This Thursday (May 1st) is the National Day of Reason! Consider it a day to give blood, sign up to become an organ donor, or donate money to your favorite secular non-profit! Not coincidentally, the NDR falls on the same day as the National Day of Prayer, headed up by Shirley Dobson. If you’d like to help lead groups to donate blood for the NDR, go for it. No one is stopping you. If you’d like to lead a team… Read more
For the second time in two days, there’s a story of interest to atheists happening in my ultra-local neck of the woods. At a middle school, a 7th grader saw something he found suspicious: Seventh-grader Ryan Vandewiel didn’t quite understand something during his lunch hour at Prairie View School in Tinley Park. Muslim students at the school could sit at a separate table, away from other non-Muslim students, during Ramadan, which in 2007 was from Sept. 13 to Oct. 12…. Read more
Apparently someone decided to take Hemant’s idea one step further. Kristine Dias’ friend sold her immortal soul on eBay for $18.63, plus $.37 shipping and handling. (I guess that’s the standard postal rate for human souls these days.) Considering Hemant got over $500 bucks for his soul, I think she got ripped off. Read more
I’ve mentioned this on a number of occasions. But the story of Specialist Jeremy Hall made its way into The New York Times today. When Specialist Jeremy Hall held a meeting last July for atheists and freethinkers at Camp Speicher in Iraq, he was excited, he said, to see an officer attending. But minutes into the talk, the officer, Maj. Freddy J. Welborn, began to berate Specialist Hall and another soldier about atheism, Specialist Hall wrote in a sworn statement…. Read more
I just need one of you to sponsor me. I’m sure you may be wondering, ‘How is this possible?’ Well, to this day we are the ONLY official distributor of reservations into Heaven. We are directly affiliated and sent down by The Board of Heavenly Officials, the only governing body in Heaven, to offer you one thing and one thing only: a worry free, secure way into Heaven. In return, you can go to hell. How would you feel if… Read more
I haven’t contributed an article to Hemant’s blog for a long time because I’ve been kind of busy. Since I think I’m pretty much like most other atheists, I offer this account so people can understand how a non-believer handles the thoughts and feelings that come during a challenging time. I make no apologies nor any boast about my feelings. They are what they are. Richard Wade The hospital chaplain walked in while Mom and I were laughing at a… Read more
My reading list is not *just* limited to atheist lit. I never read more than two books at a time. I feel like I should be punished when I annotate in books I really like. Those are just a few of the tidbits you’ll learn about me by reading an interview I did at Fire and Knowledge. (You’re welcome, stalkers.) [tags]atheist, atheism, Joshua Sowin[/tags] Read more
This story deserves a mention for a few reasons: It shows the ACLU working with the Alliance Defense Fund (a Christian group). You don’t see them on the same side of many issues. It’s an example of the ACLU supporting something you may not like — speech promoting bigotry, but free speech nonetheless. … and it happens to take place at my place of employment. A sophomore at [a high school] in Naperville can wear a T-shirt with an anti-gay… Read more
When I asked you which books helped you become an atheist, I expected a couple selections to pop up repeatedly. Instead, you all provided a variety of selections that led you to atheism. I grouped your picks into a few broad categories; it’s also worth noting that many people said it was a combination of the books (not just any one in particular) that pushed them away from their childhood religion. Here is the list for your perusal. (The list… Read more
I moved to Illinois right before the start of my freshman year of high school, so I didn’t know anyone else when the year began. In an effort to meet people and make friends, I auditioned for the school plays and speech team. Eventually, the casts and teammates became a second family to me, but at first, it was intimidating… especially because the upperclassmen were so incredibly talented and I was… well… a freshman. I’m sure you had that feeling… Read more