Mid-Week Religion/Agnosticism Report, part 2

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abortion, activist, adrian peterson, america, atheist, ben carson, catholic, china, christian, christian coalition, competition, corporal punishment, cretans, dawkins, empathy, epimenides, evolution, faith, gods, inequality, jesus, jews, jihadists, kevin sorbo, lgbt, Meriam Ibrahim, morality, new testament, obama, paul bloom, race, rape, religion, religious, republicans, sam harris, spanking, sudan, terrorism, universities, welton gaddy, woman

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Why is America So Religious? Because of America’s Inequality

Everyone knows that American religiosity is unusual because America is so much more religious than every other industrialized nation. The mystery is why. [Read more]

Kevin Sorbo’s Message To Jews: ‘News Bulletin: You Did Kill Jesus’

Kevin Sorbo continues to make the rounds of Religious Right radio programs to promote the the DVD release of his recent film “God’s Not Dead.” [Read more]

Lying Cretans and Unknown Gods: Allusions to Epimenides in the New Testament

My unfamiliarity with most ancient Greek literature has made me uncomfortably aware of how much context I am missing when I read the New Testament. [Read more]

A Former Christian Coalition Activist Tells All

The Rev. Welton Gaddy, president of The Interfaith Alliance–also someone very familiar with the conservative politicization of southern religion–interviewed White on his radio show State of Belief last week. [Read more]

An Atheist’s Faith – Part 1 of 2

My faith as an atheist lies in two areas. The first will be one in which many atheists will disagree with me. [Read more]

Done with Dawkins

Blaming other people for their own rapes is a bright line for me. You don’t cross it. [Read more]

Americans’ Opinions On Spanking Vary By Party, Race, Region And Religion

The arrest of Minnesota Vikings halfback Adrian Peterson, who is accused of abusing his 4-year-old son while disciplining him with a switch, has rekindled the long-running debate about corporal punishment. [Read more]

Morality Police, Jihadists, Religious Competition, Grindr, & Americans Abroad: Global LGBT Recap

We have reported on plans by the World Congress of Families to hold one of its annual summits in Moscow this month – and the suspension of those plans in the wake of Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea. [Read more]

Five Reasons You Should Be Less Empathetic

Yale psychologist Paul Bloom takes unlikely aim at empathy. He attacks empathy not because it’s impossible to feel other people’s pain—he thinks we can, in fact, experience the plight of another person. [Read more]

Atheists’ Flawed Understanding of Terrorism: Why Sam Harris Fails to Understand the ‘Islamic Threat’

Christopher Hitchens said that while atheism does not guarantee a smarter-than-thou intellect, an atheist’s intellectual advantage is his ability to reject false notions on face value. [Read more]

Sudanese Christian Meriam Ibrahim Tells for First Time of Her Ordeal

Christian mother who faced death sentence in Sudan after being accused of abandoning Islam says she was read the Koran in prison in an attempt to convert her. [Read more]

Ben Carson: Evolution Is An Absurd Myth, ‘Give Me A Break’

In a “Faith & Liberty” interview posted last week, potential GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson discussed his rejection of the theory of evolution, arguing that the science of evolution is a sign of humankind’s arrogance. [Read more]

Why Is Obama Arming Syrian Jihadists?

The New York Times piece that Rich Lowry links to below makes for singularly depressing reading, and it illustrates that the Obama administration has learned nothing. [Read more]

Does Scientific Skepticism Exclude Atheism Because God Cannot be Tested?

I see two common errors when it comes to the intersection between skepticism and atheism. The first is treating atheism as if it were the same as skepticism. [Read more]

Massive 5,000-Year-Old Stone Monument Revealed in Israel

A lunar-crescent-shaped stone monument that dates back around 5,000 years has been identified in Israel. [Read more]

Over Half of Republicans Want Christianity as the Official Religion in States

According to 2013 poll by YouGov, theocracy is popular in the United States. Slightly more than a third of all Americans would like to see Christianity made the official religion of their state; this is more popular among Republicans, older people, and those with just a high school education. [Read more]

Christians in Eastern China Scramble to Save Symbol of Their Faith

At a gray church on the outskirts of Wenzhou in eastern China, Christians from across the county keep a nervous watch. Some stand behind the iron gate; others sit just inside the church door. [Read more]

Catholic Universities Have Been Paying for Abortions All Along

The revelation comes with the news that the California Department of Health and Human Services has reversed itself and rescinded permission for two Catholic universities in California to remove elective abortion coverage from their employee insurance plans. [Read more]

Mormons Embrace Social Media to Push Back Against Official Church Teachings

On a cool summer evening, in a borrowed classroom overlooking San Francisco Bay, about 150 men and women gathered to screen a short documentary about a Mormon family whose 13-year-old son came out as gay. [Read more]

When Criticizing Ideas Crosses a Line

We’ve been embroiled in some minor controversy surrounding our recent piece supporting the Yale Atheists, Humanists, and Agnostics decision to stand with the Yale Muslim Student Alliance in criticizing the decision to host a lecture by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. [Read more]