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Saturday, March 31, 2007Violence Tears Across Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Car bombs and gunfire killed more than two dozen civilians and wounded more than 60 in attacks throughout Iraq on Saturday, officials said.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 9:19 PM
Friday, March 30, 2007Iraqi Widow Saves Her Home, But Victory Is Brief
BAGHDAD -- The two men showed up on Tuesday afternoon to evict Suaada Saadoun's family. One was carrying a shiny black pistol.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 12:18 AM
Thursday, March 29, 2007In God Our Press Trusts
The question about whether the media treat religion fairly really ought to have two parts, and the second half ought to read: "Do the media treat skepticism about religion fairly?" The answer to both questions is no.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 11:12 PM
Market Bombs Kill 119 Across Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Bombers launched two deadly strikes Thursday in crowded Shiite marketplaces in Baghdad and a town north of Iraq's capital, killing 119 people and wounding 171. At least 17 others died in other bombings and gunfire around the country.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 11:03 PM
Dobson: Thompson Must Express Faith
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- As senator turned actor Fred Thompson considers a presidential run, his Christian credentials are being questioned by Dr. James Dobson, a major voice among Christian conservative voters.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 10:23 PM
Dawkins Says Religion Is "Like Sucking A Dummy"
Professor Richard Dawkins has described religious believers as "sucking on dummies" for comfort and said that giving children a religious education was comparable to "erecting a firewall in their minds" against scientific truth.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 10:08 PM
God Is On Our Side. Does That Mean War?
Does believing that "God is on our side" make it easier for us to inflict pain and suffering on those perceived to be our enemies? If we think God sanctions violence, are we more likely to engage in violent acts?
The answer to both those questions, according to new research, is a resounding "yes," even among those who do not consider themselves believers. More...
posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 10:02 PM
Wednesday, March 28, 2007FreeThoughtAction Hero Of The Day - 3/28/07 Daniel Clement Dennett (b. March 28, 1942 in Boston, Massachusetts) According To Wikipedia, Dennett "is a prominent American philosopher and atheist advocate. Dennett's research centers on philosophy of mind, philosophy of science and philosophy of biology, particularly as those fields relate to evolutionary biology and cognitive science. He is currently a professor at Tufts University.... "He defends a theory known by some as Neural Darwinism.... "Dennett's views on evolution are identified as being strongly adaptationist, in line with the views of ethologist Richard Dawkins. In Darwin's Dangerous Idea, Dennett showed himself even more willing than Dawkins to defend adaptationism in print..."
posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 11:11 PM
Tuesday, March 27, 2007More Bombing, Blasts, And Death In Iraq
Today's reports HERE.
posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 10:55 PM
French Scientists Rebut U.S., Muslim Creationism
ORSAY, France (Reuters) - With creationism now coming in Christian and Muslim versions, scientists, teachers and theologians in France are debating ways to counteract what they see as growing religious attacks on science.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 10:50 PM
Extremists 'Are Encouraging Violence Against Muslim Women'
UK -- Islamic extremists are fuelling the spread of "honour" based violence against women in Britain, the country's most senior Muslim prosecutor has warned.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 10:44 PM
Man Cuts Tongue For Religious Faith
India -- A man was rushed to the government civil hospital here Monday after he cut his own tongue to offer it to a goddess.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 10:41 PM
I Saw Boys Murdered -- Then Their Parents Got Guns To Kill Each Other
posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 10:11 PM
God-Fearing Villagers Snub "Satanic" Bar Codes
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A hundred residents of a Russian village have refused to switch to new passports because they believe the documents' bar codes contain satanic symbols, state television reported Wednesday.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 9:59 PM
Monday, March 26, 2007FreeThoughtAction Hero Of The Day - 3/26/07 Clinton Richard Dawkins (born March 26, 1941) According to Wikipedia, Dawkins "is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and popular science writer who holds the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University. "Dawkins first came to prominence with his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, which popularised the gene-centered view of evolution and introduced the term meme into the lexicon, helping found memetics. In 1982, he made a widely cited contribution to the science of evolution with the theory, presented in his book The Extended Phenotype, that phenotypic effects are not limited to an organism's body but can stretch far into the environment, including into the bodies of other organisms. He has since written several best-selling popular books, and appeared in a number of television and radio programmes, concerning evolutionary biology, creationism, and religion. "Dawkins is an outspoken atheist, humanist, and sceptic, and is a prominent member of the Brights movement. In a play on Thomas Huxley's epithet 'Darwin's bulldog,' Dawkins' impassioned defence of evolution has earned him the appellation 'Darwin's rottweiler.'"
posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 12:17 AM
Sunday, March 25, 2007Can You Live With The Voices In Your Head?
