How a “New Atheist” might edit the response to Virginia O’Hanlon given by New York Sun editor Francis P. Church in 1897. (Let’s face it, would any of you be surprised to see this?) We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun: Dear Editor— I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no… Read more
31-year-old Stanley Huang, a hip-hop singer and former member of the band LA Boyz, will release an album titled Atheist Like Me on December 29. The title track contains lyrics such as: I hope we can be happy forever and never separate/ But I cannot go to heaven, so I cannot be with you/ Eternity doesn’t exist, (I) don’t believe in god/ Death is not the end, I won’t stop missing you/ Can’t kiss your face, no matter how I… Read more
The LA Times published an article written by Sam Harris today in which he discusses 10 myths and truths about atheism. The 10 Myths: 1) Atheists believe that life is meaningless. 2) Atheism is responsible for the greatest crimes in human history. 3) Atheism is dogmatic. 4) Atheists think everything in the universe arose by chance. 5) Atheism has no connection to science. 6) Atheists are arrogant. 7) Atheists are closed to spiritual experience. 8) Atheists believe that there is… Read more
The National, a show on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), has a segment titled “Seven” where reporter Mark Kelley “tries on a different lifestyle and a different point of view” for one week. This week, he spent “seven days with God’s army.” Watch the clip (25 minutes): What does God’s army talk about? Porn. They’re obsessed with the porn. And the dangers of “rap, rock, [and] MTV.” More of God’s army: “It’s time to tune out and to tune off… Read more
It always manages to end up like this, doesn’t it…? Keep up the good fight, Opus. And work on your arguments. “Accident” is a bad word choice. There’s an important distinction to be made between random chance playing a role in the very non-random process of evolution. [tags]Opus, Intelligent Design, Christianity, atheist, atheism[/tags] Read more
A couple nights ago, Lori Lipman Brown of the Secular Coalition for America appeared on The O’Reilly Factor. While the full clip is not yet available, Media Matters did happen to get a part of it. Which part? The part where Bill O’Reilly is caught in a blatant lie. Read the report and see the clip here. Essentially, O’Reilly claimed that Best Buy employees are forbidden from saying “Merry Christmas,” which turns out to be… well… untrue. Bill O’Reilly say… Read more
As noted earlier, today is the tenth anniversary of Carl Sagan’s passing. Bloggers everywhere are honoring him by writing about their memories of Sagan (thanks to Joel Schlosberg for organizing it all). … Personally, I’m sad to say I didn’t read Cosmos until about a year ago. And when I first saw the movie Contact, I was still unfamiliar with the Sagan book that inspired it. Needless to say, I wish I had read both books earlier in life. But… Read more
Lori Lipman Brown, lobbyist for the Secular Coalition for America, will be on Fox News Channel’s The O’Reilly Factor tonight, presumably to talk about the “War on Christmas.” The show airs 8:00 pm EST. [tags]Lori Lipman Brown, Secular Coalition for America, Fox News Channel, The O’Reilly Factor, War on Christmas, atheist, atheism, Christian[/tags] Read more
Ted Haggard stepped down from New Life Church for sexual misconduct… And then came Paul Barnes… And now comes another guy from Haggard’s church. Christopher Beard had been heading a youth ministry at New Life Church. That is, until his recent resignation after admitting sexual misconduct. What is in the communion wine in Colorado churches…? Even more amazing is the way New Life announced this resignation to its staff, almost as an afterthought. Look at the email they sent (emphasis… Read more
According to the NY Times, David Paszkiewicz, a History teacher at Kearny High School in New Jersey, told his students “that evolution and the Big Bang were not scientific, that dinosaurs were aboard Noah’s ark, and that only Christians had a place in heaven.” These words come courtesy of recordings made by a student, Matthew LaClair. As a result, the teacher has been suspended and the student can get on with his life. I’m just kidding. Actually, the teacher is… Read more
