Thursday Religion and Atheist Report 10/02/2014

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Atheists Aren’t the Problem, Christian Intolerance Is the Problem

If Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee’s disparagement of atheists was just the ranting of a tinpot politician turned Fox News bloviator, it could be left without comment or fuss. [Read more]

Why It Is the Non-Religious Who Can, and Must, Save the World

The arrival of the Sunday Assembly can be seen as the final stage of progress for nonbelievers, a maturing so to speak, where we move from an intellectual movement to a practical one and claim our rightful place in the public square. [Read more]

Religion’s Role in Politics: Allah, Atheism, and Congress

Arguments have come up time and time again about the presence of religion in the political decisions of America’s leaders, about religious agendas influencing health policy, and about the potential for discrimination in politics based on religion. [Read more]

Atheist Group’s Ad to Appear on COLTS Bus

At least three times since 2012, COLTS has rejected another ad proposed by the organization that would have displayed the word “atheists” in large print above the group’s name and website. [Read more]

Tensions at Episcopal Church’s Oldest Seminary Reflect Larger Crisis in Future of Theology Schools

Nearly the entire full-time faculty at the Episcopal Church’s oldest seminary is battling with the school’s leadership, although neither side agrees whether the professors quit, were fired or staged a walkout. [Read more]

An Appeal To Reason

Mich. City’s Decision To Block Atheist Display While Permitting Christian Ones Sparks Lawsuit. [Read more]

The Politics of Bible Translations

The Bible you carry is a political act. By “Bible” I mean the Translation of the Bible you carry is a political act. [Read more]

Historian Claims “Jesus Never Existed”

If creationists can deny the existence of mountains of evidence for evolution, is it really outrageous for Paulkovich to mention what he claims is a lack of evidence regarding Jesus? [Read more]

Pennsylvania’s Catholic Bishops Forbid Boys to Wrestle Girls

Pennsylvania’s Roman Catholic bishops have adopted a policy requiring boys on the wrestling teams of Catholic schools or youth organizations to forfeit matches against female opponents. [Read more]

Radicalized Right-Wing Activists Pledging Allegiance to Dangerous Agenda

“Obama’s agenda is not based on the Bible,” Santorum said. “Iran is dangerous because it’s a theocracy,” warned Cruz. It doesn’t take a clinical psychologist to detect the cognitive dissonance that the combined statements display. [Read more]

Protecting Free Speech is Worth Fighting For

I had come from Chicago to defend free speech and oppose an archaic, unconstitutional blasphemy law that was being enforced by a rogue District Attorney in Bedford, Pennsylvania. [Read more]

Minnesota Catholic Conference Opposes MSHSL Transgender Policy

A pair of religious groups is rallying against a controversial policy on transgender student-athletes that goes before the Minnesota State High School League board Wednesday. [Read more]

US Cardinal Raymond Burke Mounts Defense on Catholic Teaching on Divorce

Public disagreements over whether the Roman Catholic Church can change its teachings on Communion for remarried Catholics are growing sharper on the eve of a major Vatican summit. [Read more]

Prayers for Eastern Christians Become Easier Sell for Evangelicals

Many Protestants, and evangelicals in particular, “have grown up with biases against Catholics and Orthodox that have been based upon an assumption that their brand of Christianity is more cultural in orientation than it is spiritually vital,” said Rob Nash. [Read more]

Christian Group Wants NC Marriage Limit Preserved

Christian conservatives who helped pass a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in North Carolina are gathering again in Raleigh to try to keep the prohibition defended in court. [Read more]

Bible Museum Under Construction in Washington

The new museum will have standing exhibits on the history and impact of the Bible as well as interactive features to bring viewers into Bible stories and characters. [Read more]

US School Accused of Purging Christian Books at California Campus

The Springs Charter School in Temecula, California has pulled the books from its  libraries saying it does do not allow “sectarian materials on our state-authorized lending shelves,” Fox News reported. [Read more]

Discriminate Against Atheists!

