Remember the couple that said they were doing it in a church confessional booth because “We are atheists and for us, having sex in church is like doing it any other place”? Well, they’ve repented: An Italian couple who were caught having sex in a church confessional box while morning Mass was being said have repented and made peace with the local bishop. … Their lawyer said they had been drinking all night and realised they had gone too far…. Read more
But a unicorn has been spotted in Italy. Oh boy. If a unicorn exists, God might be next… What do we do?! (via Boing Boing) [tags]atheist, atheism[/tags] Read more
There’s another atheist billboard up in Pennsylvania. FOX News isn’t too happy about it. In fact, in a recent story they did, a couple captions read like this: Tonight: Believers outraged over ‘Don’t Believe In God’ Billboard Atheism Ad — Should offensive sign to believers come down? What on earth does the billboard say that is so offensive to everyone?! Let’s watch: “Don’t believe in God? You’re not alone.” That’s it. So what is the justification for the “scary” music… Read more
We talk a lot on this site about how children who become atheists should come out to their family and what the reactions are. Let’s go the other way around. Reader Warren writes: We frequently hear about how atheists are treated when they come out as such to their religious parents. I wonder: how would any of your readers/contributors feel about their children coming out as religious? The thought chills my heart, and I know you couldn’t do anything but… Read more
The 2009 editions of the Skepchick and Skepdude calendars are now available for purchase! If you order now, you’ll also get 6-month 2008 calendars covering the remainder of this year for free! The cost? $20 per gender, with a $5 combined discount if you swing both ways. It’s a good deal, considering semi-nude pictures of me are usually priceless. The calendars will ship the last week of June. Buy them now! In case my being Mr. July 2009 isn’t tempting… Read more
While there were many fantastic speakers at the World Humanist Congress, this was the first time that most of my personal highlights took place outside the lecture halls and breakaway sessions. (Lobbying Congress on behalf of the rights of the non-religious and church/state separation makes for some entertaining stories.) Some of the more memorable moments from the weekend: Some guy came up to the Secular Student Alliance booth I was sitting at… I looked up and saw Philip Pullman, the… Read more
Dale McGowan’s new book, Raising Freethinkers, won’t be released until early next year. But if you start today, you can conceive and produce a child around the time the book comes out in late February. If that’s not possible, you can at least see the cover now: I like it! My only issue is that the cover isn’t exclusively non-religious like the cover for Parenting Beyond Belief was — on that cover, the parent and child were decidedly not praying… Read more
And Zack Exley wants you to know about it. Zack is a left-wing activist and organizer who writes for the Huffington Post and at his own blog, Revolution in Jesusland. And what is Jesusland, you ask? Well, perhaps you’ve already seen the internet meme that redraws the map of North America thusly: As Exley puts it: The image was a hit because it expressed a sinking feeling in the hearts of many progressives that America had been taken over by… Read more
Why is Barack Obama carrying all sorts of $&%# in his pocket for good luck? It makes him look like Dennis Kucinich… Caption from Time: Amongst the things that Barack Obama carries for good luck are a bracelet belonging to a soldier deployed in Iraq, a gambler’s lucky chit, a tiny monkey god and a tiny Madonna and child. “Tiny monkey god”? That’s Hanuman, who, in the Hindu scripture the Ramayana, led “a monkey army to fight the demon King… Read more
One of the guests at the World Humanist Congress showed me a tattoo located on his arm. It says “Heretic” though it takes a second to see that: But wait! That’s not all! Rotate it 180 degrees… Has your mind been blown yet? I love ambigrams. I feel a sudden urge to go reread Angels & Demons. [tags]atheist, atheism[/tags] Read more
