End-Week Religion and Agnostic Report II

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9/11, ancient, arguments, arid lands, atheism, atheist, bo gardiner, california, chaplain, christian right, church, education, europe, faith, football, gay, georgia, god, god is not dead, humanist, humanists, huntsville, hypocrisy, invocation, jesus, John Nienstedt, keith derose, legend, lgbt, liberty, licking valley salvation, marriage, membership, minorities, muslims, myths, pakistan, peace, positivity, prejudice, religious, republicans, satanists, schools, southern baptists, stereotypes, suicide, taxes, tufts university, twitter, virtues

Who Defines Atheism?

While atheism itself isn’t a statement beyond what we believe about God, other factors start to become relevant when we talk about how to define the larger atheism movement. [Read more]

Here’s How You and Your Spouse Can Avoid Arguing Over Faith and God

A mix of faiths, belief systems and values saturate the American cultural climate. It’s been that way for a while, and it’s something that people navigate every day. [Read more]

Why the “Atheist Positivity Challenge” is Wildly Misguided

In an article on Salon, Steve Neumann suggests that atheists spend too much time“gloating about the lunacy and misdeeds of specific Christians.” [Read more]

My First for The Daily Beast on Atheist Prejudice

My first piece for The Daily Beast came out this morning, and it’s about the Openly Secular campaign, what we should consider discrimination, and what atheists can do to be proactive about all of this. [Read more]

Keith DeRose on Knowing Whether or Not God Exists

DeRose provides a challenging view for many atheists, and, even if you disagree (which I think I might), it’s a thoughtful perspective worth grappling with. [Read more]

9/11 Unity Walk Welcomes Humanists

The opening ceremony was held at the Washington Hebrew Congregation. Stops along the route included the Embassy Pentecostal Evangelical Church, Washington National Cathedral, Buddhist Cultural Center, and Khalil Gibran Memorial Park. [Read more]

How Satanists Exposed the Christian Right’s Core Hypocrisy

One of the favorite myths that Christian conservatives like to tell about themselves is that they are champions protecting “religious freedom” from the supposed oppressions of a secular humanist society. [Read more]

Minorities Are Not Props to Use Against Religion

Libby Anne, a fellow Patheos blogger at Love, Joy, Feminism, wrote a great piece about how some atheists seem to care selectively about sexism. [Read more]

Muslim Speaker at Pakistan Forum Urges ‘Follow Jesus’ to Promote Peace

A Muslim leader has said people should follow the “teachings of Jesus” and “turn the other cheek” at a seminar on inter-religious unity and harmony among different faiths on World Peace Day in Pakistan. [Read more]

6 Highlights from Twitter’s #MuslimApologies—A Hilarious Response to Stereotypes about Islam

The sarcastic hashtag #MuslimApologies is a brilliant response to the bigotry and Islamophobia that most Muslims have to put up with on a regular basis. [Read more]

See Video of Huntsville Atheist Opening City Council Meeting with Invocation Extolling American Virtues

Here’s what happens when an atheist offered Alabama’s first non-theist invocation to open a public meeting: 90 seconds of thoughtful statements that began with “Dearly Beloved” and ended with “Let it be so,” and no reaction from a packed City Council chamber. [Read more]

A Contested Subject: Religious Education and Faith Schools

For young people to understand the role religion plays in many people’s lives and to decide for themselves what, if any, role they’d like it to play in theirs requires exposure to multiple viewpoints. [Read more]

In Some European Countries, Church Membership Means Paying More Taxes

Germany reportedly collected $13.2 billion in revenue for churches. Many other European countries have their own religious taxes. In several cases, such taxes are voluntary and only paid by official registered members of certain churches. [Read more]

7 Myths about Suicide

The media frenzy is starting to settle after the tragic suicide of Robin Williams. Some of the coverage, I was happy to see, was sensitive and compassionate, while some was just plain irresponsible, sensationalistic, and full of specific details—all of which can put vulnerable people at risk, and perpetuate misinformation. [Read more]

Religious Leaders a Key Cog to Combat Ebola, Says WHO Official

Faith-based organizations and churches are essential for an effective response to the Ebola crisis in Western Africa, United Nations diplomats and aid workers in Geneva have heard. [Read more]

Meet the Ancient Megatrees of Arid Lands

The devil upended the baobab and planted it upside down. So says Arab legend. In Burkino Faso and Tanzania, folklore has it that the tree wouldn’t stop walking, so God planted it with root-feet in the air and branches underground. [Read more]

When Jesus Joins the Huddle: Groups Challenge Mix of Football and Religion at Georgia High School

Georgia has had a tendency to mix football and religion, as this latest flare-up reflects. The new fieldhouse at Madison High School in Danielsville, Ga., includes a donated monument designed to inspire the crowd and the team. [Read more]

Licking Valley band’s ‘Salvation’ Shirts Draw Criticism

The Marching Panthers wore black T-shirts with the word “Salvation” written in white, a reference to Pavel Tchesnokov’s “Salvation is Created,” the band’s focal piece this year. [Read more]

Southern Baptist Leaders Cut Ties with California LGBT-Affirming Church

The Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee voted unanimously Tuesday (Sept. 23) to break ties with New Heart Community Church in La Mirada, Calif., after determining it was condoning “homosexual behavior.” [Read more]

Nienstedt Forces Out Gay Music Director

Archbishop John Nienstedt has asked the music director of a parish in Victoria, Minn., to resign after learning that the man married his long-time male partner last weekend, according to a letter from the parish priest. [Read more]

Tufts University Hires Humanist Chaplain for Atheist Students

In early September, Walker Bristol, a former intern of Harvard’s Humanist Community, was hired as the first humanist chaplain at the private, Massachusetts-based university. [Read more]

Republicans Rallying Behind Religious Liberty As Evangelical Summit Begins

Prospective Republican presidential candidates are promoting religious liberty at home and abroad at a gathering of evangelical conservatives, rebuking an unpopular President Barack Obama while skirting divisive social issues that have tripped up the GOP. [Read more]

A Video Response By the Godless to the Movie “God’s Not Dead”

In July I posted about Bo Gardiner’s video, “What in God’s name are they doing to the children?”, showing what is clearly child abuse in getting uncomprehending children to be “slain in the spirit”.

[Read more]