Like many music geeks, I spent the idle moments of the last month or so ranking and re-ranking my favorite music that came out this year. A lot of factors can make an album stand out for me—music serves a lot of functions in my life. It’s a soundtrack for bus rides and reading, writing [...]

I was reading an article from the Religious News Service talking about a new wave of atheism that isn’t completely down on religion.  Make no mistake, the so called “Atheism 3.0” still denies the existence of God, but there is some respect for the values that come from believing in God.
Bruce Sheiman is the author [...]

There’s been quite a few articles written lately about a trend in England where people, apparently 100,000 plus, are becoming de-baptized.  The current attention probably comes from the fact that National Secular Society is selling official certificates to denounce baptism.  (They’re the same group who did a bus ad campaign with the slogan, “There’s probably [...]

Here’s a funny little news item that I just stumbled on. Apparently the British Humanist Association joined together with atheist Richard Dawkins to create an advertising campaign promoting their cause. At first it appeared that the earnest advertisers weren’t going to be able to raise the dough but since then they have raised more [...]

Saw this on Glocal Christianity. It’s an interview with an atheist about Christianity:

It’s convicting. If Christians really believe that the difference between heaven and hell is belief in God, why are we not actually doing everything we possibly can to tell people about it?
Any thoughts?

Stephen Colbert’s site has a “Religionizer,” which chooses a random religion and outputs a related joke. The jokes themselves are hidden by code but someone hacked in and got them all. So, for your entertainment, here are some of the best:
Christianity:
Sweet! More Bible!
Warning: Stigmata not covered by HMO.
Pro: Salvation. Con: N/A
Jesus died for your sins, [...]

OK, I promise this will be my last post on the Hitchens debate. But it looks like video from the debate is online, and you can watch the entire debate courtesy of the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies.
The entire debate went on for about two hours, which is a bit much to watch on your [...]

Recall God is Not Great, Christopher Hitchens’ attack on Christianity and religion in general? It was one of several high-profile atheist books that came out last year. Well, tonight, Hitchens will be debating his brother (a Christian and journalist), and the debate will be broadcast live on the web. Here’s the promotional blurb:

They’ll be debating [...]

It’s Friday afternoon; how about something fun? Well, maybe fun isn’t quite the word—perhaps schadenfreude is better. That’s what I experienced watching this video of famous skeptic James Randi exposing faith-healer/televangelist Peter Popoff as a fraud:

(Here’s a follow-up video detailing Popoff’s “ministry” and fall—and which mentions the depressing fact that Popoff is still out there [...]

Leaving Eden is a blog by an “undercover atheist” attending Wheaton College. It’s an interesting look at what it’s like to be in the extreme ideological minority in a Christian environment, and has some good posts challenging Christians to be more respectful in the way they talk to and about atheists. There’s an interview with [...]