Reading Time: 4 minutes According to the (conservative Christian) American Center of Law and Justice, Gina — a student at Suffolk County Community College — was wronged by her professor before the ACLJ made things right. Gina had a 3.9 GPA and was initially doing fine in her philosophy class… until the subject of God’s existence came up. Gina […]
Center for Inquiry
Posted inEducation, General
High School Freethought Groups
Reading Time: 2 minutes High school freethought groups are so important in helping young people develop their skills in critical thinking. It’s one of the first places you can openly talk to other people about your atheism. It’s also tougher than starting a group in college, when you’re likely to have a few more like-minded people around you. Lucia […]
Posted inEducation, General
Matthew LaClair’s Op-Ed in the LA Times
Reading Time: 5 minutes Matthew LaClair is the high school student who made headlines when he recorded his (public) high school history teacher preaching fundamental Christianity in class. He was last seen leading the charge to get a mistake-riddled, conservatively-biased Government textbook corrected or purged from the school systems. He has an Op-Ed piece in today’s LA Times about […]
Posted inEducation, General
About That Civics Textbook…
Reading Time: 2 minutes I posted yesterday about a widely-used high school Civics textbook that was filled with lies and/or egregious mistakes. An AP story about the textbook is now circulating all over the place. Publishers are already talking about changes: The publisher now says it will review the book, as will the College Board, which oversees college-level Advanced […]
Posted inGeneral
Center For Inquiry Critiques Civics Textbook
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Center For Inquiry has put out a paper (PDF) that documents several egregious errors found in James Q. Wilson and John J. DiIulio, Jr.’s American Government: Institutions and Policies textbook. The mistakes are all over the place. While passages directly from the textbook are presented in CFI’s document, brief summaries of their analysis are […]
Posted inGeneral
Indiana Freethought
Reading Time: < 1 minute Atheists in Indiana? Never! But they exist… (shocking, I know). Freethought Fort Wayne is an affiliate of the Center for Inquiry. There’s now also a collective blog with meeting information and more. Any other state or city atheist groups hovering around somewhere in the blogosphere? (Thanks to Jeremy for the link!) [tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]
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For Atheists, Even Portland Can Be Unwelcoming
Reading Time: 2 minutes After writing about an atheist denied admission into the Elks club because of her lack of faith, reporter Margie Boulé was contacted by an atheist in Portland. Sylvia Benner read the story and wasn’t surprised. “I am an atheist as well,” she wrote. “I have experience with this ‘last bias.’” Sylvia, and other atheists, believe […]
Posted inGeneral
Could We Hold the Ultimate Atheist Conference?
Reading Time: 6 minutes At the “meeting of the atheist leaders” on Saturday, there were several discussions about tactics and ideas for future collaboration. The idea that caught my attention the most was Atheist Alliance International (AAI) president Margaret Downey‘s call for a “Unity Convention in 2010.” Right now, the major national atheist groups hold conferences once a year. […]
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Annual Meeting of the Atheist Minds
Reading Time: < 1 minute This weekend, for the fourth year in a row, the leaders of nearly all the major atheist/humanist organizations in the country will be meeting in Tampa, Florida to discuss ways to collaborate, share resources, and decide best methods to share our message with others. Participating organizations include: American Atheists American Ethical Union American Humanist Association […]
Posted inGeneral
Early Praise for Secular Conscience: Why Belief Belongs in Public Life
Reading Time: 2 minutes The Center for Inquiry‘s representative to the United Nations, Austin Dacey, has a book coming out in mid-March called Secular Conscience: Why Belief Belongs in Public Life (Prometheus Books, 2008). Don’t let the title fool you. A number of prominent atheists have been raving about this book already: “The Secular Conscience reveals how simplistic notions […]