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New Center Launches "Secular Sunday Schools"
(Washington, D.C., May 14, 2008) The Kochhar Humanist Education Center (KHEC) was launched today by the American Humanist Association at a Washington DC press conference. The new center is already developing curriculum for the humanist equivalent of Sunday schools, which include programs in ethics geared to serve the children of atheists, agnostics and freethinkers. It is also developing similar curriculums to serve high school and college students, parents and older adults. And to support this endeavor, the KHEC launched an online resource center, together with the first books of what will become a massive online freethought library. (Go to www.americanhumanist.org/khec/ to see it now.) "Religious organizations have long had educational programs and institutions for passing on their values to each new generation. These have included Sunday schools, private religious schools and an abundance of resources for parents," said Dr. Bob Bhaerman, education coordinator of the KHEC. "Now it's time for nontheistic people--whether they call themselves humanists, atheists, agnostics or even identify with a more traditionally religious label--to more effectively share their values with future generations and deepen the understanding of those values among adults." Those who spoke at the press conference were involved in the conception and creation of the KHEC. Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association, spoke first. Dr. Bhaerman, who is from Columbus, Ohio, concluded the event. Also speaking were New York City businessman Pritpal Kochhar, a humanist Sikh and major funder of the center, and Maggie Ardiente, former board member and current activist with the Secular Student Alliance. Copies of their remarks are available online at www.americanhumanist.org/khec/. Topics discussed included why the center is important in today's world, initial accomplishments and immediate plans, the rise of modern atheism and humanism that has spurred the development of the center, and the center's youth and student programs. Presenters also pointed to the "atheist Sunday School," an existing program of a chapter of the American Humanist Association that was covered by "Time" magazine and ABC "Nightline" in recent months. A major focus of the center's current activities involves developing curriculum units, lesson plans and instructional approaches for all age levels. Such curriculums aim to create understanding and build knowledge about humanism--its philosophy, principles and aspirations--and encourage scientific thinking, rational values, as well as activism toward freedom and social justice. The center is also acquiring a relevant library of children's books and developing citizen action guides to get individuals to apply their humanism to current political, social and educational issues. The online resource center utilizes compiled materials and will enable local groups and liberal religious congregations to adapt curriculum modules. There will be an online discourse on humanist education as well as a vast library of books that will be available for reading online, downloading or securing on convenient CDs. "Our hope is that this center will make humanist education accessible to all," said Roy Speckhardt. "Among other things, humanists see a need to defend minority faiths and philosophies from discrimination. And the best way to accomplish this is through education--not only education of people like us but also the wider public. We want to share our values with our children, refine our own sense of right and wrong, and promote understanding of our worldview among non-humanists. Thus we are working to fill a great need both inside and outside the humanist community." LINK
God-Free Podcast Poised to Reach 20,000 Listeners
As atheism grows in popularity, Americans are increasingly seeking out programming centered on the topic. This month, two nonreligious organizations are teaming up to satisfy that audience with a podcast series about reason and compassion without belief in God. "This isn't radio evangelism in reverse," said Duncan Crary, co-host of the Humanist Network News podcast. "We don't deliver atheist sermons and we don't proselytize. But we do interview some of the best minds of our day about religion, ethics and culture. And most of our guests openly identify as humanists or atheists." The Humanist Network News is a monthly one-hour talk show podcast dedicated to humanist thought, with topics ranging from politics to pop culture. Produced by the Albany, N.Y.