I’m curious….in light of the Stupak Amendment passing, does anyone else think that perhaps we really do live in a society that honestly thinks of women as second class citizens who don’t warrant respect for our bodies or reproductive health needs? (Or at least when certain religious viewpoints such as the “Bishops’ Caucus” are given credence over medical decisions in our political system.) And before you reject this comment out of hand, consider that when religious opinions are brought into…

My good friend Pope Ratzi sent me this photo from his visit to the French Quarter on Halloween night. It’s his submission to the Best Costume on Bourbon Street contest of 2009. What do you think? I know. Tasteless! Assaulting! But you can’t deny that it is absolutely funny as hell if you ignore the terrible truth behind it. But I don’t know if we can or should ignore this. It’s what keeps atheists up at night. Think about it….a…

I know many of you can’t conceive of anything as bizarre as viewing a relic and expecting to take away something emotionally or spiritually important from it. Well, that’s what happened here here in New Orleans over Halloween weekend. Mary Magdalene’s leg bone was on display at a Catholic church on Canal Street. How do they know it was her leg bone? I don’t know, but perhaps it was authenticated in some way. I don’t see this as any different…

Don’t know much about the Home Depot button controversy? Well, you should. Trevor Keezer, the Home Depot employee at the heart of the situation is an interesting study in contradictions. On the one hand, he says he doesn’t make a habit of touting his religious beliefs, but on the other hand, he says that he couldn’t take off the button because the issue as he saw it was “bigger” than he is. “It never crossed my mind to take off…

The Evangelical Philosophical Society will be hosting the 7th Annual Apologetics Conference in New Orleans on the evenings of Thursday, November 19, Friday, November 20 and the morning of Saturday, November 21. This year’s theme is “Come, Let Us Reason: Rooting Your Faith in Knowledge.” Some of the topics will include: “New Atheists, Old Atheists and Old Apologists” Dr. Timothy McGrew The arguments of contemporary atheists against Christianity are for the most part borrowed from atheists and freethinkers of centuries…

And I’m not talking about a Catholic saints pick-up basketball game either? No, I’m referring to the come-from-behind win against the Miami Dolphins that kept our mutual delirium going for at least another eight more days. For any of you who don’t know what I’m talking about (or don’t care much for Sunday football), please indulge the philosphy of this question. I can’t imagine that there isn’t at least one real Saints fan somewhere out there (who also happens to…

For Immediate ReleaseOctober 23, 2009 New Orleans – The steps of New Orleans City Hall will be the site of a Rally for Equality, to be held on November 7, 2009 from noon to 1 p.m. This rally will signal support for equality and justice for all, and highlight the problems that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals face in Louisiana and across the nation. Organized by the ACLU of Louisiana, Big Easy Metropolitan Community Church, Forum For Equality, the…

by Lane Wallace One hundred years ago this month, two intrepid explorers returned from the Arctic reaches and declared that they had reached the North Pole. Not together, but on competing expeditions to become the first person and team to the Pole. Robert E. Peary led one expedition, and Frederick A. Cook led the other. And each declared the other’s claim to the Pole untrue. Today, of course, that kind of controversy could be settled far more easily. At the…

A Very Special Lady The freethinking community recently lost a very special lady in Serena Bodellini who passed away Thursday, October 15. She was one of our most ardent and progressive supporters and we remember her lovely personality and feisty attitude with much fondness. She was a member of the NOSHA board of directors and an officer with the Greater New Orleans chapter of NOW and was very active online until the last few days of her life. We send…

by Barbara Bradley Hagerty(October 19, 2009) Last month, atheists marked Blasphemy Day at gatherings around the world, and celebrated the freedom to denigrate and insult religion. Some offered to trade pornography for Bibles. Others de-baptized people with hair dryers. And in Washington, D.C., an art exhibit opened that shows, among other paintings, one entitled Divine Wine, where Jesus, on the cross, has blood flowing from his wound into a wine bottle. Another, Jesus Paints His Nails, shows an effeminate Jesus…