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More Atheists Shout It From The Rooftops
Astronomers Spy Oldest Object In Universe
Charlotte Pop Fest 2009
Pop Fest is a multi-day music festival that will feature well-established internationally known artists in addition to local and regional indie artists in the "power pop" genre. The event will take place in the Fall of 2009 in Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina. Proceeds from Charlotte Pop Fest will be used to support rational and scientific education at all ages, and to oppose the subversion of scientific education, for example by the well-financed efforts to teach pseudoscience in science classes. This includes advanced tickets sold through the Charlotte Pop Fest Web site; tickets sold at the door during the event; this year's edition of the compilation CD; and any other event-specific merchandise like t-shirts, posters, etc. More...
Proposed 'Christian' License Plates In Florida May Spark Lawsuit
Americans United for Separation of Church and State has urged the Florida Senate to reject a bill creating two "Christian" license plates for state motorists and warned that a lawsuit may result if the measure becomes law. More...
State/Church Watchdog Objects To Largo Mayor's Prayer Breakfast
After the national Freedom From Religion Foundation lodged a formal objection to Largo's unconstitutional practice of hosting a city mayor's prayer breakfast, the Largo/Mid-Pinellas Chamber of Commerce announced today it has belatedly taken over sponsorship. More...
Quebec Parents Protest Ethics And Religion Course
MONTREAL -- Hundreds of parents gathered in Drummondville, Que. Saturday to protest a controversial mandatory ethics and religious culture course that has been taught since the beginning of the school year. More...
Berlin 'Pro-Religion' Referendum Soundly Defeated
BERLIN (Reuters) - A proposal to give religion lessons the same status as ethics classes in Berlin schools was defeated in a referendum on Sunday, having sparked a debate across Germany on tolerance and the integration of Muslims. More...
Swastika Priest
A priest has shocked parishioners by welcoming them to church wearing a swastika armband. Fascist Father Angelo Idi, 51 - who once saw off a charity box thief with a truncheon at his church in Vigevano, Italy - confessed: "I am proud of my right wing beliefs. But people shouldn't care about my politics, they should care about how good a priest I am." More...
Israeli Official: Swine Flu Name Offensive
JERUSALEM (AP) -- The outbreak of swine flu should be renamed "Mexican" influenza in deference to Muslim and Jewish sensitivities over pork, said an Israeli health official Monday. Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman said the reference to pigs is offensive to both religions and "we should call this Mexican flu and not swine flu," he told a news conference at a hospital in central Israel. Both Judaism and Islam consider pigs unclean and forbid the eating of pork products. More...
Bomb Blasts Rip Baghdad, Over 40 Killed
(AP) Two car bombs tore through a crowded commercial district in Baghdad's main Shiite district on Wednesday, killing at least 41 people, Iraqi police said. The blasts went off in quick succession less than a week after bombings claimed more than 150 lives over a two-day span. The attacks have raised fears that suspected Sunni insurgents are regrouping and trying to reignite sectarian strife as the U.S. military begins to withdraw. More...See also: Bombings in Iraq kill at least 50Another Deadly Day In BaghdadIraq: 87,215 Citizens Killed Since 2005
Taliban Threatens Attacks Over U.S. Surge
KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A Taliban leader has instructed fighters in Afghanistan to target U.S. and other coalition troops in response to the United States sending more troops into the war. More...
Pakistan Paramilitary Force Routed As Taliban Militants Extend Control Towards Islamabad
Fossil Evidence Of Missing Link In The Origin Of Seals, Sea Lions, Walruses Found
Gore Vidal Accepts Title Of American Humanist Association Honorary President
Washington, D.C. -- Humanist leaders are pleased to announce that Gore Vidal -- the preeminent novelist, essayist, and playwright who is frequently described as America's best-known public intellectual -- has accepted the honorary presidency of the American Humanist Association. "We're delighted and privileged to have Gore Vidal as our honorary president," said Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association. "Vidal is a sharply intelligent advocate for individual liberty, separation of church and state, and reason and rationality. He has a reverence for earthly inquiry -- as opposed to doctrine or dogma -- that embodies the mission of the AHA. We're very excited about working with him." More...
