A few articles in the news today give current statistics about atheism in America and abroad. First, some helpful graphics from The New York Times: And this optimistic picture: As the caption mentions, the unaffiliated make up the “fourth largest ‘religious group'” and many of them were raised as Protestants or Catholics. This article, via the Associated Press, says that “nearly half of American adults [are] leaving the faith tradition of their upbringing to either switch allegiances or abandon religious… Read more
Billie Sieg is a sweet 80-year-old lady: Billie is a friendly person; someone recently described her as the mascot of her neighborhood. But there was nowhere for her to hang out. So Billie decided to join the Elks club. She’d been there with friends who are members. “It’s a very nice facility. I wanted the contacts, and a dining room and bar where I could take guests. I remember going there to a Valentine’s dance, and it was lots of… Read more
Mary’s getting married. She’s not converting to Catholicism but she is getting married in a Catholic church, which means she must go through the Pre-Cana, the “course” one takes when getting married in the Church. … Here are the ten steps, as listed by the Archdiocese of Chicago: Step 1: Introductory meeting with the priest or pastoral minister. Step 2: Premarital evaluation and discussion. Step 3: Follow-up discussion. Step 4: Participation in parish-based or Archdiocesan marriage preparation class. Step 5:… Read more
Woo! I’m 25 today. (Yep, 25 on the 25th.) What do I want…? For everyone to make a donation to the Secular Student Alliance Anything from the Amazon wishlist Two tickets to the upcoming TED conference. This may prove difficult since it’s been sold out for forever… and ticket prices range in the several thousands of dollars… and you need an invitation to come… The Evolution vs. Intelligent Design board game All of them. And you. (I like you the… Read more
I’ll admit I forwarded through parts of the 11-minute clip (the Oscars are on…), but the ending is priceless. After a long drawn-out discussion (?) over the meaningless theistic claim that atheists need just as much faith not to believe in God, Matt Dillahunty (host of the Atheist Experience cable access show) gets a fantastic response from the theist. The relevant part begins at 10:50, but if you’re short on time, you may want to begin at 10:00 just to… Read more
A video version of the list of gods that atheists and Christians don’t believe in: (via Too Many Tribbles) [tags]atheist, atheism[/tags] Read more
Linda Staten has a piece in the The Kansas City Star where she sheds some light on atheism. The piece is unintentionally funny… mostly because the “truths” she shares with Kansas readers are so painstakingly obvious to all of us. You wonder about the implication that Christians in the reading area may not actually be aware of any of this. That is simply frightening. Nonbelievers know a lot about Christianity and Judaism, most having been raised in religious families. Believers,… Read more
The New York Times Magazine has a story today about Anita Renfroe, a 45-year-old Atlanta native who made it big on the Internet with her song “Total Momsense” (sung to the tune of “The William Tell Overture”): There’s more to her than just that song, though: Renfroe is also a devout Christian and for about eight years has been slowly building a career as a comedian on the Christian women’s circuit. Like Mike Huckabee’s easy humor, Renfroe’s wit comes as… Read more
A list, years in the making, that finishes the statement “You may be a fundamentalist atheist if…”: 275. You have turned into a Jew and say “G-d” for the sole reason of not saying “God”. 276. You complain to Christians that “all your music sucks.” When asked what kind of music you listen to you give a list of bands including POD. When someone poins out that POD is a Christian band you say “They can’t be, I hear them… Read more
No one bid on them… I can’t imagine why not. The nails used at the crucifixion: The “Buy It Now” price was only 10,000 Euros! Consider this a missed opportunity. (Thanks to Matthew for the link!) [tags]atheist, atheism, Christian[/tags] Read more