-based Institute for Humanist Studies, the two-and-a-half-year-old podcast has attracted more than 10,000 listeners per month since October. The audience could soon double, thanks to a new partnership. This April, the American Humanist Association (AHA) adopted the Humanist Network News as "the official podcast of the AHA." The oldest and largest humanist organization in the country, the American Humanist Association is promoting the show to its 10,000 members and 130 chapters and affiliate groups across the nation. "We could have just created our own podcast," said AHA Executive Director Roy Speckhardt. "In the past, freethinkers and their organizations have been fiercely independent. But partnerships like this one are becoming more common, and they demonstrate a willingness among nonreligious Americans to work together on shared goals and to show their strength in numbers." Speckhardt and Crary both see the podcast as a powerful tool to introduce humanism to the roughly 30 million Americans who report to have "no religion." The Humanist Network News podcast has featured face-to-face interviews with such luminaries as Salman Rushdie, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Julia Sweeney (of Saturday Night Live fame). This month, the Humanist Network News traveled to Harvard University to interview Greg Graffin, lead singer of the punk rock band Bad Religion. On April 26, Graffin received the lifetime achievement award in cultural humanism, given by the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard, a local chapter of the AHA. "A lot of podcasts feature hard-to-hear phone interviews," Crary said. "But we're out there interviewing people in person. The sound quality is better and it's more fun for the listeners because they feel like we're taking them along with us." Using a portable setup, Crary and his co-host Jes Constantine have recorded interviews in all sorts of locations: celebrity lawyer Alan Dershowitz on a Harvard staircase, best-selling author Christopher Hitchens in a hotel bar, and folk singer Holly Near in a college campus alley. Other on-location interviews have featured children at a secularist summer camp and humanist students in India and Belgium. Another feature that sets the podcast apart from similar programs is its audio advice column for humanists, "Sweet Reason." Salman Rushdie had his question answered by "Sweet Reason" last May. "We're dealing with heavy topics like atheism, bioethics and the separation of religion and government," Crary said. "But we also have a laid back humorous side, too." To listen to the Humanist Network News podcast, visit: http://humaniststudies.org/podcast or http://americanhumanist.org/podcast. Transcripts of past programs are available. For information, contact Duncan Crary, Institute for Humanist Studies director of communications, 518-432-7820 x 5 or Fred Edwords, American Humanist Association director of communications, (202) 238-9088. LINK
Man Attacked Daughter For Religious Reasons, Court Told
New Zealand -- An Iraqi immigrant who attacked his daughter did so for religious reasons, a court was told today. --snip-- Ishak, a Syrian Christian, went into his 20-year-old daughter's room and confronted her about going out with a Muslim. --snip-- His lawyer, Sue Earl, said there were "huge cultural issues" and much shame was brought to a Syrian Christian family if they married a Muslim. Ishak's daughter would have been excommunicated from the family, Ms Earl said. The shame in the community of his daughter marrying a Muslim would have been worse than a conviction. More...
Apostasy Punishable By Death: Top Adhaalath Scholar
The leader of the religious Adhaalath party scholars' council has said he advocates the death penalty for those who convert from Islam to another religion, as well as amputation of hands for certain types of theft. More...
Saudi Arabia: Stop Trials For 'Insulting' Islam
NEW YORK -- Courts in Jeddah should dismiss cases against a Saudi web critic and a Turkish barber charged with "insulting" Islam, an unequivocal violation of freedom of expression protected under international law, Human Rights Watch said today. The Saudi man used his website to criticize the religious police while the Turkish barber is accused of cursing the name of God. More...
Curfew Crackdown After Deadly Indian Bomb Blasts
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Police imposed a curfew in Jaipur on Wednesday, a day after near-simultaneous bomb attacks in the ancient Indian city killed at least 63 people and wounded more than 200. --snip-- Home ministry officials suspect the Islamic militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJi) of being behind the attacks, according to CNN's sister network CNN-IBN and the Press Trust of India. No one has claimed responsibility. More...
Suicide Bomber Kills 22 Near Mourners
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- At least 22 people were killed and 40 wounded in a suicide bombing Wednesday evening in Abu Ghraib, Iraq, an Interior Ministry official said. --snip-- In a separate incident, a female suicide bomber attacked an Iraqi army checkpoint south of Baghdad and killed two Iraqi soldiers Wednesday, an Interior Ministry official said. More...
