Politics
The Atheism factor
“We don’t want a godless Prime Minister!” called the pastor on a rumbling truck atop of Canberra’s Mount Ainslie to his congregation. There they were, Catch the Fire ministry, massed on a cold Saturday morning to engage in “spiritual warfare” to see “ungodly forces” removed from parliament. Unlike the last “exorcism” [...]
17Aug2010 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
French attempts to outlaw the burqa strike a blow for the rights of women. - By Christopher Hitchens - Slate Magazine
French attempts to outlaw the burqa strike a blow for the rights of women. - By Christopher Hitchens - Slate Magazine
The French legislators who seek to repudiate the wearing of the veil or the burqa—whether the garment covers “only” the face or the entire female body—are often described as seeking to impose a “ban.” To [...]
Liberals and atheists smarter? Intelligent people have values novel in human evolutionary history, study finds
ScienceDaily Feb. 24, 2010 — More intelligent people are statistically significantly more likely to exhibit social values and religious and political preferences that are novel to the human species in evolutionary history. Specifically, liberalism and atheism, and for men but not women, preference for sexual exclusivity correlate with higher intelligence, a new study finds.
Read [...]
Church leaders unite against ‘idolatry’ of atheism | The Australian
The Atheist Foundation of Australia said yesterday that Dr Jensen’s claims were “preposterous” and condemned Christianity for a spate of child sex abuse scandals. “He seeks out a scapegoat and attacks atheism without any understanding of what he is saying,” foundation president David Nicholls said.
“To state we hate his god or are attacking his god [...]
BBC News - US ‘Christian militants’ charged after FBI raids
Eight suspects were detained in a series of FBI raids across the Mid-West, while one remains at large.
Prosecutors say the eight men and one woman belonged to the Hutaree group.
It is alleged they planned to kill a police officer in Michigan and then stage a second attack on the funeral, using [...]
Critics of Cecil Bothwell cite N.C. bar to atheists | citizen-times.com | Asheville Citizen-Times
By Jordan Schrader • December 8, 2009
ASHEVILLE — North Carolina’s constitution is clear: politicians who deny the existence of God are barred from holding office.
Opponents of Cecil Bothwell are seizing on that law to argue he should not be seated as a City Council member today, even though federal courts have ruled religious tests for [...]
Are we better off without religion? | Sue Blackmore | guardian.co.uk
Popular religious belief is caused by dysfunctional social conditions. This is the conclusion of the latest sociological research pdf conducted by Gregory Paul. Far from religion benefiting societies, as the “moral-creator socioeconomic hypothesis” would have it, popular religion is a psychological mechanism for coping with high levels of stress and anxiety – or so he [...]
9Dec2009 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
White House Pushes Science and Math Education - NYTimes.com
By KENNETH CHANG
Published: November 22, 2009
To improve science and mathematics education for American children, the White House is recruiting Elmo and Big Bird, video game programmers and thousands of scientists.
President Obama will announce a campaign Monday to enlist companies and nonprofit groups to spend money, time and volunteer effort to encourage students, especially in middle [...]
French court tries Church of Scientology
PARIS - The Church of Scientology could be dissolved in France if it is convicted in a trial that opened Monday in a Paris court, where the group and seven of its French leaders stand charged of organized fraud and illegal pharmaceutical activity.
The group, considered a sect in France, has faced prosecution and difficulties in [...]
Military burns unsolicited Bibles sent to Afghanistan
(CNN)—Military personnel threw away, and ultimately burned, confiscated Bibles that were printed in the two most common Afghan languages amid concern they would be used to try to convert Afghans, a Defense Department spokesman said Tuesday.
The unsolicited Bibles sent by a church in the United States were confiscated about a year ago at Bagram Air [...]
Lawmaker wants to make 2010 ‘Year of the Bible’
When the clock strikes midnight on Dec. 31, 2009, Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) hopes you’ll be ringing in “the Year of the Bible.”
It’s probably just wishful thinking.
Broun’s simple congressional resolution aimed at honoring the Good Book has produced a push-back of biblical proportion in the blogosphere, with critics dismissing it as either unconstitutional or a [...]
Christian Attorneys Urge Senate to Vote Against ‘Hate Crimes’ Bill
Attorneys at a Christian legal group are urging the U.S. Senate not to pass the expanded “Hate Crimes” bill, which the House this week voted 249-175 in favor of.
The attorneys at the Alliance Defense Fund insist that the bill, H.R. 1913, could severely impede Americans’ constitutional rights to freedom of religion and freedom of expression [...]
Darwinist Teacher Violates Establishment Clause?
My Keloland Colleague Cory Heidelberger beat me to this one. From FoxNews:
A federal judge ruled that a public high school history teacher violated the First Amendment when he called creationism “superstitious nonsense” during a classroom lecture.