Angelo, a London-born scientist in his early 30s with sandy brown hair, round wire-frame glasses and a slight, unobtrusive stammer, vividly recalls the day he began to hear voices. It was Jan. 7, 2001, and he had recently passed his Ph.D. oral exams in chemistry at an American university, where, for the previous four and a half years, he conducted research into infrared electromagnetism. Angelo was walking home from the laboratory when, all of a sudden, he heard two voices in his head. "It was like hearing thoughts in my mind that were not mine," he explained recently. "They identified themselves as Andrew and Oliver, two angels. In my mind's eye, I could see an image of a bald, middle-aged man dressed in white against a white background. This, I was told, was Oliver." What the angels said, to Angelo's horror, was that in the coming days, he would die of a brain hemorrhage. Terrified, Angelo hurried home and locked himself into his apartment. For three long days he waited out his fate, at which time his supervisor drove him to a local hospital, where Angelo was admitted to the psychiatric ward. It was his first time under psychiatric care. He had never heard voices before. His diagnosis was schizophrenia with depressive overtones.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 11:52 PM
Saturday, March 24, 2007Cartoons Did Not Incite Hatred, French Court Rules
A French court yesterday ruled in favour of a satirical weekly that printed cartoons of the prophet Muhammad, rejecting accusations by Islamic groups that the newspaper incited hatred against Muslims.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 1:17 AM
Employee Claims She Was Unfairly Dismissed For Being A Witch
A teaching assistant is claiming that she was unfairly dismissed because of the fact that she is a witch.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 1:06 AM
US Rejects Anglican Ultimatum
The worldwide Anglican church was facing its long-awaited split last night after the bishops of the US Episcopal church firmly rejected an ultimatum, proposed at a meeting of Anglican leaders in Tanzania last month, to allow American conservatives to have their own leadership because of opposition to their church's liberal stance on homosexuality.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 1:04 AM
Mass Trial Of Islamists Accused Of Terror Plot Begins In Morocco
Morocco's rumbling "war on terror" faces an important public test tomorrow in a mass trial of extreme Islamists accused of planning the violent overthrow of the most liberal regime in the Maghreb.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 1:00 AM
Muslim Pupils Kill Teacher
MUSLIM pupils at a secondary school in northeastern Nigeria beat a teacher to death today after accusing her of desecrating the Koran.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 12:44 AM
Pew: (U.S.) Trends In Political Values And Core Attitudes: 1987-2007
posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 12:14 AM
Gov.: Budget Puts Me 'On The Side Of The Lord'
(CBS) CHICAGO The governor says he has heavenly help as he pushes for the largest increase in taxes and spending in the history of Illinois.
As CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports, Gov. Rod Blagojevich says he is "on the side of the Lord." More...
posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 12:04 AM
Friday, March 23, 2007Man With Al-Sadr Ties Held In Attack On U.S. Troops
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A man with ties to a radical Shiite cleric is in U.S. custody in connection with an attack that killed five American soldiers in Karbala in January, U.S. officials said.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 11:56 PM
London 7/7 Suspects Questioned
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Three men arrested in connection with the July 7, 2005 London bombings were being questioned by police on Friday.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 11:50 PM
Thursday, March 22, 2007Thousands Of Iraqis Flee
BAGHDAD, March 21 -- About 160,000 Iraqis from outside the mountainous Kurdish north have moved there to flee a growing civil war, according to a draft of a report by an international group that tracks refugees and displaced people.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 12:17 AM
Brain Injury Said To Affect Moral Choices
Damage to an area of the brain behind the forehead, inches behind the eyes, transforms the way people make moral judgments in life-or-death situations, scientists reported yesterday. In a new study, people with this rare injury expressed increased willingness to kill or harm another person if doing so would save others' lives.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 12:09 AM
Italian Freed In Taliban Swap Deal
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Italy's deputy foreign affairs minister confirmed Wednesday that the Afghan government released five Taliban prisoners to win the freedom of a reporter who had been kidnapped in lawless Helmand province.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 12:05 AM
Wednesday, March 21, 2007Soldiers' Bodies Dragged Through Mogadishu
MOGADISHU, Somalia (Reuters) -- Somali insurgents dragged soldiers' bodies through the streets of Mogadishu before burning them on Wednesday in heavy fighting that killed at least 16 people and injured scores more, witnesses said.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 11:51 PM
Witch Hunt
Sona's mother was murdered and dismembered; Kalo was attacked with a saw and scarred for life. Hundreds of other Indian women are killed or disfigured every year after being branded witches by their neighbours.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 11:50 PM
Tuesday, March 20, 2007Iraq Bombers Blow Up 2 Children Used As Decoys
