FreeThoughtAction Hero Of The Day - 04/30/08

Claude Elwood Shannon (April 30, 1916 - February 24, 2001)

According to Wikipedia, Shannon was "an American electrical engineer and mathematician, 'the father of information theory'.

"Shannon is famous for having founded information theory with one landmark paper published in 1948. But he is also credited with founding both digital computer and digital circuit design theory in 1937, when, as a 21-year-old master's student at MIT, he wrote a thesis demonstrating that electrical application of Boolean algebra could construct and resolve any logical, numerical relationship. It has been claimed that this was the most important master's thesis of all time."

Opponents Of Ten Commandments Monument Suing Fargo

FARGO, N.D. (AP) -- Opponents of a Ten Commandments monument in Fargo, North Dakota, have filed a civil lawsuit against the city, asking that the granite marker be removed.

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NOTE: The article fails to mention that the quote on the monument the Freethinkers wanted to erect -- "The government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion" -- was by Thomas Jefferson.

Florida A Step Ahead In Funds To Faith Schools

President Bush last week called on state lawmakers across the country to remove language in their constitutions that bans the flow of state money to religiously affiliated schools -- and allies of the president's brother already are trying to do just that in Florida.

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New Mexico Takes 3 Children From Church Compound

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (AP) -- State police have removed three children from an apocalyptic church whose leader claims to be the Messiah and acknowledges having sex with some of his followers.

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See also:

Kids Taken From N.M. Religious Compound

Sect's Boys May Have Been Abused Too

(CNN) -- Investigators are looking into the possible sexual abuse of some of the boys taken from a polygamist sect's ranch in Texas and into how several children apparently suffered broken bones while there, officials said Wednesday.

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See also:

Texas Officials Looking at Possible Abuse of FLDS Boys

Possible Abuse Of Sect Boys Investigated

Gitmo Detainee Can Contact Qaeda Suspects

(AP) Osama bin Laden's former driver can ask senior al Qaeda suspects imprisoned at Guantanamo for help in his war-crimes tribunal, a military judge said Wednesday, overruling concerns that any communication between the detainees could threaten national security.

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Female Teachers Dying On The Roads In Saudi Arabia

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Roads in Saudi Arabia are among the world's most dangerous but one type of victim stands out: female teachers who are dying at alarming rates because of long commutes through the desert to reach remote schools.

The Saudi government appoints teachers to work in villages where local staff cannot fill all vacancies. But unlike their male counterparts, female teachers in this conservative Muslim country have difficulty living alone in the villages, forcing them to commute each day.

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Officials: Sadr City Battles Killed Hundreds In April

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The fighting that erupted in Baghdad's Sadr City last month has killed 925 people and wounded 2,605, a top government official said Wednesday.

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See also:

Gates: Lull in Iraq Over as US Deaths Reach Seven-Month High

U.S. Death Toll In Iraq Hits 7-Month High

Iraq civilians reportedly among Sadr City dead

2-Year-Old Boy Killed in Iraq Battle

U.S. Role Deepens in Sadr City

On the Ground With U.S. Troops in Sadr City

The Misery in Sadr City

Taliban Regaining Hold On Afghanistan, Report Says

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Taliban in Afghanistan -- whose government was toppled by U.S.-led forces after the September 11 attacks in 2001 -- has strengthened its military and technical capabilities even while suffering heavy combat losses, says a State Department report released Wednesday.

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See also:

Terrorism attacks up in Afghanistan, Pakistan

US May Retake Lead Role In Afghanistan

U.S.: Al Qaeda Rebuilding In Pakistan

Blaming The Victim: Abused Afghan Women Often End Up In Jail

Israeli Forces Kill Islamic Jihad Chief, Sources Say

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- One person was killed and three were wounded Wednesday in an Israeli airstrike targeting a metal shop in Rafah, according to Palestinian security and medical sources.

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Israel Moves To Shutter West Bank Charity It Links To Hamas

U.S. Terror Report Cites Venezuela, Iran

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Venezuela's associations with terror states, Iran's meddling in Iraq and the resurgence of al Qaeda in Afghanistan top the concerns in a new State Department report on terrorism threats in countries around the world.

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Catholic Italy Lacks Knowledge Of Faith

Italy professes to be a Catholic nation - but a majority of Italians do not know "even the most basic facts" about the Bible, according to a survey.

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Teen In Bomb Plot Wanted To "Kill Jesus"

(AP) A teen accused of plotting to blow up his high school told police that he wanted to die, go to heaven and kill Jesus, federal authorities said Tuesday.

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Polygamist Teen Has A Baby Boy

SAN MARCOS, Texas (AP) -- One of the hundreds of young polygamist-sect members taken into state custody gave birth Tuesday to a healthy boy while child welfare officials, state troopers and fellow sect members stood watch outside the maternity ward.

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British Muslim 'Bullied' For Converting To Christianity

A British citizen who converted to Christianity from Islam and then complained to police when locals threatened to burn his house down was told by officers to "stop being a crusader", according to a new report.

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Saudi Prince Orders Crackdown On Flirting

(AP) A governor in northern Saudi Arabia has ordered authorities to punish men who flirt with women in public places by cutting their hair, local media said Tuesday.

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Iranian Official Calls Barbie 'Destructive'

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- A top Iranian judiciary official has warned against the "destructive" cultural and social consequences of importing Barbie dolls and other Western toys.

--snip--

Barbie is sold wearing swimsuits and miniskirts in a society where women must wear head scarves in public and men and women are not allowed to swim together.

--snip--

Authorities in Iran launched a campaign of confiscating Barbies from toy shops in 2002, denouncing the un-Islamic sensibilities of the iconic American doll. But the campaign was eventually dropped.

Also in 2002, Iran introduced its own competing dolls -- the twins Dara and Sara -- who were designed to promote traditional values with their modest clothing and pro-family stories. But the dolls proved unable to stem the Barbie tide.

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Top Pakistan Militant Halts Talks

A top Taleban commander in Pakistan has halted peace talks with the government, his spokesman says.

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See also:

U.S. Lacks Pakistan Strategy

Pakistani Hindu worker's murderers go unpunished

Detainee Driver Slovenly, Threatens Boycott

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba -- Osama bin Laden's driver appeared at his war crimes trial Monday looking disheveled and threatening a boycott.

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Afghanistan's Insurgency Spreading North

Kabul, Afghanistan - The attempted assassination of President Hamid Karzai Sunday came as the latest sign of a trend worrying Western officials: that the insurgency is spreading from the Taliban stronghold of the south to the central and northern regions of the country.

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Marines Strike Taliban-Controlled City

International Zone Again Under Fire

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Two mortars were fired Monday into Baghdad's heavily fortified International Zone where U.S. and Iraqi offices are based, Iraqi Interior Ministry officials told CNN. There was no word on casualties or damage.

At least 12 mortars were fired at the International Zone on Sunday, according to the U.S. military.

Violence flared across Baghdad as two Iraqi government employees were killed in roadside bombings and at least one civilian was killed in a suicide bombing aimed at a pro-U.S. militia checkpoint.

