Agnostics continue to slaughter atheists in Nigeria.
Ah, who am I kidding? It’s Muslims slaughtering Christians (and vice versa). Nigeria’s Acting President–the ironically named Goodluck Jonathan–has promised to quell the violence, but I suspect he’ll do no more than tamp it down temporarily.
Margaret Downey (former president of Atheist Alliance International, now a “freethought free agent”) announces the formation of the Unity 2013 Event Committee. What is Unity 2013? Nobody knows just yet, but what we do know is that it’ll be big, it has the blessing of such notables as Daniel Dennett, and it’ll involve many (if not most) of the major freethought-friendly organizations. To keep abreast of the details as they unfold, check out the Unity 2013 Facebook page.
Earthquake-devastated Haiti has become a magnet for kooky, misguided (but perhaps well-intentioned) religious groups. Scientologist John Travolta (disguised, apparently, as L. Ron Hubbard–see photo at right) has personally flown his private 707 to Haiti, delivering food, medical supplies, and “volunteer ministers” who claim the ability to heal through therapeutic touch. Meanwhile, a Christian group called Faith Comes By Hearing has sent 600 solar-powered audiobook Bibles. Finally, a group of Idaho Baptists were arrested trying to transport Haitian orphans (some of whom weren’t actually orphans) across the border into the Dominican Republic.
Or at least so says Christopher Hitchens, responding to Robertson’s claim that the devastating Haitian earthquake (which may have killed upwards of 200,000 innocent people) was the result of “a deal with the devil” made during the Haitian Revolution in 1791. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs called Robertson’s remarks “utterly stupid.” Barry Lynn of Americans United said they were callous and grotesquely insensitive. And Keith Olbermann says Robertson is full of “senile crap.”
Man, just when I thought I’d seen it all, the fundamentalists come through with something new. Trijicon, provider of combat rifle sights to the US military, has been encoding Bible verses in the serial numbers of their product! For example, “JN8:12″ at the end of a serial number refers to John 8:12. May we recommend Exodus 20:13? Or better yet, 2 Corinthians 4:2 (”But [we] have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.”)?
University of Texas quarterback Colt McCoy was sidelined with a shoulder injury early-on at college football’s 2010 Rose Bowl. McCoy had to watch from the bench as Texas lost the National Championship to Alabama. But that’s okay, ’cause it’s all part of God’s Plan.
Tiger Woods’ rumored infidelities have been all the rage with the tabloids, but who’da thunk Fox News pundit Brit Hume (not exactly an outspoken evangelical zealot) would make us forget all about it with his shoot-from-the-hip comparison of Buddhism and Christianity.
North Georgia parents Patty Jo Marsh and Jacob Bartels decided it was a good idea to give tattoos to six of their seven children. Themselves. With a homemade tattoo machine. Now they’re charged with illegal tattooing, reckless conduct, and more. Oh, did we mention the tattoos were of Christian crosses?
Happy New Year! We kick off 2010 by interviewing Stuart Bechman, president of Atheist Alliance International (AtheistAlliance.org). AAI is planning its first-ever Australian convention in Melbourne on March 12-14, 2010. For details visit AtheistConvention.org.au–tickets are going fast!
As much as the Pope deserves our outrage and contempt, I don’t think he deserves to be physically assaulted. A crazy person jumped the barrier during a Christmas Eve mass and knocked Ratzinger to the ground. He was unhurt, but an 87-year-old French Cardinal who was also knocked down broke his hip (which is an extraordinarily serious injury for an octogenarian).
Cecil Bothwell has just been elected to the city council of Asheville, North Carolina. He happens to be an atheist. The North Carolina state constitution bars atheists from holding elected office. (For what it’s worth, seven other states still have constitutional provisions that discriminate against non-believers.) Is this a case of continuing institutionalized bigotry, or just an amusingly unenforceable “quirk” left over from the 19th century? (For more on Mr. Bothwell visit cecilbothwell.wordpress.com)
House Republicans have declared war on the War on Christmas. House Resolution 951, sponsored by Henry Brown of–where else–South Carolina seeks to express “the sense of the House of Representatives that the symbols and traditions of Christmas should be protected for use by those who celebrate Christmas.”
