Week-Start Religion and Freethought Report, Part 2

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abbotsford, aliens, atheism, betrayal, blessed, cardinal, chaplains, ebola, evangelicals, france, god, godless, gop, health, holy water, humans, intelligence, interfaith, islamic state, jesus, jewish, love, loyalty, monument, morality, nietzsche, police, pope, rabbi, rational, religion, religious right, scriptures, sunday assembly, teens, trust, twitter, values, women, YEC

Atheists Tweet More Often Than Muslims, Jews, Christians, Study Shows

A new study of Twitter finds that self-identified religious users are more likely to tweet to members of their own faith than to members of a different one. [Read more]

Abbotsford’s Sunday Assembly Gathers Atheists and Others Into the Fold

The Sunday Assembly meets on the last Sunday of each month at the Collingwood Senior Citizens Centre in Eddy Court to hear guest speakers, sing, and share coffee and cake. [Read more]

The Rise of Interfaith Chaplaincy

Religious affiliation is largely determined by culture, so increasingly multicultural societies will necessarily beget citizens with more complex religious backgrounds. [Read more]

No Religion Has All the Answers

I have studied religions, gone through devout stages, had spiritual experiences, prayed and meditated. None of it has revealed to me the meaning of life. [Read more]

Forget Blessed: Can’t We All Just Have a “Nice” Day?

As a company with a strong international presence, surely cultural differences and religious sensitivity are of paramount concern. [Read more]

YEC: First Step Towards Atheism

It is entirely possible that Ken Ham genuinely believes that his life’s work is filling holes in the cracks in the dam that he thinks keeps the flood of atheism from sweeping over weak Christians. [Read more]

Do Godless Morals and Values Exist?

It’s common for religious theists to claim that their religious morality is far superior to secular, atheistic, and godless morality. [Read more]

Religious Right Group Opposes Ebola Vaccine Projects Over Stem Cell Research

A “pro-life” group wants the government to stop fast-tracking two potential vaccines to fight the Ebola virus, citing concerns that the vaccine development includes stem cell research. [Read more]

Holy Water May be Harmful to Your Health, Study Finds

Despite its purported cleansing properties, holy water could actually be more harmful than healing, according to a new Austrian study on “holy” springs. [Read more]

New Study Shows Leaving Religion Might Harm Health

The study looked most closely at religions that had very high rates of better health, and these tended to be ones that had a more inclusive community such as Jehovah’s Witnesses and Latter Day Saints. [Read more]

French Jewish Girl Stopped Moments Before Leaving to Join Islamic State

A 17-year-old Jewish girl from Paris is the latest French teen reported to have turned to radical Islam and planned to flee to the Islamic State. [Read more]

Did Jesus Save the Klingons?

If or when we make contact with extraterrestrials, the effect on our religious sensibilities will be profound, says astronomer David Weintraub. [Read more]

Biblical Scriptures Will Be Removed or Covered on Monument

The controversial monument bearing Biblical scripture in front of the high school football field house will be modified to comply with state and federal laws, which means the Biblical scriptures will be removed or covered. [Read more]

Southern Evangelicals: Dwindling—and Taking the GOP Edge With Them

Midterm elections are all about turning out base constituencies. Over the last few decades, there have been few more reliable voters for Republicans than white evangelical Protestants. [Read more]

Police Investigation Into Rabbi and Recordings of Women is Expanding

The prominent Georgetown rabbi accused of recording women at his synagogue’s ritual bath had numerous computers and storage devices in his home along with files of women undressing. [Read more]

Is Your God Morally Corrupt?

Christians of all stripes consider atheism and atheists to be immoral. We’re not given a pass on morality on any level. [Read more]

Super-Intelligent Humans Are Coming

The genetic study of cognitive ability suggests that there exist today variations in human DNA which, if combined in an ideal fashion, could lead to individuals with intelligence that is qualitatively higher than has ever existed on Earth. [Read more]

New Study Shows How Teens Can Be Taught to Act More Rationally

The trouble with teenagers is well-known to many parents: they are hormone-driven, thrill-seeking bundles of eros with a shocking inability to think through the consequences of their actions. [Read more]

Loyalty. Trust. Betrayal.

Obedient loyalty is the chief command of Abrahamic religions, beginning with Abraham’s obedience to the Lord’s command that he kill his own son. [Read more]

Nietzsche: Of Love, Trees, and Religion

Nietzsche is just about to make an important point: namely, that unlike the animals, we are self-conscious creatures who are attached to the past. [Read more]

Pope Demotes Powerful Conservative Cardinal

Cardinal Raymond Burke recently said that gays are so unrelentingly evil that a parent shouldn’t even allow their children to be around gay relatives on holidays. [Read more]