Agnostics aren’t atheists. Agnostics don’t know whether a god exists or not and it is a fair response to the lack of evidence. [Read more]

Madison Co. School Under Fire About Religious Quotes on Statue

The national news media has descended on Danielsville in the wake of two humanists groups challenging the placement of a statue with religious symbolism at the Madison County High School football field. [Read more]

Idaho Polygamous Sect Member Gets 90 Days on Child Injury Charges

The case against Nathan Jessop stems from his role in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or FLDS, as the assigned caretaker of youths expelled to his so-called “repentance home” for their supposed misbehavior. [Read more]

7 Practical Ideas for Building Compassionate Communities

Before state-funded programs and large insurance companies, many people turned to community networks for services like health care, unemployment aid, and education. [Read more]

The Case Against Empathy

Yale University professor of psychology and cognitive science Paul Bloom thinks a lot gray resides in such a black-and-white definition, and that there is more danger than good adopting such a simplistic view of empathy. [Read more]

ISIS is the Antithesis of Hajj, the Holy Pilgrimage

Every year during the time of hajj a feeling of nostalgia overcomes me as the media begins covering one of the world’s largest annual religious gatherings. [Read more]

World Churches’ Body Head Praises Muslim Scholars′ Letter Condemning IS

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit has welcomed publication of an open letter by 126 Muslim scholars to Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, leader of the self-proclaimed “Islamic State” condemning its actions. [Read more]

Iran Executes Man for Heresy

Mohsen Amir-Aslani convicted of insulting prophet Jonah and making ‘innovations in religion’ through interpretations of Qur’an. [Read more]

Europe Tries to Stop Flow of Citizens Joining Jihad

Peter Neumann, director of the International Center for the Study of Radicalization at King’s College London, said the potential for new violence in Europe had increased. [Read more]

The Destruction of Mecca

The dominant architectural site in the city is not the Sacred Mosque, where the Kaaba, the symbolic focus of Muslims everywhere, is. [Read more]

Saudi Overhaul Reshapes Islam’s Holiest City Mecca

As a child, Osama al-Bar would walk from his home past Islam’s holiest site, the Kaaba, to the market of spice and fabric merchants where his father owned a store. [Read more]

Israeli Airline Urged to Stop ‘Bullying’ of Women by Ultra-Orthodox Passengers

Petition organiser says airline should find way to accommodate religious requirements without breaching other people’s rights. [Read more]

Jewish Professors Hit Back Against Pro-Israel Campus ‘Blacklist’

A Jewish advocacy group is warning students about 218 Middle East studies professors in colleges and universities across the country whose classes might contain “anti-Israel bias, or possibly even antisemitic rhetoric.” [Read more]

It’s True, Dungeons & Dragons Ruins Your Life

D&D was forbidden. Like tarot cards, Ouija boards, and even ordinary playing cards, anything to do with magic or mysterious symbols was presumed to be imbued with evil forces. [Read more]

Woman Who Complained Against Christian Group Claims She’s Facing Threats

A Southeast Texas woman claims she’s facing un-Christian behavior from supporters of a Christian group. [Read more]

Skeletons Shed Light on Ancient Earthquake in Israel

Archaeologists have uncovered startling evidence of a severe earthquake that rumbled more than 1,700 years ago in the region of the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus performed most of the miracles described in the New Testament. [Read more]

Archaeologists Discover Two Long Lost Ancient Maya Cities in Jungle of Mexico

In an amazing new discovery in the jungles of Mexico, archaeologists have uncovered two ancient Mayan cities, including ruined pyramid temples, palace remains, a monster mouth gateway, a ball court, altars, and other stone monuments. [Read more]

Fight for Growing Pentecostal Vote in Brazil

Brazil’s rapid religious transformation is reverberating through the country’s tight presidential race, where abortion and gay marriage have emerged as hot-button issues and Pentecostal televangelists could be political power brokers. [Read more]

My Stanford University Press Blog Post on the Hobby Lobby Decision and Its Implications for Religious Freedom and the Rights of People Organized as Corporations

I also addressed claims that corporations are not protected by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, because they are not capable of engaging in the “free exercise” of religion. [Read more]

9 Ways to Prevent Artificial Intelligence from Inheriting the Earth

As Artificial Intelligence grows increasingly sophisticated, there’s reason to consider an outcome that is well worth preparing for, even if not everyone agrees it’s necessary. [Read more]

Doctor Who and Faith: Bigger on the Inside

I watched a video on YouTube, entitled 50 Years Of Humanism. As the title implies, its apparent purpose was to celebrate Doctor Who as a paragon of secular humanist identity. [Read more]

CBS Bans Atheist Group’s Ad Advocating for Separation of Church and State

CBS has refused to air a 30-second spot featuring Ron Reagan, that asks for viewers to support the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

[Read more]

Mr Deity and The Help

Lucy talks with Mr. Deity about all the help he’s been giving people in the wealthier countries of the world.

[Read more]