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See also:

A Storm of Sand and Shelling

Unsafe Haven

Sadr City Fighting Leaves Dozens Dead

Muqtada Sadr says Iraq truce still stands

Behind the Scenes: Walking amid 2,000 al Qaeda suspects

Drone attacks hit high in Iraq

Four US Troops in Baghdad Are Killed by Rocket Fire

Girl, 17, killed in Iraq for loving a British soldier

Barbaric 'honour killings' become the weapon to subjugate women in Iraq

Mideast Violence Kills Mother, 4 Children

GAZA CITY (CNN) -- Four Palestinian siblings ages 1 to 6 and their mother were killed Monday when Israeli tank shells hit their house, Palestinian medical and security sources said.

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See also:

PM voices 'deep remorse' for Gaza deaths, but says Hamas put victims at risk

'Our Dreams Are Dead'

Uganda: Ban Religious Studies, Says Govt

RELIGIOUS studies should be taken out of the school curriculum, the Government has proposed.

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Anti-Evolution Film Misappropriates The Holocaust

New York, NY, April 29, 2008 ... The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today issued the following statement regarding the controversial film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.

The film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed misappropriates the Holocaust and its imagery as a part of its political effort to discredit the scientific community which rejects so-called intelligent design theory.

Hitler did not need Darwin to devise his heinous plan to exterminate the Jewish people and Darwin and evolutionary theory cannot explain Hitler's genocidal madness.

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Religion A Figment Of Human Imagination

Humans alone practice religion because they're the only creatures to have evolved imagination.

That's the argument of anthropologist Maurice Bloch of the London School of Economics. Bloch challenges the popular notion that religion evolved and spread because it promoted social bonding, as has been argued by some anthropologists.

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Orangutan Attempts To Hunt Fish With Spear

A male orangutan, clinging precariously to overhanging branches, flails the water with a pole, trying desperately to spear a passing fish.

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Atheists Push Own Holidays

Now that Earth Day is over, let the planning begin for the summer solstice and World Humanist Day in June.

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See also:

Learning the many faces of humanism

A Humanist Manifesto Turns Seventy-Five

Fighting For God And Country

Army Specialist Hall was a turret gunner who has been deployed to Iraq twice. His Humvee came under fire - a bullet nearly killed him - but he didn't find God, and he wasn't looking...

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Choir Director Brings Prayers For Lower Gas Prices To SF

(AP) A choir director who hopes prayer can bring down high gas prices is trying out his approach at some of the costliest pumps in the country.

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House Takes Up Senate Evolution Bill

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A bill that would ensure teachers are not punished for challenging evolution in the classroom was debated Friday in the Florida House but amended to include more stringent language that would mandate alternate views to evolution be taught.

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Earlier:

Fla. Senate Rejects Proposal To Add Comprehensive Sex Education Amendment To Evolution Bill

S.D. Landmark Under Fire Again

Last week marked the beginning of a new legal battle over the Mount Soledad Cross, which has once again fallen under criticism from opponents who claim its presence to be a gross violation of the principle of separation of church and state. The cross, which has been the subject of numerous legal battles since the 1980s, is located on federal government property.

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Female Suicide Bomber Kills 3 At Checkpoint In Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A female suicide car bomber attacked an Iraqi security forces checkpoint in eastern Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least three Iraqis and wounding 14, an Interior Ministry official said.

--snip--

The bombing came as fighting in the capital's Sadr City neighborhood killed at least eight people and wounded 44 others, an official said.

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See also:

Sandstorm aids militants in Green Zone attack --
Salvo comes amid political talks, reports of 100 bodies in two mass graves

Karzai Escapes Deadly Taliban Attack

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Taliban militants opened fire at a military ceremony in the capital Sunday morning. A lawmaker, tribal leader and 10-year-old child were killed, but President Hamid Karzai escaped unhurt, according to an official and a statement from Karzai's office.

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See also:

Leave Taliban Alone, Afghan President Tells West

Lesbian Wins $23,000 From Christian Group

Connie Heintz, 39, a Christian of Mennonite heritage, complained to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario after being fired on Sept. 23, 2000, when directors of Christian Horizons discovered she had been discussing her sexual orientation with co-workers, and had come to believe she was gay.

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Atheist Soldier Claims Harassment

JUNCTION CITY, Kansas (AP) -- Like hundreds of young men joining the Army in recent years, Jeremy Hall professes a desire to serve his country while it fights terrorism.

But the short and soft-spoken specialist is at the center of a legal controversy. He has filed a lawsuit alleging he's been harassed and his constitutional rights have been violated because he doesn't believe in God. The suit names Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

--snip--

It eventually came out in Iraq in 2007, when he was in a firefight. Hall was a gunner on a Humvee, which took several bullets in its protective shield. Afterward, his commander asked whether he believed in God, Hall said.

"I said, 'No, but I believe in Plexiglas,"' Hall said.

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See also:

Soldier Sues Army, Saying His Atheism Led to Threats

Girl Killed In Fresh Gaza Clashes

Israeli forces have clashed with Palestinian militants during a raid on northern Gaza, hours after rejecting a truce offered by Hamas.

Palestinian doctors say a 14-year-old girl died and eight other people were injured in the raid, in Beit Lahiya.

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Suicide Bombers, Explosions Rock Iraq

Story Highlights:

Suicide bomber wearing explosive vest kills six at Iraqi police checkpoint

Two suicide bombers also strike in Mosul

Car bomb kills two awakening council members in Baghdad

Violence overnight in Baghdad's Sadr City kills eight people, Interior Ministry says

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See also:

Iraq's Dance: Maliki, Sadr and Sunnis

Conservatives Claim Iran Election Win

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iranian conservatives have said they captured most of the 82 parliamentary seats up for grabs in Friday's runoff election.

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Egypt Islamists' Wait For Power

It is not easy to find the headquarters of Egypt's largest opposition movement.

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Son Of Moonies Founder Takes Over As Church Leader

Experts say Hyung Jin, the youngest of seven sons, who has five children of his own, is being groomed to secure his ageing father's legacy more than 50 years after he founded the Unification church in South Korea, declaring himself the new messiah with the aim of establishing a single world government under his leadership.

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Government Officials Should Not Promote Dobson Prayer Task Force Events, Church-State Watchdog Group Says

Intolerant Religious Right groups are dominating observance of the National Day of Prayer and government officials should refuse to lend them support, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

--snip--

The NDP Task Force's Web site claims it is the "National Day of Prayer Official Web Site," but, in fact, the group has no official status. The Task Force states that its purposes is to "Foster unity within the Christian Church" and "Publicize and preserve America's Christian heritage." Non-Christians are usually prohibited from leading or speaking at NDP Task Force events.

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And...

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See also:

National Day of Reason

Gift To Life Day

FFRF Files Lawsuit Against Rio School District And Wisconsin Department Of Instruction

The Madison, Wis.-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, a national organization of freethinkers working to keep church and state separate, today filed a lawsuit in Dane County Court seeking to force the school district in Rio, Wis., to charge rent to the Child Evangelism Fellowship Group. The evangelism group, part of an international bible-based Christian ministry seeking to convert boys and girls, regularly holds religious meetings targeting elementary students on school property at the end of the school day. The school district also sends home flyers publicizing the after-school evangelism.

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State/Church Watchdog Makes $1,200 Bid On Holmen "Star Hill" Site

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a national state/church watchdog based in Madison, Wis., has formally offered $1,200 for a 990-foot bite of land on what is known as the "Star Hill" cross site in Holmen, Wis.

