Religion
Family, Faith, and Unconditional Love
Third, all parents should respect the developing autonomy of their children. If parents attempt to force their faith, agnosticism, or atheism on their children, they are failing to respect the developing personhood of those children. Children have an interest in becoming autonomous and rational, and the manner in which parents raise [...]
17Aug2010 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
Music fails to chime with Islamic values, says Iran’s supreme leader | World news | The Guardian
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said today that music is “not compatible” with the values of the Islamic republic, and should not be practised or taught in the country.
In some of the most extreme comments by a senior regime figure since the 1979 revolution, Khamenei said: “Although music is halal, promoting and teaching it [...]
Muhammad Cartoonist Lars Vilks Attacked During College Lecture - AOL News
Muhammad Cartoonist Lars Vilks Attacked During College Lecture - AOL News
May 11 — A Swedish artist who depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog was attacked today while delivering a university lecture on artistic freedom.
Lars Vilks was speaking at Uppsala University in Sweden when a man jumped onstage and head-butted him. [...]
Vatican Justice | Project Reason
by
Sam Harris
I confess that, as a critic of religion, I have paid too little attention to the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. Frankly, it always felt unsportsmanlike to shoot so large and languorous a fish in so tiny a barrel. This scandal was one of the most spectacular “own goals” in the history [...]
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 [...]
On Faith Panelists Blog: Ratzinger is the perfect pope - Richard Dawkins
Ratzinger is the perfect pope
“Should Pope Benedict XVI be held responsible for the escalating scandals over clerical sexual abuse in Europe?”
Yes he should, and it’s going to escalate a lot further, as more and more victims break through the guilt of their childhood indoctrination and come forward.
“Should he be investigated for how cases of abuse [...]
Joseph and Mary in bed – obscene or illuminating? – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs
A billboard showing a somber Mary and Joseph laying in bed together with the caption “Poor Joseph. God was a hard act to follow,” is controversial, but not obscene, according to a decision by New Zealand’s Advertising Standards Authorities.
The billboard, posted outside St. Matthew-in-the-city Anglican Church in Auckland, New Zealand, sparked outrage and vandalism by [...]
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 [...]
European Court Bans Crucifixes in Italian Public Schools - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News - FOXNews.com
STRASBOURG, France — Europe’s court of human rights ruled Tuesday the display of crucifixes in Italian public schools violates religious and education freedoms under the continent’s rights convention.
The ruling, which could force a Europe-wide review of the use of religious symbols in government-run schools, rejected arguments by Italy’s government that the crucifix was [...]
Woman who sees Christ in snack may put it on eBay | The Reason Project
Woman who sees Christ in snack may put it on eBay | The Reason Project
Preston Hollow resident Sara Bell recently stopped by this newspaper’s office with a unique discovery: a Cheeto that she thinks looks like Jesus.
Bell came across the strange snack a few weeks ago while she and her husband, Dan, were driving home [...]
Does God Favor Sexual Predators?
Does God Favor Sexual Predators? | Psychology Today Blogs
If you take a look at The New York Post, Fox News, and The Weekly Standard, you’ll get a pretty good sense of who Rupert Murdock is and what he cares about.
Now imagine one very powerful figure is the CEO of three competing companies, each with thousands [...]
Parents Fuming as Texas Schools Let Gideons Provide Bibles to Students
Parents Fuming as Texas Schools Let Gideons Provide Bibles to Students - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com
Some parents in Frisco, Texas, are fuming because their public school district allowed Christian evangelists to provide Bibles to students on school grounds, which administrators say was done to stop even [...]
Mother knew diabetic daughter was gravely ill, sister-in-law testifies - JSOnline
Wausau - A mother accused of homicide for only praying while her 11-year-old daughter died of untreated diabetes knew the girl was gravely ill at least a day before she died, her sister-in-law testified Monday.
Susan Neumann of rural Merrill was the first witness to testify in the trial of Leilani Neumann, 41, who is charged [...]
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 [...]
Myth: Religion is Central to Human Existence, Everyone Is Religious
Myth:
Everyone is religious and everyone has a religion because religion is central to human existence. So, atheists have a religion of some sort, even if they deny it.
Response:
For some religious theists, their religion and religious beliefs are so important to them that they can’t imagine anyone being without a religion of some sort. For such [...]
It’s Church not Prayer That Makes Us Good
Mike Gerson has a column up today laying out some of the key findings to be featured in Bob Putnam and David Campbell’s upcoming book, “American Grace,” that I mentioned on Wednesday.
In a nutshell, writes Gerson:
Against the expectations of hard-core secularists, Putnam asserts, “religious Americans are nicer, happier, and better citizens.” They are more generous [...]
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” [...]
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 [...]
Mom’s plea deal includes ‘resurrection clause’
(CNN) — A Maryland woman involved with a group described as a religious cult pleaded guilty in the starvation death of her son, but insisted that the charges be dropped when he is resurrected.
The condition was made a part of Ria Ramkissoon’s plea agreement, officials said. She entered the plea Monday in Baltimore, Maryland, to [...]
To The Brain, God Is Just Another Guy
The human brain, it appears, responds to God as if he were just another person, according to a team at the National Institutes of Health.
A study of 40 people — some religious, some nonreligious — found that phrases such as “I believe God is with me throughout the day and watches over me” lit up [...]
Mother of Child Rape Victim Excommunicated
A Brazilian archbishop says all those who helped a child rape victim secure an abortion are to be excommunicated from the Catholic Church.
The girl, aged nine, who lives in the north-eastern state of Pernambuco, became pregnant with twins.
It is alleged that she had been sexually assaulted over a number of years by her stepfather.
The excommunication [...]
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
More Americans say they have no religion
Study finds percentage of Christians in the nation has declined
A wide-ranging study on American religious life found that the Roman Catholic population has been shifting out of the Northeast to the Southwest, the percentage of Christians in the nation has declined and more people say they have no religion at all.
Fifteen percent of respondents [...]
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The Center for Naturalism
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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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