Let me just quote the first paragraph of the article: DOTHAN, Ala. — Larry Blumberg is looking for a few good Jews to move to his corner of the Bible Belt. Blumberg is chairman of an organization offering Jewish families as much as $50,000 to relocate to Dothan, an overwhelmingly Christian town of 58,000 that calls itself the Peanut Capital of the World. Get involved at Temple Emanu-El and stay at least five years, the group’s leaders say, and the… Read more
You may have already heard: The (conservative Christian) Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) is asking church leaders to endorse specific candidates on Sunday, September 28th, thereby breaking the law and challenging their own tax-exempt status. It’s called The Pulpit Initiative: On Sunday, September 28, 2008, we are seeking pastors who will preach from the pulpit a sermon that addresses the candidates for government office in light of the truth of Scripture. The sermon is intended to challenge the Internal Revenue Code’s… Read more
Sports reporter Tommy Craggs spent a lot of time with basketball star Stephon Marbury last year while writing a profile of him for New York magazine. One of their interactions that did not make the final story dealt with the revelation that Craggs was an atheist. Craggs tells his story at Deadspin: It began when I spotted a Bible on the end table and asked if [Marbury] had read any of it today. “I’m in Genesis,” he explained. “I’m reading… Read more
You know you want this shirt: Man… remember the time when Bobby Jindal was being considered as John McCain’s vice-presidential choice? Glad *those* days of a pro-life, Intelligent-Design-endorsing, religious extremist VP are finally over… (via Sepia Mutiny) Read more
There is now an interview with me posted over at The Atheist Spot! Just wanted to mention it 🙂 Thanks to Lenny for the opportunity! Read more
After Penn Jillette’s recent article for CNN, I said I disagreed with his views and that not only should we vote (as opposed to sitting out the election like Penn), but we should also support government intervention in some instances. I feel that Democrats would be the lesser of two evils for sure, but a Barack Obama administration would make things better for many Americans. Afterwards, I received an email from a reader, Paul, who felt otherwise: Long time reader… Read more
Matthew Terry is a musician who is about to release an EP under the name Fontaine. One of the songs on that record will soon be released on iTunes — it’s called “This Is Why.” It details Matthew’s personal journey from Christianity to Atheism. You can listen to the song by clicking here and pressing the Play button. Just so you can follow along, here are the lyrics: Could we talk about something else? Anything at all? Because it seems… Read more
London skeptics will not be waging any War on Christmas this year. Instead, they’re providing a secular alternative. English comedian Robin Ince is putting together a Christmas celebration… for atheists. The event is titled “Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People.” It’s sure to be a day of positivity: Rather than talking of Jesus’s birth, acclaimed science author Simon Singh will talk about the birth of the universe. Instead of talking about Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh, Bad Science Columnist Ben… Read more
You would think Intelligent Design/Creationism controversies would be limited to Bible Belt states like Kansas or Alabama. But Oregon? At Jefferson High School near Salem, Oregon, the science curriculum is pretty standard — they tend to teach real science. Several months ago, however, a local pastor attended a school board meeting and challenged what was being taught in Geology classes. He didn’t like the scientific notion of an Earth that is billions of years old. He proposed that the school… Read more
Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution posted this question from a reader, referring to Las Vegas: I lived there for four years and was always curious. I guess the more sin, the more churches??? Tyler offers these reasons: I would think that most of the churches in Las Vegas are for the residents, not the tourists, and thus the quantity of sin is not a major factor. Why should the residents be especially sinful? (Don’t forget that lots of sinful activities… Read more
