Unlike that bygone era, when churches actually owned slaves, and people actually read sermons in their newspapers, today the old warhorse hobbles on splinted legs.

Read about feminist Ernestine Rose, Witch persecuters recanting, priest-turned-atheist Jean Meslier, Thomas Jefferson’s “Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom,” Benjamin Franklin, Baron de Montesquieu, Jacob Bronowski, Edgar Allan Poe and more …

It was on this date, January 15, 1678, that the French priest who is remembered as a lifelong atheist, Jean Meslier, was born. Meslier has been described as the first person in the West to write an entire text in support of atheism – discovered, redacted (to make him a Deist) and promoted by Voltaire. […]

Read about Joan of Arc the Witch, Christian prostitution, execution for insulting Christ, Dave Matthews, “Common Sense” about monarchy, William James on Jesus, James Mark Baldwin and more …

It was on this date, January 12, 1861, that American philosopher and psychologist James Mark Baldwin was born. He studied theology for a time at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), but switched to philosophy and taught French and German at Princeton Theological Seminary. Baldwin made important contributions to early psychology, psychiatry, and […]

Read about Vatican recognition of Christ-Killers, the persecution of anatomist Andreas Vesalius, J.G. Frazer’s exposure of Christianity’s sources, Isaac Asimov, Roman statesman M.T. Cicero, the not-so-secret Fabian Society, the cleric drowned for promoting baptism, and more!

Sam Harris has a blog posting that demands a thoughtful response. I thought I'd try one. Although this piece is thoughtful and well written, I think Sam Harris sounds like a shill for the bone-headed NRA plan to put armed guards in every school. It’s a stupid idea, not just because it over-reacts to what […]

Read about Champollion and deciphering hieroglyphics, Matthew Arnold, the mythical birth of Jesus, exorcism, Louis Pasteur, freethinkers buried in Westminster Abbey, and Becket’s murder in the cathedral!

Here’s your Week in Freethought History: This is more than just a calendar of events or mini-biographies – it’s a reminder that, no matter how isolated and alone we may feel at times, we as freethinkers are neither unique nor alone in the world. Last Sunday, December 16, but in 1770, German composer Ludwig van […]

It was on this date, December 18, 1963, that American actor and film producer Brad Pitt was born. A leading man nominated for five Academy Awards and five Golden Globes, and winning one of the latter, Pitt is noted for commercial film successes in Troy (2004) and Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) and Academy Award-nominated […]