Josh Jarman of The Columbus Dispatch had an article about the recent rise of atheism that quotes many non-religious leaders. Even one of the religious people mentioned in the article is correct in his assessment. First, Tom Flynn, editor of Free Inquiry magazine, on why the atheist authors are so successful: “With (President) Bush trumpeting his faith-based initiatives in the face of the separation of church and state, you have a lot of those in the nonbelieving community who feel… Read more
We know our non-religious troops are victims of Evangelical Christian proselytization and that people still say, “There are no atheists in foxholes.” I hadn’t heard about this story, but it also deserves a hearing: [Operation Foxhole Atheists] started after hearing about several atheist soldiers in Iraq that attempted to start a group at their Forward Operating Base (FOB). They were harassed by a major that threatened to go after them with the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice). The soldiers… Read more
If you do, you could win a prize! Amusing entries are sought, rather than gratutitously obscene ones. The deadline for entries is September 30, so get creative now! Again, the prize is a year’s free subscription to the Freethinker. [tags]atheist, atheism, humanist, humanism, freethinker[/tags] Read more
The Friendly Christian came into existence earlier this month. Now, we also have the Friendly Humanist! It’s like friendly atheism. Except Timothy Mills is British. Which makes him cooler than me. So go visit him! I’m still awaiting the Friendly Scientologist blog. [tags]atheist, atheism, humanism[/tags] Read more
Dale McGowan, the author of Parenting Beyond Belief, has a nifty interview with me over at his site. You get to hear my thoughts on what an optimistic vision of the future looks like for atheists, Dale’s new meme (I’m blushing), and the Heckler story. About that story… let me add a couple more thoughts on it. The speech I was giving that night was the first time I had spoken about the “soul-selling” auction to an atheist audience. I… Read more
There are atheist blogs all over the place, books about the subject, and web pages on non-religion that you will never have enough time to read through. Still, it’s good to know there are young people like Shane who are able and willing to answer your questions about atheism. His responses are simply matter-of-fact about the way things are. He’s not trying to push any buttons. Atheists are a very diverse bunch and I have been around many atheists. It… Read more
It’s a spoof. But dammit, I laughed. The premise: The New Atheists are so aggressive, that the different religions are working together in opposition. “It really started with Jews for Jesus,” says Father Paul Pelletier of St. Columbkill’s parish in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston, referring to the evangelical organization that seeks to convert Jews to Christianity, “but without the Spanish Inquisition” he adds with a chuckle. He has formed a new group–“Catholics for Copernicus”–named after the 16th century Polish… Read more
Roberta Stewart, a Wiccan war widow, was not invited to a meeting with President Bush earlier in the week, even though he met with other families who have lost loved ones in Iraq. Stewart told local media that she was concerned that her exclusion was an intentional snub for her leadership in an Americans United-sponsored lawsuit that forced the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to allow the Wiccan symbol of faith on government-issued grave markers. Today, President Bush called her… Read more
Quick: Name a religious piece of art! . . . Good. Now: What’s your favorite poem about atheism? Painting…? Creative non-fiction piece…? . . . Hard, isn’t it? Now, there is an attempt to remedy the lack of literary/artsy works in the atheist world: The Eloquent Atheist. It’s an e-zine that: …hopes to provide an outlet to nontheists who would like to publish creative, thoughtful, expressive writing (no rants), and writing that focuses on “reclaiming” the lives and works of… Read more
Last week, someone wrote this letter to a newspaper: Dear editor, A few days ago I found a kitten on the sidewalk at the end of Cotton Street. It was dehydrated and very weak. It had laid down on the sidewalk to die. It has a 50 percent chance of survival. I am doing everything I can to save it. To the person who committed this horrendous inhumane act, I have a question for you. Are you an atheist? It… Read more
