If you were planning a conference for atheists, a few potential speakers immediately come to mind: Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Julia Sweeney, etc. I think most atheists who live in large cities — or have the money and ability to travel to a conference — have met these big names already. If you *really* wanted to meet Christopher Hitchens, for example, it’s not all that hard to do it. He travels and speaks very often and just about everywhere. If… Read more
SarahH has been involved with missionaries before, including her own parents. On the forums, she writes: When I was a teenager, I took a summer-long trip to Zambia and South Africa with Teen Missions International, a group based in Florida that sends approximately 700 teens around the world every summer. Their mission is much more evangelically centered, in that they’re very very focused on the goal of saving souls rather than saving lives. The teens who work on construction projects… Read more
I’ll just share this with you… “I’m tempted to say it’s one huge joke,” [Kinshasa’s police chief, Jean-Dieudonne] Oleko said. “But when you try to tell the victims that their penises are still there, they tell you that it’s become tiny or that they’ve become impotent. To that I tell them, ‘How do you know if you haven’t gone home and tried it’,” he said. … and direct you to the article. Those are the results of living in a… Read more
Have you been meaning to read Dinesh D’Souza’s What’s So Great About Christianity but just haven’t gotten around to it? Yeah, me neither. But Brock took the bullet for us. He read the book and offers this commentary (PDF). [tags]atheist, atheism[/tags] Read more
A.J. Packman shares with us the first drafts of the parables of Jesus over at McSweeney’s. “But what do you think about this?” asked Jesus. “A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway. Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go. Which… Read more
You’re coming, right? The party is at the Galway Arms in Chicago at 7:30 p.m. this Saturday night. More information is here! [tags]atheist, atheism[/tags] Read more
For some reason, I’m having “comment” issues on this site. People are having trouble posting them. They not able to edit their own comments afterward. And even moderating the comments is a hassle today — it’s not working properly. Is there anyone online right now who can help me with this? If you are on AIM or Gmail chat, even better! Please let me know. Thanks! Read more
A reader of this site has a dilemma. He just posted a profile on Match.com. Part of his profile states that he’s an atheist. Right away, this is like kryptonite to a lot of potential dates who may not know what that means but see “atheist” as a dirty word. He writes: If we were in a face-to-face setting I could explain it to them more easily based upon their feedback/reactions. I don’t have that opportunity on an opening or… Read more
The Secular Coalition for America now has a ninth member: The American Ethical Union. The AEU is the fourth humanist group within the SCA. It’s also an organization that considers itself “religious” (though they do not take a position on the God question). The AEU was founded in 1876 and is headquartered in New York City. Ethical Culture is a nontheistic “religion” which is humanistic in nature and neutral as to the existence of a higher power. “Our religion is… Read more
Mike Clawson here again. Maybe I should just start with the disclaimers. I am posting this question solely out of a desire to get to know people better, and hopefully to help find some common ground and common passions. I have no hidden agenda, and if you think you perceive any subtle digs directed at atheists then please assume that you are misreading me. Also, this post is not an invitation to play “Ask a Christian Pastor” again and bombard… Read more
