Ability To Literally Imagine Oneself In Another's Shoes May Be Tied To Empathy

ScienceDaily -- New research from Vanderbilt University indicates the way our brain handles how we move through space -- including being able to imagine literally stepping into someone else's shoes -- may be related to how and why we experience empathy toward others.

--snip--

The researchers compared performance on the test with how empathetic the subjects reported themselves to be. They found that higher self-reported empathy was associated with paying more attention to the right side of space. Previous research has found that the left side of the face is more emotionally expressive than the right side. Since the left side of the face would be on the right side of the observer, it is possible that attending more to the expressive side of people's faces would allow one to better understand and respond to their mental state. These findings could also point to a role of the left hemisphere in empathy.

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Brain Detects Happiness More Quickly Than Sadness

Morning People And Night Owls Show Different Brain Function

Scientology: The Truth Rundown

A special 3-part report on the Church of Scientology.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

See also:

Scientology leadership rife with physical violence, report says

Scientology Media Blitz to Counter Critics Seems Counter-Productive

Americans United Urges Attorney General to Act On Unlawful 'Earmark' Funding Of Nine Religious Institutions

Americans United for Separation of Church and State today asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to terminate or investigate nine federal grants awarded to faith-based groups that proselytize and that discriminate in hiring.

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Liberty Learns A Lesson: Falwell School Accepts AU Advice On Political Clubs

Atheist Bus Campaign In... New York City!

This month, some two dozen buses will roll through Manhattan, debuting our 12-foot long, three foot high message, "You don't have to believe in god to be a moral or ethical person". Look for the signs the first day our buses maneuver through the city in late June.

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German "atheist bus" brings tour of the country to a close

American Atheists Joins Secular Coalition For America

The nontheistic movement expanded its unified front this week as American Atheists joined the Secular Coalition for America. Their application to become a member was unanimously approved on Sunday June 14th. Along with the recent addition of Camp Quest in January 2009, this brings the number of groups in the Secular Coalition to ten.

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Does God Answer Prayers To Do Someone Ill? (God As Your Private Hitman)

Derided by some as a bad Judeo-Christian imitation of voodoo, the literal practice of imprecatory prayer has some newfound fans.

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No Rush For Pews

According to Frank Newport, the editor-in-chief of Gallup Poll, which interviews 30,000 Americans every month, "to guess that attendance would increase [in recessions] is a common-sense assumption with no basis in data." John Green, a senior fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, which recently published a study on the correlation between church attendance and economics, has found no link in the past 20 years.

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Orphanage Abuse: Christian Brother Jailed

A Christian Brother will serve 15 months in jail for the abuse of a boy at a South Melbourne orphanage more than three decades ago.

John Francis Coswello, 70, was convicted of two counts of indecent assault and three of gross indecency.

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British Man Snatched Over Religion

A BRITISH engineer kidnapped in Yemen by armed killers was part of an evangelical group that may have been targeted as an act of revenge for its attempts to convert local Muslims to Christianity.

His captors have already killed three women members of the group and abducted a married couple and their three young children.

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Catholic Mother Killed Newborn Baby From 'Shame' After Giving Birth Alone

A Catholic mother, who did not know she was pregnant, killed her newly born son within moments of giving birth alone, an inquest heard.

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Scores Killed In Baghdad Market Bombing

(AP) A bomb ripped through a crowded market in Baghdad's main Shiite district on Wednesday, killing at least 69 people and wounding more than 100 less than a week before a deadline for U.S. combat troops to leave Iraq's urban areas.

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62 people killed in Baghdad blast

And...

Wave of bombings kill at least 22 in Baghdad

Iraq: Death toll from huge suicide blast soars

Record Crowds At Stonehenge For Summer Solstice Celebrations

Druids began their incantations, Wiccan priestesses drew their cowls tight against the damp morning air and four half-naked Papuan dancers waved their hands in the air and went: "Woo, woo, woo".

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India's Romeo And Juliet Tragedy

It was a story buried in the middle of the Indian newspapers.

Two star-crossed lovers committed suicide after the local village council, or panchayat, ordered them to annul their marriage or face death.

Amreen was Muslim and her husband, Lokesh, a Hindu. Their match was simply unacceptable to their communities. The couple poisoned themselves.