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Earlier:

FFRF Bids on Holmen "Star Cross" Site

Humanists Up Ante For Star Hill Site

Connecticut Woman Says She Stole Hundreds Of Paintings To Prepare For Apocalypse

WATERBURY, Conn. -- A 53-year-old Waterbury woman has pleaded guilty to stealing more than 150 paintings reportedly after God told her the end of the world is near.

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Mount Vernon Schools To Hire Investigator In Bible Case

The Mount Vernon public-school science teacher who won't remove his personal Bible from the top of his desk also is accused of conducting a religious "healing session" during school and burning crosses onto students' arms.

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Committee Hears Impacts Of Abstinence-Only

At this point, the weight of the evidence cannot be ignored, and under the glare of a congressional inquiry policymakers will have to answer tough questions about why we continue to waste millions of dollars a year on a policy that has failed to keep teens healthy and safe.

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Bush Wants Aid For Religious Schools

"If we're helping faith-based schools, someone is going to say, 'What about the separation of church and state?'"

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Legal Questions Follow Polygamist Raid

SAN ANGELO, Texas - The state of Texas made a damning accusation when it rounded up 462 children at a polygamous sect's ranch: The adults are forcing teenage girls into marriage and sex, creating a culture so poisonous that none should be allowed to keep their children.

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Yemen's 8-Year-old Divorcee

She may be the world's first 8-year-old divorcee.

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Pakistan's Cease-fire: Who Wins?

A car bomb exploded next to a police station in a northwestern city Friday, killing three people and ending a five-week lull in the deadly explosions.

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Iraqi Oil Pipeline Blown Up Again

An oil pipeline south of Baghdad has been blown up, wounding at least eight security guards, Iraqi police say.

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See also:

Militias 'recruit child bombers'

US General: Violence In Afghanistan Could Reach Record Levels

A top U.S. military commander says Afghanistan could see record levels of violence this year, with many Taliban attacks in eastern Afghanistan originating from across the Pakistani border.

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See also:

US to Heighten Afghan Role?

Nigeria: Muslim Rioters Attack 'Blaspheming' Christians

Hundreds of Muslims took to the streets of Kano in northern Nigeria last Sunday (20 April), attacking Christians and their shops and setting vehicles on fire on claims that a Christian had blasphemed Muhammad, the prophet of Islam.

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Bully Pulpit

SEVERAL thousand hardline Muslims protested outside President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's palace in Jakarta on April 20th demanding that he ban Ahmadiyah, an unorthodox but moderate Muslim sect founded in 19th-century India that claims around 200,000 members across Indonesia.

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Warden 'Used Blood To Fake Madonna Tears'

A church warden has gone on trial accused of dripping his own blood on the face of a Virgin Mary statue so that she appeared to be weeping.

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Mankind's Close Call With Extinction

(AP) Human beings may have had a brush with extinction 70,000 years ago, an extensive new genetic study suggests.

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See also:

Humans nearly wiped out 70,000 years ago, study says

Early Human Populations Evolved Separately For 100,000 Years

And...

Today's Chickens Are Descended From Dinos

Yoko Ono Sues "Expelled" Filmmakers

NEW YORK (Reuters) - John Lennon's sons and widow, Yoko Ono, are suing the filmmakers of "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" for using the song "Imagine" in the documentary without permission.

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See also:

Repelled by Expelled

Florida Considers Christian License Plate

MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- Florida drivers can order more than 100 specialty license plates celebrating everything from manatees to the Miami Heat, but one now under consideration would be the first in the nation to explicitly promote a specific religion.

The Florida Legislature is considering a specialty plate with a design that includes a Christian cross, a stained-glass window and the words "I Believe."

--snip--

Bullard, the plate's sponsor, isn't sure all groups should be able to express their preference. If atheists came up with an "I Don't Believe" plate, for example, he would probably oppose it.

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Controversy Cooks Over 'Day Of Silence'

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Two groups called Thursday for Iowa schools to allow students to participate in the national "Day of Silence."

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Parents Outraged After Islamic Group Gives Classroom Presentation

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. -- Some high school students in a Seminole County public school got a lesson in Islam. Outraged parents at Lake Brantley High School called Channel 9 after an Islamic group visited the classroom.

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Ex-Scientology Kids Share Their Stories

He's one of the biggest box-office draws in history, but in recent years Tom Cruise has become more than just the face of his films. He has also become the face of his religion -- Scientology.

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See also:

Scientology's Anonymous Critics: Who Are They?

Polygamy Sect's Kids Face Tough Transition

(CBS/AP) The hundreds of children from a polygamist compound taken into state custody are on their way to group homes, shelters and residences, but experts and lawyers fear their transition may be much harder than it is for other foster children.

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See also:

Texas officials believe 25 sect moms under 18

How DNA tests reveal polygamist sex practices

Syria, Israel Reportedly In Indirect Talks

(CNN) -- Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has been indirectly negotiating with Israel for a year, through Turkey, according to Arabic language newspaper published this week.

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See also:

Israel and Syria Hint at Progress on Golan Heights Deal

Israel Rejects Hamas Offer For Gaza Truce

GAZA -- Israel dismissed on Friday a proposal by Hamas to call a conditional six-month truce in the Gaza Strip, calling it a ruse aimed at allowing the Palestinian Islamist group to recover from recent fighting.

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See also:

Fuel crisis halts Gaza food aid

Israeli Law Would Compensate Settlers

Israel: 60 years of hope and despair

Ongoing Nakba: London film festival commemorates 60 years of catastrophe

Death Toll Mounts In Baghdad Battles

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Battles between U.S.-backed Iraqi forces and militants raged overnight and into Thursday in two Baghdad neighborhoods, leaving at least 11 dead, an Interior Ministry official said.

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Bomb In Car Kills 2 In Northwestern Pakistan; 20 Injured

(AP) Police say a car bomb has killed two people and wounded 20 in the northwestern Pakistan city of Mardan.

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See also:

Blast rocks police station in Pakistan

Pakistan seeks peace deal with Islamists

Pakistan militant offers cease-fire

Afghan MPs May Ban Jeans And Makeup

The Afghan parliament is considering a law to ban makeup, men's jeans, long hair and couples talking in public, amid fears that the country is sliding back to Taliban-style rules and conservative power.

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Turkey: Tens Of Thousands Demonstrate In Favor Of Secularism

Tens of thousands demonstrated in the Turkish capital Ankara last week to defend the country's secularist tradition amid simmering tensions over an attempt to ban the Islamist-rooted governing party.

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Denmark Evacuates Embassies In Algeria, Afghanistan

The Danish Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that it has evacuated its staff from embassies in Algeria and Afghanistan because of threats after newspapers reprinted a cartoon depicting the Muslim prophet Muhammad.

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Rights Group: Ethiopian Forces Targeted Somali Civilians

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- Amnesty International has accused Ethiopian troops in the Somali capital of "targeted killing of civilians" during a deadly raid on a mosque.

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Algeria Passport Veil Ban Protest

Muslim Scholars in Algeria say a government ban on pictures of veiled women in passport photographs runs counter to Sharia law.

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See also:

UN Body Questions Algeria's Controversial Religion Law

One Million Pilgrims Expected To View Exhumed Body Of Padre Pio

A million Roman Catholic pilgrims are expected to file past the exhumed body of Padre Pio, which has gone on display in Italy.

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Classroom Clashes: What Should Teens Learn About Sex?

A discussion about how to best discuss sex in the classroom brought both Knox and Siegel to Capitol Hill today, as the House Oversight and Investigations panel held a hearing on the effectiveness of abstinence-only programs.

