Tuesday Religion and Atheism Report (01/27)

Tags

abuse, anglican, asexual, astrobiology, atheism, atheists, bible, bill, boko haram, canada, charlie hebdo, child, climate, corruption, deception, discrimination, environment, french, gay marriage, god, movement, muslims, pastors, religion, republicans, school, science, south africa, technology, violence

No, Astrobiology Has Not Made the Case for God

The opportunities for the development of life in various systems, and the possible forms of life we know of, have exploded. [Read more]

Some of You Are Lying About Going to Church

That’s what sociology professor Philip Brenner discovered in 2011 when he published research showing that Americans “exaggerate their frequency of attendance” at weekly worship services. [Read more]

Are You Living in a “Bible-Minded City?”

Most of the top spots are held by cities in the South while most of the most biblically-challenged cities are in the North. [Read more]

I’m an Atheist, But I Have No Interest in Joining Your ‘Movement’

I do understand the desire to feel like part of a community of like-minded believers: that’s what most people turn to religion for in the first place. [Read more]

Anglican Leader Condemns Violence Against Foreigners in South Africa

The Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town has condemned recent shooting, looting and killing in South Africa’s biggest city aimed at African immigrant communities and described by some critics as xenophobia. [Read more]

French Muslims Have Faced More Violence Since Charlie Hebdo Than They Did in All of 2014

The Islamophobia monitoring group, linked to the French Council of the Muslim Faith, notes the figure only takes into account incidents reported to law enforcement. [Read more]

Texas Used Junk Science to Restrict Abortion

On Jan. 7, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5^th Circuit heard oral arguments in a Texas case challenging the constitutionality of an abortion law, H.B. 2, that has shuttered half the abortion clinics in the state. [Read more]

Boko Haram and a Nation Collapsing Under the Weight of Corruption, Deception and Religion

News came in that Islamists terrorist group, Boko Haram, has struck again, this time in the city of Maiduguri. [Read more]

Gay Marriage Case May Affect Discrimination, Religion Bills

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to take up constitutional challenges to a gay marriage ban in Michigan, however, may intensify pressure on lawmakers from both the LGBT community and social conservatives. [Read more]

Why Don’t Republicans Want to Allow Pastors to Endorse from Pulpit?

Religious conservatives are rallying around religious liberty issues, including the rights of churches to get involved in politics. [Read more]

Teacher Suing School District, Says Atheism Led to Firing

A former teacher at an Elkhart County high school is suing the school district, saying he was fired because he’s an atheist. [Read more]

The New Culture Wars Are About National Identity, Not Religion

The old culture war politics is dying but new culture wars are gathering force. The transformation of the battlefield will change our public life. [Read more]

The End of Religion: Technology and the Future

History is littered with dead gods. The Greek and Roman gods, and thousands of others have perished. Yet Allah, Yahweh, Krishna and a few more survive. [Read more]

Organized Religion Creates Enemies

Extreme and hateful actions, sometimes murder, by Christians, Muslims or others claiming to operate at their creator’s commands, are causing sensible people to abandon organized religion. [Read more]

The Other Religiously-Abused Canadian Child

Now that Makaya Sault has died from her untreated leukemia, there’s another 11-year-old first Nations Child from Ontario getting “alternative” treatment, and she’ll also die from the same disease unless someone intervenes. [Read more]

Jesus vs. Koch Bros. in Kansas

I’m no Koch fan. Nor am I a conservative Christian. I do indeed find it believable that some big-money types have hoped to co-opt religious conservatives to get their votes. [Read more]

Five Good Things About Atheism

Atheism is probably right: there is almost certainly no God. At least not the kind of pluriform god described by the world’s religions. [Read more]

Survey | Believers, Sympathizers, and Skeptics: Why Americans are Conflicted about Climate Change, Environmental Policy, and Science

More than one-quarter (26%) of Americans say there is no solid evidence that the earth’s temperature has been rising over the past few decades. We call this group climate change “Skeptics.” [Read more]

#FtBCon 3: Asexual Spectrum Atheists Panel, and Youtube Comments Brigaded

The book mentioned is Asexuality: The Invisible Orientation by Julia Sondra Decker, and here are some links the panelists wanted to include.

[Read more]