BAGHDAD, March 20 -- Insurgents detonated a bomb in a car with two children in it after using the children as decoys to get through a military checkpoint in Baghdad, an American general said Tuesday.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 9:46 PM
God Left Out Of EU Declaration
Neither God nor Christianity will feature in a 50th birthday declaration for the EU which will highlight European values and list key challenges for the future such as climate change.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 9:36 PM
Keeping The Faith
Some patients are prepared to die rather than accept treatment that is against their beliefs. Emine Saner on the dilemmas doctors face when medical ethics clash with religious and cultural mores.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 9:33 PM
Evangelicals Feud
As they court the evangelicals who have become so crucial to their party, Republican presidential candidates are stepping into the middle of a family fight.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 9:29 PM
God Forbid: Representing Non-Believers
Untangling the jumble of religious preference percentages is a daunting task, especially when many prefer to keep tight-lipped on the subject. But understanding these numbers and comparing them to the religious identification of our representatives can help us understand which religious groups are being represented and which are not.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 9:12 PM
Biology Teacher Fired For Referring To Bible
SISTERS, Oregon (AP) -- During his eight days as a part-time high school biology teacher, Kris Helphinstine included Biblical references in material he provided to students and gave a PowerPoint presentation that made links between evolution, Nazi Germany and Planned Parenthood.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 9:09 PM
Monday, March 19, 2007Judges Quit In Pakistan Furore
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) -- Seven Pakistani judges resigned on Monday over government moves to sack the country's chief judge, and the leader of an opposition alliance of conservative religious parties called for more protests.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 10:20 PM
Scientist Finds The Beginnings Of Morality In Primate Behavior
Some animals are surprisingly sensitive to the plight of others. Chimpanzees, who cannot swim, have drowned in zoo moats trying to save others. Given the chance to get food by pulling a chain that would also deliver an electric shock to a companion, rhesus monkeys will starve themselves for several days.
Biologists argue that these and other social behaviors are the precursors of human morality. They further believe that if morality grew out of behavioral rules shaped by evolution, it is for biologists, not philosophers or theologians, to say what these rules are. More...
posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 9:57 PM
Court Hears Arguments On Student Speech
WASHINGTON, March 19 -- Kenneth W. Starr had a strategy for convincing the Supreme Court that an Alaska high school principal and school board did not violate a student's free-speech rights by punishing him for displaying the words "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" on a 14-foot-long banner across the street from school as the 2002 Olympic torch parade went by.
More... See also... High court hears 'Bong hits 4 Jesus' case
posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 9:48 PM
Coming Out - As An Atheist
Comedian-actress Julia Sweeney read the Bible from cover to cover. And the more the devout Irish-Catholic studied the Old and New Testaments, she came to believe that God is about as real as Santa Claus.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 9:32 PM
Fans Applaud Politician For Revealing Atheist Beliefs
SAN LEANDRO -- A federal politician who publicly acknowledged last week that he doesn't believe in God appears to enjoy healthy support among constituents.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 9:26 PM
Secularism Versus Religious Power-Seeking
Two major articles in the national press this week came to the same conclusion: there is a civil war in progress in Europe, and it is not between Muslims and Christians or Hindus and Sikhs, it is between believers and non-believers.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 9:19 PM
Cleveland Church Members, Ex-Pastor Square Off In Trial
When the Rev. Artis Caver arrived in Cleveland in 1990 to take over the Harvest Missionary Baptist Church, he inherited a congregation of barely 100 and a chapel with a leaking roof and rotting rafters.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 9:13 PM
Resolute Life Taken At Rest Stop
Michail J. Makarenko, a Russian immigrant who had stopped during a trip from his home in Virginia to visit friends in New York, was attacked by another traveler who tried to sell him religious CDs, police said.
Brian K. White, 26, of Humble, Texas, is accused of bashing Makarenko repeatedly in the head with a rock, leading state police on a nearly 90-mile chase into North Jersey, then jumping from his car and lunging at troopers. He was charged with murder, eluding authorities and weapons offenses. Police described him as possibly delusional. "He was claiming some divine entity made him do it," State Police Capt. Al Della Fave said. More...
posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 9:05 PM
Islamic Group 'A Threat'
THE Muslim group Hizb ut-Tahrir - banned in Europe, China and Saudi Arabia but legal in Australia - has been identified as a potential threat to the nation.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 9:02 PM
Brazil's Top TV Preachers Land In Hot Water In Miami
SAO PAULO, Brazil -- In their heyday, Estevam and Sonia Hernandes were the Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker of Brazil, on television preaching a gospel of material success and living a life to match.