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See also:

Experts say sex abstinence program doesn't work

Food, Drugs Run Short In Sadr City, Red Cross Says

Story highlights:

U.S. soldier killed in small-arms attack; U.S. death toll at 4,047

Fighting in Shiite neighborhood leaves main market in ruins, agency says

Hospitals in area run out of anesthesia and dressing supplies

Red Cross supplies 10,000 liters of drinking water daily to Sadr City

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Afghan TV Stations Defy Ban On Soap Operas

(AP) Every evening, Roya Amin sits down with her husband and 2-year-old daughter in front of the television. When their favorite Indian soap opera starts, they sigh in relief.

The Afghan government is trying to ban the wildly popular television dramas for being un-Islamic and interfering with children's studies. It's a sign of the growing tensions between religious conservatives and liberals in Afghanistan's post-Taliban era.

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See also:

Afghan TV station defies Taleban and President Karzai and keeps Bollywood soaps on air

German Police Raid Homes Over 'Jihadist' Material

BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- German police conducted a series of raids across the country Wednesday as part of their investigation into nine citizens suspected of systematically trying to convert others to radical Islam.

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Jehovah's Witness Refuses Blood For Her Unborn Twins

A PREGNANT woman with severely anaemic twins has objected to the babies receiving a potentially life-saving blood transfusion when they are born on religious grounds, the High Court was told yesterday.

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Judge Orders La. School District To Stop Bible Giveaways

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A federal judge ordered a public school system to stop allowing in-school Bible giveaways, saying the practice violates the First Amendment separation of church and state.

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Lynchings In Congo As Penis Theft Panic Hits Capital

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Police in Congo have arrested 13 suspected sorcerers accused of using black magic to steal or shrink men's penises after a wave of panic and attempted lynchings triggered by the alleged witchcraft.

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Humanists Up Ante For Star Hill Site

Washington, D.C. -- The American Humanist Association has informed the Holmen, Wisconsin, Village Board that it will pay ten times the appraised value of the Star Hill site that displays a cross and a star on public land. The local Lions Club has offered the $100 appraised value and the American Humanist Association has offered $1,000. Both the Lions Club and the Association made their intentions known yesterday, April 21. Holmen officials will have received the Association's offer in writing today. The text of that letter appears below.

Holmen officials agreed to sell the Star Hill site to avoid church-state litigation over religious symbols on public land. The Village Board will take up the matter again at its forthcoming May meeting.

"We anticipate that the Holmen Village Board will make the decision that is in the best fiscal interests of the village," said Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association and author of the organization's letter. "If there is no religious bias influencing the decision on who the site is sold to, and for how much, we will look forward to taking ownership soon."

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Earlier:

FFRF Bids on Holmen "Star Cross" Site

Men From Polygamy Sect Speak

(CBS) Many of the men in the polygamist sect in Eldorado, Texas didn't know it is illegal to marry someone under 18....

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See also:

Polygamy Kids on the Move

Florida Girl Sees Jesus In Piece Of Candy

Fourteen-year-old Jessica Perry claims she was about to eat a piece of candy when she saw Christ on it.

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See also:

Man sees Jesus on hospital ceiling

Brazilian Balloon Priest Still Missing At Sea

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) -- Rescuers reached a cluster of brightly colored party balloons floating in the ocean off Brazil's coast Tuesday but did not find the Roman Catholic priest who had been using them in a bid to set a flight record.

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Could There Be Life On Saturn's Moon Enceladus?

ScienceDaily -- Could microbial life exist inside Enceladus, where no sunlight reaches, photosynthesis is impossible and no oxygen is available? To answer that question, we need look no farther than our own planet to find examples of the types of exotic ecosystems that could make life possible on Saturn's geyser moon. The answer appears to be, yes, it could be possible. It is this tantalizing potential that brings us back to Enceladus for further study.

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See also:

Mars Radar Instruments Work Together To Discover Hidden Martian Secrets

Moon Gets A Lashing From Earth's Magnetotail

Solar Flares Set The Sun Quaking

Earthquake Hazard Maps Show How U.S. Shakes With Quakes

'What Can I, Robot, Do With That?'

ScienceDaily -- A new approach to robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) could lead to a revolution in the field by shifting the focus from what a thing is to how it can be used.

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See also:

Computer Converses By Reacting To Human Signals

New Robots Can Provide Elder Care For Aging Baby Boomers

Mother's Diet Influences Infant Sex

ScienceDaily -- New research by the Universities of Exeter and Oxford provides the first evidence that a child's sex is associated with the mother's diet. The study shows a clear link between higher energy intake around the time of conception and the birth of sons. The findings may help explain the falling birth-rate of boys in industrialised countries, including the UK and US.

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See also:

Certain Genes Are Turned On Or Off By Geography And Lifestyle, Study Suggests

Vitamin D Important In Brain Development And Function

Pope Tells Of Youth Under Nazis

The Pope was a Hitler Youth member as a teen, usual for young Germans at the time, and was conscripted by the German army near the end of World War II.

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See also:

What Benedict Hasn't Said About the Holocaust

Pope caught in row over who should pay for Australia visit

Saudi Arabian churches: a Vatican pipe dream?

And...

Church critic "outs" American cardinal

When Muslims Become Christians

There's a widespread belief that the penalty for leaving Islam is death - hence, perhaps, the killing of a British teacher last week. But Shiraz Maher believes attitudes may be softening.

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Israeli Strikes Kill Gaza Militants

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israel carried out a series of airstrikes against armed Palestinians in northern Gaza late Saturday and early Sunday, according to an Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman. Hamas sources said five of its fighters were killed in the raids.

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See also:

Hamas Offers Conditional Truce To Israel

U.N.: 100,000 More Dead In Darfur Than Reported

NEW YORK (CNN) -- The number of deaths in Sudan's Darfur region since 2006 may have been underestimated by as much as 50 percent, the U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs said Tuesday.

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Blasphemy Case Moves to Appeals Court

JEDDAH -- The case of a Turkish barber who was sentenced to death at the Jeddah General Court on March 31 on charges of blasphemy will be sent to the Appeals Court in Makkah next week.

Sabri Bogday was sentenced to death after two men, one Saudi and the other Egyptian, reported to the authorities that he had sworn at God and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) at his barbershop in Jeddah early last year.

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Indonesia Punishes Terror Group Pair

(AP) Two leaders of the feared Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiyah were sentenced Monday to 15 years in jail, dealing yet another blow to the group blamed for a string of deadly bombings in Indonesia.

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Pakistan Prisoner Release To Win Over Militants

(CNN) -- Pakistan's new government has made good on its promise to negotiate with militant groups within its borders by releasing a jailed pro-Taliban leader who recruited thousands of fighters to battle U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

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See also:

Anti-Islamic film creates excuse for Taliban killings

Islamist Uprising Kills 81 In Somalia

Fresh fighting between Islamist insurgents and Somali government troops in Mogadishu has killed at least 81 people in two days, witnesses reported yesterday.

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Suicide Blast In Iraq Kills 2 Marines

(CBS/AP) The U.S. military said two American Marines have been killed in a suicide car bombing near Ramadi.

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Earlier:

Sadr Threatens Open War Against US, Iraq

See also:

Iraqi Army Takes Last Basra Areas From Sadr Force

Shiite Cleric's Militia Refuses To Disband

Shiite cleric's followers ready to fight

Clashes Intensify Between Shiite Militia, U.S. Forces

Civil war breaks out among Sunni

"God is Great," screamed a man seconds before he blew himself up....

