After just four hours of sleep, I’m back to blogging. This is a panel with Debbie Goddard, Carrie Poppy, Desiree Schell, and Greta Christina, and moderated by Soraya Chemaly. 9:08: Soraya: We’re going to compare the secular movement to other social movements, expanding secularism through social justice, and the marginalization of women in social movements. …
Tag Archive: atheism
May 18 2013
[#wiscfi liveblog] The History of Atheism, Feminism, and the Science of Brains
Now up: Jennifer Michael Hecht, a poet and author of three books about history. She has a PhD in the history of science from Columbia, and teaches at the New School and Columbia. 4:05: The first thing we can do to forward the goals that we have is to show up. To do what you’re …
May 18 2013
[#wiscfi liveblog] Why the Lost History of Secular Women Matters Today
Susan Jacoby is up! She is a journalist and author who’s written a bunch of awesome books, including The Age of American Unreason, which I recently read. 1:50: Susan Jacoby opens with a poem published in 1837 about the trend of women speaking publicly about political causes. Oh, the humanity: 1:53: The reason we’ve been …
May 05 2013
[blogathon] Top Ten Reasons I Can’t Wait for Women in Secularism 2
This is the second post in my SSA blogathon! Don’t forget to donate! This post comes from a reader’s request. In less than two weeks, I’ll be off to Washington, DC for the second Women in Secularism conference, to which I get to go primarily thanks to the generosity of an FtB reader who gave …
May 02 2013
I’m Blogothonning for the Secular Student Alliance!
This may be naive given my recent recovery from a spell of writer’s block, but this Sunday, I’ll be doing a blogathon to raise money for the Secular Student Alliance with fellow badasses Kate Donovan, Chana Messinger, and Mike Mei. SSA Week is the organization’s annual fundraiser, and this year two supporters have pledged a …
Mar 08 2013
[Liveblog] Real World Atheism Panel at DePaul University
In a little under two hours, my friend Andrew Tripp and his student group, the DePaul Alliance for Free Thought, is hosting a fantastic panel called Real World Atheism: A Panel on Godless Activism and Cultural Relevancy. I’ll be liveblogging! The panel starts at 7 PM CST. Some of the panelists should be familiar to …
Jan 09 2013
Why You Should Talk To Your Kids About Death
I’ve been reading Christopher Hitchens’ God Is Not Great because, having been an atheist for a long time and through no particular effort of my own or anyone else’s, it’s important for me to understand what the arguments against religion actually are. (Well, and also, that book is hilarious.) Reading Hitchens’ description and critique of …
Nov 13 2012
Skepticon and the Need for an Atheist Community
(Or, In Which I Rant Lovingly About Skepticon) I haven’t written for a few days because I was off at Skepticon, which is the largest student-run atheist/skeptical conference in the U.S. It was amazing. Spending a weekend with a combination of some of my best friends, a few of my greatest Internet Heroes, and a …
Oct 09 2012
Faith is not a Mental Illness
I’ve been seeing a disturbing tendency among atheists to compare religious belief to mental illness. Sometimes this comparison is made explicit, as in this article. Other times, however, the comparison is more implicit–for instance, when words like “crazy” and “delusional” are used to describe religious people or their beliefs (hi Dawkins). These comparisons are inaccurate …
Sep 24 2012
On Taking People’s Word For It (Or, When Not to Argue)
“You’re not really depressed, you just get sad sometimes.” “You’re not really a lesbian, you’ve just had some bad experiences with men.” “You’re not really an atheist, you’re just questioning your faith. You’ll find God again.” Why do people say these things? Everyone I ask seems to have a story about a friend or family …









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