From the Headlines
Browse secular, atheist, agnostic and freethinking news from around the world and the Web.
Live Nativity Scene Outside Supreme Court
Nov. 20, 2009 It's not even Thanksgiving yet, but one group is already setting up a nativity scene. Volunteers put it up outside the Supreme Court Thursday to draw attention to what they say is a growing problem.
FFRF Billboards Up in Albuquerque
Nov. 20, 2009 The Freedom From Religion Foundation is extending its campaign of irreverence to the Great Southwest by bringing billboards with thought-provoking messages to Albuquerque, N.M.
Proud That Flags Flew Without Prayers
Nov. 20, 2009 The flag waving goes on without the praying: Chalk one up for the Constitution.
Prayer Caucus Members Trust God More Than Government
Nov. 20, 2009 The Freedom From Religion Foundation's lawsuit requiring the Architect of the U.S. Capitol to honor the constitutional wall of separation between state and church seems to have upset members of Congress who appear to want a different kind of wall in the halls of government.
Faith and Tolerance Collide in Vallejo
Nov. 20, 2009 There is concern that, as the city tries to find the way out of this financial abyss, it is falling into another that is perhaps more pernicious: Its political system increasingly reflects the influence of evangelical churches. This influence, many say, has been gained by condoning intolerance of the city's growing gay community.
Christian Leaders Unite on Political Issues
Nov. 20, 2009 The manifesto, to be released Friday at the National Press Club in Washington, is an effort to rejuvenate the political alliance of conservative Catholics and evangelicals that dominated the religious debate during the administration of President George W. Bush.
They want to signal to the Obama administration and to Congress that they are still a formidable force that will not compromise on abortion, stem-cell research or gay marriage.
Treat Religious Believers Like Trekkies
Nov. 20, 2009 One of the most common tropes among progressive religious believers is Religion As Metaphor. "Religious beliefs don't have to be literally true," the trope says. "They're just useful metaphors: stories that give shape and meaning to our lives."
I'm not buying it. I'm not buying it for one simple reason: If religion is just a story, then why does it upset people so much when atheists say it isn't true? Any more than it would upset a fan of "Alice in Wonderland" if someone told them it wasn't true?
Censorious Library Workers Fired
Nov. 20, 2009 The Lexington Herald-Leader has an in-depth story on just what went on when two library workers were fired for withholding a copy of "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier" from an 11-year-old girl.
Gay Priests Are Like People!
Nov. 20, 2009 A few years ago my mother gave me a book of cartoons about Catholic priests called "Priests Are Like People" that was published in 1954. The cartoons, by Joe Lane, originally appeared in Extension Magazine, an old Catholic magazine that still exists.
Christianity Draws Chinese Dissidents
Nov. 20, 2009 Chinese and foreign observers alike believe the number of Chinese belonging to underground churches may now exceed 100 million people. That figure has grown rapidly as more and more Chinese, particularly well-educated city dwellers, turn away from Communist Party atheism.
Immigration Charges Dropped in Iowa Kosher Slaughterhouse Case
Nov. 20, 2009 A federal judge dismissed dozens of immigration charges Thursday against the former manager of a kosher slaughterhouse, at the request of prosecutors who had already won a conviction on multiple counts of financial fraud.
Non-Muslim Bullied for Eating Salami
Nov. 20, 2009 Muslim student to Antonios: "Why are you eating ham, it's Ramadan?"
Antonios: "My mum packed this for lunch today."
Muslim student: "Don't eat that. How can you eat pig, it's disgusting."
Conn. Schools Threatened With Suit Over Church Graduation
Nov. 20, 2009 Two civil liberties groups are demanding that Enfield's public high schools move their graduations from the First Cathedral in Bloomfield to a secular location, and threatened to sue if they don't.