Strict Islamic rule being thrown off in parts of Basra

Al Qaeda No. 2: Attacks On Western Nations In Works

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Al Qaeda still has plans to target Western countries involved in the Iraq war, Osama bin Laden's chief deputy warns in an audiotape released Tuesday to answer questions posed by followers.

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Boy Flees Islamic School That Forces African Children To Beg

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) -- On the day he decided to run away, 9-year-old Coli awoke on a filthy mat.

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Tunisia Vows To Preserve Religious Moderation

In Tunisia, synagogues and churches stand side by side with mosques. Jewish and Christian minorities freely practice their religious rituals. This tolerant climate is ensured by the constitution which provides for habeas corpus, guarantees freedom of conscience and protects freedom of religious practice. But this open atmosphere for religious practices has been challenged in recent years by the rise of radical Islam in the Arab-Muslim world.

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Mecca Should Become Core To Measure Time Zones: Scholars

SPEAKERS at a Doha conference on Mecca's importance said that the holy city, not Greenwich, should become the reference point for world time, reigniting an old controversy that started some four decades ago.

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If God Is Dead, Who Gets His House?

The fastest-growing faith in America is no faith at all.

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See also:

Some atheists go to church too, but not to worship

Resentment Over Darwin Evolves Into A Documentary

One of the sleaziest documentaries to arrive in a very long time, "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" is a conspiracy-theory rant masquerading as investigative inquiry.

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See also:

Intelligent design film far worse than stupid

Ben Stein "Expelled" by Humanists

Evolution Exhibit Shows Why Nobody's Perfect

PHILADELPHIA - A new exhibit at the University of Pennsylvania about human evolution gives a new meaning to the expression "nobody's perfect."

Scientists say we have evolution to thank for our survival, but that it's also where we can point the finger when we experience backaches, impacted wisdom teeth or difficulty giving birth.

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Religion Is 'The New Social Evil'

A CHARITY set up by an ardent Christian to fight slavery and the opium trade has identified a new social evil of the 21st century - religion.

A poll by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation uncovered a widespread belief that faith - not just in its extreme form - was intolerant, irrational and used to justify persecution.

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The Vatican Rethinks Laws On Abuse

Cardinal William Levada, a high-ranking Vatican official whom Pope Benedict XVI hand-picked to succeed him in his old job as head of the Vatican's doctrinal office, offered early signs on Friday that the Vatican will change its internal, or canon, laws concerning the church's response to sexual abuse allegations -- a matter that has become the main topic of the Pope's American visit.

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See also:

Minority distorting human rights, says Pope

Keep religion and politics separate: Pope

Sect Children Will Stay In State Custody, Judge Rules

SAN ANGELO, Texas (CNN) -- Hundreds of children who were taken from a polygamist ranch by Texas child welfare authorities will remain in state custody, a judge ruled Friday night.

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See also:

Sect moms can't stay with kids after DNA tests

Inside The Mysterious Polygamous Sect

From Hunting Ground To Polygamist Ranch

Dozen Killed In Fierce Fighting In Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Islamic insurgents clashed with Ethiopian troops in Somalia's capital Saturday in battles that killed 12 people and wounded 10 others, witnesses said.

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5 Dead In Gaza Car Bombing, Airstrikes

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Three Palestinian militants were killed and 13 Israeli soldiers wounded when one of two explosives-laden cars blew up at a Gaza border crossing Saturday, an Israeli spokeswoman said.

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Al Qaeda In Iraq Calls For Offensive Against U.S.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A man claiming to be the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq mocked the death toll of American troops and urged his fighters to launch an offensive against U.S. forces in the next few weeks.

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See also:

Al-Sadr Threatens New Uprising In Iraq

GIs in Sadr City Under Fire From Friends and Foes

12 dead as U.S. troops battle al-Sadr's militia

Pakistan Envoy: I Am Taliban Hostage

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan appeared on a video aired Saturday by an Arab satellite channel, saying he was kidnapped by Taliban militants more than two months ago.

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See also:

NATO Admits Mistakenly Supplying Arms and Food to Taliban

Spiritualists And Psychics Foresee Trouble

LONDON - Britain's clairvoyants, mediums and mystics foresee trouble ahead.

A group of "spiritual workers" demonstrated in London on Friday against government plans to include their services under consumer protection rules. They fear the move could leave them open to lawsuits by disgruntled customers and troublesome skeptics.

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Indonesia Plans To Ban "Heretical" Muslim Sect

Indonesia is drafting a decree that will ban a Muslim sect that has been branded heretical by most Muslims, an official said on Friday.

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FreeThoughtAction Hero Of The Day - 04/18/08

Clarence Seward Darrow (April 18, 1857 - March 13, 1938)

According to Wikipedia, Darrow "was an American lawyer and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union, best known for defending teenage thrill killers Leopold and Loeb in their trial for murdering 14-year-old Bobby Franks (1924) and defending John T. Scopes in the so-called "Monkey" Trial (1925), in which he opposed the statesman William Jennings Bryan. He remains notable for his wit, compassion, and agnosticism that marked him as one of the most famous American lawyers and civil libertarians....

"The Scopes Trial of 1925 pitted against each other lawyers William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow (the latter representing teacher John T. Scopes) in an American court case that tested a law passed on March 13, 1925, which forbade the teaching, in any state-funded educational establishment in Tennessee, of 'any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals.'"

FFRF Objects To Sheriff Dept.-Sponsored Prayer Breakfast

A Wisconsin county sheriff has been asked to cease and desist his eighth annual sponsorship of a prayer breakfast by the Burnett Sheriff Department. This year's featured speaker is Supreme Court Justice (elect) Michael Gableman.

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Evolution: Now Showing At A Theater Near You

The Ben Stein anti-Darwinist film, "Expelled," opens today in 1,100 Theaters.

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See also:

Flunk This Movie!

Six Things in Expelled That Ben Stein Doesn't Want You to Know...

The simple falsehood at the heart of Expelled

'Expelled' ripped off Harvard's 'Inner Life of the Cell' animation

Yoko Ono, Filmmakers Caught in 'Expelled' Flap

Earlier:

Expelled Overview

I suppose it's due ('Expelled' review)

Lying for Jesus?

No Admission for Evolutionary Biologist at Creationist Film

Biology prof expelled from screening of 'Expelled'

EXPELLED!

Expelled Exposed

Christian School Founder's Indecent Proposal

The founder of a Christian school in Texas was caught on tape offering to waive a teen's enrollment fee at the school in exchange for sex with her mother.

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Pope Addresses Global Audience At U.N.

Benedict, only the third pope to address the United Nations, made the remarks after three dramatic days in which he repeatedly discussed America's clergy sexual abuse scandal.

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See also:

At synagogue, pope seeks 'bridges of friendship'

Pope asks Americans to be 'genuinely Catholic'

No New Hope From Pope

'Empty Promises'

Pope Visit Demonstrations in Washington DC, New York City, & Austin TX

Polygamy Sect Kids Must Stay in Custody

A judge today ruled in the Texas polygamy case that all 416 children from the Yearning for Zion Ranch must remain in temporary state custody, even as Texas Rangers investigate a possible hoax behind phone calls made last month that prompted a police raid of the sect's compound two weeks ago.

