Religion

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Ariz. churchgoer rate is far behind nation’s

Nearly 40 percent of Arizonans say they seldom or never attend worship services, and more than one-fifth claim no religion, but most believe in God.
That snapshot of our beliefs and habits comes from a survey of America’s religious landscape released last week by the Washington, D.C.-based Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
As a nation, […]

1Jul2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
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Ad Featuring Popular Police Pup Sparks Anger in Scottish Muslim Communities

Muslims in the Scottish district of Tayside are outraged by the appearance of a wide-eyed, 6-week-old puppy on postcards distributed by the local police force, according to the Daily Mail.
Postcards showing police dog-in-training Rebel, a German shepherd born in early December, are causing a furor among the region’s Muslims who believe dogs are “ritually […]

1Jul2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
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Can’t Darwin and God get along?

Of course they can, argues physicist and theologian Karl Giberson, if only many believers were more sophisticated and atheists less dogmatic.
July 1, 2008 | With biologist Richard Dawkins leading the way, many scientists today are locked in an unending match of whack-a-mole with Christian creationists, who insist that God created heaven, earth […]

1Jul2008 | Admin | 1 comment | Continued
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92% of Americans believe in God or a universal spirit, Pew survey finds

Americans overwhelmingly believe in God and consider religion an important part of their lives, even as many shun weekly worship services, according to a national survey released today that also found great diversity in religious beliefs and practices.
Ninety-two percent of those interviewed for the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey said they believe in the existence of […]

23Jun2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
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Austin Cline: Atheist Mailbag

From: “Mason”
Subject: None
The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God” I wouldn’t fool with God, He is, and He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. It is appointed unto man once to die, and after that JUDGEMENT, Where will you spend eternity, Heaven or Hell?

22Jun2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
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Ohio board reviews report of teacher burning kids

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Members of the Mount Vernon school board met Friday to discuss a finding that a middle school teacher preached his Christian beliefs despite staff complaints, even using a device to burn the image of a cross on students’ arms.
Mount Vernon Middle School teacher John Freshwater also taught creationism in his science class […]

20Jun2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
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Teen’s death blamed on faith healing

 
GLADSTONE, Oregon (AP) — Authorities say a teenager from a faith-healing family died from an illness that could have been easily treated, just a few months after a toddler cousin of his died in a case that has led to criminal charges.
Tuesday’s death of 16-year-old Neil Beagley, however, may not be a crime because Oregon […]

19Jun2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
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Inside “The Family”: Jeff Sharlet Speaks About His Unique Look at American Evangelicals

Six years ago journalist Jeff Sharlet went undercover in the underground evangelical organization known as the “The Family.” The group consists of Congressmen, members of the executive branch and many other D.C. powerbrokers. Unlike Pat Robertson and other widely known Christian conservatives, the Family operates outside of the public eye — but that by no […]

17Jun2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
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Lawyer files criminal raps vs Pope, Cardinal Rosales

‘Disturbance of order, swindling, immorality’
By Tina Santos
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 14:32:00 04/29/2008
MANILA, Philippines — A lawyer filed on Tuesday a criminal complaint before the Manila prosecutor’s office accusing Pope Benedict XVI and Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales of human rights violations, including alleged disturbance of public order, swindling and teaching immoral doctrines.
Elly Pamatong […]

6May2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
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Pregnant Woman Sees Jesus Image in Ultrasound

When an Ohio woman looked at an ultrasound she expected to see a developing fetus.
Instead, she saw what she believes to be an image of Jesus Christ, MyFox Cleveland reported on its Web site.
Monet Sledge, from Lorain, Ohio, got an ultrasound in preparation for her first baby and was shocked when she saw what […]

6May2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
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Sam Harris: Losing Our Spines to Save Our Necks

Geert Wilders, conservative Dutch politician and provocateur, has become the latest projectile in the world’s most important culture war: the zero-sum conflict between civil society and traditional Islam. Wilders, who lives under perpetual armed guard due to death threats, recently released a 15 minute film entitled Fitna (”strife” in Arabic) over the internet. The film […]

6May2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
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Bible Amusement Park Now Twice As Amusing

Not long ago, a team of entrepreneurs proposed building a Christian theme park outside of Nashville. If you were thinking of investing any money in the scheme, might I propose something less risky, like sub-prime mortgages.
According the web site, Bible Park USA will be “a one-of-a-kind, unlike-anywhere-else-in-the-world ‘edutainment’ experience offering guests of all ages a […]

6May2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
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An Atheist Goes Undercover to Join the Flock of Mad Pastor John Hagee

By the end of the weekend I realized how quaint was the mere suggestion that Christians of this type should learn to “be rational” or “set aside your religion” about such things as the Iraq War or other policy matters. Once you’ve made a journey like this — once you’ve gone this far — you […]

6May2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
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Pray-in at S.F. gas station asks God to lower prices

Rocky Twyman has a radical solution for surging gasoline prices: prayer.
Twyman - a community organizer, church choir director and public relations consultant from the Washington, D.C., suburbs - staged a pray-in at a San Francisco Chevron station on Friday, asking God for cheaper gas. He did the same thing in the nation’s Capitol on Wednesday, […]

3May2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
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How inclusive is the National Day of Prayer?

n Thursday, several million Americans will gather in special observances across the country to mark the National Day of Prayer, first inaugurated by Congress in 1952.
Under the energetic sponsorship of a national task force, the events have mushroomed into the thousands in recent years. They are […]

3May2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
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Can Atheists be Religious?

Question:
Can atheists be religious?
Response:
Atheism and religion are often portrayed and treated as polar opposites; although there is a strong correlation between being an atheist and being irreligious, there is no necessary and inherent connection between the two. Atheism is not the same as being irreligious; theism is not the same as being religious. Atheists in […]

3May2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
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Christianism In The Military - Andrew Sullivan

One of the darkest developments of many dark developments in the Bush years has been the slow ascent of Christianism as a core value of the military. The promotion of Christianists throughout the armed services, the insistence by the president that no public institution be regarded as a place where religion should be silent, clear […]

28Apr2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
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Judge Orders La. School District to Stop Bible Giveaways

NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge ordered a public school system to stop allowing in-school Bible giveaways, saying the practice violates the First Amendment separation of church and state.
“Distribution of Bibles is a religious activity without a secular purpose” and amounts to school board promotion of Christianity, U.S. District Judge Carl J. Barbier […]

28Apr2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
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Connecticut Woman Says She Stole Hundreds of Paintings to Prepare for Apocalypse

WATERBURY, Conn. — A 53-year-old Waterbury woman has pleaded guilty to stealing more than 150 paintings reportedly after God told her the end of the world is near.
Diane Catalani was arrested last year. According to court documents, Catalani told a psychologist that she hoarded what she stole to show God before the Apocalypse that […]

28Apr2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
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Is the Problem Religion or Human Nature?

The ‘new’ atheism is precisely not a form of fundamentalism, Bryson Brown argues; IN RESPONSE: It’s not religion that’s the problem, it’s our capacity for evil, Chris Hedges says
Blame it on 9/11 and Osama bin Laden. Or blame it on George W. Bush, Karl Rove and Christian apocalyptic fundamentalism. Or perhaps credit them with unleashing […]

12Apr2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued