26 April Religion and Atheism News Digest

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Five Challenges Atheists Face and How We Can Overcome Them

April 23rd was Openly Secular Day and Tom Krattenmaker used the opportunity to bring up five challenges atheists still face.

Religiosity and the Wellbeing of Nations

The study also identifies some variables related to religiosity, noting that those without an education are the most religious, and noting the stronger variable—income.

Invisible Atheists: The Spread of Disbelief in the Arab World

The poll provided equally precise counts of atheists in other Arab countries: 325 in Morocco, 320 in Tunisia, 242 in Iraq, 178 in Saudi Arabia, 170 in Jordan, 70 in Sudan, 56 in Syria, 34 in Libya, and 32 in Yemen.

An Atheist Reads The Bible: Is God A Freedom Fighter Or A Terrorist?

Scholars now recognise that the Exodus simply didn’t happen (interesting most criticism comes from Jewish rather than Christian or Atheist sources).

Americans Go to Church About As Much As Godless Europeans

America is not a Christian nation. We’re a secular nation that suffers a small but vocal minority of theocrats.

Do Strong Religious Beliefs Stifle Innovation?

The study, titled “Forbidden Fruits: The Political Economy of Science, Religion, and Growth,” compares religious beliefs and belief in God with scientific innovation as measured by issuance of patents.

How Corporate America Invented Christian America

How one reverend’s big business-backed crusade altered the political landscape.

Christian Disdain for Women Now Solution to War on Terror?

Rachel Campos-Duffy says we have an assimilation problem, and laments the times of old when her father immigrated to America and public schools and civic groups openly proselytized and inculcated people.

Are Tattoos OK for Jews and Christians? What Does the Bible Say?

Leviticus 19:28: “You shall not make any gashes in your flesh for the dead, or tattoo any marks upon you. I am the LORD” (New Revised Standard Version).

How Religion Makes Its Money

People are able to enhance their self-esteem by participating in an activity that the conventional wisdom endorses, whether or not it provides any actual benefit for the participant’s “soul” or for anyone else.

American Foreign Policy, Democracy, and Conservative Christianity

Today, spreading “liberty and democracy,” even if it needs to be done through war and violence, is what neoconservatives push for the hardest. What gives?

FFRF Attorney: In Oklahoma, Working to Set the Biblical Record Straight

Thanks to Attorney General Scott Pruitt, there is a lot of confusion in Oklahoma about distributing bibles in public schools. There needn’t be. It’s illegal.

Godless Political Values: Importance of Godless Values to Modern Democracy

Perhaps nothing is as fundamental as the rule of law: liberal democracy simply cannot exist unless everyone, from the lowest citizen to the highest official, is equally subject to the same laws.

It’s Official: Some Office Holders Put Reason on Par with Prayer, Others Don’t

The first CoR that reported success was Omaha CoR, whose coordinator, Tom Gray, petitioned Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts and the mayors of Omaha and Bellevue to proclaim May 7, 2015, the National Day or Reason.

Abraham Lincoln on God and Politics

Almost invariably, voters are told, directly or indirectly, that God is somehow in favor of some law or policy.

Poet Defies Gender, Religion

A mid-19th-century Persian poetess clashes against Old World gender expectations, religious orthodoxy and politics in this exquisite tale, based on the actual life of poet and theologian Tahirih Qurratu’l-Ayn.

Why Clergy Support Marriage Equality

Americans United has a clergy network of over 2,500 committed faith leaders who are champions of church-state separation and support AU’s mission – often doing so in communities that are hostile to their very message.

Franklin Graham Furious That Marvel’s Iceman Is Gay

Franklin Graham is outraged by the news that the character Iceman will come out as gay in a new issue of “X-men” issue.

Religious Objections To Interracial Marriage And Same-Sex Marriage

The same-sex marriage bans of four states will be considered next week by the Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges. Proponents of these marriage bans framed their arguments in religious terms.

How To Die Well

Death is a part of life. The first Adam brought sin and death into the world, and now it is a guarantee that everyone will die.