But that was before they were arrested in Miami in January and charged with illegally smuggling cash into the United States, including $9,000 concealed in a Bible. More...
posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 8:51 PM
In Hindsight, Haggard Was No Saint
A church board looking into the pastor's fall from grace sees a pattern of troubling behavior that went unnoticed.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 8:46 PM
Baptists Suggest That Homosexuality May Be Biological
The president of the leading Southern Baptist seminary has suggested that a biological basis for homosexuality may be proven, and that prenatal treatment to reverse gay orientation would be biblically justified.
More... See also... The Problem, in A Fundamental Nutshell: 'Is Your Baby Gay?'
posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 8:38 PM
For The Christian Right, Gay-Hating Is Just The Start
On the morning of March 8 in Sioux Center, Iowa, a bus parked outside a hotel was found covered with anti-gay slurs, along with a hate-filled message on a piece of cardboard reading: "God does not love feary fags."
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 8:36 PM
Sunday, March 18, 2007Israel Rejects Palestinian Government
GAZA CITY (CNN) -- Israel rejected the newly anointed Palestinian unity government Sunday after the Palestinian prime minister said the deal didn't rule out "popular resistance against occupation."
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 9:44 PM
Mortar Blasts Shake Somali Capital
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- Somali insurgents battled Ethiopian and government troops with mortar and artillery fire on Sunday, killing two people and wounding at least 16 others who were caught in the crossfire, witnesses and medics said.
...snip... Two new Islamic insurgent groups -- Altawhid Brigades and Jihad in Somalia -- claimed responsibility in a statement posted on the Internet for a recent mortar attack against the presidential palace in the capital. A 12-year-old boy died in the attack. More...
posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 9:41 PM
Grenade, Bomb, Mortar Attacks In Baghdad
Explosions in the Iraqi capital Sunday killed 11 people and wounded dozens of others, a Baghdad police spokesman said.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 9:31 PM
Iraq Gas Attack Makes Hundreds Ill
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Bombers detonated three chlorine-filled trucks in Anbar province, the U.S. military said Saturday.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 9:24 PM
Free-Speech Case Divides Bush And Religious Right
WASHINGTON, March 17 -- A Supreme Court case about the free-speech rights of high school students, to be argued on Monday, has opened an unexpected fissure between the Bush administration and its usual allies on the religious right.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 9:17 PM
New Face Of Jihad Vows Attacks
TRIPOLI, Lebanon -- Deep in a violent and lawless slum just north of this coastal city, 12 men whose faces were shrouded by scarves drilled with Kalashnikovs.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 9:04 PM
$11,000 Bounty On Taslima's Head
LUCKNOW -- An Indian Muslim group has offered a 500,000 rupees ($11,319; BD4,267) bounty for the beheading of controversial Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 8:46 PM
Does Candidate's Religion Matter?
For the first time in nearly a half-century, a candidate's religion is becoming a significant issue in presidential politics.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 8:43 PM
Church Seeks Elton Ban
A concert by Sir Elton John in Tobago is under threat after calls from church leaders there to ban him from the island because he is openly gay.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 8:14 PM
Atheism Hasn't Hurt Fremont Rep. Stark
NEWARK -- Atheism might be the last political taboo, but it doesn't seem to have hurt Rep. Pete Stark in his East Bay district.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 8:12 PM
Saturday, March 17, 2007Attack Kills Thai Children
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Suspected insurgents hurled explosives and opened fire on an Islamic school in southern Thailand, killing three Muslim students and wounding another seven.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 11:25 PM
Friday, March 16, 2007FreeThoughtAction Hero Of The Day - 03/16/07 James Madison (March 16, 1751 - June 28, 1836) According to Wikipedia, Madison was "an American politician and fourth President of the United States of America (1809-1817), was one of the most influential Founding Fathers of the United States. Considered to be the 'Father of the Constitution', Madison played a bigger role in designing the 1787 document more than anyone else. In 1788, he wrote over a third of the Federalist Papers, still the most influential commentary on the Constitution. As a leader in the first Congresses, he drafted many basic laws and was responsible for the first ten amendments to the Constitution, and thus is also known as the 'Father of the Bill of Rights'. As a political theorist, Madison's most distinctive belief was that the new republic needed checks and balances to limit the powers of special interests, which Madison called factions. He believed very strongly that the new nation should fight against aristocracy and corruption (especially of British origin), and was deeply committed to creating mechanisms that would ensure Republicanism in the United States." Some Madison quotes: "Democracy does not need the church, or the clergy."
posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 4:47 AM
Thursday, March 15, 2007Pentagon: 'Civil War' Inadequate Term For Iraq War
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A new Pentagon report said some elements of the war in Iraq fit the definition of civil war, but the term "does not adequately capture the complexity of the conflict."
