Except women.

Because… you know… Jesus didn’t appoint one as an apostle.

Therefore, screw ‘em.

Says the Vatican.

The Vatican issued its most explicit decree so far against the ordination of female priests on Thursday, punishing them and the bishops who try to ordain them with automatic excommunication.

…

A Vatican spokesman said the decree made the church’s existing ban on female priests more explicit by clarifying that excommunication would follow all such ordinations.

…

Rev. Tom Reese, a senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University, said he thought the decree was meant to send a warning to the growing number of Catholics who favor admitting women to the priesthood.

“I think the reason they’re doing this is that they’ve realized there is more and more support among Catholics for ordaining women, and they want to make clear that this is a no-no,” Reese said.

As submitter infideljoe writes: “Archie Bunker would be so proud.”

This all makes me wonder what role women are allowed to play in the Catholic Church…


[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]

Guess who is promoting his book Ghosts Among Us near Chicago tomorrow (Friday) night…?

James Van Praagh.

Clairvoyant. Cold reading specialist. Liar. Fraud.

The event is at 7:30 p.m. at the Borders in Oak Brook.

I can’t go, but it would be a shame if his methods went unchallenged during a Q&A session…

Better yet, someone could conjure up a fake dead relative, have Praagh admit he “spoke” to the person, record the entire thing, and send it to me.

How sad that someone people still believe he’s legit. He even sells courses to gullible people who want to “enhance their intuition”!

His peers are no better.


[tags]atheist, atheism, skeptic, magic[/tags]

While I sit in the fetal position writing this, contemplating Thursday night’s finale of Lost while grading my students’ final projects, here’s something that might be amusing to find out:

What’s the worst job you ever had?

Have any of you worked in a world completely outside the one you currently inhabit? (i.e. an atheist who worked at a church?)

My list:

• A miniature golf course/batting cage. You know the golf balls that go into the mini-ponds? I scooped them out. And when the batting cages got clogged? I’d have to run past the flying baseballs to the back of the machine, unclog it with a bat, and run back to safety while the pre-teens aimed their swings at me.
• Telemarketer for The New York Times. Since I wasn’t allowed to hang up on anyone, that resulted in several conversations where people quizzed me because they thought I was elitist. Or took me with them into the shower. Or swore at me because the Lakers were in the playoffs and how dare I call them at that time!?

Oh, the memories…

I should mention that I bring this all up, having nearly completed my first year in a job I actually enjoy doing It’s been a while since I’ve said that…


[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]

This new podcast should also win an award for most creative title.

ApostAZ is put together by some Arizona atheists.

I haven’t listened to it yet, but here’s hoping it’s a good one.

(via The Lippard Blog)


[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]

The new Carnival of the Godless is at Jyunri Kankei. Go check it out!

The next CotG is at Disillusioned Words in two weeks.

Submit your entries here!


[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]

At the upcoming joint conference between the AHA, SSA, and IHEU, I have the pleasure of moderating a panel discussion on a topic that’s important to a lot of us in the atheist blogosphere:

Making the Case for the New Enlightenment: What are the best ways to get people to value scientific and critical inquiry, naturalism, democracy, secularism, and human based ethics?

In other words, what are the best methods to get people to respect who we are (as non-religious people) and what we represent? For example, should we take a more aggressive stance or should we use softer rhetoric?

The panelists include:

• Matt Cherry, Executive Director of the Institute for Humanist Studies
• Greg Epstein, Humanist Chaplain of Harvard University
• Jeff Nall, community activist and freelance writer
• Kelly O’Connor, of the Rational Response Squad
• Greydon Square, atheist rapper
• Rebecca Watson, founder of Skepchick (tentative)

What questions would you like to see them answer?

I’ll use your suggestions at the event and try to post audio/video/transcript — or at least a rough analysis of what was said — afterwards.

…

By the way, I’ll be on the Rational Response Squad radio show tonight to discuss the panel! You can listen in at 8:00 p.m. EST by clicking here.


[tags]atheist, atheism, American Humanist Association, International Humanist and Ethical Union, Secular Student Alliance[/tags]

This one’s from Reddit — the comment thread there has some good responses.

Here’s the (edited) query:

What questions were you asked when you first said, “I’m an atheist”?

I don’t recall being asked many questions when I came out.

However, I did get the following:

“Huh.”

“But you have to believe in something.”

“You may want to keep that to yourself…”

“But you believe in God, right?”

“Me too.”


[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]


[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]

Today is the first birthday of… the Creation Museum!

(Which, by Creationist math, makes it approximately 1/6000^th the age of the universe…)

It was only a year ago today when atheists and theists joined forces to denounce the museum as utterly void of science. Our hope was that people would recognize that this museum was purely religious and not-at-all based on fact.

We still have ways to go.

For creationists, the heart of the issue is defending their faith in a world where evolution is taught in public schools and everything from natural history museums to television shows back it up.

“The secularists are out there, and they’re pushing all sorts of information to children – they’re going to hear enough about evolution over the years,” [Answers in Genesis founder Ken] Ham said.

“All sorts of information”? Yes. It’s called “education.” Which is more than the museum offers anyone.

Sadly, more than 400,000 people visited in the past year.

I’m curious how many of those people will be repeat customers. It’s not like you’re going to see any new or updated information if you go back next year. Creation Science doesn’t exactly evolve… (pun very intended).

The museum needs 200,000 to 250,000 visitors a year to stay financially stable, but if it sees lower attendance figures in the next year, Ham said the museum might make cuts to seasonal or part-time employees or cut back on plans for new exhibits.

Still, Ham and [spokesman Mark] Looy are optimistic that the museum’s second year will also be successful.

“The museum right now is successful, but other museums and other zoos will tell you you have to go through the second and third years to see what you’re going to expect,” Looy said. “We’re not going to say we’re going to have 400,000 (visitors) every year.”

Looy said he’s hopeful that at least 300,000 visitors will come to the museum in the next year. His estimate is based on an increasing number of tour groups – large groups of tourists, often church groups – that have made reservations to visit already.

I’m also curious — though I know numbers for this are not available — how many people went to the museum simply to see what trash they were peddling…

(via EvolutionBlog)


[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]