Imaginary witches and gods
With Halloween around the corner, it is a good time to talk about witches — and their unreality. For millennia, much of humanity was sure that witches were real. The bible mandates execution for being one: “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” In the infamous medieval witch hunts, thousands of women and men […]
‘That was the week that was’
When I was a little girl in the early 1960s, there was a delightful satiric show on NBC my parents loved called “That Was the Week that Was.” I later realized it was peopled with incredible talent. The writers or cast included Tom Lehrer (“Vatican Rag”), Gloria Steinem, David Frost, Calvin Trillin, Alan Alda, Mike […]
A brilliant skeptic who wrote timeless novels
We’re observing during this month the 65th death anniversary of a Greek literary giant — someone who created a global stir due to his irreverence long after he had died. In 1988, fundamentalist Christians in several nations vented rage and violence because a movie, “The Last Temptation of Christ,” portrayed Jesus as a wavering human, […]
A flying saucer cult obsessed with cloning
During my years as an investigative reporter, the oddest religion story I covered involved a flying saucer cult’s attempt to clone a human baby in my hometown of Charleston, W.Va. The project was halted by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. The sect later claimed to have cloned a dozen babies around the world, but […]
Bad governors and teachers, essay winners, unwarranted legal defeat, and atheist activism
What a range we cover at the Freedom From Religion Foundation in a typical week. We started off the week vehemently objecting to a highly religious and discriminatory outing that a Louisiana school district recently encouraged its students to attend. “We’ve witnessed over the years some outrageous religious events that public schools participated in,” says […]
Our national secular voter campaign, white Christian nationalism and riveting blogs
Talk about a massively important voter awareness initiative. We at the Freedom From Religion Foundation have crafted a national secular voter campaign to emphasize that 75 million nonreligious adult Americans (nearly one-third of that population) are dedicated to the separation of state and religion — and are voting that way. The drive is honoring, in […]
The week that was, digested just for you seculars
The news cycle moves with dizzying speed these days. So, for the benefit of those of you who feel like you’re getting whiplash in trying to keep up with state/church and secular developments, here are highlights of the week, digested just for you. Celebrate the rise of the Nones Uncork your champagne bottle! The Pew […]
Hate, sexism, discrimination and phony health care — all in the name of religion
In case you missed some of these news developments over the last couple of weeks, here’s more evidence of the condition pondered centuries ago by poet Robert Burns: “Why has a religious turn of mind always a tendency to narrow and harden the heart?” “They called for female leadership at the Vatican. They were arrested.” […]
Ehrenreich, Bachmann and the bible as rape manual
Did you know that writer Barbara Ehrenreich, who died on Aug. 30 at age 81, coined the term “none” to refer to us irreverent ones and nonbelievers? Today, Pew and other researchers commonly refer to “atheists, agnostics and nothing in particular” as “Nones,” a term FFRF is so pleased with, we even capitalize it. Ehrenreich […]