New Tactics In Taliban Killing Season
14 Hurt In Gaza Rocket Attack On Israeli City
ASHKELON, Israel - A rocket fired from Gaza exploded in a shopping center in this southern Israeli city Wednesday, wounding at least 14 people, just as Israel's leader wrapped up talks in Jerusalem with visiting President Bush. More...See also: Gaza Rocket Rocks Bush's Israel Trip
Lebanon Officials Reverse Decisions That Set Off Violence
BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- Lebanon's Cabinet on Wednesday reversed two decisions that triggered violence among anti-government Hezbollah militants last week: the firing of the chief of security at Beirut's airport and the order that Hezbollah's telecommunications system come under state control, according to a statement released by Cabinet members. More...See also: Saudis Sends Sharp Warning to Iran Over Lebanon
Another Polygamist Sect Investigated In Texas
CLYDE, Texas (AP) -- Behind guarded, ornate gates at the end of a rural road, a self-proclaimed prophet warns his followers about the end of time and rails against a dangerous and unclean world outside their West Texas compound. --snip-- But this isn't the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' ranch.... --snip-- This is the House of Yahweh... More...
Pastors Urged To Preach About Politics
NEW YORK -- Conservative legal advocates are recruiting pastors nationwide to defy an IRS ban on preaching about politicians, in a challenge they hope will abolish the restriction. More...
Governor Gets Religious Expression Bill
OKLAHOMA CITY - Gov. Brad Henry's desk is the next stop for legislation given final approval by the Oklahoma House Monday that supporters said will protect students' rights to express their religious viewpoints in public school classrooms. More...
Debate Over Separation Of Mosque And State Sparks Death Threats
At a charter school in Minnesota, what should have been a "call the lawyers" dispute over religion in the classroom has escalated into a "call the FBI" imbroglio involving death threats against school officials. More...
Church Tempts Worshippers With Free Gas
SNELLVILLE, Ga. -- In an attempt to draw in new members, a church in Snellville set up a sign that read "Free Gasoline." More...
Einstein Letter Calls Bible 'Pretty Childish'
LONDON - Albert Einstein: arch rationalist or scientist with a spiritual core? A letter being auctioned in London this week adds more fuel to the long-simmering debate about the Nobel Prize-winning physicist's religious views. In the note, written the year before his death, Einstein dismissed the idea of God as the product of human weakness and the Bible as "pretty childish." More...
Virgin Mary Sightings Draw Believers To SoCal Desert
California City -- Scores of worshippers flocked to a desolate spot in the Mojave Desert today to honor a special lady -- the Virgin Mary. On the 13th of every month, visitors say, the Virgin Mary appears and speaks to a woman named Maria Paula Acuna at a barren site known as Our Lady of the Rock. Crowds have gathered here, about 10 miles north of California City, for nearly 20 years. More...See also: California Man Believes He Sees Virgin Mary In Wound
'Darth Vader' Spared Jail In Jedi Church Attacks
(AP) A man who dressed up as Darth Vader, wearing a garbage bag for a cape, and assaulted the founders of a group calling itself the Jedi church was given a suspended sentence Tuesday. More...
Vatican: It's OK To Believe In Aliens
Church Punishes Priests But Protects Bishops, Critics Say
Doing more, a lot more, is just what Catholic activists want the church hierarchy to do about bishops who have covered up cases of sexual abuse. More...
The Preacher's Wife
(CBS) Ever since Matt Baker's wife Kari died suddenly in April 2006 at the age of 31, the Baptist preacher has lived under a cloud of suspicion. Is he an innocent man unfairly accused as his followers and friends believe? Or is he hiding a terrible dark secret? More...
'My Daughter Deserved To Die For Falling In Love'
For Abdel-Qader Ali there is only one regret: that he did not kill his daughter at birth. 'If I had realised then what she would become, I would have killed her the instant her mother delivered her,' he said with no trace of remorse. More...
Bomb Blasts Kill Dozens In India
(AP) A series of bombs exploded across the ancient city of Jaipur on Tuesday, killing at least 60 people and transforming busy markets, a jewelry bazaar and a Hindu temple into scenes of carnage. --snip-- Indian authorities have blamed Pakistan-based Islamic extremist groups for a spate of bombings that have killed nearly 400 people in this predominantly Hindu country of 1.1 billion people since 2005. Pakistan, an overwhelmingly Muslim country, denies any role in the bombings. More...
