25 May Religion and Atheism News Digest

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atheist, bangladesh, carl sagan, christianity, CJ werleman, climate, cults, death, denial, evolution, experience, experiment, faith, future, homeless, islamists, josh duggar, kids, max blumenthal, meaning, molestation, multi-culturalism, murder, neil degrasse tyson, non-religious, psychedelics, purpose, quiverfull, religion, religious, science, sects, sexual abuse, skepticism, societies, ted cruz, teen, treatment, USA, women

Where Atheism Can Get You Killed

Secular bloggers are being butchered on the streets of Bangladesh.

The CJ Werleman & Max Blumenthal Privilege

Joining hands with Islamists and attempting to silence her, CJ Werleman in his latest article mentions Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

Predicting the Future of Religion: A Thought Experiment

While Pew’s prediction that Islam will overtake Christianity made headlines, the authors of the study were quick to remind us that their findings are not the direct results of polling but projections.

U.S. Christianity is Dead, Long Live U.S. Christianity

The report only shows how many people consider themselves Catholic, Jewish, Baptist or “nothing in particular.”

Five F*cked-up Evangelical Christian Teachings Which Set JimBob & Michelle’s Family Up For the Josh Duggar Molestation Disaster

As a former Quiverfull believer, I recognize in this Duggar family debacle several essential beliefs which are widely held amongst fundamentalist Christians.

Founder of Josh Duggar’s ‘Treatment Center’ Left After ‘Sexually Grooming’ Teens and Young Women

According to RadarOnline Josh Duggar was taken by his father to the Basic Life Principles Training Center in Little Rock, for counseling after admitting to groping the young girls.

Quiverfull of Shit: a Guide to the Duggar’s Scary Brand of Christianity

The Duggars are followers of a particularly scary fundamentalist sect known as the Quiverfull movement, which adheres to a deeply patriarchal and highly authoritarian set of beliefs about gender and culture.

How to Talk to Kids About Religion: Spiritual Multiculturalism is Absolutely Essential

Before kindergarten, kids are curious about spiritual expression and hungry to learn. Here’s how to teach them.

Meaning and Purpose in Non-Religious Societies

Why should we as scholars of secularism and nonreligion care about meaning and purpose? After all, meaning and purpose fall squarely within the realm of the kind of big life questions that are traditionally addressed by religion.

Carl Sagan and the Dangers of Skepticism

Carl Sagan cared a lot about kooky, far out, pseudoscientific topics. He knew this was quite unusual. He introduced a book section on these fringe science topics.

Atheists Inspire Thoughts of Death in Many Americans

Prompting people to think about atheism triggered death-related thoughts just as strongly as, well, directly prompting people to think about death, a new study finds.

Criteria for Recognizing a Religious Sect as a “Cult”

Many religious scholars eschew the word “cult” or, if they use it at all, relegate it to extreme cases of religious groups that practice or threaten to practice violence.

Psychedelics and the Religious Experience

In the 20 years since those long days and longer nights, my feelings haven’t changed about the power of psychedelic (“mind manifesting”) substances.

The Surprising Links Between Faith and Evolution and Climate Denial

At one extreme is the position that science denial is somehow deeply or fundamentally religion’s fault. But this neglects the wide diversity of views about science across faiths and denominations.

‘We Won!’ Watch Ted Cruz Brag About Defeating a Homeless Atheist Man in Court

“What I want to talk to you about this morning is… religious liberty,” the Republican presidential candidate said during the Family Research Council’s Watchmen on the Wall event.

Neil deGrasse Tyson on Science/Religion Accommodationism

Tyson is far harder on religion, and far more insistent on the incompatibility between scientific and religious claims, than I’ve seen before.