In case you missed it last night, the always amazing Rev. Welton Gaddy of the Interfaith Alliance spoke with Rachel Maddow about Rev. Dennis Terry’s introduction of Rick Santorum at a campaign event. Terry spoke in favor of a “Christian Nation,” adding that anyone who didn’t accept that should “get out!” Santorum gave the pastor a standing ovation… and then (later) said he didn’t *really* agree that Jews, Hindus, Muslims, etc. should “get out” of the country. Gaddy didn’t hold… Read more
Singer Meat Loaf… …. Yeah, that guy… thinks the “world’s gone to hell in a handbasket” and he cites Jessica Ahlquist as one reason: How did we get to this point? We got here because people stopped caring about other people and only care about their beliefs and what they want. The best example is in America: In this one high school, for 50 years a prayer was hung on a wall. And all of a sudden, a daughter and… Read more
NPR’s Barbara Bradley Hagerty had a really positive piece on the Reason Rally on “Morning Edition” today. The piece feature Greta Christina (“The Firebrand”), me (“The Diplomat”), and Dave Silverman (“Dave Silverman”). But the main point of the rally, Silverman says, is not to tweak the faithful. It’s to encourage closeted atheists to take heart. “The message is that if you can come out, you can out come out,” he says. “And if you can’t come out, at least you’ll… Read more
I know you’ve already decided whether or not you’re going to the Reason Rally this weekend, but The Washington Post is running a series of guest posts from atheists on why you should attend the Reason Rally. We’re all approaching the topic from different perspectives. I focused on the youth movement: Five years ago, the number of active campus atheist groups was just over 50. As I write this, the Secular Student Alliance ha over 350 affiliates across the country…. Read more
Just one more day until Spring Break! And then, I’ll finally have time to start working on that Reason Rally speech… In any case, I’ll be visiting Michigan State University next Thursday (March 29th). The Center for Inquiry group on campus is bringing me out there to talk about how to make math class a little less evil. The fun starts at 7:30p in Communication Arts Building, Room 147 🙂 Come! Or I’ll incorporate all of you into my students’… Read more
***Update***: The principal of the high school has resigned in the wake of this scandal: Dunkerton Superintendent Jim Stanton informed the Waterloo-Ceder Falls Courier about the resignation. [Principal Mike] Cooper will remain on the job until the end of the school year. Cooper has not been willing to issue any statements. … A Christian group called You Can Run But You Cannot Hide and its musical group Junkyard Prophets recently held an assembly approved by the Dunkerton Community Schools in… Read more
In response to my challenge earlier today, Zach Moore created this hilarious parody (PDF) of the “Day of Dialogue” card that Christians are supposed to hand the GLBT crowd at their schools: Hand those out on April 19th and spread the Word! In case you missed it, this is what the original looks like (PDF): Read more
From today’s Pearls Before Swine: You can read the rest of the strip here 🙂 (Thanks to everyone for the link!) Read more
Focus on the Family is promoting the Day of Dialogue (a.k.a. The day to tell gay kids they’re going to hell if they don’t accept Jesus in their lives) by asking students to hand out these cards: Because every conversation begins with this look: Does anyone actually think the Christians who participate in this event want to have a conversation? Not a chance. They want to preach and convert. They have no desire to hear your arguments against their beliefs…. Read more
Rachel Held Evans left her church (but not Christianity) when she was 27. Now, she’s 30 and trying to find a new one. She wrote a great post explaining 15 reasons she left her church years ago: 3. I left the church because my questions were seen as liabilities. 4. I left the church because sometimes it felt like a cult, or a country club, and I wasn’t sure which was worse. 5. I left the church because I believe… Read more