11 Dead As Truce Ends In Sadr City
Another D-Day For Pakistan Over Militants
KARACHI - With the Taliban believed to have launched all of their fighters into Afghanistan and with tribal militants led by Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud faced off against the Pakistani armed forces, the issue becomes just how far Washington and its allies will be prepared to expand the war theater. More...See also: 'This will get bloody and nasty'Partner Leaves Pakistan's Cabinet
Clashes Continue In Lebanon For 5th Day
Kids, Mom Live With Corpse 2 Months; Religious Leader Said She'd Come To Life
MADISON, Wis. - Two children and their mother lived for about two months with the decaying body of a 90-year-old woman on the toilet of their home's only bathroom, on the advice of a religious "superior" who claimed the corpse would come back to life, authorities said Friday. --snip-- The house smelled of incense and burned wood, and had religious materials everywhere and hymns playing on the stereo, according to the complaint. --snip-- Lewis told the deputy that Middlesworth had died about two months earlier, but that God told her Middlesworth would come to life if she prayed hard enough. --snip-- She said she propped Middlesworth on the toilet and left the room to call Bushey, who told her to leave the woman alone and pray for her, the complaint said. He said he had received signs that God would raise her from the dead with a miracle. --snip-- The boy at the house told a detective he had considered running away because he was uncomfortable with the situation. He said Bushey told him that demons were trying to make it look as if Middlesworth wouldn't come back to life, and that if she were to be discovered he and the girl would have to go to public school and get jobs because Middlesworth paid the bills. More...
Blasphemy Laws Are Lifted
Britain's ancient laws of blasphemy have been abolished by MPs. More...
Pope: Sex Can Become 'Like A Drug'
VATICAN CITY, Italy (AP) -- Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged Saturday that the Vatican's teaching against birth control was difficult as he praised a 1968 Church document that condemned contraception. More...
Lebanese P.M.: Hezbollah Staged A Coup
Militant Rockets From Gaza Land In Israel
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Palestinian militants fired eight rockets into Israel early Saturday from Gaza, the Israeli military said. More...
Cease-Fire Reached In Baghdad's Sadr City
Sudanese Government Defeats Rebels, Source Says
(CNN) -- The Sudanese government said Saturday that it had defeated members of a rebel group in fighting outside the capital of Khartoum, and Sudanese television broadcast pictures of dead rebel fighters and torched vehicles, said sources in the northern Darfur town of El Fasher. --snip-- Sudan suffered through a 22-year civil war that ended in 2005. Two million people died, and an estimated 4 million others were driven from their homes. The war pitted a government dominated by Arab Muslims in northern Sudan against black Christians and animists in the south. More...
Justice In The Brain: Equity And Efficiency Are Encoded Differently
ScienceDaily -- Which is better, giving more food to a few hungry people or letting some food go to waste so that everyone gets a share" A study appearing in Science finds that most people choose the latter, and that the brain responds in unique ways to inefficiency and inequity. More...