3 New Ancient Crocodile Species Fossils Found
Nov. 20, 2009 A 20-foot-long crocodile with three sets of fangs, like wild boar tusks, roamed parts of northern Africa millions of years ago, researchers reported Thursday. While this fearsome creature hunted meat, not far away another newly found type of croc with a wide, flat snout like a pancake was fishing for food.
Life's a Beach Keeping State, Church Separate
Nov. 20, 2009 The Freedom From Religion Foundation fought a holding action in Naples, Fla., to keep a lease agreement between a church and the city of Naples to five years.
Former Employee Sues Pastor for Sexual Impropriety
Nov. 20, 2009 The complaint charges that Hunter told her it was "God's will" to satisfy his desires and regularly demanded sex both at his church office and hotels in Southern California, Virginia and North Carolina.
Bachmann, Kline Keeping Atheists at Bay
With the nation at war, struggling through the recession and confronting the need for health care reform, U.S. Reps. Michele Bachmann and John Kline are among 43 members of Congress who have signed on to an amicus brief filed in U.S. District Court in Madison to keep the evil atheists at bay.
Dueling Wis. Bills Take Aim at Religious Exemption
Nov. 18, 2009 Thirty-two years ago, Rita Swan and her husband walked into a Michigan hospital with their nearly dead baby in her arms. The decision to take their son was made after days of pitting their religious beliefs against the medical needs of their young child.
Lodi Atheist Gives 'Invocation'
Nov. 18, 2009 For weeks, the city of Lodi shared a common battle with three other California cities, whose prayers before government meetings were challenged by atheist activists championing the separation of church and state.
N.C. Board Unfazed by Prayer Lawsuit
Nov. 18, 2009 When a federal magistrate in Winston-Salem ruled last week that Forsyth County Commissioners meetings had too much Jesus in their opening prayers, counties around the state started looking at their own meeting invocations policies to see how First Amendment-friendly they were.
The Good Old Days: A Godless Pledge
Nov. 18, 2009 Recited by schoolchildren on Dec. 7, 1950 on the eve of the Korean War.
Gap's Christmas Cheer Makes Boycott Backfire
Nov. 18, 2009 The Mississippi-based American Family Association issued a fatwa last week against Gap Inc. calling for a "two-month boycott over the company's failure to use the word 'Christmas' in its advertising to Christmas shoppers."
No God Doesn't Mean No Beliefs
Nov. 18, 2009 Humanists don't have a hierarchy, a need to evangelize or a governing board to spread their message, but they do have vocal supporters.
Evangelicals Want Obama Dead
Nov. 18, 2009 Rachel Maddow aired a bone-chilling interview with former fundamentalist leader Frank Schaeffer in which Schaeffer accuses evangelical zealots and far-right wing nuts of formenting violence against our president. This new "American Taliban," Schaeffer says, is essentially "trawling for assassins," using coded, biblical language in hopes of inciting some lunatic to kill the president.
C Street House No Longer Tax Exempt
Nov. 18, 2009 Residents of the C Street Christian fellowship house will no longer benefit from a loophole that had allowed the house's owners to avoid paying property taxes.
Colbert: The Word on Catholics vs. Gays
Nov. 18, 2009 How is the governor of Rhode Island supposed to rest in peace knowing that a couple of plots over two dudes are being gay dead?
Teen Barred From Abortion Protest Sues School
Nov. 18, 2009 A New Jersey high school student claims in a federal lawsuit that school administrators violated her First Amendment free-speech and religious-freedom rights when they said she couldn't participate in a day of silent protest against abortion.
Afghans See Poverty, Not Taliban, as Main Problem
Nov. 18, 2009 Most Afghans see not Taliban militants but poverty, unemployment and government corruption as the main causes of war in their country, according to a report by a leading aid group released on Wednesday.
Abuse Victims Get Australian Apology
Nov. 18, 2009 Over the past 15 years, Dr. Wayne Chamley has helped a number of victims through his association with the advocacy group Broken Rites. He flew from Melbourne to Canberra yesterday with a group of Forgotten Australians in preparation for the apology.
