Religion, Science, Politics and Freethought News Digest 8/20

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1 peter, 2 peter, ACE, al qaeda, atheists, bible, book of enoch, buddhist, christian, christianity, conservatives, creationist, depression, diversity, equality, exile, holy, indigenous, iran, IS, islamic, jude, krishna, lesbian, morality, muslims, myths, organized, pastor, prayer, religion, religious, richard dawkins, schools, science, shiva, sunday assembly, terrorism, theism, values, war, wedding

Atheists Argue That They’re a ‘Religious Minority’ Eligible to Offer Public ‘Prayer’

A holy war is breaking out between an atheist group in Florida and local politicians who reportedly contend that nonbelievers do not qualify under the umbrella of eligible individuals invited to deliver prayers before government meetings. [Read more]

Sun Prairie Resident Helps Found Local Chapter of Sunday Assembly

Sunday Assembly, according to its website, is a “godless congregation that celebrates life” with a mission to help people find and fulfill their full potential. [Read more]

Christianity Can’t Replace My Zoloft

Before I became a Christian at the age of twelve, I suffered from severe anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts. When I came to Jesus, I was told that I would be healed and finally find joy and lasting peace. [Read more]

The Next Step in Buddhist Equality Will Be More Challenging

Numerous barriers of the Asian patriarchal traditions have been left behind, and on the whole, Western Buddhist groups are far more egalitarian than their Jewish, Christian, or Islamic counterparts. [Read more]

Two Churches in Missouri Are Filled with Faith, But Common Ground Remains Elusive

They came in numbers that surprised even the minister, arriving in a muggy drizzle to a church parking lot so full that some had to park in front of the empty home of the man they came to pray for: embattled white police officer Darren Wilson. [Read more]

Myth: Atheists Have No Reason to be Moral, No Basis for Morality

Are Morality & Moral Behavior Impossible without God, Religion? [Read more]

Creationist “Lab” Probably Staged, But Certainly Unused

A while back some creationist group did a video that showed one of their members in front of a lab, giving an air of scientific authority to their “research.” [Read more]

Another Threat to Organized Religion

The important thing is that people be weaned away from institutionalized religions and, most importantly, their allegiance to holy books. [Read more]

Holy War: Religious Leaders Call for Destruction of Islamic State

A coalition of religious leaders is calling upon President Barack Obama to use US military forces to destroy the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. [Read more]

Indigenous Peoples

Indigenous peoples often understand how to live in harmony with their environment, and have built up unique lifeways and mythology to help them live in harmony with it. [Read more]

7 Questions to Ask Before Asking if Muslims Condemn Terrorism

In the last few days, several people have put their two cents in about whether Muslims are condemning ISIS, why these condemnations aren’t reaching those who need to hear it, and what Muslims can do to reach the media. [Read more]

Farm Owners Fined for Saying No to Lesbian Wedding

Christian farm owners in upstate New York who declined a lesbian couple’s request to hold a wedding ceremony on their property have been fined $10,000 and ordered to pay the women $1,500 each. [Read more]

Flaws in Theistic, Religious Morality: Religion, Theism aren’t Needed for Values

Moral values can differ not only from religion to religion, but also between traditions and groups within a religion. [Read more]

The Bizarre – and Costly – Cult of Richard Dawkins

The other day I wrote something to upset the followers of Richard Dawkins and one of them tracked me down to a pub. [Read more]

Faith School Whistleblower to Speak Ahead of Dover ‘ACE’ School Expansion

The Dover School for All Nations is just one of sixty fundamentalist institutions in the UK to adopt the ACE curriculum, with 100 students due to begin classes at the school in September. [Read more]

Who Governs Science?

Traditionally, science holds itself to account, primarily through internal systems of peer review. But the recent retraction of two papers on stem-cell research by the journal Nature highlights weaknesses in this self-regulatory framework that scientists need to address. [Read more]

Hotel Chain in UK Removes Bibles from Rooms for Sake of ‘Diversity’

One of the biggest hotel chains in Britain has decided to remove all Bibles from its rooms to avoid offending people with other beliefs to the consternation of the Church of England. [Read more]

America’s Christian Conservatives Ponder a ‘Babylonian Exile’

From the moment they set foot on North American soil, the Puritans who came to the continent viewed their “errand into the wilderness” through a biblical lens, seeing themselves as modern-day Israelites building a New Jerusalem in the New World. [Read more]

Bill to Stone Gays to Death Introduced in Kenya

Africa is at the center of this global LGBT recap, thanks to last week’s African Leaders Summit in Washington, D.C. , efforts in Uganda to resurrect the Anti-Homosexuality Law thrown out by the Constitutional Court, and the introduction of a new kill-the-gays bill in Kenya. [Read more]

The Book of Enoch as the Background to 1 Peter, 2 Peter, and Jude

Although the quotation of 1 Enoch in Jude 14–15 is often noted, the complex dependencies between 1 Enoch, Jude, and the Petrine epistles, as well as the general importance of the theology of 1 Enoch in the New Testament, often go under-appreciated. [Read more]

Despite a Turbulent Work Life, a Minister Doesn’t Question Her Calling

The Rev. Dominique C. Atchison stood at the lectern in the church fellowship hall, her voice soaring, her body swaying. [Read more]

US Iranian Pastor Jailed for Faith Faces Death Threats from IS and al Qaeda

American Iranian Pastor Saeed Abidini is facing death threats from Islamic State and al Qaeda prisoners held in the same Iranian prison where he is detained, a U.S. rights group says. [Read more]

What Would Krishna Do? Or Shiva? Or Vishnu?

How might looking at Hinduism alter philosophical approaches to religion that take Christianity as their primary example? [Read more]