It may not be friendly (or PG-13) or atheist-related… but it’s definitely clever.
My friend Roy was wearing this shirt the other day:
I didn’t get it.
It looked Greek.
Then he folded it up a bit…
Hehe 
I’m easily amused.
That shirt’s brought to you by Razorcake.
I’m sure Jesus had something different in mind from massive megachurches:
By the way, that cartoon was drawn by Pastor David Hayward.
[tags]atheist, atheism, Christian, church[/tags]
The religious right group American Family Association’s OneNewsNow site seems to have an automatic filter that replaces the word “gay” with “homosexual.”
Because they want to use the more harsh sounding term, perhaps?
So when runner Tyson Gay won the 100 meter race at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials over the weekend, here’s what the news site wrote:
The article has since been corrected.
However, this article mentioning basketball player Rudy Gay, still needs some fixing…
(via Right Wing Watch)
[tags]atheist, atheism, LGBT, Christian[/tags]
The Secular Coalition for America is opposed to the D.C. Voucher program (euphemistically known as the “Opportunity Scholarship Program”).
In essence, the program uses taxpayer money to foot the complete tuition for students choosing to go to religious schools.
A couple weeks ago, the House Financial Services Appropriations Subcommittee voted to continue these scholarships.
“The General Accountability Office concluded that these vouchers do not give D.C. students sufficient secular choice in education. The programs do not even ensure that recipients will be allowed into some of these religious schools, much less be permitted to use their federal voucher without required religious proselytizing. Those of us who do not wish to subsidize someone else’s church will continue to be forced to do so through our federal taxes. This must stop,” said [SCA director Lori Lipman] Brown.
Today, Brown had a letter to the editor published in the Washington Post:
Requiring families to raise their own funds to send their children to private religious schools is not punishing students, contrary to what The Post suggested in the June 24 editorial “A Choice for D.C. Children.”
Continuing the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) using federal tax dollars is, however, punishing Americans who agree with the Founders of our nation that we should not be forced to support any individual’s church.
For parents who are looking for real school choice, there are public magnet and charter schools. The OSP does not offer school “choice” at all. When the Government Accountability Office published a study on the program last year, it concluded that Opportunity Scholarships fail to deliver the promise of school choice, because the bulk of participating schools are religious. Worse yet, the GAO also noted that the program lacks an opt-out clause for students wishing to avoid religious exercises.
The Post claimed that stopping this federal funding will amount to “depriving 1,900 poor children of an opportunity to choose their schools.” But every student is welcome to stay in the school of his or her choice. Why would a school that is supposedly doing a good job be unable to raise private scholarship money for tuition? Students’ religious training needs to be privately supported; given the cost of this program to taxpayers and to our secular tradition, extending a five-year mistake into a six-year one is just not justifiable.
LORI LIPMAN BROWN
Director
Secular Coalition for America
Washington
This program is one of the major issues I was lobbying against when I participated in Lobby Day a few week ago.
You can learn more about the D.C. voucher program and why it’s a bad one here.
[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]
Mark, the 40 Year Old Atheist, put together a nice little graphic of the 7 Pillars he tries to live by:
Not a bad guide for all of us.
It certainly answers the question of what you (as an atheist) do believe in.
And it doesn’t have any trace of the wacky first four Commandments.
[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]
Sometimes I watch videos and I hope the people are joking… but deep down, I know they’re not.
And that’s just sad.
This guy says atheists have never made any contributions to science. And they never will. And adds that the atheist religion is very intolerant… “More Godless than Satanism… more violent than Islam… more anti-science than Scientology.”
Oh, and you’re all Nazi Commies.
That’s why he’s so over Star Trek.
This is a joke, right?
Right…?
(Thanks to Skylar and Sage for the link!)
[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]
Back from Canada! Toronto was a blast Thanks to the University of Toronto and University of Guelph secular student groups and the Center for Inquiry for putting together a terrific event. Can’t wait to go back.
Random highlights:
Some students advertised my talk (”Viewing Faith Through an Atheist’s Eyes”) by putting fliers around campus. Maybe it was the word “atheist,” but many of the posters were ripped down. Who would do such a thing…?
Apparently viewing faith pays cash.
Or I’m hot.
Also entertaining? Going to Toronto during gay pride festivities.
(Mine eyes… they burn.)
I’ll spare you the not-so-family-friendly shots. Needless to say, I now know what assless chaps look like.
At one end of the pride parade was a large TV screen where text messages (sent for free) could be displayed for all to see… you figure this could be a good or bad thing…:
And does anyone else have second thoughts about what are they selling at this booth…:
Anyway, Katie has more thoughts on the actual talk.
It went well, I thought. I met some great people. It’s nice to know non-religious groups are alive and thriving in Canada — and under excellent leadership.
I’m hoping to get video of the entire talk up online soon.
[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]
I like to dream up future scenarios with just one or two set conditions in the proposition and see where they might go as kind of thought experiments. It’s a game that any number can play, and the fun is in seeing how each person’s logic, imagination and present view of the world lead them to different conclusions. The great part is unless you live long enough to reach the future you envision, no one can prove you wrong. Though we don’t learn much about the future, we can discover quite a lot about the various ways we see things:
Imagine the world a few or several generations from now. Our civilization has somehow survived (after some serious casualties) the climate crisis, the oil crisis, the food supply crisis, the radical Islam crisis, the emergent diseases crisis, the nuclear proliferation crisis, the overpopulation crisis (partly from big losses caused by those other crises), and a couple of crises we haven’t even seen coming down the tubes yet. It’s far from perfect but the world is basically stable at least for a while.
Imagine that society’s interest in the present major religions has greatly diminished. The U.S., or whatever it is called, is now even more secular than Europe was in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The familiar religions are not an important part of most people’s lives, and the very few who still practice them are viewed as quaint, quirky, or whimsical, similar to the way we presently view Civil War reenactment groups or the Society for Creative Anachronism.
Without the ubiquitous presence of the major religions, what would happen with people’s tendency for magical thinking, superstition or religiosity? Would they diminish and would people become increasingly rational in all their affairs, or not? Would superstitions both old or new fade away, continue to thrive or even increase? Would new religions spring up, based on yet unknown developments in society, science or technology? How would society react to these things? Would freedom of thought and belief continue or would such things be discouraged, suppressed or even outlawed?
What do you imagine?
[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]
What do you see in the following image….?
What do you see in the following image….?
Last one coming up!
[tags]atheist, atheism, Rorschach Test[/tags]
I Sold My Soul on eBay
Jim and Casper Go To Church
