america Archives

History Had Its Eyes on Us

November 8, 2020October 20, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

Twenty-sixteen was the first year that I was old enough to vote in a US presidential election, and I didn’t vote. I was living at college an hour away from home and my polling location. I hadn’t paid close enough attention to the deadline to request an absentee ballot, and I don’t think I even checked to be sure I was still registered. (I believe I was registered as a Republican at the time because I thought I was supposed to be, not like I knew what that meant.) Like many people, I didn’t like either of the candidates. I didn’t have much motivation to choose, and I didn’t understand why voting third party is ineffective.

36 Best Founding Myth Quotes

April 19, 2020December 23, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

A few months ago, I wrote a rave review of one of my now-favorite books, Andrew Seidel’s The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism is Un-American. Being such a fan of the book, and being in agreement with so many of Seidel’s ideas, you can imagine how excited I was last October when I learned that I could meet him on his book tour in April!

Of course, his lecture with the Pittsburgh Freethought Community has been not canceled but sadly postponed for obvious reasons. As the PFC’s marketing chair, I had excitedly but prematurely drafted an advertisement for Seidel’s visit. For now, though, I will stash away my excitement for the day when Seidel finally makes it to Pittsburgh and instead share with you 36 of my personal favorite quotes from his brilliant book.

Book Review: The Founding Myth by Andrew Seidel

January 19, 2020October 23, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

This week I finished Andrew Seidel’s book The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism is Un-American. As is my custom, that means it’s time for a book review! I’m particularly excited about this one, because The Founding Myth is one of the few books that I have rated as five stars on Goodreads—and it’s one the most highly rated books on my whole shelf!

5 Things Freethinkers Want Christians to Know

December 1, 2019January 6, 2022Rebekah Kohlhepp

Back in April, I had the pleasure of meeting Freedom From Religion Foundation co-president Dan Barker. It was a fun evening consisting of a lecture on his newest book, Mere Morality, and a following book signing. At the event, there was a table where you could buy one of Barker’s books or pick up a copy of the FFRF’s periodical, Freethought Today. Also on the table were several “nontracts,” courtesy of the FFRF. Dan explained that if you’re familiar with the tracts that religious people tend to hand out, these are the same idea except… the opposite.

Why the Christian Persecution Complex Hurts Everyone

April 14, 2019January 18, 2022Rebekah Kohlhepp

The Christian persecution complex is one of the great marvels of American society. It truly is amazing. Read more →

Book Review: Only a Theory by Kenneth Miller

March 31, 2019January 18, 2022Rebekah Kohlhepp

As I mentioned in last week’s post, I’ve been wrapping up another book, and this week I finally finished it! I read Kenneth Miller’s Only A Theory: Evolution and the Battle for America’s Soul, which arose from the 2006 court case Selman v. Cobb County School District.

This dispute began innocently, with textbook publisher Prentice Hall and a run-of-the-mill biology textbook. Frustratingly, but not surprisingly, the religious climate in Georgia at the time made teaching honest biology harder than it should be. The Cobb County School District included with every biology textbook a sticker:

Can Religion Save America?

May 27, 2018October 5, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

During my final semester at Grove City College, I took a class at school on rhetorical criticism. The culmination of our rhetorical studies was a 10-15 page paper using the techniques from the class to critique a speech. We could choose a speech, and as you know, I have a passion for secularism, but I couldn’t find any legitimate speeches promoting secularism. Instead, I settled for the complete opposite: a speech on why secularism is the root of America’s “moral” chaos, and religion is the solution.

34 Things Atheists Are Tired of Hearing

September 17, 2017October 24, 2022Rebekah Kohlhepp

It seems that there are a lot of arguments brought against us atheists that people think we haven’t heard before. After my apologetics teacher said a number of these in class over the past week, including the watchmaker analogy, I realized that there are a lot of things that atheists have to hear all the time. Most of them haven’t been said to me, but I see them thrown around all the time. Thank you to my fiancé and to some of my Twitter followers for helping me think of ideas! In no particular order, here are 34 things that atheists are tired of hearing: Read more →