With all the belt tightening happening in Italy, the general population is putting into motion a plan to tax the Catholic Church's many holdings and tax exempt businesses. The total amount of revenue this would generate for the country is estimated to be about a billion dollars annually. Following their government's latest austerity measure package, more than 130,000 people signed an online petition calling ...

It was only a matter of time before Uganda - oblivious to international pressure - would pass their notorious 'kill the gays' bill. Claiming homosexuals pose a 'serious threat', the government has decided to pass the law by the end of December. The speaker of the Cabinet, Rebecca Kadaga (seen above waving a fucking Bible, what else?), said this would be a Christmas present for her constituents. This barbari ...

Richard talks about his early Taoism (I feel you on that Asian mysticism bullshit, buddy), his deconversion to atheism, and his search for a philosophy of the world that made the most sense. He also talks about the preciousness of life and why we shouldn't be afraid of death. Be sure to check it out! (via Debunking Christianity) ...

I'm all for expressing one's opinion (I wouldn't be doing this web shit if I didn't), but I feel it's my duty to remind young people that the Internet never forgets, and it has a tendency to shame your ass whenever you say something stupid. Do you honestly think the opinions you express as a teenager will carry on to adulthood? I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm kind of glad the Internet and its am ...

There aren't many milestones I give a shit about, but reaching a million of something sure feels like an accomplishment to me. I'm proud to announce The Good Atheist Podcast has now been downloaded over a million times. Think about that for a second: it means if you played all of those podcasts back to back, I would be talking for over 85 years consecutively (or roughly an entire span of a human life). It a ...

It's difficult to actually assess just how corrupt the Catholic Church is, but judging by the testimony of Father Kevin Lee, the accusation often lobbied at the church - mainly that it provides an attractive employment opportunity for sexual abusers - seems legitimate. Lee, who was fired for marrying a woman (the nerve!), had been documenting allegations of abuse for years, and found himself frustrated by t ...

I've been working like a dog on The Essentials recently, which explains why I haven't bothered to put up a podcast this week. Editing these shows is so time consuming, with a typical episode taking between 8-12 hours of nonstop work (the biggest job so far has roughly 2,000 individual edits). Of course, the shows sound amazing, and by Monday I should have one preview episode to wow you guys. In the meantime ...

Remember a few weeks back when over 1000 preachers openly defied the IRS and began politically endorsing Mitt Romney? Well, it certainly wasn't the first time these guys broke the law, and it certainly won't be the last. This stunt was in an effort to repeal a law that until now, the IRS has refused to enforce. Gutsy, this was not. "Pulpit Freedom Sunday" has been staged annually since 2008 by a group calle ...

Ok folks, since ditching the forums, I promised that I would include Facebook comments, allowing you to track conversations in real time. See, papa bear keeps his promises now. So, you can all be officially excited and I encourage all of you to GO NUTS ON COMMENTING. I can't stress how helpful that is in spreading the word. Have fun! ...

You could easily replace the word 'segregation' with 'marriage equality', and echo the same argument modern bigots are using to try and justify their homophobia. They talk of freedom from tyranny, ignoring completely the fact that it is their hatred and intolerance which creates the inequity that so characterizes tyrannies. The good news is the man in this video, George Wallace Jr., would eventually change ...