More...

See also:

Colorado woman is 'person of interest' in polygamist case

Willie Jessop: Purported Frontman at Texas Polygamy Compound

Polygamist Sect Kids To Undergo DNA Tests

Some In Sect May Have Given Birth At 13

The Cults That Went Whacko

Iraq Bombings Target US-Allied, Anti-Al Qaeda Groups

Bombings this week in Sunni areas of Iraqi have killed more than 100 people.

More...

Yesterday:

Suicide Blast Kills Dozens At Iraq Funeral

See also:

Iraqi Troops Abandon Position

Al Qaeda planning Baghdad attacks, says U.S.

U.S. Begins Erecting Wall in Sadr City

Program tracks Iraq civilians

Since 2001, a Dramatic Increase in Suicide Bombings

Pentagon Institute Calls Iraq War "a Major Debacle" With Outcome "in Doubt"

GAO: Bush lacks strategy to wipe out bin Laden sanctuary in Pakistan

2 NATO Troops Killed In Afghanistan

(AP) The son of the Netherlands' top military officer was killed early Friday by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, the day after his father assumed command of the Dutch armed forces, the Defense Ministry said.

More...

Yesterday:

Suicide Bomber Kills 23 in Remote Afghan Province

Taliban kill son of new Dutch army chief

See also:

NATO Admits Mistakenly Supplying Arms and Food to Taliban

Green Berets Recount Deadly Taliban Ambush

Fears for Pervez as Afghan court confirms 100 death sentences

Blasphemy Case Illustrates Failings of Legal System

Draft bill to ban make-up, dancing and music

Gods And Earthlings

If we were visited by aliens from a distant planet, would we fall on our knees and worship them as gods? The difficulty of getting here from even our nearest neighbor, the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, constitutes a filter through which only beings with a technology so advanced as to be god-like (from our point of view) could pass. The capabilities and powers of our interstellar visitors would seem more magical to us than all the miracles of all the gods that have ever been imagined by priests or theologians, mullahs or rabbis, shamans or witch doctors.

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Earth Set To Invade Mars With Space Probes

Countless science fictions books and films have shown Martian armies attacking the Earth, marching across our planet and enslaving or eradicating any humans they come across. Obviously this hasn't happened ... yet!

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See also:

NASA Spacecraft Fine Tunes Course For Mars Landing

And...

Music Has Its Own Geometry, Researchers Find

Finally! The 'Robot Hall of Fame'

World's Oldest Living Tree -- 9550 years old

Tax Aid To Religion Harms Faith And Draws Government Into Religious Affairs, Interfaith Coalition Tells Appeals Court

Using public funds to repair Detroit houses of worship violates the U.S. Constitution and threatens the independence of religious groups, a coalition of religious and civil liberties groups has told a federal appeals court.

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Pope Meets With Clergy Sex Abuse Victims

(CBS/AP) Pope Benedict XVI met privately Thursday with victims of clergy sex abuse during his trip to the United States.

More...

See also:

Pope Visit Demonstrations in Washington DC, New York City, & Austin TX

Saudi Church Project Runs into the Sand

Polygamy Custody Hearings Chaotic So Far

(CBS/AP) A court hearing to decide the fates of hundreds of children seized from a polygamist retreat was off to a chaotic start Thursday as hundreds of lawyers in two different locations demanded to study the first piece of evidence before it could be introduced.

More...

See also:

Polygamous-sect hearing in Texas descends into farce

Witness: Teens at ranch said any age OK to marry

Uncertain Future for Polygamy Kids

When the Polygamists Came to Town

Polygamy Trail Leads to Colorado

Ex-sect members escape polygamy but not pain

16 Killed By Suicide Bomb In Afghanistan

(AP) A suicide attack in front of a mosque in southwestern Afghanistan killed 16 people and wounded more than 30 others on Thursday, a provincial governor said.

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50 Killed In Iraq Suicide Bombing

BAGHDAD (AP) - A suicide bomber struck the funeral of two anti-al-Qaida Sunni tribesmen in a town north of Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 50 people and wounding dozens, police said.

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See also:

Suicide Blast Kills Dozens At Iraq Funeral

Al Qaeda Declares 'Failure And Defeat' For U.S. Troops In Iraq

Al Qaeda Still In Pakistan Tribal Areas, Report Says

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Al Qaeda is still operating within Pakistan's mountainous tribal region bordering Afghanistan....

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Jurors Readied For Six-Month Trial

Eight men are accused of conspiracy to set off bombs on flights to North America in the Summer of 2006.

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See also:

Aircraft plot accused 'dumped bomb-making materials'

Evolution: 24 Myths And Misconceptions

It will soon be 200 years since the birth of Charles Darwin and 150 years since the publication of On the Origin of Species, arguably the most important book ever written. In it, Darwin outlined an idea that many still find shocking -- that all life on Earth, including human life, evolved through natural selection.

Darwin presented compelling evidence for evolution in On the Origin and, since his time, the case has become overwhelming. Countless fossil discoveries allow us to trace the evolution of today's organisms from earlier forms. DNA sequencing has confirmed beyond any doubt that all living creatures share a common origin. Innumerable examples of evolution in action can be seen all around us, from the pollution-matching pepper moth to fast-changing viruses such as HIV and H5N1 bird flu. Evolution is as firmly established a scientific fact as the roundness of the Earth.

More...

See also:

Neanderthal man speaks after 30,000 years

Clues To Ancestral Origin Of Placenta Emerge In Genetics Study

Pol Pot's Grave Draws 'Worshippers'

ANLONG VENG, Cambodia (AP) -- Ten years after the death of brutal Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, his grave has become a symbol of spiritual comfort to some in the village where he is buried.

Villagers pray at the site, asking for blessings of luck, happiness and even protection from malaria -- despite the mayhem he wrought upon their country.

--snip--

Last week, the grave -- a pile of dirt covered by a knee-high corrugated zinc roof -- was cluttered with clay jars filled with half-burned incense sticks, a sign of prayer and worship.

--snip--

A 33-year-old Vietnamese resident, who goes by her adopted Cambodian name of Van Sothy, recalled a nightmare in which she saw a black-clad man sitting on a tree near her hut.

When she described the vision to her Cambodian neighbors, they advised her to bring offerings of fruit and boiled chicken to Pol Pot's grave to ask his spirit for protection.

"I have prayed at his grave ever since. I just want to show some respect to the spiritual master of the land," she said.

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"Faith Forum" Outright Religious Test for Public Office

Nearly a year ago, when CNN broadcast a presidential faith forum last June, the Freedom From Religion Foundation issued a statement condemning the imposition of a religious test for public office.

CNN has jettisoned any pretense of objectivity and professionalism by continuing to make candidates genuflect before religious leaders, parrot piety, and pledge allegiance to religion.

The founders of our nation felt so strongly that there should be no religious test for public office that they prohibited it (see U.S. Constitution, Art. VI). That constitutional bar is meaningless in today's political climate, if politicians, in order to be electable, must not only sing in the choir, but sing from the same hymnbook. When did "faith" become a qualification, much less a prerequisite, for public office?

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Polygamist Ranch Raid: What's Next?

A Texas judge will hold a hearing Thursday morning on what's next for the 416 children seized April 3 from the polygamist ranch in Eldorado, Texas.

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See also:

Sect Members: Brainwashed or Believers?

