News

It’s Blasphemy Day! September 30th, 2009 was chosen for the first observance of this heathen holiday because on this day 4 years ago, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad, leading to widespread threats and violence from Muslims who literally want to kill anyone who blasphemes their god or so much as draws a picture of their prophet.

Blasphemy Day can be used to further inflame these psychotic zealots with their “religion of peace”, but there are many other gods to blaspheme as well!

The multitude of Hindu gods don’t get enough blasphemy, so perhaps this would be a good day to bash Brahma, vilify Vishnu, or curse Kali? Or you could go with the more traditional western target and deny “the holy spirit” on YouTube as part of The Blasphemy Challenge.

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On Tuesday someone stumbled on our Let’s Get Hammered shirt and decided to unleash it on the social media site, Reddit. Their post was titled Even I don’t have the nerve to wear this! and so far, despite nearly 10,000 visitors, few have shown the sense of humor and balls to actually wear it.

Might it provoke a drunken Christian to take a swing at you? Sure, but if he doesn’t black out this is an image he won’t soon forget! Images like this may seem mean or distasteful, but they are meant to be taken as twisted humor, and if there’s anything that needs its more humorous side poked, it’s religion.

Today is the last day of our Saint Patrick’s Day sale (17% off $25 or more with coupon code MARCH19), and probably the last day to get a shirt before the holiday without rushing the shipping, so if you think you’re brave enough for Leprechaun Jesus, now is the time to show it.

For those of you considering purchasing multiple items to qualify for the sale, here are a few recommendations:

If you want something funny and you don’t care if you piss people off, we have the brand new design Yahweh? No way!, Pwned Jesus, and of course Let’s Get Hammered.

Those of you who want something more friendly that shouldn’t land you in hot water in most places might want to try Smile, There is no Hell.

If you’re not sure which way you want to go, Faith: Is there anything it can’t do? or Give up God for Lent may help you decide whether you’ve got the nerve for the more offensive end of the spectrum or not without being quite as blatantly offensive to Christians.

If you’re brave enough to face drunken Christians while wearing the crucified LepreChrist though, there really is no better shirt for Saint Patty’s Day.

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In their attempts to pretend that the species homo sapiens (human) is somehow not part of the animal kingdom, and is instead uniquely created very different from and above all other life on Earth, creationists often go to great lengths to convince themselves that all other animals are essentially automatons working purely on instinct. I’ve even heard some of them claim that animals do not think or make any decisions at all.

Of course this idea is ridiculous on the face of it, as anyone who has ever had extended and thoughtful interactions with animals can see, but due to communication barriers between us and other animals, the level of thought that they are capable of is difficult to discern, and nearly impossible to prove to someone who doesn’t want to understand. Even worse, many scientists have been very skeptical about the cognitive abilities of other animals, and obtaining the unequivocal evidence necessary to persuade them has been difficult.

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The version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 recently passed by the House of Representatives contains $100 million in funding for “faith-based” programs. The Senate version of the bill does not currently contain this funding, but if we do not tell our senators that we oppose this irrelevant addition to this “economic stimulus” package, it may well make it into the final bill.

Fortunately the Secular Coalition for America has made it easy to send a message to your senators from their web site. In a time when hundreds of billions of dollars are being thrown around without much care, a hundred million may not seem like much, but it is still a lot of money, and every time these questionable programs are given additional funding they become more entrenched and more difficult to reform or get rid of.

It is our responsibility to take action to oppose these measures. The “Religious Right” should not be the only voices our Senators hear.

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No, Texas’s science teachers are not being physically threatened, but their ability to properly teach science is in serious danger this week. From January 21st to 23rd, the Texas Board of Education is holding public hearings and then voting on whether or not creationism (in the guise of “Intelligent Design”) should be taught in their schools.

If you live in Texas or know anyone who does, please contact your representative and if possible attend the remaining meetings in support of sane education policies, because it sounds like the vote is going to be close. If the creationists win here and the decision is not overturned at the BoE’s meeting in March, the policy will be in place for 10 years, or until a court is forced to step in.

Texans can find information on how to get involved at the Teach Them Science site, and through the Texas Freedom Network. Others who just want to learn more about what’s going on, check out the post on Bad Astronomy. There is a pretty good discussion in the comments section, but here’s my contribution to the thread in case you don’t go there:

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A couple of months ago we told you about the upcoming atheistic bus ad campaign set to start in the UK in January. Well, it’s here!

The campaign’s organizers have raised much more money than they had originally hoped (£140,000 when their goal was £5,500), and they have expanded it to more locations in more cities across the UK. It’s time for those who fear God’s coming wrath against the atheist advertising venues to seek alternate transportation. Maybe for the next couple of months they can follow Jesus and walk or ride donkeys to work.

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I would like to encourage all of our readers in Phoenix to pick up a New Times this week. It’s got great pictures and an overall good story, but I would also like to give a little bit of a response and clarification on a few issues.

I do understand that they took a particular interest in Omar. He is an interesting, well spoken and good looking guy with a good story to tell, so the fact that the rest of us are a bit buried in the article is alright. What I don’t like is the Secular Free Thought Society (and me in particular) being painted as the villains and unwanted hangers-on who followed Omar down to Mill like lost puppies.

As Omar knows, but apparently Niki forgot, the Mill Avenue Resistance started when I started visiting Mill on a regular basis and arguing with preachers by myself. I believe it was the first night of doing that when I met a former street preacher named Emmanuel who was also having one on one discussions with preachers, and the initial group was formed.

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Much of the gay community and many others are upset by Barack Obama’s choice of evangelical pastor Rick Warren to give the invocation (prayer) at Barack Obama’s inauguration ceremony, but perhaps this is the wrong issue to complain about?

Not only is there to be a prayer by a controversial pastor, but there will also be a benediction (blessing) by Joseph Lowery, a less divisive choice, but still a Christian reverend who will bring little diversity. If we do include religious activities, why not Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims or others?

Some religious zealots feel that not only is it unquestionably right to have their (supposedly America’s) religion exclusively represented in government events, but that the only question we should be asking is whether or not what we’re doing will be good enough for God.

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The Nontheist Nexus has released their twelfth and final issue of the Nexus Zine in its current format. Fortunately, they are not going away, and will be releasing content more frequently rather than saving it up and for a monthly zine.

This month largely focuses on Christmas, with several pieces by 19th century political leader, orator and free thinker Robert Ingersoll, along with an amusing account of a Christmas pageant performance and a somewhat disturbing interview with Santa.

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Some of you (okay, probably none of you) have been tempted to go to Kentucky to visit Ken Ham’s Creation “Museum”, but now there’s no need to subject yourself to this monument to willful ignorance.

The Secular Alliance of Indiana University has taken one for the team and brought back some amusing video for us. Their video reveals a museum full of hilarious exhibits of mind boggling nonsense, all carefully designed to show us why we can’t possibly take the whole Bible as literally true.

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