Reminder: This coming week, I'll be in Indianapolis for two live events as part of my ongoing conversation with Christian author Andrew Murtagh. The audience at both is likely to be mostly Catholic, so if you're in the area, come out and help balance the scales!First:WHAT: Indianapolis Theology on Tap WHEN: Wednesday, July 1, 7 PM WHERE: Tow Yard Brewing Company, 501 S. Madison Street, Indianapolis, INAnd second:WHAT: Faith vs. Doubt Night (requires ticket, but they're … [Read more...]
Photo Sunday: Solstice
June 21, 2015 by Leave a Comment
In spite of all our technology crafted to isolate us from the natural world, human beings feel the call of the seasons, the axial pull of gravity and sunlight. We gather across the millennia, drawn by the same deep impulse that first inspired the ancient builders to rear these stones.Image: Summer solstice gathering at Stonehenge, June 2014. Via Paul Townsend, released under CC BY-ND 2.0 license. … [Read more...]
Friday Night Music: Ship to Wreck
June 13, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Florence + the Machine has just released How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, their first new album in almost four years. Florence Welch is in full form, singing about love lost and heartbreak with all the storm and fury that magnificently tempestuous voice is capable of. Alanis Morrisette only wishes she could get this much musical mileage out of a breakup: … [Read more...]
If You Promote a Story That Turns Out to Be False, Don’t You Have an Obligation to Correct It?
June 8, 2015 by Leave a Comment
In August 2013, almost two years ago, I wrote about a discouraging story in which skeptic Karen Stollznow wrote about years of harassment by a colleague, later alleged to be CFI's Benjamin Radford. Seven months later, in March 2014, I wrote an update when I heard that Radford was threatening to sue for libel and Stollznow was seeking help to put together a legal defense fund.That was the last I heard about this... until Wednesday of last week, when I got an e-mail from a friend alerting me … [Read more...]
Support CFI’s Freethought Rescue Project
June 6, 2015 by Leave a Comment
In light of the continuing murders of atheists in Bangladesh and the apathy of the Bangladeshi government, the Center for Inquiry has launched a very worthy project: a Freethought Rescue Fund to bring threatened activists to the U.S. or other secular-friendly countries and help them live here in safety. (At least one of the murdered bloggers, Ananta Bijoy Das, had sought a visa to Sweden but was refused.)As CFI announced this week, they've already helped bring over the Bangladeshi author and … [Read more...]
Weekend Coffee: May 31
May 31, 2015 by Leave a Comment
• Rabbis in a British branch of ultra-Orthodox Judaism forbid women from driving - and threaten to expel their children from school if they're caught violating the ban.• The horrific news keeps coming out of Bangladesh, as Islamists circulate a hit list of secular writers whom they want to kill.• "As the country becomes less religious, it is also becoming more socially liberal."• The number-two Vatican official says that Ireland's legalization of same-sex marriage … [Read more...]
Friday Night Music: Sonic Highways
May 30, 2015 by Leave a Comment
I just saw Mad Max: Fury Road, and I'm still a little breathless - best movie of the year so far, Charlize Theron was fantastic, and I see why it made internet misogynists so upset. Plus it had a postapocalyptic gang of gun-toting biker grannies; you can't beat that.Foo Fighters are a good fit for my mood tonight. Here's one from their excellent latest album, Sonic Highways: … [Read more...]
Upcoming Travel Plans for Summer 2015
May 10, 2015 by Leave a Comment
I'm traveling all over the place in the next few months. If you'd like to come out and see me, here's what's on the agenda:• First of all, the week of May 18-22, I'm going on a road trip swing through New England. This is a purely personal vacation, with no conferences or speaking events planned, but I'd be happy to meet up with any Daylight Atheism readers in the area. I'm planning to have some down time in Newport, Rhode Island on May 19, Portsmouth, New Hampshire on May 21 and … [Read more...]
Weekend Coffee: April 18
April 18, 2015 by Leave a Comment
The National Abortion Access Bowl-a-Thon is almost here again! If you've got a few dollars to spare and want to help strike down barriers to choice, please donate to my wife Elizabeth and her team, At Your Cervix.• The construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea is being blockaded by protesters who believe the mountain is sacred because of a Native Hawaiian myth stating that the world was created starting there.• Just for laughs: The Journal of Universal Rejection, … [Read more...]
Friday Night Music: Transgressor
April 4, 2015 by Leave a Comment
I previously used this space to feature Quiet Company, an ex-Christian rock band from Texas. They've just released a new album, Transgressor, that's a bit more polished and less emotionally raw, but I think every bit as good as their last: … [Read more...]
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