CNN Panel Debates Why America's Youth Are Alledgedly Beginning To Doubt God's Existence

5 Reasons America Is Not -- And Has Never Been -- a Christian Nation

The myth that America is a "Christian nation" is not only untrue, but promotes the pernicious idea that non-Christians are second-class citizens.

MORE: http://www.alternet.org/belief/155985/5_reasons_america_is_not_--_and_has_never_been_--_a_christian_nation/?page=entire

US Catholic bishops' abuse of 'religious freedom'

The founding fathers saw the state as guarantor of freedom from persecution. Now, the Church is trying to cast it as persecutor.

MORE: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/26/catholic-bishops-abuse-religious-freedom

Judge orders Catholic cleric to remain in jail for now

The trial marked the first time U.S. prosecutors have charged not just the priests who allegedly committed abuses but also church leaders for failing to stop them. Lynn is the highest-ranking cleric accused of imperiling children by helping cover up sexual abuse.

MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/26/justice/pennsylvania-priest-abuse/index.html?hpt=hp_bn1

Weird Science: Taxpayer-Funded Religious Schools In Louisiana Teach Monstrously Bad Biology

The Loch Ness Monster debunks evolution -- so says a tax-funded religious school in Louisiana.

MORE: http://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/weird-science-taxpayer-funded-religious-schools-in-louisiana-teach

Law Enforcement: N.C. Police Chaplains Told Not To Invoke Christ In Official Prayers

It's good to see that a police department is trying to be sensitive to the fact that government cannot favor one religion over all others, but rather than playing roulette with pastors since some don't want to give a nonsectarian invocation, wouldn't it be easier not to give invocations at all? Even non-sectarian prayer, after all, excludes non-believers.

MORE: http://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/law-enforcement-nc-police-chaplains-told-not-to-invoke-christ-in-official

See also...

CMPD chaplains told not to use 'Jesus' in official prayers
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/06/21/3331333/cmpd-chaplains-told-not-to-use.html

South Carolina's Secular Crusader

In a new memoir, Herb Silverman recounts his legal battle against a state ban on atheists seeking public office.

MORE: http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/103669/south-carolinas-secular-crusader?all=1

Facebook Makes Us Feel Good About Ourselves, Research Finds

"Social networking sites are a product and a cause of a society that is self-absorbed," Campbell said. "Narcissism and self-esteem began to rise in the 1980s. Because Facebook came on the scene only seven years ago, it wasn't the original cause of the increases. It may be just another enforcer."

MORE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120626115241.htm

See also...

Social Media Powers Youth Participation in Politics
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120626121043.htm

Mind Reading from Brain Recordings? 'Neural Fingerprints' of Memory Associations Decoded

ScienceDaily -- Researchers have long been interested in discovering the ways that human brains represent thoughts through a complex interplay of electrical signals. Recent improvements in brain recording and statistical methods have given researchers unprecedented insight into the physical processes under-lying thoughts. For example, researchers have begun to show that it is possible to use brain recordings to reconstruct aspects of an image or movie clip someone is viewing, a sound someone is hearing or even the text someone is reading.

MORE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120626172721.htm

Scientists Twist Light to Send Data: Beams of Light Can Be Twisted and Combined to Transmit Data Dramatically Faster

ScienceDaily -- A multi-national team led by USC with researchers hailing from the U.S., China, Pakistan and Israel has developed a system of transmitting data using twisted beams of light at ultra-high speeds -- up to 2.56 terabits per second.

MORE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120625133349.htm

Mars Has "Oceans" of Water Inside

Mars could have entire oceans' worth of water locked in rocks deep underground, scientists say.

MORE: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/06/120626-mars-water-mantle-oceans-meteorites-space-science/

See also...

Mars Rover Curiosity On Track for Early August Landing
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120626202333.htm

Cassini Shows Why Jet Streams Cross-Cut Saturn
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120625150557.htm

Discovering the Earth from Space: Top 10 Pictures from the ISS
http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2012/06/26/discovering-the-earth-from-space-top-10-pictures-from-the-iss/

NASA Space Launch System Core Stage Moves from Concept to Design
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120625114905.htm

German court rules religious circumcision on boys an assault

BERLIN -- Circumcising young boys on religious grounds amounts to grievous bodily harm, a German court ruled Tuesday in a landmark decision that the Jewish community said trampled on parents' religious rights.

MORE: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5idCDYo0Sg4r7FMY9ueBfajLynaiQ?docId=CNG.57c3c5b01b5794db35e63f156f63c566.271

Islam, Pancasila and atheism

Having declared himself a "Minang atheist" and stated "God does not exist" on his Facebook account, Aan triggered revulsion and threats from hard-line groups. An angry mob also attacked Aan, but the police immediately arrested him. Recently, the Sijunjung District Court sentenced him to prison for two-and-a-half years.

