September 2009
Statue of Ganesh Offends Visitors at Calgary Zoo →
When the “Elephant Crossing” exhibit opened at the Calgary Zoo in 2006, a private donor gave the zoo a statue of the Hindu god Ganesh — it was in honor .
For some reason, the zoo…
Help Washington State Ban Displays of Faith in the... →
Remember when the Freedom From Religion Foundation created a media firestorm after putting up a pro-atheist plaque next to a nativity scene in the Washington state Capitol building last Winter?
Jazz Bassist Ben Allison Outs Himself As an... →
Ben Allison is a jazz bassist whose ninth album, Think Free, will be released in a couple weeks.
What’s the deal with the album’s name? Allison explains:
This is my “coming out” album….
Ricky Gervais Discusses Religion, Atheism, and The... →
Ricky Gervais has been making the media rounds the past few weeks to talk about his new movie The Invention of Lying.
In the movie, lying leads to, among other things, the invention of religion.
The Atheist Blogroll Hits 1,000? →
Mojoey’s atheist blogroll is about to hit 1,000!
Is it significant?
Absolutely.
Say what you will about the quality of some of the blogs on that list, but it’s one barometer of the growth of…
More Musicians Embrace Godlessness →
Yesterday, I mentioned that Jazz bassist Ben Allison recently outed himself as an atheist. Apparently, he’s not the only musician taking that path.
The band A.F.I. (A Fire Inside) has a new…
Charlotte Music Festival Gives Proceeds to Dawkins... →
***Update***: I made an error with the original posting. No band opted out of the festival; only sponsors did. The posting now reflects that. Sorry for any confusion
…
The Charlotte Pop Fest…
Come see me debate on DC vouchers! →
For those of you in the DC area, the DC Young Democrats invited me (Jesse) to participate in an Oxford-style debate tomorrow night and you should come! For those of you not in the DC area, I’ll…
Crack Some Eggs! →
If I was to give you an egg and I told you that you had to be very careful with the egg, that you were to never break the egg or damage it in any way and you followed my instructions…
Open Thread: Submit Your Deconversion Story →
I’ve posted a link to a new deconversion story on Ebon Musings: “Deconversion as Withdrawal: Just what is this God-smack stuff, anyway?”, written by the vivacious and loquacious blogger D of She Who…
seek and ye shall find…. but what? →
I’ve been reading the comments here lately and I have noticed that a lot of Christian readers say the same things over and over again: “If you REALLY had been a Christian you would…
Blogging About Philanthropy and Humanism →
When Foundation Beyond Belief (that’s the placeholder website) officially opens shop on January 1st, 2010, we’ll be needing bloggers to help us out.
If you know an atheist/humanist who blogs…
The Will with the Jew-Only Clause →
Max Feinberg, a dentist from Chicago, died in 1986. His wife Erla took over his estate and she died in 2003. After that, their five grandchildren stood to inherit at least $250,000 apiece.
There…
It’s Not a Toy, Baby! →
I thought all babies were supposed to know not to play with plastic bags…
(I swear I had nothing to do with this.)
This image clearly needs a caption. What do you think?
(Thanks to …
Guess Where Newt Gingrich Premiered His Movie... →
It’s bad enough that the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, D.C. is engraving “In God We Trust” in a prominent place. (FFRF is suing, but they’ve had no success yet.)
Guess how conservatives…
The Gaytheists Blog →
Reed Braden has begun a new website that sounds very promising:
The Gaytheists is a new group blog for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning Atheists, skeptics and Humanists.
…
Muslims Conduct a Day of Prayer in Washington →
On Friday, about 3,000 Muslims showed up in Washington to pray in front of the U.S. Capitol:
“America is not perfect,” Abdul Malik, an organizer of the event called Islam on Capitol…
The Case for a Creator: In the Beginning →
The Case for a Creator, Chapter 5
The second premise of the kalam cosmological argument is that the universe began to exist. In discussing this premise, William Lane Craig asks the question of…
The Funk of it All →
I put the phone back on the receiver with a hesitant click. Did I really almost end the message with “In Jesus’ name, amen?” Could I seriously be praying too much?
Glancing to the other…
Saudi Arabian University Promotes Gender Equality →
I teach math and I work with a lot of students who struggle with it… Especially in Geometry, when they have to do proofs.
But when students complete their first *really* basic proof on their own,…
Creation Movie Finds U.S. Distributor →
After a bit of controversy, the Creation movie starring Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly has a U.S. distributor!
Indie distributor Newmarket is back on the acquisitions scene, picking up…
Exorcised Gay Teen Speaks to Tyra Banks →
Remember this video?
That was Manifested Glory Ministries (in Bridgeport, CT) trying to rid a teenager of The Gay. The video made the rounds several months ago.
Well, the…
Creationist Essay Contest… Who’s Entering? →
A couple years ago, Marcus Ross received his Ph.D. in paleontology from the University of Rhode Island. His dissertation was “impeccable,” according to his advisor.
The topic: “the abundance and…
The Friday Night Chicago Party! →
As I mentioned before, there’s a party on Friday in Chicago for anyone who’d like to attend! It’s at Howl at the Moon, a dueling piano bar.
All the details are here, but here are the…
Political Ramifications Due to the Rise of the... →
Dan Gilgoff of U.S. News & World Report writes about what he thinks will happen in the future as the number of non-theists begins to rise.