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 5:45 PM
Interpol Calls For Arrests In Argentine Bombing
PARIS, France (AP) -- Interpol plans to issue international requests for the arrest of five prominent Iranians and a Lebanese militant in connection with the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center in Argentina, the international police agency said Thursday.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 5:41 PM
Thailand Bomb Wounds 11 Muslims
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- A bomb wounded 11 Muslims outside a mosque in southern Thailand, in possible retaliation for the execution-style killings of eight Buddhist commuters in the same area earlier in the day.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 5:26 PM
Terror Suspect Said To Confess To Other Acts
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who took responsibility for the Sept. 11 attacks, said he decapitated the American journalist Daniel Pearl, according to a revised transcript released today of his remarks at a military hearing held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Saturday.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 5:19 PM
A Secular Sensation
Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., might have crossed what some are calling "one of the last frontiers" in politics when he delighted atheists this week by acknowledging that he does not believe in a supreme being.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 5:15 PM
Women And Children Shot In Bus Massacre
Nine people, including four women and two teenage girls, were shot through the head yesterday in one of the most shocking attacks so far in Thailand's worsening Islamic insurgency.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 5:09 PM
Rep. Stark Applauded For Atheist Outlook
WASHINGTON (AP) - The American Humanist Association applauded Rep. Pete Stark for publicly acknowledging he does not believe in a supreme being. The declaration, it said, makes him the highest-ranking elected official - and first congressman - to proclaim to be an atheist.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 4:49 PM
For The God Question, A Biological Perspective
That a book so forthrightly titled (no subtitle necessary!) and forcefully argued as The God Delusion could reach and make an extended stay on the upper strata of the best seller lists over the past months may tell us something about a shifting cultural climate. It may be a changing Zeitgeist (a term the author employs late in his book for just such welcome raisings of consciousness) to counter the excesses of those who have aggressively pushed a narrow religious agenda upon the mainstream.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 4:29 PM
Wednesday, March 14, 2007FreeThoughtAction Hero Of The Day - 03/14/07 Albert Einstein (March 14, 1879 - April 18, 1955) According to Wikipedia, Einstein "was a German-born theoretical physicist who is widely considered to have been one of the greatest physicists of all time. While best known for the theory of relativity (and specifically mass-energy equivalence, E=mc2), he was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics 'for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect.' "Einstein's many contributions to physics include his special theory of relativity, which reconciled mechanics with electromagnetism, and his general theory of relativity which extended the principle of relativity to nonuniform motion, creating a new theory of gravitation. His other contributions include relativistic cosmology, capillary action, critical opalescence, classical problems of statistical mechanics and their application to quantum theory, an explanation of the Brownian movement of molecules, atomic transition probabilities, the quantum theory of a monatomic gas, thermal properties of light with low radiation density (which laid the foundation for the photon theory), a theory of radiation including stimulated emission, the conception of a unified field theory, and the geometrization of physics. "In 1999 Einstein was named Time magazine's 'Person of the Century'. In popular culture the name 'Einstein' has become synonymous with genius." Einstein said he believed in Spinoza's God. Spinoza's God "is the natural world and has no personality." His use of the word "God" to decribe his religious attitude towards Nature, caused a certain amount of confusion among some people, which he later attempted to clarify. Here are some of his relevant quotes on the matter: It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it. On another note.... Today is Pi Day.
posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 9:42 PM
Tuesday, March 13, 2007Congressman Says He Doesn't Believe In God
Secular groups Monday applauded a public acknowledgment by Rep. Pete Stark that he does not believe in a supreme being, making the California Democrat the first member of Congress - and highest-ranking elected official - to acknowledge publicly that he does not believe in God.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 10:02 PM
Woman Says She Sees Jesus In Burned Wallpaper
(CBS13) SACRAMENTO Christine York's house is a total loss. Treasures going back more than 100 years and memories spanning four decades were lost in a fire.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 9:58 PM
Creation Museum Growing
PETERSBURG - Even though it's not scheduled to open for another 11 weeks, the Creation Museum in Boone County is already expanding.
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posted by Joseph McDaniel Stewart at 9:56 PM
Islamic Militants In Pakistan Bomb Targets Close To Home
In Peshawar and other parts of North-West Frontier Province, which abuts the tribal areas, residents say English-language schools have received threats, schoolgirls have been warned to veil themselves, music is being banned and men are told not to shave their beards. Then there is the mounting toll of the suicide bombings. One of the most lethal |