MORE: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/06/26/islam-pancasila-and-atheism.html

Bomb blasts kill 10 in Iraq

The U.S. invasion of 2003 ousted Hussein and elevated Shiites to positions of power but the war also fanned longtime tensions between Sunnis and Shiites. Many feared hostilities would explode into protracted civil war, though the violence had ebbed by the time the last U.S. soldiers exited Iraq last year.

However, militant Sunnis have not stopped attacking Shiite pilgrims, and the scale of attacks in has June sparked fears of renewed violence on levels of the past.

MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/25/world/meast/iraq-violence/index.html?hpt=imi_c2

Atheists, Muslims See Most Bias as Presidential Candidates

PRINCETON, NJ -- While more than nine in 10 Americans would vote for a presidential candidate who is black, a woman, Catholic, Hispanic, or Jewish, significantly smaller percentages would vote for one who is an atheist (54%) or Muslim (58%). Americans' willingness to vote for a Mormon (80%) or gay or lesbian (68%) candidate falls between these two extremes.

--snip--

Gallup's history on this question shows growing acceptance for all other types of candidates over time. That includes atheists, whose acceptability as candidates surpassed 50% for the first time last summer but have typically ranked at the bottom of the list whenever the question has been asked.

--snip--

Gallup also finds wide differences in support for various presidential candidates by age. At least seven in 10 young adults, those under age 30, would vote for a presidential candidate of any background. However, fewer than half of senior citizens would vote for a candidate who is gay, an atheist, or Muslim.

MORE: http://www.gallup.com/poll/155285/Atheists-Muslims-Bias-Presidential-Candidates.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=syndication&utm_content=morelink&utm_term=All%20Gallup%20Headlines?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=gallupnews&utm_campaign=syndication

See also...

Atheists have chance of becoming president

When the question was first asked in 1958, Gallup reported, only 18 percent said they would be willing to vote for an atheist; but the number stands at 54 percent today.

MORE: http://www.examiner.com/article/atheists-have-chance-of-becoming-president

And...

More Than 50% of Americans Would Vote for an Atheist Presidential Candidate -- But Would You?
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/more-than-50-of-americans-would-vote-for-an-atheist-presidential-candidate-but-would-you/

Atheists, Muslims See Most Bias as Presidential Candidates
http://www.gallup.com/poll/155285/Atheists-Muslims-Bias-Presidential-Candidates.aspx?utm_source=google&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=syndication

AHA Conference Recap: Outstanding Awardees, Informative Speakers, and Lots of Beads

The 2012 Annual Conference, held this year in New Orleans, was an absolute success. With 30 different banquets, lectures, forums, and receptions to choose from, there was more offered than any one person could attend.

For those who missed out on the emotional and intellectual pleasure of making it down to New Orleans this year, the following is a quick recap of the weekend’s events.

MORE: http://www.americanhumanist.org/HNN/details/2012-06-aha-conference-recap-outstanding-awardees-informativ

A Biblical Threat to National Security

"We're fighting a Fundamentalist-Christian-Parachurch-Military-Corporate-Proselytizing-Complex," Weinstein said told Antiwar.com last week, "and we have been fighting this for some time."

MORE: http://truth-out.org/news/item/9953-a-biblical-threat-to-national-security

How American fundamentalist schools are using Nessie to disprove evolution

IT sounds like a plot dreamed up by the creators of Southpark, but it's all true: schoolchildren in Louisiana are to be taught that the Loch Ness monster is real in a bid by religious educators to disprove Darwin's theory of evolution.

MORE: http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/education/how-american-fundamentalist-schools-are-using-nessie-to-disprove-evolution.17918511

Same-sex couple banned from renting Moline reception hall

A same-sex couple from Davenport, Iowa says they were banned from possibly renting a Moline, Illinois reception hall because they are gay.

The manager of the University Club in downtown Moline confirms she refused to let the couple see or rent the space for a reception because of her religious beliefs.

MORE: http://wqad.com/2012/06/21/38890/?hpt=us_bn9

The demise of group selection

The idea that adaptations in organisms result from "group selection" (selection among groups that differentially bud off subgroups, with those having good "group traits" becoming more numerous), rather than from selection among genes themselves, usually within individuals, has undergone a bit of resurgence in popular culture. This is in stark contrast to the views of most evolutionary biologists, who see group selection as a logical possibility, but one that doesn’t easily work in theoretical models and, more important, has explained almost nothing about nature.  In contrast, the gene-centered view of evolution worked out by biologists like W. D. Hamilton, Robert Trivers, and John Maynard Smith, and popularized by Richard Dawkins, has been immensely fruitful.

MORE: http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2012/06/24/the-demise-of-group-selection/

Complex thinking goes beyond primates: Dolphins understand zero, elephants rescue each other

WASHINGTON -- It's not just man’s closer primate relatives that exhibit brain power. Dolphins, dogs and elephants are teaching us a few lessons, too.