U.S. District Judge James Selna issued the ruling Friday after a 16-month legal battle between student Chad Farnan [...]
Churchgoers more likely to back torture, survey finds
WASHINGTON (CNN) — The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new analysis.
More than half of people who attend services at least once a week — 54 percent — said the use of torture against suspected terrorists is “often” or “sometimes” [...]
Georgetown University Hid Religious Symbols at White House Request
Georgetown University, a Catholic institution, covered up religious insignia symbolizing the name of Jesus during President Obama’s address there Tuesday after the White House requested the change.
Georgetown University hid a religious inscription representing the name of Jesus during President Obama’s address there Tuesday, [...]
Afghan President Backtracks on Law Legalizing Rape in Marriage
KABUL — Responding to criticism from around the world, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Saturday that a new law that critics say makes it legal for men to rape their wives will be studied and possibly sent back to parliament for review.
Karzai said he ordered the Justice Ministry to review the law, and if [...]
Judge dismisses attempt to remove ‘one state under God’ from Texas pledge
By KATHERINE LEAL UNMUTH / The Dallas Morning News
kunmuth@dallasnews.com A judge has dismissed the claims of an atheist parent who sought to remove the words “one state under God” from the Texas pledge of allegiance.
Parent David Wallace Croft had argued that the insertion of the words in 2007 by legislators was unconstitutional [...]
Texas education board approves science standards
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — State education leaders forged a compromise Friday on the teaching of evolution in Texas, adopting a new science curriculum that no longer requires educators to teach the weaknesses of all scientific theories.
The State Board of Education voted 13-2 to put in place a plan that would instead require teachers to encourage [...]
Faith-Based Charities in a Bind over Federal Dollars
Now, weeks after the election, there comes, loud and clear, from a counselor to the President, that such assurances were not for real, and that the promised money will not be given for social programs to religious organizations that discriminate against gays or those who are not in harmony with their religious beliefs. This appears [...]
10Mar2009 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
National Journal Article: The Godless Rise As A Political Force
Secularist, humanist, freethinking nontheists and atheists are coalescing into a movement with a real agenda.
”That chaps my ass,” Terry McDonald said between bites of a sliced-brisket lunch at the Hard Eight Pit BBQ on the outskirts of Dallas. McDonald, a retired insurance-industry executive who heads a Dallas-Fort Worth group known as the Metroplex Atheists, was [...]
National Journal gives political atheism cover treatment
There can be no doubt that the profile of politically-minded nonbelievers is increasing, but it’s still surprising when the mainstream media notices. This week, National Journal, bible of the political establishment, noticed in a big way by putting atheist activism right on the cover.
The story, “The Godless Rise as a Political Force” by Paul Starobin, is not [...]
U.S. Supreme Court rejects appeal by East Brunswick football coach in prayer case
The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a high school football coach who wants to bow his head and kneel during prayers led by his players despite a school district policy prohibiting it.
In an order today, the justices are ending Marcus Borden’s fight against the East Brunswick, N.J., school district’s policy that forbids him [...]
This Land Is My Land
Nica Lalli
This Land Is My Land
President Obama acknowledged me in his first speech as president. He looked up from the podium on the steps of the capitol of this country and he seemed to look right at me, in my living room hundreds of miles and thousands of feet of television cable away. In one [...]
American Atheists on Inclusion of Non-believers in Obama Speech
American Atheists Inc. is pleased with President Barack Obama’s reference to “non-believers” in his inauguration speech on Tuesday.
“For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers,” Obama said in his speech.
In a news release, Ed Buckner, president [...]
An inaugural first: Obama acknowledges ‘non-believers’
By Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY
On a morning of countless firsts in U.S. history, add this: Barack Obama’s inaugural speech is the first time a president has ever explicitly acknowledged not only “Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus” but non-believers as well.
“This inclusiveness is a signature moment in American inaugural history,” says David Domke, professor [...]
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A Chameleon Sky
The sands of time are running out for the central star of this the Hourglass Nebula. With its nuclear fuel exhausted, this brief, spectacular, closing phase of a sun-like star's life occurs as its outer layers are ejected and its core becomes a cooling, fading white dwarf. In 1995, astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope to make a series of images of planetary nebulae, including the one above. Here, delicate rings of colorful glowing gas (nitrogen-red, hydrogen-green, and oxygen-blue) outline the tenuous walls of the 'hourglass.' The unprecedented sharpness of Hubble's images revealed surprising details of the nebula ejection process and may resolve the outstanding mystery of the variety of complex shapes and symmetries of planetary nebulae. Image Credit: NASA, WFPC2, HST, R. Sahai and J. Trauger (JPL)
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