Remember a few months ago when I reported Colleen Hauser had fled Minnesota after a judge had ordered her son to undergo chemotherapy? You may remember them as the family who refused to use conventional medicine to treat their son's deadly Hodgkin's lymphoma, opting instead to follow the 'teachings' of a fake Native American religion called 'Nemenhah' (you can find out more about them and their founder, a m ...

Anti-abortionists scare me. Sure, most of them are fairly harmless, but their zeal and conviction often invite violent individuals into their ranks. It's inevitable that certain people, who feel their actions are justified by their God, will commit violent acts against doctors and nurses who provide this medical service. Dr. George Tiller was shot and killed today during church, and although the details of ...

I've read enough articles, editorials and op-ed pieces to realize, at least superficially, that being both and atheist and black is not an easy thing. African Americans have a long history of relying on the church for support. Abandoning religion often means abandoning the culture. As the secular movement gains momentum, however, more and more in the community are speaking out about this, especially in the ...

It looks like gays wanting to marry in the state of California aren't done fighting for it. The California Supreme court upheld Prop 8, proving once again even state judges are unable to understand their own constitutions. Because lawyers fighting for gay rights had no precedence from which to base their case other than the fact gays are provided fewer rights than their straight counterparts. I'm wondering ...

Some of you may wonder why I talk about gay rights on a site about atheism. You might also wonder why many atheist bloggers also defend the right for gays to marry. Perhaps some of you think they are unrelated issues. However, there is no denying the fact the reason gays are not treated as true members of society is because of religious intolerance which seeks to marginalize this group. I personally have a ...

It's a shame physically beautiful people can be rotten on the inside, but then again, is it really that surprising? The Miss USA pageant had Perez Hilton, the openly gay celebrity, asked Carrie Prejean what she thought about gay marriage.  Her response did not impress the judges: "I think it's great that Americans are able to choose one or the other," Prejean responded. "But in my country, and in my family, ...

Proving once again that religion has no special vanguard against immoral behavior, Melissa Huckaby, whose grandfather is a Baptist minister, was arrested today when the body of Sandra Cantu was found stuffed in a suitcase. The little girl was apparently also raped, which only makes the whole thing even more disturbing. In typical 'I know the killer but never really clued in' fashion, her family describes Hu ...

When I first asked myself this question, I concluded admitting to the American population that you are not a believer equates political seppuku. All of the 22 closet atheists sitting in Congress today agree, save one: Pete Stark. The Democratic senator from Northern California has stated he's an agnostic, but also admitted to not believing in a higher power. I can appreciate his diplomatic stance on religio ...

There's an interesting article here which argues there is, in fact, no Religious Right. The arguments are convincing; it does sound at first glance there has been an over simplification on whether or not a discernable movement is actually present. It would seem illogical to assume there are secret clandestine meetings involving hundreds of pastors and clergymen, all agreeing on the best course of action to ...

Some propose constructing a new language to be taught internationally, designed specifically to be easy to learn and understand, would you support such an idea? The idea of creating a new language was tried many years ago, and it was a dismal failure. Esperanto is now considered to be a joke among philologists (people who study languages). Generally speaking, it would be unrealistic to assume that anyone wo ...