Humanists Decry Faith-Based Trickery By Wisconsin Village
(Washington, D.C., May 9, 2008) The American Humanist Association cried foul today over what it calls "faith-based sleight of hand" by the village board of Holmen, Wisconsin. The village owns land upon which sits a Christian cross that is illuminated during Lent. When a local resident complained in March that this constitutes local government endorsement of religion in violation of the U.S. Constitution, the village opted in a closed-door meeting to sell a tiny, 30 foot by 33 foot, plot of land under the cross to the local Lion's Club, which would then maintain the cross on this parcel surrounded on all four sides by village property. In response, two organizations, the American Humanist Association and Freedom From Religion Foundation, each bid up to double the amount for the land than the $600 offered by the Lion's Club. Therefore, before the sale could be voted on officially by the village board, there were three bids up for consideration. The American Humanist Association and Freedom From Religion Foundation each pledged to take the cross down if they acquired ownership. But last night, May 8, the Holmen, Wisconsin, Village Board met in a public meeting and voted unanimously, without discussion, to award the controversial Star Hill site to the Holmen Village Lions Club, the lowest bidder. "The Village of Holmen simply ignored the fact that there were other bids and ignored the public controversy that has raged for weeks in the local media," said Fred Edwords, director of communications for the American Humanist Association. "The village board clearly wants the cross to remain where it is. Otherwise there's no reason to put on blinders and award the site to the lowest bidder. This is all about government support for religion." American Humanist Association legal counsel Bob Ritter added: "To any onlooker, the cross will still appear to be on public land. So this was a sham sale that followed a closed-door sweetheart deal that was settled from the beginning. No fair hearing was given to other viewpoints. We aren't surprised by this faith-based sleight of hand, but we had hoped that Holmen officials might rise above religious favoritism and back-door politics." Edwords said further: "This isn't the first time government has made a maneuver such as this to keep a religious symbol on public property. Humanists have been fighting the same tactic at Mount Soledad in San Diego, California, for nearly two decades. And there are other communities with crosses on public land. These crosses are maintained at taxpayer expense. So now there is a risk that, if this gambit proves successful in the end, communities all over America will duplicate this same faith-based trick. This is why we have taken action to stop it here." In harmony with humanist opinion, and that of church-state separation groups, judicial rulings have consistently declared the cross to be a sectarian religious symbol and have found its placement on government-owned land a clear breach in the Jeffersonian wall separating church and state. The American Humanist Association is now contemplating legal action. LINK
Frankenmuth Says No To Removing Cross
FRANKENMUTH -- The hot political issue in Mid-Michigan is all about religion. A group asked the Frankenmuth City Coucil to remove the cross from it's shield, a request that the council members denied. More...
Americans United Condemns Religious Right Plot To Politicize Pulpits
A Religious Right group's plan to ask churches to violate federal tax law on electioneering is deplorable, according to Americans United for Separation of Church and State. More...
Apocalyptic Sect Leader Released From Jail
(AP) The leader of an apocalyptic sect accused of sex crimes against underage female followers was released from jail Friday after bond was posted, authorities said. More...
Don't Speak: Doomsday Cult Communicates Using Psalms And Notes
The members of a Russian doomsday cult are reportedly refusing to talk with the outside world and will only communicate by singing or using written notes. More...
Lebanon On The Brink As Violence Erupts
25 Killed In Iraq As Rockets Shatter Basra Calm
Malaysian Woman Can Leave Islam
A religious court in Malaysia has allowed a Muslim convert to leave the Islamic faith, in what is being hailed as a landmark ruling. More...
Top Billing For Platypus At End Of Evolution Tree
A draft sequence of the platypus genome reveals reptilian and mammalian elements and provides more evidence for its place in the ancestral line of animal evolution. More...
FreeThoughtAction Hero Of The Day - 05/08/08
Sir David Frederick Attenborough (born May 8, 1926) According to Wikipedia, Attenborough "is one of the world's most acclaimed broadcasters and naturalists. Widely considered one of the pioneers of the nature documentary, his career as the respected face and voice of British natural history programmes has endured for more than 50 years. He is best known for writing and presenting the nine 'Life' series, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, which collectively form a comprehensive survey of all terrestrial life. He is also a former senior manager at the BBC, having served as controller of BBC Two and director of programming for BBC Television in the 1960s and 1970s..... "In a December 2005 interview with Simon Mayo on BBC Radio Five Live, Attenborough stated that he considers himself an agnostic..... "Attenborough was asked if he at any time had any religious faith. He replied simply, 'No.'"
Church Of Oprah: New Religion?
JACKSON, Miss. -- She's the queen of daytime TV, and one of the richest women in the world, but is Oprah Winfrey starting her own religion? More...
Americans Try Praying At The Pump
WASHINGTON (AFP) - At a Shell gas station in Washington, Rocky Twyman and an unusual group of activists were mad as hell about soaring fuel prices. --snip-- "Prayer is the answer to every problem in life... We call on God to intervene in the lives of the selfish, greedy people who are keeping these prices high," Twyman said on the gas station forecourt in a neighborhood of Washington that, like many of its residents, has seen better days. More...