--snip--

"In our village, Hindus marry Hindus and Muslims marry Muslims. It's very sad, what happened but what can you expect? The pressure on their families was enormous. They were being disgraced and dishonoured."

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US religious freedom watchdog 'barred from India'

Saudi Arabian Religious Police Arrest 67 Filipino Men At Drag Party

Saudi Arabia's religious police have shown the limits of their tolerance by arresting 67 Filipino men at a drag party.

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Statistics Defy Israeli Settlement Stance

(AP) Israelis moving to the West Bank accounted for more than a third of settler population growth in recent years, government statistics show, undercutting Israel's argument that it is continuing settlement construction only to accommodate growing families already living there.

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Afghanistan: Soldiers Killed In Attack On U.S. Base

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Two NATO-led soldiers were killed and six wounded in an attack in a U.S. base in eastern Afghanistan early Sunday, officials said.

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A Lecture By Robert Sapolsky

A great 90-minute lecture by Stanford's Robert Sapolsky on schizotypal and OCD personalities in relationship to religion and evolution.

HERE

Same-Sex Behavior Seen In Nearly All Animals, Review Finds

ScienceDaily -- Same-sex behavior is a nearly universal phenomenon in the animal kingdom, common across species, from worms to frogs to birds, concludes a new review of existing research.

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Judge Rejects Defense Argument In Oregon Prayer Case

OREGON CITY, Oregon (AP) - An Oregon judge has rejected defense claims of selective and vindictive prosecution in the manslaughter trial of a couple whose 15-month-old daughter died of pneumonia while they prayed for her recovery.

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ACLU Wants La. To Ban Creationism In Public Schools

BATON ROUGE -- New rules for teaching science in Louisiana should include specific prohibitions on the teaching of scientific creationism and intelligent design, the American Civil Liberties Union said today.

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Americans United Applauds Court Decision Striking Down Oklahoma County's Commandments Display

American United for Separation of Church and State today praised a federal appeals court for striking down a government display of the Ten Commandments in Haskell County, Okla.

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AAI Applauds US Court Ruling on Oklahoma County 10 Commandments Display

10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturns Bible law ruling

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IRS Should Investigate Virginia Church For Partisan Politicking, Says Americans United

Minding The Mentors: Wash. State School Restricts Proselytizing By Volunteers

Christian Prayers to Open City Council Meetings Illegal, Watchdog Charges

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a national state/church watchdog based in Madison, Wis., recently sent strong letters of complaint over the illegal practice of routinely opening city council meetings with prayer.

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Watchdog, Parents File Suit Against South Carolina Release- Time Credits

New Support Group Recovering Religionists Helps People Who Leave The Church

The idea for the group came from Darrel Ray, an organizational psychologist and author of "The God Virus: How Religion Infects Our Lives and Culture." He was raised in a fundamentalist Christian church and attended seminary. But by the time he graduated, he had abandoned the notion of becoming a minister.

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Accused Abortion Doctor Killer Claims More Violence Is Planned

WICHITA, Kan. -- The man charged with killing a prominent abortion provider claimed Sunday that more violence is possible as long as the medical procedure is allowed to continue, giving his warning in calls that also focused on complaints about his treatment in jail.

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Recruitment Shooting Suspect Doesn't Think Killing Was Murder

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- A Muslim convert charged with fatally shooting an American soldier at a military recruiting center said Tuesday that he doesn't consider the killing a murder because U.S. military action in the Middle East made the killing justified.

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Prosecutors Demand End Of Scientology

THE Church of Scientology in France should be dissolved due to alleged fraudulent activities, the Paris public prosecution service has demanded.THE Church of Scientology in France should be dissolved due to alleged fraudulent activities, the Paris public prosecution service has demanded.

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Light Sensors Cause Religious Row

A couple have taken legal action after claiming motion sensors installed at their holiday flat in Dorset breached their rights as Orthodox Jews.

Gordon and Dena Coleman said they cannot leave or enter their Bournemouth flat on the Sabbath because the hallway sensors automatically switch on lights.

The couple's religious code bans lights and other electrical equipment being switched on during Jewish holidays.

