Volume 02, Issue 02 (February 2018)

Tags

america, andrew copson, atheists, barna group, beliefs, bible, buddhist, christianity, constitution, death, donald trump, faith healers, franklin graham, freedom, freethinker, generation z, god, history, idaho, indoctrination, israel, john gannon, mike pence, moral compass, morality, palestine, patriotism, politics, POTUS, pseudoscience, religion, religious right, sam brownback, savior, school, secular coalition, secularism, state of the union, vouchers

Secular Coalition Slams Divisive Rhetoric in the State of the Union Speech

The President of the United States either does not know or does not care that one-in-four of all Americans have no religious belief. Throughout the President’s address, he routinely erased our existence by tying belief in God to patriotism and implying that all Americans are people of faith. https://www.secular.org/news/secular-coalition-slams-divisive-rhetoric-state-union-speech

Making April Freethinker, Humanist, & Secularist History Month

I have been organizing historians and organizations built around both present-day & historical freethought, humanism, & secularism for a few weeks now and we’re excited to now be able to announce that we’re making April into a brand new history month for humanism, freethought, & secularism. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/singod/2018/01/history-month-secular-freethinker/

 

New Book on Secularism, Politics, Religion and Freedom

In his introduction to Secularism: Politics, Religion and Freedom, Andrew Copson presents a holistic and hard-hitting case showing the importance of keeping religion out of politics. http://freethinker.co.uk/2017/11/06/new-book-on-secularism-politics-religion-and-freedom/

Generation Z is the Least Christian Generation in American History, Barna Finds

Teenagers today are the most non-Christian generation in American history as only four out of 100 teens hold a true biblical worldview and one out of every eight teens identify as non-heterosexual, a new survey released by one of the nation’s leading evangelical polling firms has found. https://www.christianpost.com/news/gen-z-is-the-least-christian-generation-in-american-history-barna-finds-214856/

Belief in God, Pseudoscience Intimately Related

Whether people believe in invisible spirits or questionable pseudoscience, they’re tickling the same primitive spot in their brains that makes human beings susceptible to the miraculous over the probable. http://ricksnedekerauthor.com/belief-god-pseudoscience-closely-related/

Atheists and Morality: Defining Our Terms

One highly contentious view that almost everyone hears about God is that he is love. God is love. This view is somewhat controversial in the context of much of what you have read in this book. What the authors have established is an evidential problem of evil argument against God. Christianity and Christians have contributed harm to this world; how is this fact coherent with the existence of an all-loving, morally perfect God? http://www.patheos.com/blogs/tippling/2018/01/27/atheists-morality-defining-terms/

Voucher-School Kids Christian Right’s New Indoctrination Target

Southern states circumvented the constitutional civil-rights of freed slaves during Reconstruction after the Civil War by terrorizing blacks and constructing a rigidly apartheid social system. Today they circumvent the Constitutional religious-establishment clause as it pertains to education by embracing new disingenuous tax-funded voucher and “scholarship” programs that help support private, mostly Christian, schools. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/secularspectrum/2018/01/voucher-school-kids-3662/

Understanding the Fake Historian Behind America’s Religious Right

With a tie-breaking vote cast by Vice President Mike Pence, the Senate confirmed longtime religious-right figurehead and outgoing (and unpopular) Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback to be the US’s ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom on Wednesday. https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/1/25/16919362/understanding-the-fake-historian-behind-americas-religious-right

Faith-Based Healing Bill Drafted, Awaiting Consideration

Rep. John Gannon, D-Boise, drafted legislation that would remove the exemption from prosecution for parents who don’t seek medical attention for their children due to conflicting religious or spiritual practices. Statutes currently only allow such an exemption for children, which Gannon calls “discriminatory.” https://www.idahopress.com/news/state/faith-based-healing-bill-drafted-awaiting-consideration/article_b1852247-73f5-578c-8762-82fcb67efda6.html

Franklin Graham’s Moral Compass Stuck in Quicksand of Trumpism

Franklin Graham, the son of Reverend Billy Graham and president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, has for years hoped to inherit his father’s mantle as “America’s Pastor.” Instead, as the years go by, and his disturbing comments mount up, he’s creeping closer and closer to occupying the space left by the death of Fred Phelps, the anti-gay zealot from Topeka, Kansas. http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/franklin-graham-s-moral-compass-stuck-in-quicksand-of-trumpism

Religion Needs a Savior

As a radical sect of Buddhist nationalists persecute the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict wages on and a film challenging the Orthodox Church spurs violent protests in Russia, it seems that asserting sovereignty is the only thing the world’s religions can agree on today. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2018-01-23/tribal-divisions-created-by-religion-most-harmful-in-global-conflict-experts-say

Top 10 Most Gruesome Deaths in the Bible

When most people think of the Bible, all they picture is love and goodwill to others. However, not every character in the Bible was as dedicated to God as we may imagine. From murder plots and assassination to sickness and suicide, the Bible contains a vast amount of gruesome deaths that you probably didn’t learn about in Sunday school.