End-of-the-Week Religion and Atheism News and Commentary 10/24, Part 2

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#atheistVoter, alex kane, america, ariana grande, bishops, black flag, catholic, christian, clergy, debate, documentary, faith, fiction, fox news, georgia, halloween, heaven, humanism, jail, jesus, lgbt, michigan, missionaries, north korea, pagans, parents, politics, richard dawkins, rights, sam harris, same-sex, samhain, schools, secular, single, voting, wedding, women, young turks

#AtheistVoter Campaign to Politicians: We Are Abundant, Passionate Voters

The New Jersey-based American Atheists launched the #AtheistVoter campaign on Tuesday as the midterm congressional elections draw near. David Silverman, president of American Atheists, told The Christian Post that the campaign was created to refute the claim that the atheist community is “small or insignificant.” [Read more]

Into the Fold of Humanism

I think the Reason Rally embodied that reasonable approach to forming a political movement or a government based on reason instead of sloganism, or hatred, or exclusion, or all the division that we’re so used to seeing now. [Read more]

Ariana Grande Reveals Love For Gay Brother Frankie Made Her Question Catholic Faith

As more and more states decide that bans on gay marriage aren’t acceptable, Ariana Grande took her own stand recently — questioning her Catholic faith and choosing to stand by her brother Frankie, who is gay. [Read more]

Bishops More Welcoming yo LGBT, But Not to Women

The surprisingly conciliatory tone regarding gay Catholics in the working document for the family synod released yesterday is being described by some as an “earthquake” and“revolutionary.” [Read more]

Pastor’s ‘If I Have Gay Children’ Blog Stirs US Debate

More than 1.5 million people have read the website of Pastor John Pavlovitz who wrote the blog titled “If I Have Gay Children” where he outlined his thoughts on the possibility of having gay children. [Read more]

Thank God for Mystery Fiction: Religion and the Rise of the Detective Story

There were no organized law enforcement systems until the formation of the Surete in Paris (1811), created by Eugene Francois Vidocq who was, incredibly enough, a notorious criminal. [Read more]

Alex Kane on the Richard Dawkins Documentary

In the world of evangelical atheism, Dawkins and Krauss are gods. The sort of gods who look down on those who have other beliefs: the sort of gods who are never allowed to be seen losing an argument or debating with anyone who might, just might, be their equal. [Read more]

Overlooked and Dismissed During the Synod, How Single Parents Continue to be Regarded in the Church…

Well, the Extraordinary Synod for the Family, has ended, and not surprisingly single parents have gotten the same sort of polite inattention from the Catholic bishops that we are used to getting in the pews. [Read more]

Michigan Gay Rights Push Prompts Protest from Religious Group Outside State Capitol

Roughly 150 religious leaders and activists gathered outside the Michigan Capitol on Wednesday to protest a potential gay rights amendment to the state’s anti-discrimination law. [Read more]

“Celebrate Same-Sex Wedding or Go to Jail”

For years, those in favor of same-sex marriage have argued that all Americans should be free to live as they choose. [Read more]

Fox News Host to Atheists: Accept the ‘Culture’ of Jesus in Schools When You Come to the South

Fox News host Ainsley Earhardt on Wednesday lashed out at atheists who had asked that Christian plaques be removed from public schools in Texas, saying that they “need to understand the culture” in the South. [Read more]

Georgia Chamber Draws a Line in Sand Over ‘Religious Liberty’ Bills

Last week, in the far-away Vatican, a gathering of Catholic bishops very nearly declared a truce in the war against gay marriage. At the last minute, they balked. [Read more]

American Schools Are Training Kids for a World That Doesn’t Exist

Are Americans getting dumber? Our math skills are falling. Our reading skills are weakening. Our children have become less literate than children in many developed countries. [Read more]

The Catholic Clash: How Social Issues Divide Clergy and Congregants

The Synod of Bishops is still huddled together in Rome discussing the Catholic Church’s stance on topics such as pre-martial sex, divorce, and same-sex marriage, but a “working paper” of their conversations has already caused somewhat of a media frenzy. [Read more]

Repressive, Atheist North Korea Has a Surprising Relationship with Christian Missionaries

The North Korean government does not take kindly to Christian missionary activities. Just ask American Jeffrey Fowle. [Read more]

Brazilian Presidential Candidates Downplay Religious and Social Issues

Incumbent Dilma Rousseff and challenger Aécio Neves shy from controversy, after a third candidate’s campaign collapsed following a flip-flop on same-sex ‘marriage.’ [Read more]

Halloween Night and Happy Anniversary to Me

It was on Halloween night 60 years ago that I was evicted from the Trappist monastery. It was just before Compline, the last church service of the day. Everyone filed into the church. [Read more]

Alone In Her Presence: Halloween – Inviting the Secular

This is a time many Pagans call Samhain, a sabbat to honor the death of the Horned God in his epic journey of death and rebirth. [Read more]

Scars In Heaven

I don’t believe that God allows things like the Holocaust to happen as a necessary part of some mysterious divine plan that we simply won’t understand until we get to heaven. [Read more]

The Young Turks LiveStream With Controversial Atheist Sam Harris

If you’re a member of The Young Turks’ premium page, you are in for an intense Livestream discussion between Cenk Uygur and noted author Sam Harris.

[Read more]