Phoenix New Times (blog)
Atheist State Lawmaker Quotes Carl Sagan Instead of Doing Prayer Before ...
Phoenix New Times (blog)
You may remember some controversy about Democratic Congressman Kyrsten Sinema, who has been described as the only atheist in Congress, even though she rejects the label of "atheist." (Perhaps it's a coincidence, but many of Mendez's constituents ...

The atheist orthodoxy that drove me to faith
Catholic Herald Online (blog)
I expected – and wanted – to find bigotry and illogicality that would vindicate my atheism. Instead, I was presented with a God who was the Logos: not a supernatural dictator crushing human reason, but the self-expressing standard of goodness and ...

Raw Story
Text of Atheist Prayer Given in Arizona House
ABC News
An atheist lawmaker's daily prayer Tuesday at the Arizona House of Representatives led a fellow lawmaker to ask for a do-over the following day. Democratic Rep. Juan Mendez of Tempe said he was looking for a way to convey his feelings like other ...
Arizona House Doubles Up on Prayer to Counter AtheistNewser
Atheist State Rep's Secular Invocation Done Over 'In Repentance' By Christian ...Tucson Weekly
Arizona atheist's invocation in state legislature raises questions about ...al.com
Raw Story -WIS -azcentral.com
all 36 news articles »

ABC15.com (KNXV-TV)
Wolf Blitzer, atheist interview: Oklahoma mother's comment goes viral
ABC15.com (KNXV-TV)
"I, I, I," the 30-year-old stay-at-home mom stammered before adding, "I'm actually an atheist." She laughed, Blitzer laughed, and the moment passed seamlessly on live TV. Except it also became a clip heard across the Internet and social media - one ...

WND.com
This Oklahoma atheist isn't thanking the Lord
CNN (blog)
“I, I, I,” the 30-year-old stay-at-home mom stammered before adding, “I'm actually an atheist.” She laughed, Blitzer laughed, and the moment passed seamlessly on live TV. Except it also became a clip heard across the Internet and social media – one ...
Wolf Blitzer's Oklahoma atheist interview gets viewers talkingLos Angeles Times
Wolf Blitzer to atheist: Thank God, right?WND.com
Wolf Blitzer asks atheist Oklahoma tornado survivor “if she thanks the Lord”AMERICAblog (blog)
TheBlaze.com (blog) -Salon
all 54 news articles »

Limbaugh says CNN's Wolf Blitzer 'found the only atheist' in Okla.
TheBlaze.com (blog)
He found the only atheist in Oklahoma, and he didn't know it … That's just too rich. He thinks everybody he talks to is being 'all God all the time.' Audio of the segment here. Share this article. Benghazi, IRS, AP...What's next? Only TheBlaze TV ...

Wolf Blitzer asks atheist Oklahoma tornado survivor “if she thanks the Lord”
AMERICAblog (blog)
The woman responds, uncomfortably, well I'm an atheist. Blitzer: You gotta thank the Lord, right? Do you thank the Lord for that split second decision? Woman: I, I, I'm… I'm actually an atheist. Blitzer: Oh you are, all right. oklahoma-tornad-thank ...

PolicyMic
Juan Mendez Atheist Congressman Delivers First Secular Invocation in Arizona ...
PolicyMic
Yesterday, 28-year-old Juan Mendez entered the Arizona House chamber as a relatively unknown first term representative. The Arizona House of Representatives typically begins their sessions with a prayer, led by a rotating member, followed by the Pledge ...

Examiner.com
Pope Francis Says Atheists Who Do Good Are Redeemed, Not Just Catholics
Huffington Post
Pope Francis rocked some religious and atheist minds today when he declared that everyone was redeemed through Jesus, including atheists. During his homily at Wednesday Mass in Rome, Francis emphasized the importance of "doing good" as a principle ...
A surprising map of where the world's atheists liveWashington Post (blog)
So the Christian deity loves atheists now?Examiner.com
Pope Says Atheists Are A-OK By GodGawker
Huffington Post UK -The Guardian -The Inquisitr
all 254 news articles »

Christian Post
Wolf Blitzer Atheist Interview: 'You're Blessed...Do You Thank the Lord ...
Christian Post
Wolf Blitzer interviewed an atheist on Tuesday for CNN, however, things turned awkward as the anchor attempted to question the woman about how she survived the Oklahoma tornado which devastated the region this week. The woman, Rebecca, fled her ...

Go to twitter now: David Silverman (@MrAtheistPants) is tearing the atheist trolls a new one. This is really what I like to see: a leader of a major atheist organization taking an unambiguous stand against this ulcer in our midst, and repudiating the spammy, photoshopping, lying behavior of the anti-feminist clique.

How much do I appreciate it? With my dollars. My wife is going to sign us up for a lifetime membership in American Atheists while I’m away. It’s not a casual investment, so not everyone can do that, but you could send them a donation to let the organization know that you like a leader with a spine.

