Christmas Eve Special Atheist and Religion News Commentary 12/24

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10 comm, american, anti-evolution, atheism, bill maher, charter schools, chris stedman, christmas, church, coexist, compassion, conflict, death threats, discovery institute, faith, god, intelligence, mark driscoll, religion, richard dawkins, RNS, ryan bell, scandal, secularism, slovenia, women

The New 10 “Non-Commandments” of Atheism Prove You Don’t Need God to Be Compassionate

Be compassionate, rely on science, take responsibility. Such ideas resonate throughout the 10 “non-commandments” of Atheism, which are the product of a recent contest conducted by Lex Bayer and John Figdor. [Read more]

Tis the Season All Year Round: “Collective Atheism” and the Collective Good

Can we make a Christmas and New Year’s resolution that religious and non-religious types can work together throughout the coming year to cultivate the collective good? [Read more]

Why Atheists and Women Who Speak Out Get Death Threats

More than twenty years have passed, but Jonathan Huston still vividly remembers one specific day during his stint as editor of a New Hampshire weekly. [Read more]

Governments and Religious Institutions in the Middle East Consider Atheism a Threat

In Egypt and other Arab states, societies are heavily influenced by religion. Even so, many people evidently regard themselves as atheists, and both governments and religious institutions see this as a threat. [Read more]

Pastor Ryan Bell Who Gave Up God for a Year May Be Ready to Leave the Church for Good

Former Seventh Day Adventists pastor Ryan Bell, 43, set out in January to live a year without God. Almost immediately he lost his job teaching at two Christian schools who were unhappy about his decision [Read more]

A Christmas Guide for Atheists

I was surprised to find a book entitled ‘The Atheist’s Guide to Christmas’ (HarperCollins, 2009) prominently displayed while out shopping for presents a few days ago. [Read more]

Religion’s Smart-People Problem: The Shaky Intellectual Foundations of Absolute Faith

A comprehensive survey revealed that only about 14 percent of English speaking professional philosophers are theists. [Read more]

Atheists Are Smarter Than Believers, Says an Atheist

“Religion may help us in the way that whisky helps a drunk, but we don’t want to go through life drunk,” writes professional atheist John G. Messerly. [Read more]

We’re Putting an End to Religion: Richard Dawkins, Bill Maher and the Exploding New American Secularism

Religious right extremism, new atheists & late-night mockery have religion on the run. American secularism’s rising. [Read more]

2014′s Important Moments in Atheism

At his Religion News Services column, Chris Stedman invited contributors to discuss the most important atheist moments of 2014. [Read more]

Discovery Institute Catastrophes in 2014

You recall that the Discoveroids’ greatest victory ever, after their ignominious defeat in the Kitzmiller case, was after they began promoting their anti-science, anti-evolution, pro-creationism Academic Freedom Act. [Read more]

COEXIST and the Roots of Religious Conflict

The COEXIST bumper sticker, [Michael] Schulson writes, is “a symptom of a much larger phenomenon, one that makes it hard for Americans to talk seriously about religious conflict and history.” [Read more]

It’s Not Just the Religious Homeschoolers: Alianne’s Story

People would comment on my writing or math skills and would give credit to homeschooling or my parents who happily bragged about it. But the reality was that my mother taught me absolutely nothing. [Read more]

How 2014 Became the Year of the Charter School Scandal

Stories of embezzlement and exorbitant costs — it’s been a tough year for the charter school movement. [Read more]

Mark Driscoll is Back and Wants Your Money

Mark Driscoll, the blue jeans-clad, controversy-plagued former lead pastor at Mars Hill Church, has resurfaced with a new website. [Read more]

‘Zombie Church’ Helps Slovenia Crucify Corrupt Leaders

Slovenia’s newest religion may have the strangest of scriptures, but in a country plagued by corruption scandals, its anti-graft gospel has gained a huge following. [Read more]