Topic - Friendly Atheist

A group called Reach America released a video last month called "The Thaw" -- because "Christianity is being 'frozen' out of the... public square" and it's time to fix it! -- in which young Christians talk about how they are being persecuted for their faith:Their questions are completely absurd ("Why can't I pray in school?" "Why do they teach every other theory in science except Creation?") and I was tempted to refute them...[Click headline for more…]

On April 9, students at Northwest Rankin High School in Mississippi attended a mandatory assembly featuring representatives from nearby Pinelake Baptist Church. The performers told the students how they needed to accept Jesus in their lives. They even showed a video:In the video, two young men were interviewed who had once led “troubled” lives. To find hope, the men described various behaviors such as turning to drugs, sex, cutting, suicide, and the like. They then explained how turning to Je...

Atheist philanthropist Todd Stiefel recently appeared on the Jesse Peterson Radio Show. Peterson is a black, religious, Tea Party advocate who doesn't think very highly of atheists.The whole episode was crazy, but two parts stood out in particular. The first occurs at the 4:45 mark, after Todd talks about how Gallup polls have shown that people would not vote for atheists even if they were qualified members of their own political party:[Click headline for more…]

Last weekend, Answers in Genesis -- the ministry behind the Creation Museum -- hosted a women's conference focusing on modesty, marriage, and Creation. Unbeknownst to the organizers, I sent Kate (a contributor to this site) and Louise Kellar to the conference. The opinions expressed below are entirely their own. They wrote about their experiences separately and I have combined them into the narrative below. Since there was a lot of overlap, I've used Kate's writing as the basis for the post w...

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) spoke at the Secular Summit & Lobby Day sponsored by the Secular Coalition for America, and video of his speech is now online (as is Sen. Tom Harkin's address from last week).Nadler has been a longtime critic of the government’s faith-based program. In 2010, he held hearings about taxpayer money going to "pervasively sectarian organizations" in the US House of Representatives Constitution Subcommittee, of which he's a ranking member.The video's grainy, but the audio...

What if our modern day superheroes solved problems like the God of the bible? Would they still be considered good? Why don't we need to be told that Superman, Batman, The Avengers, etc, are good, but we do need to be told that God is good? Because actions speak for themselves. If you were never told that the God of the bible is good - if those verses were omitted - would you come to that conclusion on your own? The destroyer of cities and worlds who fail to worship Him...Good?! OR is it more ...

Peter Boghossian, the author of the forthcoming book A Manual for Creating Atheists, recently spoke with Dan Shepard from the Portland State Vanguard newspaper about philosophy, rehabilitating prisoners, and how faith is not a virtue:If any moments stand out to you, please leave a timestamp/summary in the comments!

You may have seen rumors (like the one below) floating around on Facebook that A&E asked the family at the center of the show Duck Dynasty to stop praying on television after complaints from "liberals" and "atheists." (And the family refused to listen! Aren't they amazing?!)Of course, none of that's true.[Click headline for more…]

During a Capitol Hill prayer event this week, Michele Bachmann (R-MN) spoke about how 9/11 and the attack in Benghazi were the result of God's judgment on our country:[Click headline for more…]

I had to watch this, so now you have to watch this: A Christian version of "Thrift Shop":Apparently, that's not the only version...(via The American Jesus)

In an earlier post, I told you about Imad Iddine Habib, a Moroccan atheist now in hiding as authorities seek him out for the crime of "shaking religious faith." His case is gaining more attention, as the threat to his life grows. Among the strikes against him, Imad is the founder (at 22 years old) of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Morocco, and to rally support to Imad's cause, the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain has declared May 15 "International Imad Day." From their website:We, the undersign...

Father Anthony Musaala is called “the Dancing Priest” in the central and east African countries where he has earned a popular following as a gospel music performer. His music brims with joy, but he has deep concerns about the future of the Church he serves.Now that a letter he wrote about those concerns was leaked onto the Internet, Musaala faces censure from his higher-ups in the Church and indefinite suspension from his priestly work.[Click headline for more...]

Last year, young science advocate and activist Zack Kopplin was honored with one of four "Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment" awards (named after the Playboy founder) and accepted it at the famed mansion...They just announced one of this year's winners and she, like Zack, is well known to the atheist community and very deserving of the honor. So congratulations to Jessica Ahlquist :)[Click headline for more…]

The Big Questions is a BBC show that tackles you-know-what. The most recent episode asked "Are religions unfair to women?"You can watch the show below:One highlight: Orthodox Jewish Rabbi Shmuel Arkush, who refuses to shake the hand of the woman sitting next to him (at the 13:50 mark) because "I don't touch those things that don't belong to me." Even though he had no problem shaking the hand of the male host...[Click headline for more...]

