The Daily Telegraph (Australia) has an article about atheist celebrities (who presumably won’t be celebrating Christmas). One of them is Australian actress Rachel Griffiths: Yummers. When asked by Madison magazine in 2000 if she was religious, Griffiths answered: “Although I’m not Christian, I was raised Christian. I’m an atheist, with a slight Buddhist leaning. “I’ve got a very strong sense of morality – it’s just a different morality than the loud voices of the Christian morality … I can’t tell… Read more
James Coley is a past president of the North Carolina Society for Ethical Culture. He has a master’s degree in philosophy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has taught medical ethics for many years. He recently spoke to the Ethical Humanist Society of Long Island. Part of his speech included the performance of his song Humanist Revival. It’s cute and catchy. Enjoy!: [tags]atheist, atheism, Humanism[/tags] Read more
A story on NPR’s Weekend Edition today talked about Humanists and the holidays. It features discussion on the question: What do we do when there’s a Christian monopoly on the holidays? The story featured Harvard’s Humanist Chaplain Greg Epstein as well as members of the Harvard Secular Society. [tags]atheist, atheism[/tags] Read more
The most paradoxical, oxymoronic, never-going-to-be-written book… that I would love to read one day. I’m just curious what the stories would be like… [tags]atheist, atheism, Pharyngula, Christopher Hitchens, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Victor Stenger, Nica Lalli, Julia Sweeney, Dale McGowen, PZ Myers, Daniel Dennett[/tags] Read more
Last week, I ran this contest: What newspaper headline would atheists most like to read? Here are the Top 5 headlines (with submitters)! 5| Natalie Portman holding out for the atheist Mr. Right (Ben) 4| The Rapture is here. All dogs go to heaven. Christians confused. (Jeff) 3| One nation, indivisible (Rebecca) 2| Study shows atheists have significantly bigger penises than believers (Jennifurret) 1| Government Gives All Atheists Tax Exempt Status, Pony (P.S.) If #2 was true, it would do… Read more
A friend who knows I’m an atheist gave me a holiday card where she had drawn a number of cartoons. Including this one: I love people who share my sense of humor about all this 🙂 (Got anything to top that?) And many thanks to all those who made me smile by saying, “Hemant, have a Mer — [long pause] — Happy Holiday!” [tags]atheist, atheism[/tags] Read more
Brought to you by the Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia, the tree stands outside the Chester County Courthouse, alongside more traditional holiday displays: A closeup: The full list of books on the tree can be found here. Makes you feel all warm and gooey inside, no? [tags]atheist, atheism[/tags] Read more
A while back, I did an interview with Susan Hogan/Albach, a reporter with the Chicago Sun-Times. For a few reasons (having nothing to do with my atheism or the article itself), it didn’t make it into the paper. But the interview is now up on the paper’s new religion blog, Divinity and Beyond. Go check it out! It also includes this picture: I like it. And unlike Mike Huckabee, I’ll admit there’s a cross — not a bookshelf — in… Read more
There’s so much shameless propaganda against atheists, I tell you! It’s been going on for decades. In this case, since 1929! Just look at this excerpt from Cecil B. DeMille’s last silent film The Godless Girl: Apparently, our atheist heroine (actress Lina Basquette) falls in love with the head of a Christian youth group. (We don’t get to see that part of the movie in the clip.) Here’s some of the backstory behind the movie: The film’s high school “Godless… Read more
The title of Hazel Dooney’s post explains it all. There’s also a possibly not-safe-for-work pic in the piece. Here’s a little teaser: … All were moulded in a soft, pliable, flesh-like silicon that was seductive to touch. I loved them. Still, despite being an atheist, there’s no way I’d use even faux-religious artifacts for self-stimulation – let alone slide the centrepiece of the Nativity scene up my ass, especially over Christmas. I can never look at my Answer Me JesusTM… Read more