I've been looking at my RSS feed, and it's almost all atheist and skeptical blogs. No surprise there, obviously - but I'm thinking it should be at least a little more diverse. In the name of not cutting myself off from other viewpoints, as well as finding out about interesting stories I might not otherwise have heard, I feel as though there should be at least a few religious blogs that I follow. I read Slacktivist regularly, which is one of my favorite progressive Christian blogs. But I'm … [Read more...]
A Reply to James Croft
February 1, 2013 By 14 Comments
My new Patheos colleague, James Croft, has written a post welcoming me to the site and inviting me to a rhetorical face-off. I'm never one to pass up an invitation to a cordial debate, so let's have at it! James' post concerns my speech at the 2012 SSA conference, where I laid out my strategy for effective atheist activism. He has responses to several of the points I made, which are under the headings below: The Importance of Anger I spoke about why anger is a valid and important … [Read more...]
Upcoming Travel Schedule
January 30, 2013 By 6 Comments
Here's where I'm planning to be in the next few months. If you're going to be in one of these places at the same time and are interested in meeting up, let me know! • Coming up soon, I'm going to Washington, D.C. on February 17, for the Sierra Club's Forward on Climate Rally. The rally itself is on Sunday, but I'll be in town most of that weekend. • I haven't made a definite decision yet, but I'm considering going to the American Atheists' 50th anniversary convention in Austin, … [Read more...]
Should I Cash a Christian Charity’s Check?
January 27, 2013 By 28 Comments
My desk has a drawer full of free address labels, pens, and other cheap gimmicks sent by charities who hope that sending a gift would make the recipient of their letters feel obligated to give something back. (It doesn't; I plan my giving in advance and never respond to solicitations.) But a letter I got in the mail this week was a new gambit: This mailing came from an evangelical Christian charity (I know - bad targeting on their part). Enclosed with the letter, as you can see, was a $2 … [Read more...]
Reap Responds
January 6, 2013 By Leave a Comment
While I think this conversation has already gone on long enough, I guess I should mention that Reap Paden has left a comment on my post from last weekend about him, which consists mostly of wounded self-justification. I can only assume that being called a misogynist has stung his ego, which I consider to be a good sign! A person who genuinely didn't care what others thought about him would have shrugged it off, but Reap clearly isn't such a person. Here are some responses to his more important … [Read more...]
From the Mailbag: “I Don’t Argue With People”
January 3, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Last year, when I wrote about the death of Savita Halappanavar from anti-choice theology, I pointed out that several Catholic bloggers seemed to think Catholic doctrine should have permitted her to be saved - contrary to every real-world example I'm aware of. In every case I've ever read about where a woman's pregnancy was gravely jeopardizing her life and the Catholic church had the power to create law or policy, they decreed that the morally "correct" position was to let both die rather than … [Read more...]
Open Thread: New Year’s Resolutions, 2013
January 1, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Happy New Year, everyone! How's your 2013 so far? I think this is going to be a good year for skeptics, since it gives us a perfect opportunity to educate people about the irrationality of triskadekaphobia. Since this is the time to take stock, I'll report back on my resolutions from last year. First of all, I resolved that I would get my book published, and I'm happy to say I kept that one this time. My first resolution of 2013: start writing the next one! (It's going to be a novel, as … [Read more...]
Threads of 2012
December 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment
To know where you're heading, it helps to know where you've come from. And with the last grains of sand slipping through the hourglass, now is the perfect time to look back over the year that was and survey the major themes which wove throughout my writing during the past twelve months. So, without further ado, here are the threads of 2012: The Emergence of Atheism Plus As I expected, the battle against sexism and other prejudice in the atheist community and beyond continued to smolder … [Read more...]
New on AlterNet: Courting the Votes of the Non-Religious
December 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment
My latest column is now up on AlterNet, There Are Now As Many Nonreligious Americans As Evangelicals -- 6 Ways Politicians Can Court Their Vote. In it, I discuss the evidence which shows that nonreligious Americans are becoming a pivotal voting bloc - including evidence that they played a decisive role in President Obama's reelection - and pen some advice to politicians who want to reach out to us. Read the excerpt below, then click through to see the rest: In this cycle, the specter of a … [Read more...]
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