You may have seen the news tonight that Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michele Knight -- women who went missing over a decade ago and were presumed dead -- were found to be alive.Two quick things:1) The man who inadvertently helped rescue them, Charles Ramsey, just gave the greatest press conference of all time (highlight at 2:25):[Click headline for more...]

You saw Part One and Part Two. Now, Dusty continues his epic summary of History Channel's "The Bible" by tackling episodes 5 and 6 (with tons of NSFW language):(via Cult of Dusty)

"Interview an Atheist at Church" Day is today, but one video is already up and it's fantastic.Neil Carter, who blogs at Godless in Dixie, was interviewed at the Meadowbrook Church of Christ in Jackson, Mississippi:[Click headline for more…]

For the past year, street preachers in Penn Square (Pennsylvania) have made lunch a little less pleasant. They have a right to be there, but it doesn't mean they're not annoying.So Jim Patterson, Ryan Meehan, and Brendan Krick decided to preach alongside them... from the gospel of Bill and Ted:Meehan and Krick host a comedy open mic night once a week, so check it out if you're in the area!

Riham Said is the host of an Egyptian television show called "Sabaya el-Kheir" and she recently interviewed fundamentalist Muslim cleric Sheikh Youssef el-Badri.If this interview is real -- and it's hard to find much information on it at the moment -- it's just incredible. Not only did Said take off her hijab during the interview (shocking her guest) she asks him on air why he had no problem when she wasn't wearing one before the interview. She also asks him why he accepted money to appear on...

Scott Burdick, the filmmaker behind In God We Trust and Sophia Investigates The Good News Club, has released his latest movie on YouTube. And you're going to want to watch the whole damn thing.The March of Reason features a *lot* of familiar names from our movement talking about atheism, morality, the religious targeting of children, evolution, church/state separation, ridiculing faith, and so much more. It all revolves around the Reason Rally and the people and protesters who attended it (th...

Francelle Wax is the producer of a film called American Secret: The Circumcision Agenda which takes a close look at the problems with male circumcision. More broadly speaking, it addresses the ideas of how ideas spread, why we believe in rituals that serve relatively little or no benefit, and what it would take to change our beliefs.Francelle was kind enough to answer my own questions as well as those solicited from friends:[Click headline for more…]

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) spoke at last week's Secular Summit & Lobby Day sponsored by the Secular Coalition for America, and audio of his speech is now online with video stills (his speech begins at the 2:20 mark below):[Click headline for more…]

Mayor Anthony Foxx isn't the only person declaring tomorrow a "Day of Reason" -- the Dunedin City Council in Florida is doing the same. In the video below, Commissioner Ron Barnette read the text as requested by Mark Brandt of the Unitarian Universalists of Clearwater:[Click headline for more…]

It will come as a surprise to precisely no one currently reading this that Bryan Fischer, spokesman for the American Family Association, has something offensive and dumb to say about recently-out-of-the-closet NBA player Jason Collins.Collins made history yesterday by becoming the first active athlete in a major (male) American sport to come out as gay. It seems as if Collins is going into this thing with eyes wide open. He know's what he's in for from the intolerant idiots out there. And the...

The Oklahoma Freethought Convention is taking place on June 22nd at the Cox Convention Center and if you're able to attend, you're probably going to sign up after you watch The Thinking Atheist's promo video:An event like this takes a lot of time, effort, and money to run smoothly, so if you'd like to donate something to help defray the organizers' costs, you can do that here.Tickets for the event are $20 for the next two weeks and you can see the roster of speakers here.

Enjoy this episode of a BBC series called "Conspiracy Road Trip" focused on Creationism. The premise is that five Creationists are taken to America to be convinced of evolution by people who know something about it (including Jerry Coyne):[Click headline for more…]

I don't care if I am weeks late on this, this family sing-along of "Zombie Jesus Day" is too cute not to post:(Thanks to Ashley for the link!)

Last month, the St. Johns County School Board (Florida) considered adopting a policy that would let high school seniors deliver "inspirational" messages during graduation ceremonies. Inspirational, of course, is just a code word for prayer.Gordon Klingenschmitt, a former U.S. Navy chaplain, has taken a unique approach: He'll give money to the first student who prays to Jesus during the district's graduation ceremony:[Click headline for more…]

Dusty goes after Pastor Jack Schaap, the man who said Jesus blessed his affair with an underage girl (lots and lots of hilarious NSFW language):(via CultOfDusty -- Thanks to Ed for the link!)