Pope Calls Church Sex Abuse Scandal A 'Deep Shame'

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday addressed issues ranging from the sex abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church to the easy availability of pornography to the "alarming decrease" in Catholic marriages in the United States.

More...

See also:

Pope says clergy abuse scandal sometimes 'badly handled'

Pope tells of Church's abuse shame on US trip

Pope attacks US sex abuse record

The Big Question: Will the Pope's trip to the United States resolve the crisis in Catholicism there?

Watchdog Group: America's 5 'Worst' Cardinals

The CEO From Rome Faces His Flock

Airstrike, Battles Kill At Least 11 In Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Fighting flared overnight in two key Shiite regions of Iraq, with four people killed early Wednesday in a U.S. airstrike in Basra and five others dying in battles in Baghdad's volatile northeastern region.

More...

Earlier:

Bombs Kill at Least 60 in Iraq as Fears Mount of More to Come

Also:

Iraqi Unit Flees Post

Al-Sadr Tightens the Screws

Militant's letter: Generate chaos, 'psychological conflict'

Uprooted and Unstable: Meeting Urgent Humanitarian Needs in Iraq

The Taliban Blowback

Pakistan -- Across the North-West Frontier province that abuts Afghanistan, self-proclaimed Taliban forces - a hotchpotch of religious diehards, foreign fugitives, angry tribals and village thugs - are imposing their influence at gunpoint. Girls' schools have closed, movie and music stores have been torched and barbers who dare to shave beards have shuttered their pokey little stalls. Perceived enemies are kidnapped or, in some cases, beheaded.

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See also:

Infamous Taliban Leader Killed In Pakistan

U.S. Faces Surging Violence In Afghanistan

WASHINGTON -- While America's attention remains focused on Iraq, violence is escalating in Afghanistan, worrying senior U.S. defense officials and commanders who're struggling to find some 7,000 more American and European troops to combat resurgent Taliban and al Qaida forces.

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See also:

After Decades, Pakistan Forces Thousands of Afghans to Leave

11 Policemen Killed in Afghanistan

Israeli-Palestinian Fighting Kills 21

GAZA CITY (CNN) -- Israeli airstrikes and ground battles with Palestinian militants on Wednesday left 21 dead, most of them Palestinians, according to Palestinian security sources.

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See also:

Day of Gaza unrest leaves 22 dead

23 Killed In Gaza Clashes

Reuters cameraman killed in Gaza

Hizbullah militants regroup amid war jitters

Radical Muslims 'Exploit Jail Staff To Convert Prisoners'

Extremist Muslim inmates are radicalising other prisoners at London's Belmarsh jail by exploiting staff inexperience, a government watchdog warned today.

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Ireland's Sunni-Shi'ite Divide

There may be nothing unusual about such sectarian Muslim disputation in Baghdad, but in Dublin, it's a relative novelty.

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Muslim Countries Slam Dutch Anti-Quran Film At UN

GENEVA: Islamic countries used a meeting of the U.N.'s top human rights body on Tuesday to demand the prosecution of a Dutch lawmaker whose anti-Quran movie has sparked Muslim protests.

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and other members of the U.N. Human Rights Council said the Netherlands should adopt laws against religious defamation.

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See also:

Lawyers stage rally against blasphemy

European Commissioner Rules Out Blasphemy Law

Brigitte Bardot on trial for Muslim slur

Mission To Saturn Extended To 2010

The Cassini spacecraft's mission at Saturn has been extended by two years, NASA announced on Tuesday, allowing the plucky probe to continue scouting the planet and its exotic medley of moons.

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See also:

NASA Extends Cassini's Grand Tour Of Saturn Two More Years

Milky Way's Giant Black Hole 'Awoke From Slumber' 300 Years Ago

Ghosts Of Galaxies: Lingering Star Streams Skirt Two Nearby Spiral Galaxies

Brain Decides Faster Than You Think

(WebMD) Talk about quick thinking: The brain may make some decisions up to 10 seconds before those decisions bubble up to conscious thought, a new study shows.

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See also:

Decision-making May Be Surprisingly Unconscious Activity

Semi-related:

Too Many Choices -- Good Or Bad -- Can Be Mentally Exhausting

N.J. High School Football Coach Has No Right To Encourage Student Prayers, Federal Appeals Court Says

Americans United for Separation of Church and State praised today's federal appeals court ruling that a New Jersey high school football coach does not have a constitutional right to engage in religious activities with students.

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Image In Hospital Brings Some To Tears

ORLANDO, Fla. -- An unexplained image in a hospital prayer garden window moved some people to tears and drew groups of people to a hallway before vanishing, according to witnesses.

A crowd inside the Florida Hospital Medical Complex in Orlando snapped photos of the image apparently showing the profile of Jesus Christ crying.

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The Future Of The Polygamist Kids

The raid on the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Eldorado, Texas, produced haunting images: 416 children, the girls in calico dresses, removed from log cabin homes, looking questioningly into nowhere as they were led from their polygamist enclave into a secular world they have always been taught to fear. They sang hymns as they were driven away along with 139 adult women from Eldorado's Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a renegade branch of the Mormon faith.

More...

See also:

Polygamist sect members deny child abuse

Pope Benedict XVI Begins First U.S. Tour

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A smiling Pope Benedict XVI arrived in the United States on Tuesday afternoon to start the six-day, two-city journey that will take him from the White House to the halls of the United Nations.

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See also:

The Pope's Sex Abuse Challenge

Victims: Pope Benedict Protects Accused Pedophile Bishops

U.S. Muslim leaders split on meeting with pope

Gay Catholics To Protest Papal Visit

NY Catholic teachers go on strike

Fanatic Threatened To Teach West A Lesson They Will Never Forget

The self-styled leader of a gang of Islamic fanatics accused of plotting to blow up passenger jets vowed to teach the West a "lesson they will never forget", a court heard yesterday.

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Bombings Kill Nearly 60 In Sunni Areas Of Iraq

Bombings blamed on al-Qaida in Iraq tore through market areas in Baghdad and outside the capital on Tuesday, killing nearly 60 people and shattering weeks of relative calm in Sunni-dominated areas.

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See also:

Deadly Blasts Break Recent Calm In Iraq

Laser Triggers Electrical Activity In Thunderstorm For The First Time

ScienceDaily -- A team of European scientists has deliberately triggered electrical activity in thunderclouds for the first time, according to a new paper in the latest issue of Optics Express, the Optical Society's (OSA) open-access journal. They did this by aiming high-power pulses of laser light into a thunderstorm.

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Walking Through Virtual Environments

ScienceDaily -- Imagine being able to take a step back in time and walk through the streets of ancient Pompeii hours before the eruption of Vesuvius.

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Judge Rules Against Atheist Father

LaGRANGE, Ky. -- A judge ruled in the case involving two parents fighting over whether their son should attend a religious school.

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Judge Ponders Fate Of Polygamist Sect Kids

(CBS/AP) The judge and lawyers involved in one of the biggest child-custody cases in U.S. history struggled Monday with the legal and logistical morass of deciding the fate of 416 children seized by Texas authorities in a raid at a polygamist sect.

More...

See also:

Polygamist Moms Return to Ranch

Sect Mothers Appeal to Texas Governor

Polygamy case poses 'logistical nightmare' for courts

Polygamist sect gets millions from U.S. government

Earlier:

Colorado City CPS phone call resembles one made in Texas

Clashes In Darfur

Khartoum - Darfur rebels and Sudanese armed forces clashed in West Darfur in a renewal of fighting in the volatile area near the Sudan-Chad border, with both sides claiming on Sunday they had inflicted heavy casualties.

