Since the earthquake in Haiti, the secular community has been rallying behind a number of valuable relief efforts. Many have donated to the International Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders directly. Others have routed their contributions through secular charities in the hopes of elevating the profile of charitable giving by atheists. After all, desperate Christians trying to defend an indefensible worldview are fond of clinging to their relatively higher rate of charitable giving. While I support efforts to increase awareness of atheist philanthropy, I am realistic about the efficacy of such efforts.

An atheist is simply someone who does not believe in gods. Why would it be necessary for religious believers to demonize such a person? What would possibly motivate some religious individuals to threaten, intimidate, or even assault someone simply because of his or her lack of religious beliefs? Every one of us comes across people with very different beliefs and values frequently without lashing out at them. What makes atheists so different?

"Do we have a right to tell people they are wrong?" This was the question recently posed by Richard Collins (End Hereditary Religion) after he encountered it during a public parenting forum. I agree completely with his affirmative response. In fact, I think I'd take it an additional step and suggest that we may actually have an obligation to do this when it comes to religion, at least in some circumstances.

I had been planning to watch the Super Bowl. I don't particularly care who wins, and I don't really care for either of the teams playing. Still, I was planning to watch it because I almost always do. But now that I've learned that CBS, the network broadcasting the Super Bowl, has been working closely with Focus on the Family to produce a commercial opposing reproductive rights for women, I think I'll skip the game.

When Pat Robertson made the recent statement about the Haitian earthquake being a curse from his god, quite a few people stepped up to condemn him. The secular community led, as is so often the case, but I was happy to see many from Robertson's own religious tradition joining the chorus of condemnation. Yes, many Christians did the right thing here by speaking out against Robertson. Unfortunately, this has not stopped others from coming out and praising Robertson or essentially saying the same thing that made him fodder for so many comedians.