12 April Religion and Atheism News Digest

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The Nonreligious Kids Are All Right: New Study Reveals What Millennials Think about Sex

A recently released survey by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) reveals that millennials actually are more willing to engage in critical thinking concerning the ethics of sexual situations.

The Inferiority of Gay Americans, According to Conservative Christians

Members of the Christian Right sometimes like to say that their policy towards various “illicit” behaviors is to “hate the sin but love the sinner.”

Openly Atheist Greek Leader Has Tense Meeting with Russian Patriarch

Greece’s openly atheist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has held tense a meeting with the head of Russia’s Orthodox Church while he was on a visit to seek closer ties with Moscow.

Army of God? 6 Modern-Day Christian Terrorist Groups You Never Hear About

Just because they don’t get as much coverage as ISIS or Boko Haram doesn’t mean that they don’t exist.

Losing My Religion: 6 Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Converted

Americans are more “spiritually mobile” these days than ever before, not bound by the religious traditions in which they were raised.

Indiana Pizzeria That Backed Religious Freedom Law Reopens

A northern Indiana pizzeria that closed after its owner said his religious beliefs wouldn’t allow him to cater a gay wedding opened Thursday.

Ken Ham Says Life-Size Noah’s Ark on Track to Open in 2016, Despite ‘Naysayers, False Information’

The message also linked to a number of photos from the construction site that show the different stages of the project, as well as a video from the Ark Encounter’s staff meeting.

Christianity Poised to Continue Its Shift from Europe to Africa

Europe’s share of the the world’s Christians will continue to decline while sub-Saharan Africa’s will increase dramatically.

Why Does Deepak Chopra Hate Me?

I’ve mocked his surrealistically bizarre anti-science pronouncements among my friends a few times, or a few thousand times.

You Cannot Be a Republican and a Christian

The modern Republican Party’s hell-bent embodiment of nearly everything Christ warned against has become so serious that we have to call it out.

Let’s Stop Confusing Education with Religious Inculcation

The blurring of the distinction between education and religious inculcation in British schools is preventing young people from receiving good quality objective education about religion and belief.

The United Kingdom May Be A Christian Country, But The United States Is Not

Unlike the United States, England has an official state church: the Church of England. (In Scotland, another member of the UK, the official state church is the Church of Scotland.)

Christian Legal Group Sues IRS for Failing to Release Docs in Settlement to Investigate Churches

A Christian legal organization has filed a federal lawsuit against the IRS for failing to release documents surrounding a purported settlement it reached with a prominent atheist organization surrounding the enforcement of tax rules for churches.

What Are the Biggest Christian Flocks in America These Days?

This has long been an easy topic thanks to the National Council of Churches and its predecessor, the Federal Council, which since 1916 issued yearbooks stuffed with statistics and other information.

Retail Religion

In the 1980s and 1990s no visit to Southern California was complete without a trip to Robert Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, a short drive from Disneyland.

Bill Would Make Bible Official State Book of Tennessee

The Tennessee measure has moved swiftly through the legislative process and could be on the House and Senate floors as early as next week. Similar proposals to make the Bible the state book failed in Mississippi earlier this year and in Louisiana last year.