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Afghan Fighting Poised To Escalate

Kandahar, Afghanistan - For weeks now, the men in black turbans have been coming. They travel in pairs or small groups, on battered motorbikes or in dusty pickups, materializing out of the desert with Kalashnikovs and rocket launchers slung from their shoulders.

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37 Killed Or Found Dead Across Iraq

(AP) At least 37 people were killed or found dead across Iraq - half of them in bombings near the northwestern city of Mosul.

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See also:

More than 200 dead as battle rages in Baghdad

Israeli Airstrike Kills Palestinian Militant

GAZA CITY (CNN) -- An Israeli airstrike killed a wanted Palestinian militant in Beit Hanoun, Israel Defense Forces and Palestinian sources said Monday.

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Terror Suspect Threatened West With Destruction

LONDON, England (AP) -- Jurors on Monday watched a video of a man accused of plotting to blow up trans-Atlantic aircraft warning Western nations: "The time has come for you to be destroyed."

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British And Kenyan Citizens Killed In Attack On School

MOGADISHU, Somalia (CNN) -- Authorities are investigating reports that at least one British and two Kenyan citizens were killed in an attack on a school in central Somalia on Sunday night.

--snip--

The attack on the school was part of a larger assault on the town by Islamic militants, who also burned the house of a regional official, he said.

More...

Youthful German Skeptics Challenge Religious Convention

A newly released survey by the Heidelberg-based Sinus-Sociovision showed that while young people search for meaning to their lives, they don't equate the answers with religion.

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Turkish Man Sentenced To Death In Saudi Arabia

Both President Abdullah Gul and Foreign Ministry officials are closely following developments related to a Turkish citizen sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia on charges of blasphemy, Turkish officials in Jeddah have said.

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Tens Of Thousands Demonstrate In Turkey In Favour Of Secularism

ANKARA (AFP) -- Tens of thousands demonstrated in the Turkish capital on Saturday to defend the country's secularist tradition amid simmering tensions over an attempt to ban the Islamist-rooted governing party.

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Pope Urged To Act On US Sex Abuse

American Roman Catholics, angered and demoralised by priest sex abuse scandals, say one man can help revitalise the Church: Pope Benedict XVI, who visits the US this week.

More...

See also:

Pope to pray for redemption of Islamic terrorists during US tour

The Pope's Sex Abuse Challenge

Clergy Abuse Victims Want UN to Investigate Vatican

Ave Maria, Florida: the Catholic-friendly town

Immigration boosting Catholic Church numbers in Britain

Protesting the Pope

The Lord's Boot Camp

"The Lord's Boot Camp," a collaboration between CBS News and Loki Films, producers of the Academy Award-nominated documentary "Jesus Camp," follows the three teens as they complete their training and go on evangelical missions here in the U.S. and abroad.

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Texas Polygamists May Recant, Officials Say

PHOENIX - Polygamist sect members who were moved to a Texas compound from their longtime homes along the Utah-Arizona line were hand-picked for their fierce loyalty to leader Warren Jeffs, and that allegiance may be a stumbling block for law enforcement, authorities say.

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See also:

Polygamist ranch suspect questioned, released

Iraq: Mass Grave Found South Of Baghdad

(AP) Iraqi soldiers acting on tips from detained Shiite militiamen found 14 bodies Saturday that had been buried in a field south of Baghdad, officials said.

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See also:

Sadr City fighting rages for seventh day

US GIs in Iraq Suffer Worst Week of '08

Bomb Kills Scores In Iranian Mosque

(AP) A bomb explosion in a mosque in southern Iran has killed scores of people, state television reported Saturday.

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See also:

Deadly blast tears through mosque in Iran

Muslim Depicts 'Violent' Christianity

A Saudi man has created a riposte to films criticising Islam in a video which portrays Christianity as a religion of violence.

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Did Politician Really Apologize For Anti-Atheist Rant?

The American Humanist Association responded today to the claim that Illinois State Representative Monique Davis (D-Chicago) apologized for an April 2 anti-atheist tirade she delivered during a State Government Administration Committee hearing in Springfield, Illinois.

"As far as we know, the only source for this alleged April 9 apology is the Web site of the immediate victim. It hasn't been corroborated or confirmed," declared Mel Lipman, president of the American Humanist Association. "Moreover, even if confirmed, the apology was only private. That just isn't good enough."

On April 2, Davis had interrupted atheist Rob Sherman during his testimony critical of a $1 million grant to a Baptist church. She declared, in part: "I'm trying to understand the philosophy that you want to spread in the state of Illinois. . . . This is the Land of Lincoln where people believe in God, where people believe in protecting their children. . . . it's dangerous for our children to even know that your philosophy exists! . . . I am fed up! Get out of that seat! . . . You have no right to be here! We believe in something. You believe in destroying!" (A transcript and audio of the exchange can be found at http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/ .) Sherman remained in his seat and continued his testimony.

"We humanists would be gratified to know for sure that Monique Davis has apologized for her anti-atheist outburst," said American Humanist Association Executive Director Roy Speckhardt. "We are grateful already for the public and media outcry against that outburst."

Speckhardt was referring to commentaries critical of Davis on MSNBC "Countdown" (where host Keith Olbermann designated Davis the Tuesday, April 8, "Worst Person in The World"), various radio stations, prominent blogs like the Daily Kos and the Huffington post, Eric Zorn's Chicago Tribune column and blog "Change of Subject," and elsewhere. A large number of individuals have posted blog comments supportive of respect for atheists, and have phoned and e-mailed Davis' office. "This shows how much America is changing in its willingness to support the right of people like humanists to be God free and be respected for who they are," Speckhardt added.

On his Web site (http://robsherman.com/), Sherman reports that, on April 9, Davis had called him "from the Floor of the Illinois House of Representatives to apologize for what she had said," adding that, "she had been upset, earlier in the day, to learn that a twenty-second and twenty-third Chicago Public School student this school year had been shot to death that morning" and this was why she had taken her anger out on him. Representative Jack Franks, who had chaired the hearing, told Chicago's WBBM Newsradio 780 yesterday that Davis' outburst was uncharacteristic: "she was having a bad day."

"Such a purely private apology, even when publicly reported, misses the point," declared Lipman today. "What Monique Davis said was an offense to all nontheistic people, including humanists like me, not merely an offense to a single atheist. And her words were uttered publicly, so only a public apology will suffice.

"On behalf of humanists everywhere, we will accept such a public apology if it comes," Speckhardt said. "But this won't mean that the godless now enjoy a level playing field. We still have a ways to go. Had Representative Davis' remarks been directed at Jews or Christians instead of atheists, she would have been forced to resign."

Speckhardt went on to note that atheists have been discriminated against throughout history. "In England, when poet Percy Bysshe Shelley published a pamphlet in 1811 entitled 'The Necessity of Atheism,' he was kicked out of Oxford. Closer to home, in Arkansas, atheist activist Charles Lee Smith was twice arrested in 1928, first for selling atheist literature and then for blasphemy. Moreover, since he couldn't as an atheist swear an oath to God on the Bible, he wasn't permitted to testify in his own defense!"

Times have changed since then: "This is modern America. We have a right to be here," Speckhardt concluded.

LINK