If you get hurt, these sure as hell better help you: But if Jesus isn’t enough, they give you a toy inside! Oh ye of little faith… Here’s the actual description: Ouch! That smarts! Treat your minor cuts, scrapes and scratches with the incredible healing power of a designer bandage. And if a fancy bandage isn’t enough to dry up your tears, how about a FREE TOY! Each 3-3/4″ (9.5 cm) tall metal pocket tin contains fifteen 3″ x 1″… Read more
Princess Maertha Louise of Norway just opened a school. Which sounds nice until you hear what it’s for (Emphases mine): Maertha Louise, who claims she is clairvoyant, says the Astarte school will offer students the chance to get in contact with their angels, described as “forces that surround us and who are a resource and help in all the aspects of our lives.” And since it’s all pseudoscience, you can bet there’s money involved: The tuition fees amount to 12,000… Read more
In the latest Scientific American, Michael Shermer warns fellow atheists “we should be cautious about irrational exuberance.” We need to remember the following five rules: 1. Anti-something movements by themselves will fail. 2. Positive assertions are necessary. 3. Rational is as rational does. 4. The golden rule is symmetrical. 5. Promote freedom of belief and disbelief. Shermer spends time talking about each of these separately. The most important thing for atheists to remember is this line, that comes via a… Read more
Of all the images they could’ve used, they went with this one… What have these kids been doing?! 🙂 And look at them — they’re coming for you next! (via Bjorn) [tags]atheist, atheism, Jackson Christian School[/tags] Read more
First Richard Dawkins’ documentaries… now this. There was no manger, Christ is not the Messiah, and the crucifixion never happened. A forthcoming ITV documentary will portray Jesus as Muslims see him. I do like the question at the end of the article: However, Patrick Sookhdeo, an Anglican canon and spokesman for the Barnabas Fund, which works with persecuted Christians, accused broadcasters of double standards. Mr Sookhdeo, who was born a Muslim and converted to Christianity in 1969, said: “How would… Read more
If you’re close to Chicago, consider coming to The Wheaton Atheists’ Meetup on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. (CT) in Carol Stream! Details are here. It’s not very often that we have social gatherings in the area for atheists… at least not many that include “younger” people. But this is a chance to fix that. So start rearranging your schedule! [tags]atheist, atheism, Chicago, Wheaton, Meetup, Carol Stream[/tags] Read more
Survival of the Sickest is the biologist’s version of Freakonomics. Which is great if you liked the latter book, as I did. Dr. Sharon Moalem (with Jonathan Prince) writes about “the miracle of evolution” and answers a number of questions along the way: Why do certain diseases exist? How do they work? Was there ever an advantage to having those disease-causing mutations? What can we do with that information? Considering the amount of biological and evolutionary concepts in the book,… Read more
A lot of people have said nice things about I Sold My Soul on eBay. But even in some of the good reviews, the reviewers manage to say certain things that just stick with me. Like when one magazine said: “[Hemant’s] plain prose tends to make his procedural accounts of rote church services a slog to get through, too.” Slog?! There was also the time when someone prefaced how much they liked my book with: He’s not the greatest writer… Read more
If our country ever becomes so chaotic, like in the case of a nuclear attack, and martial law was enacted, Homeland Security in Louisiana has a solution. Clergy. Jeff Ferrell of KSLA news says this: For the clergy team, one of the biggest tools that they will have in helping calm the public down or to obey the law is the bible itself, specifically Romans 13. Dr. [Durell] Tuberville elaborated, “because the government’s established by the Lord, you know. And,… Read more