Alyson Miers has a good post on the “god didn’t prevent the shootings at Sandy Hook because secularism” meme.

To those of us who believe in no God at all, you’re saying that your God is an asshole. You’re telling us that making everyone worship Him is more important to God than saving children’s lives.

To those who believe in different gods, or different ideas of the same God, you’re telling them that they are part of the problem because they want their children to go to school in a non-sectarian environment. You are asking them to think there would be less violence in the world if they allowed your religious traditions to be honored in the public sphere,

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

Ohhhhh lordy. Sometimes the viciousness makes my head want to explode – I can feel it trying to.

He actually does say it.

We’ve kicked God out of our public school system.

And I think God would say to us…”Hey I’ll be glad to protect your children but you got to invite me back into your world first. I’m not gonna go where I’m not wanted, I am a gentleman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is2x7QTZ8AI

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

Here’s a nice item if you want an Atheists Doing a Good Thing Just Because It’s a Good Thing thing. We need some of those right now.

Atheists of Maine jump in the freezing water to raise money for Camp Sunshine.

For those of you that don’t know, I have waded in the icy waters of our ocean to benefit Camp Sunshine for the past two years. This year, I’m mixing it up a bit: I’m looking to form a team to take the plunge with me. My goal is 10 people, including myself. That means you.

The minimum per person is $100 but last year I was able to raise over $700 with only $100 of it being

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

Mystifyingly, the UK government is going to make it illegal for the Church of England to perform same-sex marriages.

The Church of England and Church in Wales will be banned in law from offering same-sex marriages, the government has announced.

Other religious organisations will be able to “opt in” to holding ceremonies, Culture Secretary Maria Miller said.

But she added that the Church of England and Church in Wales had “explicitly” stated strong opposition and would not be included.

Labour said the exemption for the established Church was “disappointing”.

I can’t even make sense of that. The government is making it illegal, yet it’s an exemption. What? And the government is making it illegal because the churchs had stated … Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

Since the pope has been so busy and people have been humming it, here it is for your convenience -

Tim Minchin’s fuck the motherfucking pope.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHRDfut2Vx0

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

Another guy – a judge this time – thinks women’s bodies have magical little portcullises that slam down during attempted rape.

A Southern California judge is being publicly admonished for saying a rape victim “didn’t put up a fight” during her assault and that if someone doesn’t want sexual intercourse, the body “will not permit that to happen.”

Which is why rape is so extremely rare – it’s hard to bash through the portcullis.

Johnson made the comments in the case of a man who threatened to mutilate the face and genitals of his ex-girlfriend with a heated screwdriver, beat her with a metal baton and made other violent threats before committing rape, forced oral copulation, and other crimes.

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

The dear dear pope, so consistently hateful and harmful and bad. Yesterday he launched his new Twitter account and blessed the Ugandan legislator pushing the “kill the gays” bill.

Pope Benedict XVI has given blessings to Uganda Parliament Speaker Rebecca Kadaga during a mass attended by thousands of pilgrims at the Vatican,” Nsimbe Kasim at the Ugandan New Vision news reports.

He hates secularists and loves people who want the state to kill gays. What a mensch.

Then today – how productive he is! – he used his “peace day” message to bash same-sex marriage.

The pontiff said on Friday: “There is also a need to acknowledge and promote the natural structure of marriage as the union of

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

There is one bit of good news, or not really exactly good, but a delay of bad…

The Parliament of Uganda is about to go on Christmas holiday, returning in February, and the Kill The Gays bill is slated to be taken up then. The Parliament has a daily business list, called the “order paper” which shows what legislation is to be considered and in what order. The Kill The Gays bill was number one on that list, but superseded by an important and contentious oil and gas bill. Remarkably, the Kill The Gays bill, known also as the Anti-Homosexuality bill, has dropped in importance to number seven.

That’s a few weeks more to oppose the bill.

 … Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

Paul Elam and “Agent Mauve” at A Voice for Men have done what they said they were going to do, and found the identity of one of the University of Toronto students who protested a talk by Warren Farrell. They’ve plastered her picture on the site, and named her, and posted a long angry rant about her. (In reading it, I see in the right-hand margin something claiming that I have my “knickers in a twist.” Oh goody, a new front opens in the great WarOnMe.)

They conclude in their usual threatening manner.

In the coming days, [redacted - OB] will have her profile as a bigot placed at Register-her.com. But she will not be alone.

We will continue to

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

Hahahahahaha Justin Vacula explains why what Michael Shermer said about atheism as a guy thing was totally reasonable and ok and fine. He explains it in a comment on Jacques Rousseau’s post accusing me of misrepresenting Shermer, hyperbole, and failure to read charitably.

Unfortunatly, the principle of charity is not something Ophelia (and her commenters) are considering. As you note, the most charitable interpretation of Shermer’s observation — a statement of what he sees — is that men are quite active. Atheism is a ‘guy thing,’ I would say, like needlepoint is a ‘girl thing.’ This isn’t to say men are being excluded from the ‘needlepoint community’ or that some inherent gender ‘thing’ makes men not attracted to needlepoint…and it

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)