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Catholic Group Call For Madonna Show To Be Axed

Poland -- The Catholic Society are protesting against Madge's show in Warsaw on August 15 which coincides with the holy event, the Assumption of Mary Feast.

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Mother Caned In Bangladesh For Talking To Hindu Man

DHAKA (AFP) -- A Muslim mother has been caned for talking to a Hindu man in Bangladesh, police said Saturday, prompting fresh concerns about a rise in cases of harsh treatment of women under strict Islamic law.

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Christian Murdered for Drinking Tea from a Muslim Cup

American Soldier Killed By Bomb In Iraq

(AP) The U.S. military says an American soldier has been killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq.

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Baghdad double bombing kills 2

Teen guns down Iraqi lawmaker, bombs mosque

Market shoppers killed in Iraq suicide blast

Explosion kills 7 at Baghdad bus station

2 injured in Baghdad mortar attack

Police chief hurt, bodyguard killed in Iraq suicide attack

US Military Deaths In Afghanistan Region At 632

(AP) As of Friday, June 12, 2009, at least 632 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures Friday at 10 a.m. EDT.

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Suicide bomber kills 17 in Afghanistan

11 Killed As Truck Bomb Strikes Five-Star Pakistan Hotel

At least 11 people were killed last night and 70 injured when suspected Islamic militants stormed a five-star hotel frequented by aid workers in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar.

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13 killed in separate attacks in Pakistan

Roadside bomb kills 2 in Pakistan

Pakistan region hit by suicide bomb that kills 40 people

Anti-Taliban cleric killed in double suicide attack

At least 9 dead in Pakistani hotel blast

Shooting At Thai Mosque Kills 10, Police Say

(CNN) -- Gunmen believed to be linked to an Islamic militant group opened fire Monday in a mosque in Thailand, killing 10 people, a police official said.

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Rebels Seize 9 Foreigners In Yemen

(CNN) -- Nine foreigners, including three children, were kidnapped by Shiite rebels in northern Yemen, the state-run news agency reported Sunday.

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Hamas: 5 Killed In Attack On Israeli Forces

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Five militants died early Monday as they attempted to carry out an attack against Israeli forces, near Nachal Oz Crossing in northern Gaza, Hamas security sources said.

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Humanists Speak Out About Godless Billboard In The Phoenix Area

"Don't believe in God? You are not alone."

These words are part of a coordinated multi-organizational advertising campaign designed to raise awareness about people who don't believe in a god. And now the nationwide campaign has come to the Phoenix area. The prominent ad appears on a highway billboard and can be read by motorists traveling north of the Sky Harbor Airport, at the intersection of 44th and Washington, just outside of Phoenix. It has been placed by the Arizona Coalition of Reason, with funding from the United Coalition of Reason and logistical support from the American Humanist Association. It features an image of blue sky and clouds with the words superimposed over.

"The point of this national billboard campaign is to reach out to the millions of humanists, atheists and agnostics living in the United States," explained Fred Edwords, head of the United Coalition of Reason, speaking at a press conference today. "Nontheists sometimes don't realize there's a community out there for them because they're inundated with religious messages at every turn. So we hope this will serve as a beacon and let them know they aren't alone."

The conference coincides with the opening of the 68th Annual Conference of the American Humanist Association (AHA), at the Tempe Mission Palms Hotel. "The American Humanist Association has funded a number of these billboards in the past, and this annual conference is among the nation's largest gatherings of humanists and other nontheists each year," said Maggie Ardiente, director of development for the Washington, D.C.-based AHA. "It allows our community to communicate, thrive and strategize."

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Last week: Godless Billboard Greets New Orleans Motorists

Nonbelievers Bring Nonbeliefs To Phoenix, Tempe

"Don't believe in God? You are not alone."

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Controversial Sign Has Phoenix Talking

Controversial Valley billboard gets Phoenix talking

Controversial message on billboard causing a stir

Godless Atheists, Agnostics and Humanists Invade Tempe, Sponsor Godless Billboard

And...

Christianist Group's Billboard Compares Atheism To Murder

Man Pleads Not Guilty In Deadly Recruiting Center Shootings

(CNN) -- An Arkansas man suspected in a shooting that killed one soldier and wounded another at a Little Rock military recruiting center was angry over the treatment of Muslims, authorities said Tuesday.

