and activities. Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle is named in the suit because he is one of 50 governors who issued proclamations calling for the prayer day. The foundation… Read more
I mentioned Kate Miller’s fabulous website Charlie’s Playhouse earlier in the week. The site is now fully functional and ready to take your orders! Already, Kate’s getting some great reviews: I bought the Giant Timeline for my grandkids… I just want to tell you that my grandkids love the Timeline and after playing a few games as described on the back, are now making up more games and having a great time with it. The educational uses are tremendous even… Read more
Here’s a new meme for you: Categorize the 20 most recent emails in your inbox. Spam doesn’t count. What do they say about you? For me at this moment: 5 exchanges with site readers 3 questions/comments from site readers 2 from the Secular Coalition for America 1 from the Barack Obama campaign 1 receipt from Amazon 1 request to review a book 1 e-Receipt for my electric bill 1 from MoveOn.org 1 exchange with a personal friend 1 regarding a… Read more
You have to feel bad for singer-songwriter Hayes Carll. His girlfriend left him for another man. A far better man. A man with whom Carll can’t compete. At least they caught her on tape: On an amusing sidenote, the video was written and directed by Dano Johnson — the creator of the animated version of Edwin A. Abbott’s excellent book, Flatland. Which my students will be watching again this year 🙂 Read more
Another child has died because his parents put faith ahead of common sense: Their son, 16-year-old Neil Jeffrey Beagley, died June 17 of complications from a urinary-tract blockage. A deputy state medical examiner said the boy apparently suffered for years from the intensely painful but medically treatable condition. The blockage ultimately caused kidney failure, uremic poisoning and heart failure, according to autopsy results. When Neil Beagley died at his grandmother’s Gladstone home, he was surrounded by dozens of church and… Read more
Mercy Ministries bills itself as a Christian-based rehabilitation home for “young women who are seeking freedom from life-controlling problems.” It was founded by Nancy Alcorn in 1983. There is a riveting untold story about the ministry in the Nashville Scene, focusing on Jennifer Wynne, one of the girls admitted into the house. How bad was the place? Entrusting their recovery to untrained counselors barely out of Bible college, the Mercy girls said that exorcisms and speaking in tongues took the… Read more
I’ve been reading The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality by Andre Comte-Sponville. Good book! More on that later. The following passage on an atheist’s response to death seemed to perfectly encapsulate why we don’t need to turn to religion during the most depressing times in our lives. The author talks about the mindset of an atheist who has just experienced the death of a loved one: … Gradually, however, the idea of the person one has lost evolves from gaping… Read more
buzaw0nk walked into a Target store in Phoenix and saw a promotional setup for the Sony Reader — an e-book reader much like Amazon’s Kindle. He was a bit surprised to see the book being promoted: Sony was using The God Delusion to promote their product? Yes, it’s a bestseller, but still… Ballsy move. I like it! It was a 66 page sample of the book which leads me to believe it was sent that way from Sony. I’m sure… Read more
After the talk of Pat Condell’s new video being taken down from YouTube, it looks like someone is after me, too. I don’t understand why… other than spite. My video’s content? At the atheist Coming Out Party in Ohio this summer, I videotaped a man desecrating an “atheist communion wafer” — really, just a regular cracker with peanut butter on it. Before the man’s hammer comes down, breaking the cracker into a million little pieces, the man dedicated the action… Read more
