I’m not sure where this originally came from… but it’s the weekend, so pray to Shiva Colbert! [tags]atheist, atheism, Shiva, Hinduism, Stephen Colbert[/tags] Read more
A church outside Chicago apparently mentioned me and my book in a sermon last week. So I listened to it… you can, too (MP3). The fun begins at the 30:00 mark. The good: The pastor pronounced my name correctly! The bad: I apparently have a website called HappyAtheist.com. The huh?!: The amusing part begins at 31:30. The pastor is talking about the chapter in my book called “What It Would Take to Convert Me.” I write that if I saw… Read more
It’s pure speculation… but I didn’t know Prince Harry “declined to give a religious reading” at his late mother’s tenth anniversary memorial service. Here’s what the National Secular Society of Britain says: One of the more startling revelations at last week’s tenth anniversary memorial service for Princess Diana was that her second son, Prince Harry, had declined to give a religious reading, as his elder brother had done, and elected instead to make a personal eulogy. What can we discern… Read more
August Berkshire of Minnesota Atheists (and author of 18 Unconvincing Arguments for God) is in the media for the second time in a week! You can see his most recent letter-to-the-editor in the new issue of Time magazine: Religious believers often cite feeling God’s presence as proof of his existence. Now people point to Teresa’s lack of feeling the presence of Jesus as proof of God’s existence. These people note her courage in persevering despite severe doubts. If she had… Read more
You can now read a brief interview I did with Bill (the Friendly Christian) at his site. I even tell him about my hidden talent… [tags]atheist, atheism[/tags] Read more
The Continuum of Humanist Education (COHE) is now offering their online, interactive humanist educational program completely free of charge. COHE courses explore humanist thought in history, philosophy, psychology, religion, science, ethics, activism and politics. COHE course authors includes notable humanist activists such as evolutionary biology professor Massimo Pigliucci, Ph.D. and former humanist lobbyist Tim Gordnier, Ph.D. Even if you don’t want to take a “full course,” do yourself a favor and look around to see what material is available! (Via… Read more
Here is Richard Dawkins’ review of Christopher Hitchens’ book God is Not Great. And here is Nica Lalli reviewing the life of Mother Teresa: As an atheist, I feel somewhat satisfied [by] this admission [that Mother Teresa had doubts] (even as I admit that she never wanted such facts about her private life made public). I am pleased that a big-name religious icon — a person who will more than likely become a saint — had doubts. It is not… Read more
The Globe and Mail has an exposé on Grenville Christian College in Canada. It’s in several parts: Christian sect with shadowy past has ‘evolved over the years’ (link) Dark past behind school’s demise (link) Brockville’s local paper was advised not to publish abuse allegations (link) Apology for ‘hurt and pain’ at private school (link) Born into abusive grip of a cult (link) One of the articles opens like this: Ruth Buddington was 13 when she was brought to Grenville Christian… Read more
It’s late. We had open house for parents at my high school tonight. It was a very long day. I’m exhausted. But this got me riled up enough to write something… Russell (an atheist) and Ginny (an agnostic atheist) have lived in their neighborhood for six years. They haven’t spoken to their religious neighbors in about five… until now. What’s up with that? Russell says this: When we first moved in, they were friendly and invited us to church, which… Read more
You should cancel any future flights on Nepal Airlines. They’ve been having problems with one of their two aircrafts. Some services have been suspended the past few weeks. How did the airline respond to the problem? Officials at Nepal’s state-run airline have sacrificed two goats to appease Akash Bhairab, the Hindu sky god, following technical problems with one of its Boeing 757 aircraft, the carrier said Tuesday. … “The snag in the plane has now been fixed and the aircraft… Read more