Tennessee Students Want Religionists to Back Off
Nov. 17, 2009 A federal lawsuit filed Monday on behalf of students accused Cheatham County schools of promoting Christianity and violating the U.S. Constitution.
Vatican on Pelosi's Speed Dial?
Nov. 17, 2009 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi summoned anti-abortion Democrats to her ornate Capitol office. She conferred with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to be sure the new restrictions were acceptable. She even consulted by telephone with a cardinal in Rome.
Christian Bootcamp Seeks to Arm Home-Schooled Youths
Nov. 17, 2009 "Life is not a playground," says Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas in The Kingdom Leadership Institute Manual. "It is a war zone."
Critics: Catholic Church Playing Political Hardball
Nov. 17, 2009 In its efforts to influence health care reform and oppose same-sex marriage, the Catholic Church is wading more deeply into politics than it has in recent memory, observers say.
GOP Not Only Party Kowtowing to Christian Right
Nov. 17, 2009 Jeff Sharlet details Democratic ties to C Street and the anti-abortion amendment.
Imprisoned Imam Finds Way to Preach Hate
Nov. 17, 2009 Hate preacher Abu Hamza is delivering extremist sermons to prisoners through the water pipes of his cell, it has been claimed. The Muslim cleric is defying a preaching ban imposed by prison bosses to radicalize inmates. He is able to give his lectures through the plumbing that connects to neighboring cells in Belmarsh Prison.
Did Christianity Cause the Crash?
Nov. 17, 2009 AmericaÕs mainstream religious denominations used to teach the faithful that they would be rewarded in the afterlife. But over the past generation, a different strain of Christian faith has proliferated. Known as the prosperity gospel, and claiming tens of millions of adherents, it fosters risk-taking and intense material optimism. It pumped air into the housing bubble. And one year into the worst downturn since the Depression, it's still going strong.
Birth of New Species Witnessed by Scientists
Nov. 17, 2009 On one of the Galapagos islands whose finches shaped the theories of a young Charles Darwin, biologists have witnessed that elusive moment when a single species splits in two.
Libyan Leader Seeks Tall, Leggy, Pious
Nov. 17, 2009 The 200 women who answered a Rome modeling agency's advertisement for tall, attractive party guests thought they would be attending an elegant soiree on Sunday. They were, only the host turned out to be the Libyan leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, and instead of hors d'oeuvres he offered them copies of the Koran and urged them to convert to Islam, the Italian news media reported Monday.
Taking on the Faith Healers
Nov. 16, 2009 When a child dies, faith is no defense. Why do courts give believers a pass?
A Colorado Bible Thumping
Nov. 16, 2009 When a sign went up in late September announcing Andrew Wommack Ministries had just bought a sprawling ranch near their Woodland Park home, Mary Miklosz and Cindy Horn both felt a jolt of rage.
Gay Marriage Supporters Threaten to Strip Churches of Tax Exemption
Nov. 16, 2009 More than 75,000 Americans have joined an online movement seeking the revocation of tax-exempt status from churches that were involved in the repeal of Maine's gay marriage law.
Ex-Church Members Cry Foul About Pastor
Nov. 16, 2009 The message members of Radiant Life Church said they heard was this: To receive blessings from God, they must honor, submit and give to their pastor, Tony Cunningham.
Kosher Meatpacker Guilty of Fraud
Nov. 16, 2009 A jury in Sioux Falls, S.D., returned to the courtroom late Thursday afternoon and delivered judgment on former Agriprocessors manager Sholom M. Rubashkin: Guilty on 86 of 91 possible counts.
Abutters: Fight Over Mass. Church 'Not Over'
Nov. 16, 2009 Neighbors opposed to the Orthodox Congregational Church of Lanesville's plan for a new fellowship hall on Washington Street vowed to keep fighting the project Thursday night, even after the city settled with the church to end a federal religious discrimination lawsuit.
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