America Is Not A Christian Nation
Is America a Christian nation, as many conservatives claim it is? One American doesn't think so. In his press conference on April 6 in Turkey, President Obama explained: "One of the great strengths of the United States is ... we have a very large Christian population -- we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values." More...See also: Most US Christians don't believe Satan, Holy Spirit really exist
Richard Dawkins At American Atheists 09
Richard Dawkins at the American Atheists 2009 conference in Atlanta, Georgia. More...
Campaign Officially Launches
Bloomington, IN. --The Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign has formed in Bloomington to spread the word: "You can be good without God." More...
Americans United Files Suit To Block Public School Graduation Ceremonies In Wisconsin Church
Americans United for Separation of Church and State today filed a lawsuit in federal court to block a Wisconsin public school district from holding graduation ceremonies in the sanctuary of an evangelical church. More...
Texas School Standards: Age Of The Universe Erased
(PhysOrg.com) -- The fight over the new education and curriculum standards for the public schools in Texas has been long and publicized. Most of the publicity, though, focuses on the school board's focus on "intelligent design" as it relates to the biological question of evolution. Because evolution has long been contested in public schools, it is no real surprise that this has gotten the most play from the media. But one thing that hasn't been mentioned as much is the fact that the Texas school standards also remove mention of the age of the universe. Long-standing ideas of cosmology are being challenged as well. More...
De-Baptism Gains A Following In Britain
More than 100,000 former Christians have downloaded "certificates of de-baptism" in a bid to publicly renounce the faith, according to the London-based National Secular Society (NSS). More...
Oh, Ye Of Little Faith
Millions of South Africans may have just celebrated Easter and Passover. Still, there's no denying that atheists are on the rise, says Helen Walne. More...
Joint NGO Statement On Danger Of U.N. Defamation Of Religions Campaign
We, the undersigned non-governmental organizations, Deeply concerned by the pervasive and mounting campaign by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to produce U.N. resolutions, declarations, and world conferences that propagate the concept of "defamation of religions," a concept having no basis in domestic or international law, and which would alter the very meaning of human rights, which protect individuals from harm, but not beliefs from critical inquiry; Deeply concerned by the attempt to misuse the U.N. to legitimize blasphemy laws, thereby restricting freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press; Deeply concerned that "defamation of religions" resolutions may be used in certain countries to silence and intimidate human rights activists, religious dissenters, and other independent voices; Alarmed by the resolution on "defamation of religions" recently tabled at the current 10th session of the UN Human Rights Council; Alarmed by the draft resolution on freedom of expression circulated by Egypt, whose amendments seek to restrict, not promote, protections for free speech; Alarmed by the recently-announced initiative of the U.N. "Ad Hoc Committee on Complementary Standards" to amend the International Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) by adding a protocol on "defamation of religions"; Alarmed by provisions in the latest draft outcome document of the Durban Review Conference that, through coded language and veiled references, endorse and encourage these anti-democratic initiatives; 1. Call upon all governments to oppose the "defamation of religions" resolution currently tabled at the UN Human Rights Council, and the objectionable provisions of the freedom of expression resolution; 2. Call upon all governments to resist the efforts of the "Ad Hoc Committee on Complementary Standards" to alter the ICERD; 3. Call upon all governments not to accept or legitimize a Durban Review Conference outcome that directly or indirectly supports the "defamation of religions" campaign at the expense of basic freedoms and individual human rights. More...
Is Yemen A New Al-Qaida Haven?
Last month a suicide bomber detonated himself at a crowded archeological site in Yemen, killing four South Korean tourists, and earlier this month CentCom chief Gen. David Petraeus warned that Yemen was becoming a safe haven for Qaeda militants. More...
Muslim Converts Accused Of Holy War Bomb Plots
Two Muslim converts and two Turks go on trial in a bomb-proof courtroom in Dusseldorf today accused of plotting to blow up German civilians and US soldiers. More...
