American Humanist Association

You may remember our case against the Joplin Public School District for luring students with free doughnuts in exchange for participating in teacher and clergy-led prayer and Bible reading. Now it appears they also publicly body-shame their students and punish them for how they look.

Church cancels wedding because bride and groom supported gay marriage on Facebook

brisbanetimes.com.au

Presbyterian minister told the bride her support for same-sex marriage meant she could not hold her wedding at his church.

Sydney conservative Christians’ anti-marriage equality lines ‘betray gospel of grace’, says reverend

theguardian.com

Andrew Sempell says ‘the Australian Christian Lobby ... is neither representative of the churches, nor is it a religious group’

Tim Minchin

Morning Aussies. I have a question about this Equal Marriage Survey: Is there anyone out there who has close gay friends or family members that is voting "no"? (Other than Tony Abbott, obvs). I believe the only reason you could possibly think LGBTQI people don't deserve everything straight folk deserve is that you don't know any! In fact, whenever I hear an argument against Marriage Equality, I picture the person arguing their point in front of one of my gay friends. I imagine a dude saying to my gorgeous (handsome, rich, loving) mates who have kids, "I think you two having children is a form of abuse." I picture a lady standing at stage door after Matilda, & saying to one of our actors,"Your performance made me cry, but you shouldn't be allowed to marry your partner of 20 years." I just don't think they would do it. They wouldn't. Surely therefore an intellectually honest and humble on-the-fence voter would say to themselves, "Well, if everyone who knows some gay people thinks they should be allowed to be married, then logically I suppose *I* would also support Equal Marriage if I had gay friends." ... and act accordingly! Anyway. Man. I find this shit really, really upsetting. OK. Big breath. Look, if you're a potential "no" voter and are still reading, thank you. Honestly. And can I ask you to stay with me for one more minute. You know that whatever happens with Equal Marriage law, the vaguely related debates about sex education, religious privilege, parenting, "political correctness" and what have you will rage on. This won't stop social progress. Conventions change. We constantly update our understanding of what is moral. We have many times updated our definition of marriage! We tweak. We improve. We try to take into account the wellbeing of the less powerful. Of minorities. And so on. And sure, perhaps it's moving too fast for you. I get it. I do. I have loved ones who find it all just too much. But I beg you to accept the facts: There are probably a couple of million LGBTQI Aussies. There are hundreds of thousands of gay couples. And thousands of family with same-sex parents! THEY EXIST whether you are ready for it or not. So please ask yourself only one question: Do I want to play a part in making those people feel more accepted? Or do I want to hurt them more? Because whatever our beliefs, and whether it is our intention or not, that will be the effect of this survey. It WILL send a message to LGBTQI people. And that message will say one of two things: That the country sees them as equal. Or that we officially see them as lesser. The survey has already done terrible damage by unleashing the more bigoted anti-gay voices. Let's end it now. Please. Please? Please.

My life in a religious cult: 'The most dangerous place in the world is the womb of an ungodly woman'

theguardian.com

After her childhood in a secretive cult founded by her grandfather, New Zealand woman Lilia Tarawa risked hellfire and damnation to escape. In this book extract, she shares a slice of her life at Gloriavale Christian Community

The Australian Christian Lobby Blocked Me For Quoting Jesus | DNA Magazine Australia

dnamagazine.com.au

When the Yes and No marriage equality campaigns kicked off, my social media flooded with commentary from people who agree with my position in favour of the Yes vote. So, to hear the other side of the “respectful debate” we were urged to have, I left my social media echo chamber and went straight to…

An Eighty-Nine-Year-Old Escape Artist Trapped by Hurricane Irma

newyorker.com

“I’ve dangled off the edge of Niagara Falls in a straitjacket. But most of that is something that I can control.”