MORE: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/complex-thinking-goes-beyond-primates-dolphins-understand-zero-elephants-rescue-each-other/2012/06/24/gJQAEPDZzV_story.html

Australian belief in the stats and in the courts

Well atheism is alive and looking very healthy according to the census.  The number of people reporting 'No Religion' has grown in leaps and bounds in a decade -- a nanosecond in religious time.   From 15 per cent of the population in 2001 to 18.7 per cent in 2006 -- and the number is now 22.3 per cent in 2011 -- on my rudimentary arithmetic that is an increase of 50 per cent in a decade. This is a highly significant moment in Australian godlessness -- OMG!

MORE: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/blogs/godless-gross/australian-belief-in-the-stats-and-in-the-courts-20120622-20shq.html

12 more die in sectarian violence in Myanmar

Violence between Buddhists and Muslims erupted after the police detained three Muslim men in relation to the rape and killing of a Buddhist woman late last month. Two of the men were sentenced to death this week, the government-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported on its website. A third man hanged himself while in detention on June 9.

News of the crime appears to have motivated several hundred people to attack a bus in Rakhine in early June, killing 10 Muslims who were on board.

Violence between Buddhists and Muslims then spread across the northern part of the state, resulting in the destruction of thousands of homes and the deaths of about 50 people, according to the government.

The national government declared a state of emergency in Rakhine, bringing in the military to help restore order.

MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/21/world/asia/myanmar-unrest/index.html?hpt=ias_c2

Indonesian court sentences Bali bomber to 20 years in jail

Patek is one of the last figures associated with a splinter group of Jemaah Islamiyah, an al Qaeda-linked terror group behind the Bali bombings and other attacks in Indonesia.

MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/21/world/asia/patek-bali-bombing-verdict/index.html?hpt=ias_c2

Muslim Brotherhood's Morsi Wins Egyptian Presidential Election

Expressions of joy over Morsi's victory were quickly followed by warnings that Egypt was still far from a true transition to democracy, given the military's expansive powers.

MORE: http://abcnews.go.com/International/muslim-brotherhoods-morsi-wins-egyptian-presidential-election/story?id=16640917#.T-hvMvVSQrU

Gaza truce gets off to a shaky start

Israel has been pounding targets in Gaza because of sustained rocket fire into the country from militants in the Palestinian territory. Militants have been firing rockets to retaliate for the airstrikes.

MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/23/world/meast/israel-gaza-violence/index.html?hpt=imi_c2

Eight Pakistani soldiers killed in cross-border attack

Islamabad (CNN) -- More than 100 Taliban fighters crossed over from Afghanistan and attacked three Pakistani military posts Sunday night, killing at least eight soldiers, Pakistani military officials said.

MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/24/world/asia/pakistan-violence/index.html?hpt=ias_c2

See also...

Attack leaves 6 dead in Iraq, dozens wounded
http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/22/world/meast/iraq-violence/index.html?hpt=imi_c2

Deadly standoff ends at Afghan hotel; hostages freed after several hours

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Taliban militants attacked a hotel near Kabul on Friday and seized dozens of hostages, sparking a fierce gunbattle with Afghan and NATO troops that left 26 people dead, authorities said.

MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/21/world/asia/afghanistan-violence/index.html?hpt=ias_c2

Generation Gaps

It hasn't received much publicity yet, but a new report from the Pew Research Center shows something remarkable: a tremendous drop in religiosity among the "millennial generation."

MORE: http://www.skepticblog.org/2012/06/20/generation-gaps/

See also...

Belief In God Plummets Among Youth
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/06/belief-in-god-plummets-millenials.php

Weatherford Council Ushers In Invocation, Pledge Before Meetings

Weatherford's City Council voted four to one Tuesday to bring an invocation back to City Council meetings. It also reinstated the Pledge of Allegiance to both the United States and Texas flags. The move ended what city leaders said was 37 years without either practice.

MORE: http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2012/06/12/weatherford-council-ushers-in-invocation-pledge-before-meetings/

See also...

Pledge and prayer are back at Weatherford council meetings
http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/06/13/4029704/pledge-and-prayer-are-back-at.html

City council approves prayer, pledge
http://weatherforddemocrat.com/top-news/x1828362804/City-council-approves-prayer-pledge

Study challenges tax exemption for religious organizations

How much money does the U.S. government forgo by not taxing religious institutions? According to a University of Tampa professor, perhaps as much as $71 billion a year.