They are obvious, but this is an interesting…
Places of Peace and Energy That Rejuvinates →
The other day I had meetings out of the office in different towns; I spent a good portion of the day traveling from one meeting to another. Normally most of my meetings are conducted…
The Religious Right Vision of Marriage →
Christian conservatives always talk about “defending traditional marriage” - which has that warm, homey, fresh-baked-apple-pie feeling to it - but never make it clear precisely what they’re…
A caveman could figure it out (The Gog Monologues) →
In talking with my wife once about my reasons for deconversion, I set forth some very simple logic about why BibleGod could not be real. I basically said, “If the God of the Bible or…
Ask Richard: Atheist 8th Grader Wants to Confide... →
Dear Richard,
I’m in 8th grade and have been “officially” Atheist since the beginning of 7th grade. I think I’ve been subconsciously Atheist since about third grade, though. It was then that I…
A Pathetic Response to FFRF’s Memphis Challenge →
Marilyn Loeffel of the Memphis Commercial Appeal doesn’t like the fact that the Freedom From Religion Foundation is trying to stop the Memphis City Council from opening sessions with prayer.
…
ARIS’s ‘American Nones’ and Politics →
There are a few interesting thoughts to take from the new ARIS study on American “Nones” (people who aren’t affiliated with a particular religion*). PZ Myers raised a point, and Hemant is…
Marcha Atea: “For a Secular Society without... →
I posted yesterday about an Atheist March in Poland.
And now, I learn about an Atheist March in Mexico!
It will be held this Sunday in both Mexico City and Guadalajara.
Why are they doing…
The Unhelpful Data Found In: “American Nones:... →
Researchers Barry A. Kosmin and Ariela Keysar released the results of a study called “American Nones: The Profile of the No Religion Population” (PDF).
It’s possibly the most frustrating study…
Setting the Record Straight on Judaism →
Rabbi Brad Hirschfield has a list of “12 Things You Didn’t Know About Judaism” up at Beliefnet.
I’m waiting for the rebuttal: “10 Things I Hate About Jews.” (Cue rim shot.)
Anyway, here’s the…
The Bad Science Behind Having a Baby →
Dean Cameron’s wife (”The bride”) gave birth to their first baby (Duncan) six weeks ago. (Congrats!)
Along the way, though, the couple had to deal with all sorts of falsehoods about childbirth….
“I Am Pregnant …” said He →
Last night I was watching the movie “When Nietzsche Wept”, in the movie Friedrich Nietzsche was talking to Dr. Josef Bruer about a series of migraines that he was having. Dr. Bruer…
Take Action: Defend Marriage Equality in Maine →
The last few months have been a rollercoaster ride for advocates of marriage equality in the United States. There was the bitter disappointment of Prop 8 passing in California in the 2008 elections,…
Atheists Stage a “Coming Out” March in Poland →
On October 10th, atheists and agnostics in Poland will be staging a major march. The purpose is to “come out” — to show they exist and that they exist in big numbers.
The information…
A Review of The New Atheism by Victor Stenger →
Today is the release date for Victor Stenger’s new book The New Atheism: Taking a Stand for Science and Reason (Prometheus Books). Stenger previously authored the God: The Failed Hypothesis,…
Insurance Company Loses Lawsuit After... →
There are some lawsuits that could just as easily be decided on a coin toss and others that are so overwhelmingly one-sided that you wonder how the losers could’ve been so foolish in the first…
Ariane Sherine’s Review of Creation →
Ariane Sherine, the brain behind the original Atheist Bus Campaign and the author of the forthcoming The Atheist’s Guide to Christmas, wrote a review of the new Creation movie for The…
Atheist Bus Ads Hit Snag in Lucerne, Switzerland →
The infamous (and original) atheist bus ad will be put up in Switzerland next month:
It’ll be everywhere… except in the city of Lucerne.
Reader Gavrilo translates (because Google
Justice Antonin Scalia on Why We Don’t Need... →
Hamodia, the “Daily Newspaper of Torah Jewry” recently published an interview with Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
As you might expect, he had a lot of ridiculous things to say about…
“Is God Dead?” Editor Dies →
John T. Elson is the former religion editor for Time magazine who came up with that cover in 1966 — for the Easter issue.
He died a couple weeks ago at the age of 78.
The New York…
We Need More Politicians Like Him →
President Barack Obama is a bleeding-heart conservative when compared to politicians like former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.
The late Trudeau was an inaugural inductee into the new…
Can the Atheist Blogosphere Hold a Candle to the... →
Yesterday, I posted a review of Victor Stenger’s new book The New Atheism: Taking a Stand for Science and Reason (Prometheus Books).
As much as I liked it, I had one particular problem with…
Unitarian Universalism: A Matter of Definition →
Both Greta and Hemant have commented on the full-page ad run by the Freedom from Religion Foundation in the latest issue of UU World, the magazine of the Unitarian Universalist Association. Since I…
I’d See This Movie →
It looks awesome:
(via Comic Blasphemy)
A Request to Readers →
A couple months ago, the number of hits to this site began to go up dramatically. It’s happened before in spurts but never this much without any sign of tapering off. I’m not complaining. In fact,…
Did Ken Ham Get Something Right? →
You know how the Creation Museum’s Ken Ham is usually full of crap? Every soundbyte coming out of him tends to deserve a refutation.
But, I gotta say, he was at least in the ballpark of sanity…