Students at Missouri State University have started a chapter of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and it’s now the second-largest religious group on campus. Here’s local news coverage from Ozarks Fox KSFX. [thx Laughing Squid]

Find Flying Spaghetti Monster frequently asked questions here.

Sam Harris tells the Atheist Alliance that by accepting the label of “atheist,” proponents of reason allow religionists to “draw the chalk-outline of a dead man on the sidewalk, and we just walk up and lie down in it.” More from his talk:

“So, let me make my somewhat seditious proposal explicit: We should not call ourselves “atheists.” We should not call ourselves “secularists.” We should not call ourselves “humanists,” or “secular humanists,” or “naturalists,” or “skeptics,” or “anti-theists,” or “rationalists,” or “freethinkers,” or “brights.” We should not call ourselves anything. We should go under the radar—for the rest of our lives. And while there, we should be decent, responsible people who destroy bad ideas wherever we find them.”

Read more here. [thanks Robert! and thanks Val for the cool atheist-in-the- wild pix.]