Friday Atheist and Religion Report

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Why This Atheist is Going to Seminary

For more than two years, I’ve hunted earnestly to find a secular or Humanist community that mirrored my involvement at a Catholic Church. And, as much as I regret to admit, nothing in the non-religious world comes close. [Read more]

If You’re an Atheist, What Exactly Do You Believe (Or Not Believe)?

In textbook terms, the description “atheist” falls under the larger umbrella of a “nontheist” – that is, a person who does not believe in a higher power, supreme being or supernatural entities. [Read more]

Former Fundamentalist Exposes the Christian Right’s Bizarre PR Sham

You can’t threaten, vilify or bully someone into liking you. In simpler times, stories of persecution and Christian supremacy were delivered in sermons and badly written books, but a recent batch of films has hit theaters. [Read more]

Group Pursues ‘In God We Trust’ W.Va. Plate

A Randolph County nonprofit can begin accepting applications for a specialty license plate bearing the phrase “In God we trust.” [Read more]

Mark Driscoll Resigns from Mars Hill Church

The divisive Seattle pastor had announced his plan to step aside for at least six weeks in August while his church investigated the charges against him. Driscoll’s resignation came shortly after the church concluded its investigation. [Read more]

Young Cancer Patient Who Used Faith-Based Treatment Instead of Life-Saving Chemotherapy Has Suffered a Relapse

Makayla no longer wanted to continue the chemo and her Ojibwe/First Nations parents were more than happy to oblige, seeking out useless faith-based treatments instead. [Read more]

It’s All Out Of Love – Murder for God

Read the bible and count the number of murders committed by god. A guy by the name of Steve Wells did just that. His book “Drunk With Blood – God’s killings in the Bible” is a great read, and clearly lays out the murderous rampage of the christian’s “loving” deity. [Read more]

Influential Right-Wing Anti-Porn Rabbi Arrested for Voyeurism

Barry Freundel is far from the first self-righteous religious conservative to be outed as a hypocrite. [Read more]

Despite Efforts, the IRS Can’t 
Provide Freedom from Religion

The IRS was caught red-handed last year trying to obstruct anti-abortion groups, tea party organizations and others – mostly conservatives – who wanted to communicate and influence policy. [Read more]

Young U.S. Catholics Overwhelmingly Accepting of Homosexuality

The Roman Catholic Church signaled a more accepting stance toward gay people in a report bishops released during the Vatican’s synod on the family this week. [Read more]

Religion Continues to Cause Disruption in ‘Trojan Horse’ Schools

A school placed in special measures following the Birmingham ‘Trojan Horse’ affair has received 100 letters from parents requesting that their children be withdrawn from collective worship, it has emerged. [Read more]

Taking Witchcraft and Possessions Seriously with Philip Almond

If a physician’s first pledge is to “do no harm,” then the scholar of religion must vow to “take religion seriously.” [Read more]

Houston Demands Sermons of Pastors Who Opposed Pro-Gay Discrimination Law

The City of Houston, led by openly homosexual mayor Annise Parker, has subpoenaed the sermons and other communications of area pastors who opposed a pro-homosexual “non-discrimination” city ordinance passed this summer, and who have led a campaign for its repeal. [Read more]

How Seeing the Internet as Reality Fuels Murderous ISIL Success and Recruitment

Ever since the Pentagon started talking about Isis as apocalyptic, I’ve suspected that websites and blogs and YouTube are taking over from reality. [Read more]

Female British Muslims as Vulnerable to Radicalisation as Men, Study Shows

Research into early stages of process follows reports of girls and women travelling to Syria to join Isis fighters and have children. [Read more]

Nigeria’s ‘Megachurches’: A Hidden Pillar of Africa’s Top Economy

Hundreds of millions of dollars change hands each year in these popular Pentecostal houses of worship, which are modeled on their counterparts in the United States. [Read more]

Churches to Begin Global Talks on Thorny Topic of ‘Mission and Proselytism’

A plan for global talks on one of Christianity’s most enduring and complex issues – that of ‘mission and proselytism’ – was set in motion at a Global Christian Forum-convened meeting in Strasbourg, France, recently. [Read more]

Middle Easterners See Religious and Ethnic Hatred as Top Global Threat

With growing conflicts engulfing the Middle East, people in the region name religious and ethnic hatred most frequently as the greatest threat to the world. [Read more]

Where Did the First Light in the Universe Come From? Hubble Discovery Reveals Clues

A compact galaxy some 3 billion light-years away is shedding light, shedding light on how stars formed during when our universe was young. [Read more]

Scientists Find That Life After Death May Be Real

After spending four years studying more than 2,000 people who suffered cardiac arrests at 15 hospitals in the Britain, the United States and Austria, researchers found that a person may have some level of awareness even after death. [Read more]

Science and Faith Have Exchanged Places But God is Not Dead Among the Philosophers

Gary Gutting has spent the course of this year picking the brains of philosophers about religion and non-belief. Gutting is himself a philosopher and a Catholic who does not see the two as incompatible. [Read more]

Luke’s Genealogy Compared with Matthew and the Old Testament

The genealogy in the Gospel of Luke goes all the way back to Adam and is almost twice as long as Matthew’s, listing 77 generations. Luke’s view of Jesus, purpose for writing, and access to manuscripts were quite different. [Read more]

Bryan Fischer: Theocratic Creationist

Creationism rarely exists as a stand-alone issue in the brains of its followers. There’s almost always a vast collection of craziness swirling around in the minds of such people. [Read more]

HSLDA on Old School House Cover-Up: We’re Not “the Police Force of the Homeschooling Movement”

Nearly a week after allegations about a widespread cover-up of physical and sexual child abuse in the Christian homeschooling community were disclosed, the Home School Legal Defense Association has issued a statement on their involvement. [Read more]