The Chicago Sun-Times’ religion writer Cathleen Falsani ran a terrific article on Nica Lalli and her new book Nothing: Something to Believe In. If you haven’t read her book yet, go do it now. It’s awesome. And if you’re in Chicago, Nica will be doing a book reading/signing at the Barnes & Noble at 1441 W. Webster on Thursday, June 7 at 7:30 p.m. Hope to see you there! ***UPDATE: On her blog, Cathleen Falsani has the full transcript of… Read more
Last week, I mentioned that Detroit Free Press religion writer David Crumm made his suggestions for the Top 10 Books for Spiritual Summer Reading. I Sold My Soul on eBay was on that list. Crumm ran a follow-up column today where he talks about some of the reader comments he received about the list. Here’s the beginning of that column: LAST WEEK: Our Top 10 Books for Spiritual Summer Reading drew lots of reader comments. Some readers thanked us for… Read more
The Secular Coalition for America has released the scorecard for the 110th Congress. It will be updated through 2008, but even the unfinished scorecard tells us a lot. It denotes how House and Senate members are voting on various bills dealing with religious freedom and secular government (such as expansion of stem cell research, tax benefits for enrolling in religious schools, responsible sex education instead of abstinence-only sex-ed, etc.) To see how your state’s Representatives are doing, click here. To… Read more
The following is a list created by Eddie Tabash, an attorney from California. Tabash is also the chair of the First Amendment Task Force for the Council for Secular Humanism. I’ve heard Christian responses to many of these claims, and not that those responses are any valid, but it’s always good for atheists to be able to recite a quick list like this. And Christians do need to have responses to these claims if they want to defend their faith…. Read more
Greg at Free Mind Joe reminds us not to click on this link. Don’t do it! . . . You just don’t listen, do you…? Well, you deserve the punishment. If you missed it, the FAQ on that site is quite amusing. (On a personal note, I got to meet Greg at the Rally for Reason– his version of the event is here. Very nice guy, that Greg. If he’s not on your blogroll, fix that now.) [tags]atheist, atheism, Free… Read more
What is it with Christian buildings costing $27,000,000? First, the Creation Museum. Now, the Billy Graham Library. Anyway, there was an interesting quotation in the AP article from Franklin Graham, Billy Graham’s son: Asked for his thoughts on the state of evangelism, Franklin Graham warned about a creeping “liberalism” that is leading people to question the authority of Scripture. “Every generation, liberalism comes into the church. Men and women take their eyes off the cross,” he said. “My father didn’t… Read more
Ashley Schulte of the Ohio Rational Response Squad made an awesome video using footage from the Rally for Reason. And I am in it. For two seconds. (By the way, check out the wonderful Atheist Dance at the end! It’s like our new handshake.) A second video (inside the museum) will be coming soon. [tags]atheist, atheism, Ashley Schulte, Ohio Rational Response Squad, Rally for Reason[/tags] Read more
If you ever wanted a good source to back up the statement that atheists are the minority least likely to get elected, Data360 has some nice graphs pulling together the various Gallup poll results on the topic. Here’s the atheist chart in depth. Compare that chart to those of how many people would vote for a homosexual or black person, respectively: (via the Freakonomics blog) [tags]atheist, atheism, president, gay, homosexual, black, data360[/tags] Read more
In an attempt to explain why he raised his hand when asked if he did NOT believe in evolution during the first Republican presidential candidate debate, Sam Brownback has an op-ed in today’s New York Times where he tries to elaborate on his answer: As one of those who raised his hand, I think it would be helpful to discuss the issue in a bit more detail and with the seriousness it demands. You know this is going to be… Read more
The Exterminator at No More Hornets created a list of confessions. I sadly admit some of the following have crossed my mind at one time or another… Even though I’m an atheist, I sometimes automatically say “god bless you” when a person sneezes. Then I kick myself for the rest of the day. I say “oh, Christ!” and “oh, shit!” about an equal number of times each day, even though I believe in only one of them. When I tell… Read more
