18 May Religion and Atheism News Digest

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america, anti-women, BHS, bible, bill, bob adelmann, charismatics, charlie hebdo, children, christian, churches, colorado, conservatives, creationism, daniel dennett, gay marriage, god, hell, homeschooling, homosexuality, humans, indoctrination, islam, islamic, journalism, losing faith, myths, new atheists, non-belief, pew forum, Phyllis Schlafly, rapture, religion, richard dawkins, salafi, saudi arabia, schools, sex offender, SOCAS, statistics, survey, terror, violations, women, yasser borhami

The End of Religion As We Know It: Why Churches Can No Longer Hide the Truth

“Caught in the Pulpit” author Daniel Dennett on closeted atheist clergy and our new age of radical transparency.

Pew Forum Survey Reports Show Most Media Really Happy to Report on Christian ‘Decline’

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock lately, you’ve heard of this week’s biggest religion story: “America’s Changing Religious Landscape,” the Pew Research Center’s once-every-seven-years report.

12 Ridiculous Anti-Woman Myths From The Dark Ages That Conservatives STILL Believe

The Dark Ages were dark partly because education was discouraged and science was suspect, leading to some astoundingly silly things being taken for fact.

Religion Is Not Helping Humans Fix Things

The roots of war are permanently fixed in organized religion. Humans around the world are fleeing organized religions because they are not fact.

Reverend Brands Atheist Book Introduced to Schools Attempt to ‘Indoctrinate’ Children

A leading religious figure has blasted the British Humanist Society for attempts to “indoctrinate” children in Tayside schools.

Bob Adelmann’s Deceptive Use of Homeschooling Statistics

There is nothing that bothers me more today than people using bad stats and deception to argue that homeschooling is better than public or private schooling when in fact there is no data that actually says this.

Loving your Homosexual Neighbor: Hell or Rapture?

For some conservative religious people, the culture wars are about more than just winning elections or improving schools.

Missouri 2015 Creationism Bill — Dead

Missouri’s House Bill 486 (PDF) died in committee in the Missouri House of Representatives on May 15, 2015, when the legislature adjourned.

Hypocritical Charlie Hebdo Suspends Journalist Who Criticized Islam

Zineb El Rhazoui, 33, was called to a preliminary dismissal hearing to remind her of her ‘obligations’ towards the French weekly following ‘numerous incidents’.

Humiliating God: The Real Cost of Islamic Terror

There are Muslims who believe that Allah condoned, if he did not order, the murder of 136 Muslim infants and a score of others in a primary school in Peshawar in December 2014.

ISIS Leader: Islam ‘Never a Religion of Peace,’ It’s a ‘Religion of Fighting’

A recording of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, which the Pentagon has not confirmed is genuine, calls for all Muslims to join the fight agains the “infidels.”

Atheists Should Be Named Astray, Says Salafi Leader

“Nowadays there are cafes for atheist, streets for atheists, political parties for atheists, TV channels for atheist… That’s strange,” [Yasser] Borhami said in a recorded statement.

Richard Dawkins Doesn’t “Give a Damn”: The Big Mistake He’s Making About Religion

Dawkins and his fellow New Atheists were on the warpath in recent days over the subject of believers.

Saudi Rapist in Colorado Says Sex Offender Program is Against His Religion

Homaidan al-Turki’s entire defense strategy from the beginning was Islam. The member of a prominent Saudi family claimed that the prosecution was Islamophobic.

Note to Journalists: When Reporting on Charismatics, Please Try to Get Details Right

Pentecostals and charismatics are the world’s fastest-growing form of Christianity. Click here for lots of Pew Forum information on that.

American Attitudes to Violations of Church/State Separation

Americans frequently cite freedom of religion as one of the nation’s most important freedoms. There are, however, significant variations in how much Americans are concerned about violations of church/state separation.

America Is Losing Religion: Why More and More Women Are Embracing Non-Belief

“In 1993 only 16 percent of atheists and agnostics were women,” the report explains. “By 2013 that figure had nearly tripled to 43 percent.”

Does God Approve Of How We Use The Bible?

What if God didn’t intend for it to be the unquestioned final authority we’ve turned it into? What if God isn’t a fan of the way we rip verses out of the Bible to prooftext everything?

Schlafly: Goal Of Gay Marriage Is ‘To Wipe Out the Christian Religion’

Eagle Forum founder Phyllis Schlafly said that lawsuits against business owners who violate nondiscrimination measures by refusing service to gay and lesbian customers show that marriage equality advocates ultimately seek “to wipe out the Christian religion.”