There’s a great article by Amy Harmon in The New York Times today about trying to teach evolution to students, many of whom have been raised to believe in Creationism. Here’s a typical conversation between teacher David Campbell and Christian student Bryce Haas: The morning after [Campbell’s] Mickey Mouse gambit, he bounced a pink rubber Spalding ball on the classroom’s hard linoleum floor. “Gravity,” he said. “I can do this until the end of the semester, and I can only… Read more
I just got back from a family friend’s wedding. Of course, there was dancing at the reception and at one point, the Timbaland song “The Way I Are” came on. Everyone was on the dance floor — lots of Indian parents. Including my mom. Not only was she dancing to the song — all the parents were, so that wasn’t all that embarrassing — but she was also singing along to it. My mom knows the words to that song…. Read more
***Update***: The Comments section is working. Comment away! … The latest newsletter from the Secular Student Alliance has a great point-counterpoint on PZ Myers’ Wafergate scandal. Board member Joe Foley says PZ crossed the line: Had he simply bought an unconsecrated communion wafer, or exercised his artistic license to create a lookalike, Catholics would have no more right to tell him what to do with it than Muslims to ban a cartoon. In a free society, people are allowed to… Read more
I still don’t know the story behind the name, but so far, I’m liking what I see on The Edger, a new collective blog by secular students. Besides the original, interesting articles, they are doing a lot of important things potential bloggers would be wise to learn from: Getting the hang of everything before the big rollout The Edger is getting linklove from bloggers only in the past couple days (from what I’ve seen), but they’ve actually been blogging non-stop… Read more
I do believe my site’s server has now been switched. The site seems to be working (minus a few plugins that were causing some problems). And the forums are back up. I also hope we’ve seen the last of the CPU/SUSPENSION Grey Screen of Death. Thanks to all of you for your patience. And a huge thanks to Tim S. for helping me with the switch! Read more
At the recent Saddleback Civil Forum hosted by Pastor Rick Warren, John McCain said this about his stance on abortion: … I have a 25-year pro-life record in the Congress, in the Senate, and as President of the United States, I will be a pro-life President with pro-life policies. That’s my commitment. That’s my commitment to you. In response, 23/6 presents Tips for Ladies Who Need to Terminate Their Pregnancy During a McCain Administration: Read more
Why do Christians get so offended when atheists point out shocking things written in the Bible? Or when we point out shocking things that were cut from the the final version? At Lorain County Community College in Ohio, the Campus Activists for Atheism group is causing a stir because a poster for the club makes reference to a passage cut from the Bible. “Cut from the Bible”? Yep. [Group secretary and treasurer Christopher] Burns said most Christians have never heard… Read more
Looks like General David Petraeus has stepped outside his bounds and endorsed a pro-Christian book: Under Orders: A Spiritual Handbook for Military Personnel by Army chaplain Lt. Col. William McCoy. According to Chris Rodda, the Senior Research Director for the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF): While Chaplain McCoy is certainly free to have his theological opinions and to share these opinions with those who choose to read about them, Petraeus’s endorsement — “Under Orders should be in every rucksack for… Read more
For anyone who would like to legally buy Carl Sagan’s series Cosmos so you can watch it when you drive or work out or are sitting in class, all the episodes are now available on iTunes! The whole series is $25.87 while individual episodes are $1.99. (In other words, there’s no discount for buying all of them.) For those of you who have never considered that the words “iTunes” and “legal” could be in the same sentence, I’m sure you… Read more
For any of you who missed the Atheist De-Baptism ceremony in Ohio, there’s another happening in Texas! It’s part of the day-long Texas Freethought Conference in Austin, TX on Sunday, October 26th. While you’re there, you can participate in a blood drive, hear live music, and meet other local atheists — So far, around 200 of them are scheduled to attend, and many are members of local freethought groups! Looks to be a free event as well. (It’s actually $15… Read more