Shells Hit Baghdad's Green Zone After 3-month Lull
20 Killed At Pakistan Military Checkpoint
Taleban 'Kill Love Affair Couple'
Gallup Poll: Religion, Intolerance Related
The End Of Christian America
Church Membership Continues Downward Trend
Membership has waned in the nation's largest Christian bodies -- the Roman Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Convention -- while mainline Protestant churches continue to shrink, according to the "Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches." More...
Obama: U.S. Not A Christian Nation Or A Jewish Nation Or A Muslim Nation
At a press conference in Turkey, President Obama casually rebuked the old chestnut that the United States is a Judeo-Christian nation. "One of the great strengths of the United States," the President said, "is ... we have a very large Christian population -- we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values." More...See also: Obama: U.S. Is Not At War With IslamHISTORICAL NOTE:"As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion -- as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquillity of Mussulmen -- and as the said states never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries." -- Article 11, Treaty of Tripoli as presented to Congress, unanimously approved June 7, 1797, signed into law by President John Adams on June 10, 1797 Treaty of Tripoli"Now be it known, That I John Adams, President of the United States of America, having seen and considered the said Treaty do, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, accept, ratify, and confirm the same, and every clause and article thereof. And to the End that the said Treaty may be observed, and performed with good Faith on the part of the United States, I have ordered the premises to be made public; And I do hereby enjoin and require all persons bearing office civil or military within the United States, and all other citizens or inhabitants thereof, faithfully to observe and fulfill the said Treaty and every clause and article thereof." -- President John Adams' signing statementAccording to Wikipedia: "Official records show that after President John Adams sent the treaty to the Senate for ratification in May 1797, the entire treaty was read aloud on the Senate floor, and copies were printed for every Senator. A committee considered the treaty and recommended ratification, 23 of the 32 sitting Senators were present for the June 7 vote which unanimously approved the ratification recommendation... "The Senate's ratification was only the third recorded unanimous vote of 339 taken. The treaty was printed in the Philadelphia Gazette and two New York papers, with no evidence of any public dissent." More...
Teenage Atheism On The Rise
Canada -- According to a new survey, teens who said they definitely believed in God, or a higher power, went from 54% to 37%, between 1984 and 2008, while the number of atheists rose from 6% to 16%. The number of teens who remained uncertain about God remained at 31%. More...
Scotland's Last Seminary To Close
Centuries of Catholic tradition in Scotland will come to an end this summer, as declining numbers training for the priesthood force the country's last remaining seminary to close. More...
Atheist 'De-Baptism' Forms Snapped Up In Britain
LONDON -- A secular organization in Britain that backs an atheist ad campaign on London's buses is now producing "certificates of de-baptism" for people wishing to renounce their Christian faith -- and claims it is getting thousands of takers. More...
Pope's Good Friday Message Warns Of Drift Into A 'Desert Of Godlessness'
Speaking during the Way of the Cross procession at the Colosseum in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI said that "religious sentiments" were increasingly ranked among the "unwelcome leftovers of antiquity" and held up to scorn and ridicule. He used this year's Good Friday meditations at the Stations of the Cross to compare attempts to purge religion from public life to the mockery Jesus Christ faced from the mob as he was led out to be crucified. More...See also: Priest indecently assaulted children
Police: Cantu Was Murdered In Church
Woman Dies In Forest Hills Church Accident
FOREST HILLS, Pa. -- The Allegheny County medical examiner said Friday night that an 89-year-old woman died at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital after being hit by a car. --snip-- Police said the driver of a blue vehicle, who is a retired priest, lost control of his car and crashed into a group of parishioners waiting in front of church. More...
Texas Man Allegedly Trying to Beat Demon Out Of Son
HOUSTON -- A Houston man who allegedly thought demons invaded his home and family was jailed Monday on charges he beat his 3-year-old son. More...
Disgraced Baptist Leader Vies To Head Denomination Again
Ten years after he sentenced to 5 1/2 years in state prison for racketeering and grand theft, the former president of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., is vying to lead the denomination once again and insists that he's a changed man. More...
White House Expands Faith-Based Advisory Panel
Department Of Health And Human Services Should Revoke Bush-Era 'Conscience' Rules, Says Americans United
Americans United for Separation of Church and State has called on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to rescind a regulation put in place by former President George W. Bush dealing with religious objections to medical procedures, saying the rule could violate patients' rights. More...