MORE: http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/story/2012-06-15/religious-tax-exemption-challenged/55629908/1

NCPE Opposes Funding the D.C. School Voucher Program in FY2013

The undersigned members of the National Coalition for Public Education (NCPE) write to voice opposition to the funding of the District of Columbia private school voucher program, and strongly urge you to reject any efforts, including possible amendments filed, to fund or increase appropriations for this program during full committee markup of the FY2013 Financial Services Appropriations bill. The program has not been found to be effective in improving educational outcomes for participating students. At a time when Congress is considering cutting trillions of dollars from the federal budget, it should not be spending millions of taxpayer dollars for a small number of students to attend private schools.

MORE: http://www.americanhumanist.org/news/details/2012-06-ncpe-opposes-funding-the-dc-school-voucher-program-i

Educational Swamp: Lawsuits Target Louisiana's New School Voucher Law

Louisiana is in a heck of a fix. The state’s commitment to public education has always been lukewarm at best. Part of the problem is government officials have long been obsessed with finding ways to siphon money into the coffers of religious (mostly Catholic) schools. This goes all the way back to the days of Huey Long.

MORE: http://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/educational-swamp-lawsuits-target-louisiana-s-new-school-voucher-law

Outrage In Alabama: PBS Employees Fired After Standing Against Bogus Religious Right History

Religious Right propagandist David Barton has no place on PBS stations in Alabama -- or any other state.

MORE: http://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/outrage-in-alabama-pbs-employees-fired-after-standing-against-bogus

Police now issue statement on Boston pensioner's 'religions are fairy stories' poster

John Richards was advised that putting up a poster at his Vauxhall Road home denouncing religions as 'fairy stories' could be an offence under the Public Order Act.

MORE: http://www.bostonstandard.co.uk/news/local/update-police-now-issue-statement-on-boston-pensioner-s-religions-are-fairy-stories-poster-1-3962839

Michigan Residents: Tell Your State Senators To Oppose The Julea Ward Freedom Of Conscience Act!

The "Freedom of Conscience Act" was created following a tragic incident at Eastern Michigan University where a gay student was discriminated against by a fellow student named Julea Ward. Ms. Ward, who served as a graduate counselor in the university's counseling program, was removed from her position and expelled from the university after she attempted to refer a client to another counselor because the client's file indicated a past gay relationship, a relationship Ms. Ward morally opposes as an evangelical Christian.

MORE: http://www.americanhumanist.org/news/details/2012-06-michigan-residents-tell-your-state-senators-to-oppos

Update on Bei Bei Shuai: Bad News From Indiana

To call what Shuai did murder seems to overlook the fact that she was trying to kill herself. But this prosecution is unfortunately in line with a national trend of criminalizing the behavior of pregnant women whether through drug use, self-abortion—even, as in one case, falling down the stairs.

MORE: http://www.thenation.com/blog/168254/update-bei-bei-shuai-bad-news-indiana#

Western Pa. city considering lottery to solve controversy over nativity opposed by atheists

ELLWOOD CITY, Pa. -- A western Pennsylvania borough is considering a lottery system to solve objections from an atheists' group over a Nativity scene that has been erected annually on borough property for decades.

MORE: http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/ff7fdefb84cf446abd724c2b932082db/PA--Nativity-Display-Atheist-Banner

Mistake In Missouri: Appeals Court Upholds Misleading Ballot Summary Of Prayer Amendment

Religious freedom is already protected in Missouri, so the amendment is redundant at best and a threat to individual freedom at worst.

MORE: http://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/mistake-in-missouri-appeals-court-upholds-misleading-ballot-summary-of

Despite His Sins, Ralph Reed Remains Cozy With The Religious Right

Religious Right leaders can be very forgiving -- when it's in their interest.

MORE: http://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/bad-faith-despite-his-sins-ralph-reed-remains-cozy-with-the-religious-right

Jehovah's Witnesses Told to Pay in Abuse Case

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- A Northern California jury has awarded $28 million in damages to a woman who said the Jehovah’s Witnesses allowed an adult member of a Fremont, Calif., church to molest her when she was a child.

MORE: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/18/us/28-million-awarded-in-jehovahs-witnesses-abuse-case.html?_r=2

Giving Makes Young Children Happy

ScienceDaily -- If it is indeed nobler to give than to receive, it may also make you happier -- even if you're a toddler, according to a new study co-authored by three psychologists at the University of British Columbia.

The study, published in PLoS One, an on-line journal from the Public Library of Science, finds that toddlers under the age of two are happier when giving treats to others than receiving treats themselves. Furthermore, children are happier when they give their own treats away than when they give an identical treat that doesn't belong to them.

These findings support recent research showing that adults feel good when they help others and may help explain why people act pro-socially, even when doing so involves personal cost. This is the first study to show that giving to others makes young children happy.

"People tend to assume that toddlers are naturally selfish," said Dr. Lara Aknin, who co-authored the study with UBC colleagues Profs. Kiley Hamlin and Elizabeth Dunn. "These findings show that children are actually happier giving than receiving."