Fla. Teacher Accused Of Wizardry
LAND 'O LAKES, Fla. -- A substitute teacher in Pasco County has lost his job after being accused of wizardry. More...
N.M. Sect Leader Refusing To Eat, Drink In Jail
Records Offer Glimpse Into Polygamist Families
SAN ANTONIO - An Associated Press analysis of the records, which authorities seized in a raid last month, show that by the time a girl reached 16, she was more likely to be married than to live as a child in her father's household. The same was not true for boys. More...
Losing Faith In Modern America
Growing up in what remains the most religious country in the West, Dan Barker, a former evangelical minister and one of the most prominent and politically active atheists in America today, possesses a unique story of "deconversion". More...
Churchgoing On Its Knees As Christianity Falls Out Of Favour
Church attendance in Britain is declining so fast that the number of regular churchgoers will be fewer than those attending mosques within a generation, research published today suggests. More...
Pressure Mounts In Vatican Over Catholic Church Abuse
THE Pope is set to make a historic apology to tens of thousands of Australians sexually and physically abused by Catholic priests when he visits Australia in July. More...
Gunbattles Break Out In Beirut
Somalis Say Ethiopian Troops Killed 17 Civilians
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- Islamist insurgents attacked two Ethiopian troop convoys, and the soldiers responded by turning on civilians and killing at least 17 of them in rural Somalia, witnesses said Thursday. More...
Taleban Return To Attacking Girls' Schools In Afghanistan
Iraqis Report Capture Of Al Qaeda In Iraq Leader
How Africa Is Breeding Terror
With the Middle East under intense scrutiny from the West terrorists are shifting base to the African continent, where weak governments and corruption guarantee them easier penetration. More...
Underground Sport: Saudi Women Shed Veils To Play Basketball
(AP) The players bounded into the gym, shedding their long black cloaks and veils to take to the basketball court. Up this night: Jeddah United against the Jaguars, as 30 women spectators hooted and hollered from the stands. More...
Life After Jehovah's Witnesses: Website Offers Help
It was only when Rachel Underhill was lying in a hospital bed, haemorrhaging, that she first realised the way of the Watchtower might not be for her. More...
German Scientology Church Drops Court Challenge
BERLIN -- Germany's branch of the Church of Scientology said Tuesday it had dropped a legal battle in Muenster to prevent the nation's domestic intelligence services from monitoring its activities. More...
'We Are Not Rooted In Religion'
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan talks to Owen Matthews about Islam, modernity and Turkey's role in Israel-Syria communications. More...
Ahmadinejad Under Fire From Iran's Clerics
IRAN'S president has alarmed the nation's conservative clerics with remarks suggesting he believes a mystical Shiite religious leader backs his government. More...
Platypus Genome Explains Animal's Peculiar Features
ScienceDaily -- The duck-billed platypus: part bird, part reptile, part mammal -- and the genome to prove it. More...
Ellen Johnson Leaves Position As President Of American Atheists
Following over 13 years of outstanding service to American Atheists and the cause of State-Church Separation, Ellen Johnson is leaving her post as President of the organization. More...
The Emerging Moral Psychology
Experimental results are beginning to shed light on the psychological foundations of our moral beliefs. More...
Ex-follower: 'Messiah' Wanted To Bed 7 Virgins
CLAYTON, New Mexico (AP) -- For 16 years, he followed a man who calls himself Michael, finally settling along with other families on a former ranch in a remote corner of New Mexico. There were red flags along the way, but John Sayer didn't break away from the apocalyptic church until late 2005. Michael "said God told him that he was supposed to sleep with seven virgins," recalled Sayer, 36. Two were to be Sayer's daughters, then 14 and 15. More...
U.S. Heightens Fight With Shiite Militias
(CBS/AP) A U.S. Air Force gunship strafed Shiite extremists who attacked U.S. soldiers in Baghdad on Monday, and the military said it killed at least nine militants in recent clashes in the capital. Iraqi health officials on Monday said 41 that people, including women and children, have been wounded since Sunday in the militia stronghold of Sadr City, where U.S. and Iraqi forces are battling the followers of radical anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. More... |