Vermont Legalizes Gay Marriage With Veto Override
Humanists File Appeal In Newdow V. Roberts
The lawsuit challenges government infusion of religion into Presidential Inaugural Ceremonies -- specifically challenging the addition of "so help me God" to the constitutionally prescribed presidential oath of office and the inclusion of religious prayers in the invocation and benediction such as those delivered by Reverend Rick Warren and Joseph Lowery at the 2009 ceremony. The plaintiffs contend that these practices constitute a government endorsement of religion, and thereby violate their First Amendment rights. More...
Christian Resolution Inaccurate
The Alabama Legislature is considering a joint resolution that would designate Easter Week as "Christian Heritage Week." Ostensibly designed to recognize Christianity's influence on American history, the resolution is actually an attack on religious liberty. The resolution describes "Christian Heritage Week" as one "in which the influence of Christianity on American history is emphasized in the state of Alabama." Yet instead of emphasizing Christian influence on American history, the resolution claims incorrectly that those who settled our nation wished to create a "Christian commonwealth." The assertion is based on selective quotes from a number of historical figures and documents. Whether the resolution is intended to perpetuate the erroneous idea of America as a "Christian commonwealth," or truly is an attempt to recognize Christian influence on history, it is inherently flawed. More...
'In God We Trust' Plate Moves On
CHARLESTON -- God might have been booted out of America's classrooms, but Jean Boggess came a big step closer Wednesday to putting him on the bumpers of West Virginia motor vehicles. Without dissent, the Senate agreed to create a special license plate bearing the inscription, "In God We Trust." More...
Bill Would Put Concealed Handguns In Churches
OMAHA (KPTM) -- Some call it a sign of the times. Others, an unfortunate necessity. Churches and other places of worship could let security guards carry concealed handguns under a bill that advanced Thursday in the legislature. More...
The Meaning Of Freedom
AT FIRST glance, the resolution on "religious defamation" adopted by the UN's Human Rights Council on March 26th, mainly at the behest of Islamic countries, reads like another piece of harmless verbiage churned out by a toothless international bureaucracy. What is wrong with saying, as the resolution does, that some Muslims faced prejudice in the aftermath of September 2001? But a closer look at the resolution's language, and the context in which it was adopted (with an unholy trio of Pakistan, Belarus and Venezuela acting as sponsors), makes clear that bigger issues are at stake. More...
Religulous Is Outrageously Good
Snappily edited and intercut with hilariously snide subtitles, this may be preaching to the converted but there's an ark-load of laughs, such as when Arkansas senator Mark Pryor defends creationism only to obliviously add: 'You don't have to pass an IQ test to be in the Senate.' More...See also: Hitchens pitching religion pic at Hot Docs
When Church And State Collide
Malta's march towards nationhood was punctuated and in a sense defined by numerous instances of direct and indirect involvement of the Church in political issues. More...
Muhammad Cartoon Sold Off In Denmark
A Danish press freedom group it is selling copies of a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad that caused outrage across the Muslim World. More...
Al-Qaeda Terror Plot To Bomb Easter Shoppers
An al-Qaeda cell was days away from carrying out an "Easter spectacular" of co-ordinated suicide bomb attacks on shopping centres in Manchester, police believe. More...
Muslim Rioters Attack Christian Shops
Hundreds of Muslims have attacked Christian shops and a police station in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, following rumours that a Muslim man was stabbed and killed by his Christian landlords. More...
Saudi Judge Refuses To Annul 8-Year-Old's Marriage
US Soldier Killed In Iraq Bomb Blast
Video Of Girl's Flogging As Taliban Hand Out Justice
Suicide Bomber Kills 22 At Pakistan Mosque
Godless Groups Organize Around DFW Billboards
FFRF Unveils New Outdoor Bus Sign: Sleep In On Sundays
Entire Cosmos Series Is On Hulu (In US)
Cosmos was groundbreaking and still stands today as perhaps the greatest science/astronomy TV documentary ever made. More...
