I would *so* love to see this special: That and several other “atheist holiday traditions” can be found at Brian McFadden’s Big Fat Whale. Is there anything not on Brian’s list that you do with your family over the holidays? I’m assuming, of course, that everyone builds snowmen versions of Richard Dawkins… (via Heaving Dead Cats) Read more
Pete Stark (D-CA) is the only openly non-theistic congressperson. I sometimes wonder how much his colleagues know about his non-theism. Is it something they ever talk about? Joke about? As far as I can tell, Stark barely mentions it… The congressional newspaper The Hill recently published an exchange Stark had with Ron Paul (R-TX). They don’t give us much context, but if it’s any indication, Stark’s colleagues are definitely aware of his atheism. There was an interesting exchange between Reps…. Read more
Here’s what Woot is selling on the front page of their site at the moment: Not that I need another computer right now… but any company that lets the following be their sales pitch is a company I want to do business with 🙂 Both Jesus and Mo would probably also like modern toilets, but we’ll save that for another day… (Thanks to kindofabuzz for the link!) Read more
This pastor knows the source of all evil: It’s Pokémon. Evil Jigglypuff? Makes you want to rush to church, don’t it…? (Thanks to everyone for the link!) Read more
The forumites at Why Won’t God Heal Amputees pose this question: How long before Tiger Woods finds God? We should start a pool. How soon will it be before that happens? (And if he does find God, will people begin to forgive his indiscretions…?) Read more
Christopher Hitchens would like to teach religious people the true story of Christmas: None of the four gospels gives any notion of what time of year the supposed Nativity occurred. Only two gospels mention the virginity of Mary, and only one has any mention of a “manger.” Wise men and shepherds are likewise very unevenly distributed throughout the discrepant accounts. So that the placement of a crèche surrounded by a motley crew of humans and animals has no more scriptural… Read more
Bobbie Kirkhart is the past president of Atheist Alliance International and current president of Atheists United in California. She’s one of the nicest atheists you’ll ever meet and one of the best spokespersons for us in the media. The Los Angeles Times’ Patt Morrison interviewed Bobbie about the holiday season and we’re treated to some wonderful soundbytes: Is this a great time of year or a terrible time of year to be an atheist? It’s always a great time of… Read more
Tony was driving to the pet store when he saw a billboard for Kent Hovind’s Dinosaur Adventure Land. While the park is shut down indefinitely, the sign on the billboard may offer a new Christian explanation for how the dinosaurs went extinct 🙂 Noah shut them off! Who knew he held a grudge against the dinosaurs…? (via Anthony R. Miller) … Reader Richard jokes that he thought this was why we lost the dinosaurs: Read more
If you’d like to bone up on the facts and myths about the Christian version of the Christmas story, this (Jewish) website explains everything very nicely. For example, “How Did Christmas Come to Be Celebrated on December 25?” Roman pagans first introduced the holiday of Saturnalia, a week long period of lawlessness celebrated between December 17-25. During this period, Roman courts were closed, and Roman law dictated that no one could be punished for damaging property or injuring people during… Read more
Earlier this year, atheist bus ads went up in Barcelona, Spain, thanks to the country’s Union of Atheists and Freethinkers. It’s a good thing they got the ads in then. Because they won’t be able to do it anymore. Promedios, the company in charge of the advertising, has decided to ban all ads causing “social controversy.” So should atheists fight back? Not quite. The first victims of the ban aren’t the atheists: The first hit has been a campaign by… Read more
