Why have none of you pointed this out to me before? In Simon Singh’s fantastic book, Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe, he writes this about the background of theoretical physicist and cosmologist George Gamow: Having attended Communion at the local Russian Orthodox church, he dashed home with a piece of bread and a few drops of wine secreted in his cheeks, He put them under the microscope and compared what he saw with everyday bread and wine. He… Read more
Illinois State Rep. Monique Davis never should have made her incendiary comments against atheists in the first place, but yesterday, she called Rob Sherman and apologized for her remarks. Says Sherman on his website: Yesterday, State Representative Monique Davis (D-Chicago) called me from the Floor of the Illinois House of Representatives to apologize for what she had said to me at last Wednesday’s hearing of the House State Government Administration Committee. Rep. Davis had said, among other things, that atheism… Read more
I received this story from Terrence Jackson and (with his permission) wanted to share it with everyone. Terrence lives and works in Yellowstone National Park and has started a freethought group on the site. How does that happen? Can national parks even have religious/non-religious groups? He answers those questions in the story: I live and work in Yellowstone National Park, a 2.2 million acre national reserve that resides mostly within the state of Wyoming but falls into Montana and Idaho… Read more
Charter schools, like public schools, receive government money and must therefore stay out of the religion debate. That is to say there should be no proselytizing in the classroom one way or the other. The schools must remain secular. Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA) is a K-8 charter school in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota. There’s not a single mention of Islam on the school’s website, not even on the description page. Yet, the school is completely tearing down the wall… Read more
He lost an arm and then grew a brand new one! My atheism. It’s crumbling right in front of me… [tags]atheist, atheism, The Onion[/tags] Read more
I was on Snopes.com earlier today checking out a random column about humorous Dear Abby columns (you know you want to read it). As I read it, an ad on the page (near the bottom of the image) made me do a double-take: How ironic (and sad) that, on a website that represents finding the truth, you see an ad for the sack of lies that is Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. By the way, Skeptic publisher and author of Why… Read more
The next Chicagoland party will take place on Saturday night, April 26th at 7:30 p.m. Brought to you by Elyse at Skepchick: Galway Arms 2442 N Clark St Chicago, IL … Last month we had such a blast at Whiskey Road, I promised we would do this again (without the humiliating video games)! And now we are! So meet me, Skepchick Elyse, for a Guitar-Hero-free night of drinking and thinking at Galway Arms in Chicago. Guitar Hero free?! Woo! I’ll… Read more
***UPDATE***: Video is below. Illinois State Rep. Monique Davis recently said to atheist Rob Sherman: “It’s dangerous for our children to even know that your philosophy (atheism) exists!” The audio of the exchange was picked up and circulated, and the story (which was brought to the public’s eye by Chicago Tribune reporter Eric Zorn) has made its way through the blogosphere. It’s made its way to the mainstream media, too. Tonight, MSNBC news anchor Keith Olbermann named Davis his nightly… Read more
I posted yesterday about a widely-used high school Civics textbook that was filled with lies and/or egregious mistakes. An AP story about the textbook is now circulating all over the place. Publishers are already talking about changes: The publisher now says it will review the book, as will the College Board, which oversees college-level Advanced Placement courses used in high schools. … The textbook is designed for a college audience, but also is widely used in AP American government courses,… Read more
We always hear about city councils denying atheists the right to give an invocation at meetings. Priests and rabbis? They’re fine. But atheists are often turned away. Usually, this is a long, drawn-out battle. It’s a lot of fuss over something that’s only symbolically meaningful, but it’s awful that there are people who would refuse to give atheists that opportunity (or walk out when the atheist finally does get to speak). In Monroe, Michigan, atheist Mark Farris attended a city… Read more