Christian Book Expo Attracts Few Customers
Stacks of unsold books and glum publishers stood for three days inside the cavernous Dallas Convention Center this past weekend at the Christian Book Expo, a first-of-its-kind event designed to connect publishers and authors directly with readers in the evangelical Christian market. Only problem was there were few readers to connect with, despite the show's location in Dallas, the buckle of the Bible Belt and a top market for Christian publishers. The show, sponsored by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, attracted 1,500 consumer attendees; it had hoped for 15,000-20,000. More...
Maryland 'Cult Mom' Plea Linked To Child's Resurrection
BALTIMORE -- Prosecutors agreed to some unusual terms to win a guilty plea from a former religious cult member charged with starving her 1-year-old son to death: If the child is resurrected, her plea will be withdrawn. More...See also: Experts: Cult member not insane despite odd plea
Vermont House Gives Preliminary OK To Gay Marriage
The bill has already cleared the state Senate. It passed on Thursday in a 95-52 House vote -- enough for approval but not enough to override a promised veto by Republican Gov. Jim Douglas. More...See also: NH House endorses gay marriage
Tax Funding For Baptist University Violates Kentucky Constitution, Says Americans United
Judge Dismisses Attempt To Remove 'One State Under God' From Texas Pledge
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. More...
Texas Education Board Approves Science Standards
Dispute Evolves On OU Speech By Scientist
State lawmakers hit the University of Oklahoma with a barrage of paperwork earlier this month, crafting resolutions to condemn the school for inviting a noted evolutionary biologist and requesting reams of information about his visit. More...
YouTube Has Banned The James Randi Educational Foundation!?!?
This is insane: YouTube has become an overzealous nanny, protecting kooks from offense, now banning the eminently respectable JREF. More...
U.N. Rights Council Passes Religious Defamation Resolution
Way Paved For Red Crystal Symbol
A new "red crystal" humanitarian symbol will gain the same status as the "red cross" and "red crescent" emblems under legislation going through the Commons. More...
Mexican Catholic Sex Abuse Probe Could Uncover More Victims
Apostasy Move Stirs Emotions In Quebec
MONTREAL -- Like most Quebecers of her generation, Sylvie Drouin was born into a Catholic family but stopped practising her religion years ago. "I was neither for nor against the Catholic Church," said the interior designer, now in her 50s. That was until a few weeks ago, when she and her husband were driving to the ski hills and heard a report on the Pope's comments discouraging condom use in Africa. More...See also: Facebook users wage condom campaign against Pope
Following Atheist Trend, Britons Seek 'De-Baptism'
The initiative launched by a group called the National Secular Society (NSS) follows atheist campaigns here and elsewhere, including a London bus poster which triggered protests by proclaiming "There's probably no God." More...
Second Coming For Brian
Thirty years after his comic crucifixion in The Life of Brian had religious leaders in Aberystwyth so hot under the dog collar that screenings of the film were banned in their town, Brian has finally beaten his censors. And so, one of the longest-delayed premieres in cinema history took place at the 120-seat Aberystwyth Arts Centre last night. More...See also: The Richard Dawkins of HollywoodLosing his religion, finding his material
'Crucifix' Killing In French Pilgrimage Town
A woman who thought she was the devil killed her elderly mother with a crucifix and other objects in the French Catholic pilgrimage town Lourdes, officials and press reports said Wednesday. More...
Abortion On Demand A Step Too Far For Spanish Right
Religious Fundamentalism Spreads... Beyond Islam
Israel FM: 'If You Want Peace, Prepare for War'
Israel's new foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman wasted no time in grabbing the headlines. The controversial and ultra nationalist politician has a reputation as a hardliner and a tough talker. He didn't disappoint on either front. More...
Bomber Attacks Afghan Police Headquarters
Deadly Blast Hits Pakistan Mosque
Iraq Bombing Leaves 22 Dead
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- At least 22 civilians were killed and 38 other people were wounded Thursday in a Baghdad car bombing, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said. More...
7 Filipino Soldiers Slain In Separatist Attack
(CNN) -- Seven soldiers were killed Friday when they were attacked by Muslim separatists in the southern Philippines, the military said. More...
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