The furore over Mr. Ted Haggard's re-emergence in the media having died down, there is one aspect to his story that is worth commenting on from a freethought perspective.  As recounted to Oprah, he was traveling on a flight to Florida, sat next to his wife when in the book he was reading he came across a passage that caused him to finally realize he absolutely had to tell the truth. What was the book he was reading? Obvious, right? Must have been the Bible. What else could have caused Mr. Haggard to tell the truth?

Life of Reason: Charles Darwin 

by Groff Schroeder

If you are reading this article and you are of age to vote, then you are almost certainly either too stupid to do so, or the Founding Fathers certainly would never have allowed it. So is the opinion of former Colorado Rep Tom Tancredo, voiced on a Christian talk radio station in Dallas on Monday during a phone-in.

Our Cosmic Conscience

by Louis E. Guzman Ph.D.

Speaking to his national audience, the television preacher sanctimoniously assured his listeners that humanists could not possibly have moral values approaching the Christian precepts established in the Bible.

James Madison

by John Patrick Michael Murphy

Just as George W. Bush repeatedly found it convenient to violate the Constitution he swore to “protect and defend,” the Gazette simply abandons previously published positions when convenient. In the January 5, 2009 “Opinion” column, the Gazette rejects its allegedly cherished libertarian principles by cheering the latest attack upon the most basic of human freedoms – the freedom to control one's own body.

The War on Christmas

by Charles Wallace

Have you heard the news? There is a war on Christmas in America. At least that is what conservative pundit Bill O' Reilly and others want you to believe. Though many secularists oppose government endorsement of religious holidays because it violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, calling this a "War on Christmas" is an exaggeration. In this country everyone is free to worship any god they wish. Christians are free to decorate their trees, put wreaths on their doors, hang greenery, light up their homes, have parties and exchange gifts. There were wars against these activities, Mr. O' Reilly. It was not the atheists who waged them. It was Christians.

What I Want for Christmas

by John Patrick Michael Murphy

One hundred years ago, Robert Ingersoll, America's greatest orator and best-known agnostic, penned the following wish list for Christmas:

Manners, Morals and Lemon Chess Pie

by Sam Singleton

The world is full of folks who think that believers have a monopoly on morality. Not long ago, Sister Singleton and I were sitting around the dinner table with some nice folks when one of them just upped and asked how we could have any morality without God. Can you believe that? And before either my beloved or I could empty our mouths in order to set this particular ninny straight, she follows up with “You’re too nice to be an atheist.” And she was looking at Sister Singleton. Brother Sam felt downright omitted.

Imagine No Religion

by Jan Brazill

The appearance of a billboard on North Academy with these words has inspired a Gazette editorial in opposition. As support for the idea of a world without religion, we offer the following, adapted from a 2006 article by Janet Brazill, originally titled, “Wishes.”

Just imagine that everyone in the world suddenly decided they would no longer rely on undetectable, unseen beings to control their lives!

Forbidden Love

by Charlie Webb

Why are so many "Christians" so eager to outlaw gay love and gay marriage? Some even claim that marriage is a "sacred" institution. Yet the average marriage lasts less than eight years, while half of all marriages end in divorce. Ambrose Bierce defined love as a "temporary insanity curable by marriage."

What Happened to US?

by Groff Schroeder

More than two hundred years ago, We the People created a democratic republic, the United States of America (US), founded upon the Enlightenment ideas of democracy, secularism, separation of powers and human freedom. Thousands of Americans fought, suffered and died in the Revolutionary War – and many wars thereafter – establishing and protecting the US Constitution and the civil, human and political freedoms its Amendments define.

Toolbox of Tyranny

by Groff Schroeder

By the time you read this, the United State's 2008 Election will probably be over. Thanks to President George W. Bush (rejected by popular vote in 2000 and prevailing in 2004 in Ohio under rather dubious circumstances), the office of President of the United States is radically different than it was on January 20, 2001.

If Abortion becomes a Crime 

by Groff Schroeder

It is hard to think of anything more deserving of privacy than the human reproductive process. Intimate, beautiful, rewarding, personal and sometimes tragic, human sex and reproduction are among the few places where the government has yet to insert its sticky fingers. Still, a small but historically violent group of what appear to be religious fundamentalists demand that the government codify their religious beliefs by regulating the reproductive processes of the People of the United States.

Common Arguments for Religion

by Bill Carson