Is Independence Day one of the more atheist-friendly holidays? The Washington Post makes that observation as it reports on a gathering of atheist leaders in the nation’s capital. While reading the article, I couldn’t help but notice how much atheism is defined by the God that atheists claim not to believe in. There are atheist summer camps, Darwin fish T-shirts, and on cable TV access in my city there’s actually an atheist televangelist. It seems atheists have taken even the cheesier parts of evangelical Christian subculture and made them their own.

Should churches be able to claim a share of the $20 billion fund set aside by British Petroleum to compensate victims of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico? Some say yes, others no. Church income is directly connected to the incomes of church members, so when there’s a major disruption, a chain reaction causes churches to lose donations. But is it appropriate to accept money from the BP fund? I’m torn on this one.

The director of a human rights group has called religious intolerance the “new racism.” I’m not sure that’s a completely accurate statement, because racism is certainly alive and well around the world, and religious intolerance is as old as religion itself. But in some areas, it’s definitely on the rise, and I’m glad it’s getting more coverage– at least in the Christian media if not the mainstream.

Question of the Day: How does a United Methodist church that conducts annual financial audits get ripped off by the church treasurer to the tune of $210,000? The church eliminated 12 staff positions partly because of the missing money, which was apparently stolen over a 3 year period. I’m not sure how they didn’t catch this. When I was a church treasurer, people on the church board noticed the mistake if I paid a phone bill twice.

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