***Update***: Ebert has written than the article mentioned below was an attempt (albeit a poor one) at satire. … Considering that film critic Roger Ebert has defended evolution in the past, it seems odd that an essay in defense of Creationism is on his site right now… Questions and answers on Creationism, which should be discussed in schools as an alternative to the theory of evolution: Q. When was the earth created? A. Archbishop James Usher, working out a chronology… Read more
Rev. Keith Crosby from Green Bay, Wisconsin provides the answer to that question with the worst comparison you’ll hear all day: Atheists are like smokers. Smokers know that smoking is harmful and yet they smoke while consciously suppressing the fact that harm will come to them if they persist. Atheists act as if their feigned unbelief somehow grants them immunity from responsibility vis-à-vis what politicians in the Watergate era once called “plausible denial.” Plausible denial won’t work with God. As… Read more
A new study shows that over half of all Americans believe in guardian angels… The Digital Cuttlefish has a poetic response for all those who wrongly believe an angel is watching over them: … That time, late at night, you were hit by a car And were comatose over three days? Was an Angel the one who looked down from a star And guided you out of the haze? Well, no. There’s the lady who called nine one one, And… Read more
If Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church are protesting in your area, you should take a lesson from the good people in Arkansas. The Central Arkansas Pastafarians group made an appearance next to the Phelps’ protest (not coincidentally during International Talk Like a Pirate Day) and managed to drive the group away! Yep, the cuckoo Phelps hate group walked the plank this morning after a happy bunch dressed like pirates and holding signs saying “God hates shrimp — Leviticus”… Read more
Andrew Sullivan and Bill Maher go at it on last night’s episode of Real Time (the religious talk begins at the 6:35 mark): Read more
There are a few lectures to promote — my own and another! I will be speaking in Minnesota this Thursday evening at the University of Minnesota! Thanks to Campus Atheists and Secular Humanists (CASH — “The Best Damned Group on Campus”) for inviting me. If you’re in the Twin Cities, please stop on by! Also, next Saturday (9/27), I will be speaking just outside Chicago at the monthly meeting of the city’s MENSA affiliate. Admission is $10. And you’ll meet… Read more
If the protein in our body bends in a particular way, it seems we could get up close and personal with our Maker: Worshiper Ivy said this: Recently, I have been doubting my faith in the FSM. I take this as a sign that he is still with me. I have never felt more touched than I do now. Repent now before it’s too late. RAmen. Read more
In addition to Lori Lipman Brown’s recent appearance on The Colbert Report, there have been several other memorable segments about atheism on Stephen Colbert’s show. Matt Tobey at Comedy Central Insider presents his Top 8! What’s your favorite? Are there other segments which must be included? Read more
The Roman Catholic Church has long affirmed the validity of evolutionary science. Unlike some (certainly not all) other Christians at the time, it never condemned Darwin or his ideas; and in 1950 Pope Pius XII described evolution as a valid scientific approach to the development of humans – a stance reaffirmed by Pope John Paul II in 1996. Thus it’s no surprise that a Vatican representative, Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, reaffirmed Tuesday that evolutionary… Read more
Below is the cover for the current issue of Gospel Today magazine. See if you can spot the problem with it: Did you find it?! If you said, “Women pastors?! WHAT?! That’s blasphemy!” then you win! Turns out Lifeway Christian Bookstores — owned by the Southern Baptist Convention — is pulling the magazine from its shelves for just that reason. Chris Turner, a spokesman for Lifeway Resources, which runs the stores for the Southern Baptist Convention, said, “It is contrary… Read more