I’ll be boarding a plane very shortly and going totally incommunicado until I land in Bucharest sometime tomorrow morning…so I’ll leave you something pretty to look at. This is Rosa canina, the dog rose, and the national flower of Romania.

And just because I like it, here’s Salvia transsylvanica, or the Transylvanian sage.

My destination is looking gorgeous already.

Secular Woman has issued a formal statement on the ‘introduction’ to the Women in Secularism conference. It’s pretty potent stuff…I like it.

I look forward to the CEO’s response, which will probably compare it to a communique from Red China. A declaration of war, perhaps?

Lawmaker Comes Out as Atheist During House Prayer
Newser
(Newser) – The Arizona House and Senate typically convene with a prayer, which members take turns delivering. But Democratic Rep. Juan Mendez did something unusual yesterday: He took the opportunity to announce that he's an atheist (he referenced his ...

OneNewsNow
Atheist group bullies Oklahoma school to remove Ten Commandments
OneNewsNow
An Oklahoma school district has announced it permanently removed the Ten Commandments from high school classrooms. Muldrow Public Schools apparently bowed to pressure from the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), an atheist group that ...

and more »

Salon
Tornado survivor to Wolf Blitzer: Sorry, I'm an atheist. I don't have to thank ...
Salon
But as she held her 18-month-old son, Rebecca Vitsmun politely replied, “I'm actually an atheist.” A flummoxed Blitzer quickly lobbed back, “You are. All right. But you made the right call,” and Vitsmun graciously offered him a lifeline. “We are here ...

Raw Story
Atheist Arizona lawmaker quotes Carl Sagan for House opening prayer
Raw Story
An atheist state lawmaker in Arizona invoked astronomer Carl Sagan on Tuesday when he was tasked with giving the opening prayer for the state House of Representatives. Democratic state Representative Juan Mendez began by asking members not to ...
Arizona lawmaker: I'm an atheistazcentral.com
AZ Lawmaker In Charge of House Prayer Tells Colleagues He's an AtheistGawker
Lawmaker Comes Out as Atheist During House PrayerNewser
Mediaite -msnNOW
all 15 news articles »

Wednesday's Religion News Roundup: Tornado Theology * Red State Atheist ...
Religion News Service
... and at the Christian Century blog, MaryAnn McKibben Dana has more reflections in “When bad theology happens to good people.” How about when live TV happens to Wolf Blitzer? Give the guy credit, he found a real live atheist in red state Oklahoma.

Yesterday, I received a letter and a booklet from an organization called Day Star Research. The booklet was written by the president of Day Star, Fred Heeren, who writes, among other things, Day Star Research is committed to * Promoting healthy dialogue between the religious and non-religious. * Fighting irrational extremism with rationality.… * Encouraging Christians to reverse their reputation for anti-intellectualism, insensitivity, and judgmentalism.…... Matt Young http://www.mines.edu/~mmyoung

One of the talks that had everyone buzzing at Women in Secularism was Rebecca Goldstein’s. She introduced an idea that clicked for everyone — that all people have a need to matter in the world, that all of us strive to make some difference, have some effect, on others. It’s true of everyone, men and women alike, but what often happens is that women are ignored — a women has to work much harder than a man to matter. On a small scale, it happens at every committee meeting in which a woman proposes an idea and it’s neglected until a man echoes it (and then he gets the credit); on a large scale, open your history books and look at the genders of the notable names. There’s a bit of a numerical disparity.

Kameron Hurley has written an excellent essay on these narratives that make women invisible, ‘We Have Always Fought’: Challenging the ‘Women, Cattle and Slaves’ Narrative. She’s coming at it from the perspective of a SF/Fantasy writer who has noticed all the lazy tropes we expect from our stories: the hero is a man, or if she’s a woman, you either get the novelty of her doing ‘man-like’ things (and isn’t it unfair that we tie those activities to gender?) or she’s constrained to stereotypical women’s ways. “Woman” is a synonym for “Other” so often.

If women are “bitches” and “cunts” and “whores” and the people we’re killing are “gooks” and “japs” and “rag heads” then they aren’t really people, are they? It makes them easier to erase. Easier to kill. To disregard. To un-see.

But the moment we re-imagine the world as a buzzing hive of individuals with a variety of genders and complicated sexes and unique, passionate narratives that have yet to be told – it makes them harder to ignore. They are no longer, “women and cattle and slaves” but active players in their own stories.

It’s a wonderful read, go read it.

Another recommendation: she references The Women Men Don’t See by James Tiptree. It’s online! You can read that, too! It’s a story that will make you think. You’ve heard of the unreliable narrator…this one features the irrelevant narrator, a man who comes along for the ride and really doesn’t understand anything that’s going on, because he can’t see the real protagonists as anything but a couple of women.

The theme resonates with me in so many ways. It’s not just feminism, but atheism and science that demand that you open your eyes and see the world as it really is. Every time we break out of our preconceptions, we gain.