MORE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120619123801.htm

See also...

Infants Can't Distinguish Between Large and Small Groups
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120619123757.htm

Buying Life Experiences to Impress Others Removes Happiness Boost
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120618161905.htm

On the Origin of Music by Means of Natural Selection

The computer algorithm behind the study, called DarwinTunes, maintains a population of 100 loops of music, each eight seconds long. Listeners scored loops in batches of 20 on a five-point scale from 'I can't stand it!' to 'I love it!'. DarwinTunes then 'mates' the top ten loops, pairing them up as 'parents' and mingling musical elements of each pair, to create twenty new loops. These replace the original parents and the less pleasing non-parents. This process represents one 'generation' of musical evolution. At the time of publication, DarwinTunes had evolved through 2,513 generations.

--snip--

Members of the public can continue to help the music evolve, by taking part in the DarwinTunes experiment at http://darwintunes.org. Individual loops can also be downloaded and used as ringtones or for offline music making.

MORE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120618153716.htm

See also...

Researchers recruiting listeners to spark musical evolution
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47884600/ns/technology_and_science-science/#.T-HJmfXpV8E

And...

Adaptable Decision Making in the Brain
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120619225234.htm

'Facebook for Animals' Tested On Wild Great Tits
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120618150519.htm

The False Allure of Group Selection

"I am often asked whether I agree with the new group selectionists, and the questioners are always surprised when I say I do not. After all, group selection sounds like a reasonable extension of evolutionary theory and a plausible explanation of the social nature of humans. Also, the group selectionists tend to declare victory, and write as if their theory has already superseded a narrow, reductionist dogma that selection acts only at the level of genes. In this essay, I'll explain why I think that this reasonableness is an illusion. The more carefully you think about group selection, the less sense it makes, and the more poorly it fits the facts of human psychology and history."

MORE: http://edge.org/conversation/the-false-allure-of-group-selection

Data from NASA's Voyager 1 Point to Interstellar Future

ScienceDaily -- Data from NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft indicate that the venerable deep-space explorer has encountered a region in space where the intensity of charged particles from beyond our solar system has markedly increased. Voyager scientists looking at this rapid rise draw closer to an inevitable but historic conclusion -- that humanity's first emissary to interstellar space is on the edge of our solar system.

MORE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120615114827.htm

Facebook Atheist Jailed in Indonesia

Facing charges of blasphemy, inciting hatred and encouraging atheism, a Sumatra court ruled Thursday that Aan will spend the next two-and-a-half years in prison and pay a $10,000 fine.

MORE: http://www.voanews.com/content/facebook-athiest-jailed-in-indonesia/1211423.html

See also...

Indonesian 'Internet atheist' given jail term
http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/2012/06/19/indonesian-%E2%80%98internet-atheist%E2%80%99-given-jail-term/

Saudi man executed for 'witchcraft and sorcery'

A Saudi man has been beheaded on charges of sorcery and witchcraft, the state news agency SPA says.

MORE: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18503550

Palestinian mosque burned in suspected settler attack

Jerusalem (CNN) -- A Palestinian mosque in the village of Jabaa was vandalized and partially set on fire early Tuesday morning, Israeli and Palestinian officials said, with both sides suspecting Israeli settlers of the attack.

MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/19/world/meast/palestinian-mosque-vandalized/index.html?hpt=imi_c2

See also...

Egyptian official: Al Qaeda affiliate adds to violence between Israel, Palestinians
http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/19/world/meast/israel-gaza-violence/index.html?hpt=imi_c2

At least 15 dead in Iraqi suicide bombing

Police said they believe al Qaeda in Iraq was behind the attack.

MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/18/world/meast/iraq-funeral-bombing/index.html?hpt=imi_c2

See also...

Suicide bomber targets NATO, Afghan forces; up to 18 believed killed
http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/20/world/asia/afghanistan-violence/index.html?hpt=wo_c2

Uniformed attackers strike 3 times in Afghanistan, U.S. says
http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/19/world/asia/afghanistan-violence/index.html?hpt=ias_c2

Boko Haram claims responsibility for Nigeria church bombings

Abuja, Nigeria (CNN) -- A militant Islamist group claimed responsibility Monday for bombings the day before that the Nigerian Red Cross said left 50 people dead at three Christian churches in Nigeria.

MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/18/world/africa/nigeria-church-bombings/index.html?hpt=iaf_c2

Belief In God Plummets Among Youth (CHART)

The younger generation is abandoning God in droves.

A new survey by the Pew Research Center finds that belief in the existence of God has dropped 15 points in the last five years among Americans 30 and under.

Pew, which has been studying the trend for 25 years, finds that just 68 percent of millennials in 2012 agree with the statement “I never doubt the existence of God.” That’s down from 76 percent in 2009 and 83 percent in 2007.

