Time magazine has a short article this week that describes just how “radical” the Harry Potter books are when compared to similar series in the fantasy genre: In The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien fused his ardent Catholicism with a deep, nostalgic love for the unspoiled English landscape. C.S. Lewis was a devout Anglican whose Chronicles of Narnia forms an extended argument for Christian faith. Now look at [J.K.] Rowling’s books. What’s missing? If you want to know who… Read more
Chris Hallquist and I will be appearing on The Debate Hour online radio show tonight at 8:00 p.m. (EDT) to discuss various atheist tactics. The show is live and listeners are welcome to call in with questions! More information is here. [tags]atheist, atheism, God, Chris Hallquist, The Debate Hour, The Infidel Guy, Reginald Finley[/tags] Read more
There’s a tradition for some college (and adult) atheist groups on Friday the 13th. They will hold an event called a “Superstition Bash.” The groups will get a table and sit in a public area. Their purpose is to show we shouldn’t give much thought to silly superstitions. Maybe there’s a ladder nearby that you can walk under, or a black cat you can pet, or a small glass mirror that you can break with a hammer (safety precautions are… Read more
I wrote about a Hindu man who was delivering the opening prayer in the US Senate this morning– and the Christian Right’s reaction to it. Here’s video of the event (via Talking Points Memo): Man… I feel bad for Rajan Zed. He looked so flustered! 🙁 Those protesters were “three activists from the Christian Right anti-abortion group Operation Save America.” The activists were Ante and Katherine Pavkovic and Kristen Sugar. They were all arrested. Some background on them can be… Read more
Right now, I download the following atheistically-themed podcasts: Point of Inquiry Minnesota Atheists Freethought Radio Humanist Network News Skepticality Are there other similar podcasts I’m missing out on? Read more
Normally, we should all just skip over these… but Ain’t Christian’s Fundamentalist Horoscopes are obviously true and just full of damn good advice, so you have to read them. Like this one: Aries (March 21 – April 20) Even though it will turn out she was merely waiting for the bus, you’ll glow with pride this weekend when your six year- old douses a girl’s blouse with blood outside an abortion clinic – Tonight: Reach out to a family member… Read more
German journalist (Gernalist?) Günter Wallraff wants to read Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses. Out loud. In a soon-to-be-built mosque. “If I do this then I want to make a difference; it’s not meant to be a provocation,” he said in an interview that appeared in several German media outlets, adding that the book should be read and discussed by the Muslim public, which “currently is condemning something it does not know about.” The new mosque’s leaders have not said “No”… Read more
Lisa Simpson advocates the teaching of Evolution while everyone else seems hell-bent on teaching Creationism. A courtroom scene (a la the Scopes Monkey Trial) ensues. You may have seen a shorter version of this, but here’s a longer excerpt. It’s The Simpsons in top form (at least for the first couple minutes)! Watch it before it’s taken off of YouTube. (Thanks to Maria for the link!) [tags]atheist, atheism, evolution, creationism, Bible, Charles Darwin, George Will, Scopes Monkey Trial, Simpsons[/tags] Read more
The Campaign to Defend the Constitution along with Lake Research Partners have put out the results of a phone survey completed last month. 800 likely voters were surveyed. The test has a margin of error of +/- 3.5%. As they write in the report (PDF), the results show: Voters, including evangelicals, reject creationism museum. Evangelicals reject intelligent design which divides them from their candidates. That first bulletpoint above was based off of this question: And recently a Creationism Museum opened… Read more
Secular Student Alliance intern Brendan Dieffenbach spent a day with New York state lobbyist Jennifer Lange. He writes about it in the latest Humanist Network News. Looks like he had an eventful day: A comment from one Democratic assemblyman that I “look like a humanist” had caused me to wonder to what extent I, with my bushy beard and a braid of hair trailing down my back, would stand out among the legislative crowd. In the end, these aspersions were… Read more