--snip--

He "stated that he was a practicing Muslim ... that he was mad at the U.S. military because of what they had done to Muslims in the past," homicide detective Tommy Hudson said in a police report.

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Man Pleads Not Guilty to Religion Driven Military Murder

Humanists Lament Murder Of Dr. George Tiller

The American Humanist Association laments the murder of Dr. George Tiller, who was shot and killed while attending a church service in Wichita, Kansas on Sunday. Dr. Tiller had been the target of repeated anti-abortion protests and attacks for being one of only a few doctors who would provide late-term abortions.

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US abortion doctor is shot dead

Anti-abortion and violence in the US

Another Loss at the Hand of Religion

Americans United Deplores Murder Of Kansas Doctor

Pastor Asks Congregation To Bring Guns To Church

Religious School Grads Likelier To Have Abortions

The killing of an abortion provider on Sunday raises again the extreme potential consequences of the nation's schism on this topic. It's a tough issue to reconcile on a personal level too, and a new study on the effects of religiosity on the decision to have an abortion reveals more inconsistencies.

Unwed pregnant teens and 20-somethings who attend or have graduated from private religious schools are more likely to obtain abortions than their peers from public schools, according to research in the June issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

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More Religious and Devout Young Women Have Abortions

And...

Kindergarten Kerfuffle: Kids Shouldn't Be Captive Audience For Religion, Says Court

Americans United Expresses Disappointment Over Court Ruling Allowing Public School Graduations In Wisconsin Church

AU Lawsuit Says Graduation In Church Is Too Much Of A Cross For Students To Bear

Americans United Criticizes Falwell Legal Group For Filing Baseless IRS Complaint

Chuckling Chimps Traced To Human Laughter

(AP) When scientists set out to trace the roots of human laughter, some chimps and gorillas were just tickled to help. Literally.

That's how researchers made a variety of apes and some human babies laugh. After analyzing the sounds, they concluded that people and great apes inherited laughter from a shared ancestor that lived more than 10 million years ago.

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Chimp-Made Toolkit Most Complex Ever Found

New Hominid 12 Million Years Old Found In Spain, With 'Modern' Facial Features

Where Art and Paleontology Intersect, Fossils Become Faces

When Evolution Is Not So Slow And Gradual

Gay penguin pair raising chick

17th Century Urine-Filled 'Witch Bottle' Found

During the 17th century in England, someone urinated in a jar, added nail clippings, hair and pins, and buried it upside-down in Greenwich, where it was recently unearthed and identified by scientists as being the world's most complete known "witch bottle."

This spell device, often meant to attract and trap negative energy, was particularly common from the 16th to the 17th centuries, so the discovery provides a unique insight into witchcraft beliefs of that period, according to a report published in the latest British Archaeology.

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Child Rape Survivor Saves 'Virgin Myth' Victims

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Hope was 14 years old when her uncle raped her.

--snip--

Like many young girls in Zimbabwe, Hope was the victim of a widely held belief that if a man with HIV or AIDS rapes a virgin he will be cured of his disease. This so-called virgin myth, perpetuated by Zimbabwe's traditional healers, has led to the rape of hundreds of girls, according to UNICEF. Some of those victims are too young to walk, much less protect themselves.

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Darfuri women live 'nightmare,' Harvard-backed study says

Malaysia Christians Still Banned From Using 'Allah'

The Catholic Church in Malaysia has lost its latest bid to use 'Allah' as a translation for 'God' in its newspaper.

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Terror Suspect Student 'Had Suicide Vest And Explosives'

A student from Bristol made explosive material and a suicide vest after converting to Islam and then becoming fascinated with the teachings of radical preachers and suicide attacks, a jury heard today.

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Blast At Pakistan Mosque Kills 30

(CBS/AP) An explosion at a mosque killed 30 people during Friday prayers, while a roadside bomb killed four soldiers in Pakistan's tribal belt - the latest violence to rock the country's northwest as the army says it is beating back the Taliban in the Swat Valley.

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3 Troops Killed In Afghan Attack

(AP) Three foreign soldiers with the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan were killed Thursday when insurgents attacked their vehicle with a bomb and small-arms fire, the military announced.

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Afghan Bombs Kills 10 Security Contractors