MORE: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/06/belief-in-god-plummets-millenials.php

Polling Place Piety: Does Casting Your Ballot In Church 'Altar' How You Vote?

According to the Winston-Salem Journal, the Appignani Humanist Legal Center has asked the North Carolina State Board of Elections to discontinue the use of houses of worship as voting sites.

MORE: http://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/polling-place-piety-does-casting-your-ballot-in-church-altar-how-you-vote

See also...

Group says state violated separation of church, state at polling places
http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2012/jun/12/wsmet01-group-says-state-violated-separation-of-ch-ar-2349606/

Legal Center Opposes the Use of Churches as Polling Places in North Carolina
http://humanistlegalcenter.org/main/legal-center-opposes-the-use-of-churches-as-polling-places-in-north-carolina/

Unbelieving preachers get help to 'come out' as open atheists

The Clergy Project's key component is a private online community of active and former pastors discussing their conversions to lives of active disbelief. It lets congregational leaders come out anonymously, using an alias.

MORE: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/13/unbelieving-preachers-get-help-to-come-out-as-open-atheists/

A Religious Military? Spiritual Fitness Test or Rationality Fitness Test?

Group criticizes B&H 'Military Bibles'

The Bibles were tailored to each specific military branch. For example, the cover of the Marine version says "The Marines' Bible" -- along with the USMC emblem. The Bibles contain special prayers and devotional material for military personnel.

But the Military Religious Freedom Foundation complained that the Bibles were an official endorsement by the U.S. Military. They alleged the Bibles not only violated the U.S. Constitution, but also violated Defense Department regulations. The foundation is claiming victory.

MORE: http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38037

DC atheist group to add Missouri and Illinois lobbying arms

The Secular Coalition for America said Tuesday it would found chapters in Missouri and Illinois this year.

MORE: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/political-fix/dc-atheist-group-to-add-missouri-and-illinois-lobbying-arms/article_83b20de8-b4d2-11e1-8ab8-0019bb30f31a.html

See also...

National atheist organization to launch lobbying group in Missouri
http://blogs.news-leader.com/mopolitics/2012/06/13/national-atheist-organization-to-launch-lobbying-group-in-missouri/

Dakota Decides: Voters Reject Misguided Religion Amendment

Giving people a near-ironclad right to trump secular law because of their religious beliefs would open a Pandora's box. North Dakota voters nailed that box firmly shut.

MORE: http://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/dakota-decides-voters-reject-misguided-religion-amendment

Santa Monica Nativity Scene Ban Results From Atheist Controversy

"As our banner urged, 'Reason Has Prevailed,'" Annie Laurie Gaylor, founder and co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation told The Huffington Post.

Gaylor and other atheists are celebrating the Santa Monica City Council's unanimous vote Tuesday to prohibit churches, atheists, synagogues and other groups from setting up nativity scenes or other displays on Palisades Park.

MORE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/13/santa-monica-nativity-scene_n_1595031.html

Watchdog atheist group to appeal Warren ruling

A separation of church and state watchdog group said officially Tuesday it plans to appeal a ruling by a federal judge involving a “winter solstice” sign it wanted placed near a nativity scene inside Warren City Hall.

MORE: http://www.dailytribune.com/article/20120612/NEWS01/120619878/watchdog-atheist-group-to-appeal-warren-ruling

Westboro Baptist Church to protest Drew Carey

Members of Westboro Baptist Church -- a church widely known for its protesting of military funerals and rhetoric concerning LGBT persons -- will be protesting Drew Carey's "The Best of the Midnight Show" at the Landmark Theatre in Greenwood Village, Colorado this Saturday evening.

MORE: http://www.examiner.com/article/westboro-baptist-church-to-protest-drew-carey

"I saw it with my own eyes"

As psychologist Elizabeth Loftus has shown, eyewitness accounts of events and their memory of them are notoriously unreliable. In her 1980 book, Memory: Surprising New Insights into How We Remember and Why We Forget, Loftus writes: "Memory is imperfect. This is because we often do not see things accurately in the first place. But even if we take in a reasonably accurate picture of some experience, it does not necessarily stay perfectly intact in memory. Another force is at work. The memory traces can actually undergo distortion. With the passage of time, with proper motivation, with the introduction of special kinds of interfering facts, the memory traces seem sometimes to change or become transformed. These distortions can be quite frightening, for they can cause us to have memories of things that never happened. Even in the most intelligent among us is memory thus malleable."

MORE: http://www.skepticblog.org/2012/06/13/i-saw-it-with-my-own-eyes/

See also...

Why Smart People Are Stupid
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/frontal-cortex/2012/06/daniel-kahneman-bias-studies.html

Gorillas Seen Using "Baby Talk" Gestures--A First

Gorillas use a nonvocal form of "baby talk" to communicate with infants, a new study says. A first among primates, the discovery may give insight into how similar human communication evolved.