Bryan Fischer thinks that "we" (Christians? White guys? D-bags? Who knows) need to reclaim the word discrimination:So why does the American Family Association spokesman feel that way?[Click headline for more…]

The little girl is wise beyond her years... and the ending cracked me up :)There's a worry that some atheist parents won't teach their children about religious beliefs at all, but this video offers a different approach: Just teach your children all the beliefs! Who needs fairy tales when there are so many holy books just lying around?(via WhitneyAvalon -- Thanks to ihedenius for the link!)

In this video below, Edward describes how his pastor had a heart attack and then accused him of being a cause of it:Be sure to check out Edward's YouTube and Facebook pages![Link to video]

The Christian group Faith2Action just released a segment they filmed for an upcoming documentary. And if this clip is any indication, the entire film is going to be a trainwreck:The joke isn't on gay people. It's on Faith2Action for thinking this is a valid comparison. (Hell, adulterers can at least get married in every state.)[Click headline for more…]

I don't want to get all "Islamophobic" on you, so I'll just place this video of Muslim women who have been victims of acid attacks right here without comment:Yes, there are obviously many other factors in play here, including politics, economics, power, etc. But to say that the criminals' religious beliefs had nothing at all to do with it seems willfully ignorant to me.(Okay, one comment.)(via ConversationWithA)

American Atheists President Dave Silverman recently filmed a segment for Chris Johnson's multimedia book about atheists and what gives them joy and meaning in life.In the segment below, Silverman talks about how there's good reason for already-out atheists to be public about their lack of faith:(via The Atheist Book)

Last night, I watched a sermon given by a fundamentalist Christian pastor talking about complementarianism, where only men can be the leaders in the church and home. I know some of you are sick of hearing about that because I've just giving them exposure, but in this case, we're not talking about Pastor Steven Anderson and his church of a few dozen.We're talking about Pastor Mark Driscoll and his church of several thousands.Coincidentally, he was talking about the same ideas Anderson presente...

God had to be the first cause?!What an irrefutable argument!Boston College Philosophy Professor Peter Kreeft uses that argument to suggest believing in God is totally rational in this video... and the comments are somehow not turned off![Click headline for more…]

On Friday night's Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher interviewed Brian Levin of the Center for Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. As you might expect, the discussion began with a mention of the religious beliefs (Islam) of the Boston bombers. (There's no evidence yet, of course, linking their religious beliefs to their actions.)Levin argued that religious extremism, if that's what this was, isn't limited to Islam. There are extremists in just about every...

Foundation Beyond Belief just released the results from the First Quarter of 2013. Check out the donations -- $43,855 in total given by atheists -- to the following organizations:[Click headline for more...]

Ayaan Hirsi Ali recently spoke at the Sydney Opera House-hosted All About Women conference about how everyone ought to condemn cultural practices such as honor killings, forced marriage, and female genital mutilation:I haven't had a chance to watch the whole talk yet, but please leave important timestamps/summaries in the comments.

Kirk Cameron's gone bananas!(via Teen Skepchick)

I was going to stop watching sermons by our friend Pastor Steven Anderson of the Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona. But then I saw that the subject of his most recent talk was 1 Corinthians 14... and that's the part of the Bible that includes this verse:Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law.And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for...

I had the unenviable job of following this talk at the American Atheists convention a couple of weeks ago and I can tell you firsthand that, despite the fact that it was early on Easter morning, former pastor Jerry DeWitt had the audience cheering him on all the way through his sermon:"Take the entire Bible, multiply it by a million, and it does not carry the weight of one single smile."Preach it, Jerry!

Christian Right leader Bryan Fischer, of the American Family Association, announced on his radio show today his proposed change to our country's immigration policy. It's very brief: Ask the question, "Do you believe that the Koran is the holy book of God?" If they say "Yes," don't allow them in:Regarding those who accept the Koran, Fischer added: "We can't invite that kind of cancer into our culture because Boston is what you get when you do that."[Click headline for more…]

Pat Robertson is such an easy target that I almost hesitate to keep blog-kicking him. But the material he offers up is just irresistible.Right Wing Watch caught Pat answering a question about whether it's okay for a Christian to play video games with magic in them. A little bewildered, Pat reaches back to the 70s and 80s and advises against playing Dungeons & Dragons, which, of course, is not itself a video game. (Yes, it's spawned countless video games, but you and I both know that's not wha...

The James Randi Educational Foundation just released the first in a series of videos featuring magician Jamy Ian Swiss as the "Honest Liar." This one tackles homeopathy:Homeopathic medicine: The only thing it cures is a fat wallet.

Be sure to check out Edward's YouTube and Facebook pages![Link to video]

So this is where all those psychics get their advanced degrees from...Nice phone number :)