April 05 Religion and Atheism News Digest

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2050, american atheists, americans, atheists, bible, bill o'reilly, book, christianity, christians, divisive, free will, freedom, genesis, girl, gita, gnosis, humanity, islamophobia, julian baggini, ken ham, killing jesus, laws, liberia, litigation, movie, muslim, no religion, population, president, prophetic, protection, robert price, secularism, state, tower of babel, USA, violence, wisconsin, woman

American Atheists President: ‘Inevitable’ US Will Have Atheist President

The role of religion in government is once again front-and-center in the United States following the controversial religious freedoms law in Indiana.

What Stops Atheists from Violence?

Phil Robertson, controversial star of A&E’s Duck Dynasty, recently chose a bizarre way to try to prove that atheists have no morals. He concocted a brutally violent rape scenario.

Why People with No Religion Are Projected to Decline As a Share of the World’s Population

For years, the percentage of Americans who do not identify with any religion has been rising, a trend similar to what has been happening in much of Europe (including the United Kingdom).

Christianity on Course to Be Minority Religion in UK

Christians will be a minority in the UK by the middle of his century amid surging growth in atheism and Islam, an authoritative new study charting the future of the world’s religions predicts.

Madison, Wis. is the First City to Make Atheists a Protected Class

Discrimination against atheism was banned on Tuesday in Madison, Wis., after a city council vote — a first in the United States.

The Gnosis

It will come as no news to you that I find Gnosticism very fascinating, and that for a number of reasons.

Muslims Protest Liberia Proposal To Institute Christianity As State Religion, Call For Secularism

A proposal to amend Liberia’s constitution in order to reinstate Christianity as the state religion has divided Christians and Muslims in the West African nation.

Humanity is Ultimate Religion, says Muslim Girl After Winning Competition on Gita

In a written competition that tests knowledge on Bhagwad Gita, a Mumbai-based Muslim girl pipped 3,000 competitors to emerge the winner.

10 Commandments for Talking to Your Kids About Religion

Secularism is on the rise. Between 2012 and 2014 alone, some 7.5 million Americans lost their religious faith. And a great many of them are parents — or will be someday.

Ken Ham’s Litigation: Americans United Joins In

Americans United for Separation of Church and State is seeking to intervene in the suit and, like the state of Kentucky, they want to file a motion to dismiss AIG’s suit.

World Will Get More Religious by 2050

The world is becoming more religious, as the number of agnostics and others who don’t affiliate with a certain religion shrinks as a percentage of the global population.

Politics, Money And Religion: 5 Things We Learned From Indiana’s RFRA Debate

On Thursday, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed a “fix” for the RFRA, stating explicitly that the law cannot be used to discriminate based on gender identity or sexual orientation.

Religious Freedom Laws: Once Unifying, But Now Divisive

When President Clinton signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in 1993 he touted it as bringing people together; the same is not true of state versions of the bill debated this week.

Psychology is Complicated and Other Reasons Anti-Theism Doesn’t Work

There are all sorts of things going on in the background that makes some studies turn out one way and others turn out another way.

Why We Should Stop Saying ‘Islamophobia’

The bigoted views of Islamists and anti-Muslim demagogues must be challenged, but the term ‘Islamophobia’ only serves to confuse the issues and shut down debate, argues Benjamin Jones.

Freedom Regained by Julian Baggini Review – The Question of Free Will

Almost everyone assumes that they are free, except for a small band of neuroscientists and geneticists for whom neural firings or inherited genes lie at the root of everything we do, including our sentimental attachment to the myth of free will.

Christian Woman Says She Knew of Her Prophetic Gift Because She Could Predict the Plots of Movies

Poor Mike! He tried to be the voice of reason and was shot down. If only he could’ve said what he was thinking: What the hell are you talking about?

Is Sexuality a Religious Issue?

When it comes to issues involving sex and sexuality, some of the loudest and most influential voices in American politics are promoting a religious perspective.

Bill O’Reilly: Negative reviews for ‘Killing Jesus’ show it’s ‘open season on Christians in America’

O’Reilly complained that he was a victim of religious discrimination because the “Killing Jesus” television movie received bad reviews from publications that he considers liberal.

The Tower of Babel: Did It Exist, and What Does the Story Mean?

Like many of the narrative snippets found in the first eleven chapters of Genesis, its brevity and ambiguous wording have led interpreters to fill in the gaps in all sorts of ways in order to squeeze meaning out of it.