Censoring American History

My students walked out on me last week. Just got up, left my classroom and marched right out of the school. I’ve been an English teacher in Jefferson County, Colorado, for eighteen years and I’ve... Read More
We Owe Our Children Quality Educational TV

I did not want for quality educational programming when I was a child. I was surrounded with the likes of Bill Nye “The Science Guy” and Ms. Frizzle, and even Sesame Street—which I’d watch once... Read More
What We’re Learning from the Pledge Kids Critical thinking is often met with hostility in American schools

The American Humanist Association’s Don’t Say the Pledge campaign, which encourages a boycott of the Pledge of Allegiance until the “under God” wording is removed, has revealed a troubling phenomenon in American public schools, a... Read More
Let Your Voice Be Heard: Why Atheist Political Activism Matters

With politicians bending over backward to appeal to the religious right and no open atheists in Congress, humanists in the U.S. can understandably feel left out of the political process. But our feelings of marginalization... Read More
I Testified Against “In God We Trust” in Alabama. Then Came the Death Threats.

On June 19, 2014, I coordinated the delivery of public testimony before the Mobile, Alabama, County Commission against a resolution to display a plaque with the motto "In God We Trust" in Mobile Government Plaza.... Read More
Why Are the Poor More Religious?

Last week, the New York Times’ policy and statistics blog, The Upshot, wrote an article about the hardest places to live in the United States. The rankings, by county, included a variety of factors including... Read More
How Hedonistic is Humanism?

To commentators on Fox News, this is a no-brainer: humanism is completely hedonistic. Assuming some sort of ultimate moral authority, pundits from Bill O’Reilly to Glenn Beck to Sean Hannity to Ann Coulter to Rush... Read More