MORE: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/06/120612-gorillas-baby-talk-humans-evolution-animals-science

Where We Split from Sharks: Common Ancestor Comes Into Focus

Newswise -- The common ancestor of all jawed vertebrates on Earth resembled a shark, according to a new analysis of the braincase of a 290-million-year-old fossil fish that has long puzzled paleontologists.

New research on Acanthodes bronni, a fish from the Paleozoic era, sheds light on the evolution of the earliest jawed vertebrates and offers a new glimpse of the last common ancestor before the split between the earliest sharks and the first bony fishes -- the lineage that would eventually include human beings.

MORE: http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/590307/

See also...

Bonobo Genome Completed: The Final Great Ape to Be Sequenced
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120613133144.htm

Lessons from Epigenome Evolution
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120611122636.htm

What do India's Atheists Think?

The Delhi Freethinkers group is the fourth of its kind to be established in India, according to 21-year-old Lalit Chawla, one of its founder members.

MORE: http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2012/06/12/religion-journal-what-do-indias-atheists-think/?mod=google_news_blog

Cleric says polio vaccination 'un-islamic, warns of jihad against docs

A cleric in Pakistan's Punjab province has warned that a jihad would be launched against polio vaccination teams at a time when the World Health Organisation has expressed concern at the emergence of new cases of the disease across the country.

Maulvi Ibrahim Chisti of Muzaffargarh district declared the anti-polio campaign as "un-Islamic" and announced at the local mosque that jihad (holy war) should be carried out against the polio vaccination team.

MORE: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/cleric-says-polio-vaccination-unislamic-warns-of-jihad-against-docs/961503/0

Islamist militants taking advantage of chaos in Mali

Niafunke is known as a battleground as Mali disintegrates and a mix of hard-line Salafi Islamists and ethnic Tuareg rebels tighten their grip on the northern two-thirds of the country.

MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/13/world/africa/mali-chaos/index.html?hpt=iaf_c1

'Despicable' bombings kill dozens in Iraq

(CNN) -- A string of bombings killed dozens across Iraq on Wednesday, a show of sectarian tension in the country's deadliest day since January.

MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/13/world/meast/iraq-violence/index.html?hpt=wo_c2

See also...

Death Toll in Iraq Pilgrimage Bombings Reaches 72
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/death-toll-iraq-pilgrimage-bombings-reaches-72-16564239#.T9m6y8XpV8E

Curfew imposed in Tunisia

(CNN) -- The Tunisian government declared a curfew Tuesday in eight governorates, including the capital city of Tunis, in an attempt to quell violence after protests that included radical Islamists.

MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/12/world/africa/tunisia-curfew/index.html?hpt=iaf_c2

Church pastors become atheists

HOUSTON -- More than 200 church leaders across the country now say they no longer believe in God, including a Houston-area pastor who was one of the first to publicly announce his decision.

MORE: http://www.click2houston.com/news/Church-pastors-become-atheists/-/1735978/13654270/-/venr79/-/index.html

See also...

Major Threat to Religion? Clergy People Coming Out as Atheists
http://www.alternet.org/belief/155798/major_threat_to_religion_clergy_people_coming_out_as_atheists_/

Former Louisiana pastor tells humanists about his conversion to nonbelief
http://www.nola.com/religion/index.ssf/2012/06/former_louisiana_pastor_tells.html

Joshua Everett: Search for truth leads to rejection of religion
http://lacrossetribune.com/news/opinion/joshua-everett-search-for-truth-leads-to-rejection-of-religion/article_236296fe-b1b4-11e1-a6be-001a4bcf887a.html

Superior Court judge affirms use of Pledge of Allegiance 'under God' in Mass. schools

The judge ruled in her 24-page opinion that the phrase "under God" was not a religious truth.

Citing previous opinions, she said that the daily flag salute and pledge in schools are "clearly designed to inculcate patriotism and to instill a recognition of the blessings conferred by orderly government under the constitutions of the state and nation."

MORE: http://www.boston.com/metrodesk/2012/06/11/superior-court-judge-affirms-use-pledge-allegiance-under-god-mass-schools/6xU0tH39ZzqVI6ZHKIRupN/story.html

See also...

Humanists Will Appeal "under God" Ruling
http://www.americanhumanist.org/news/details/2012-06-humanists-will-appeal-under-god-ruling

Atheist Family Loses Lawsuit to Have 'Under God' Removed From the Pledge of Allegiance
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/atheist-family-loses-lawsuit-to-have-under-god-removed-from-the-pledge-of-allegiance/

Atheist Family Loses Lawsuit To Remove 'Under God' From Pledge
http://connecticut.cbslocal.com/2012/06/11/atheist-family-loses-lawsuit-to-remove-under-god-from-pledge/

Justices deny review over students' religious messages in classroom

Washington (CNN) -- In what have become known as the "Jesus pencil" and "candy cane" cases, the Supreme Court refused Monday to consider appeals from the families of elementary school students over distribution of religious-themed gifts on campus.

MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/11/us/scotus-religion-students/index.html?hpt=us_c2

Sour Note: New York Principal Unfairly Attacked For Omitting 'God Bless The USA' From Elementary Graduation

For her actions, Hawkins, who is African American, has been subjected to a wave of racially fueled criticism that is truly appalling. She has received hate mail, with comments like "You are a filthy, dirty, ugly subhuman gorilla," and "Let's hope that AIDS will do what sickle cell anemia failed to do, exterminate your whole simian race," the Daily News said.

MORE: http://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/sour-note-new-york-principal-unfairly-attacked-for-omitting-god-bless-the

Megachurch pastor Creflo Dollar on his daughter: 'She was not punched'

Dollar blamed the devil for causing the controversy, saying that to discredit his message of "prosperity gospel," the enemy must discredit the messenger.

MORE: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/10/pastor-creflo-dollar-she-was-not-punched/?hpt=hp_t3

KKK chapter wants to adopt stretch of Georgia highway

"Over the years since it was formed in December 1865, the Klan has typically seen itself as a Christian organization, although in modern times Klan groups are motivated by a variety of theological and political ideologies," the law center's website says.

MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/11/us/georgia-kkk-highway/index.html?hpt=hp_bn1

A Moment of Science

There is no single cause for the decline of scientific education and understanding of science (at least in the United States), just as there is no single cure. It's a complex, deeply intertwined problem with multiple roots and branches.

MORE: http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/06/bad_astronomy_blogger_on_science_education_and_why_he_became_an_astronomer_.html

See also...

More Than 635,000 Martian Craters Catalogued
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120611134348.htm

NuSTAR to Drop from Plane and Rocket Into Space
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120611195728.htm

NASA Mars Rover Team Aims for Landing Closer to Prime Science Site
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120611195941.htm

Europeans to Build World’s Biggest Eye On the Sky: Largest Optical/Infrared Telescope
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120611201856.htm

Bob's Notes: Matthew 13

Nonbelievers Who Aren't Atheists?

If you don't believe in any gods, you are an atheist, right? This definition seems pretty basic, not the kind of material that requires an advanced degree in theology to understand.

But apparently it isn't accurate. In fact, as I circulate in the secular movement on a daily basis, I frequently meet nonbelievers who are unwilling to identify as atheists.

MORE: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/our-humanity-naturally/201206/nonbelievers-who-arent-atheists

Support the Secular Student Alliance!

School may be out for the summer, but the Secular Student Alliance is growing faster than ever. Here at the National SSA we are hard at work gearing up for the fall. To start next semester off right, the secular movement is coming together for SSA Week.

MORE: http://richarddawkins.net/articles/646176-support-the-secular-student-alliance

Chelsea Stanton, Collingswood Student, Refuses To Stand For Pledge Of Allegiance, Cites Phrase 'Under God'

Chelsea Stanton, a high school student in New Jersey, who has repeatedly been punished for refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, has finally won her battle, the Cherry Hill Courier Post reports.

Stanton, a senior and atheist at Collingswood High School, says she objects to the words "one nation under God," which appear in the pledge.

"I couldn't bring myself to recite it anymore, because I felt like it didn't respect me," Stanton told CBS Philly. "I don't think any student anywhere should have to stand up for this."

MORE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/08/pledge-allegiance-atheism_n_1581568.html

Atheist Billboard Campaign Cut Short

MANSFIELD, Ohio - The Mid-Ohio Atheists said one of its billboards was taken down early after the property owner complained, 10TV News reported on Thursday.

MORE: http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2012/06/07/mansfield-athiest-billboard-campaign-cut-short.html

See also...

Another atheist billboard flap in Mansfield
http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/article/20120607/NEWS01/206070303/New-billboard-another-flap?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Frontpage

Lodi prays to 'Deity Supreme,' not Jesus, after atheists complain

Lodi made national headlines in 2009 when an atheist group threatened a lawsuit over the frequently long prayers centered around Jesus that marked the beginning of council meetings.

MORE: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/06/lodi-prayer-atheists-jesus.html

Atheist faces new setback in suit over Illinois cross

An atheist said Friday he may take his legal fight over state funds used to renovate a towering southern Illinois cross to the U.S. Supreme Court now that his latest federal appeal has failed.

MORE: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-atheist-faces-new-setback-in-suit-over-illinois-cross-20120608,0,6841119.story

See also...

US appeals court hands atheist latest setback in lawsuit over grant to landmark cross
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/sns-ap-il--baldknobcross-atheist,0,4329347.story

Judge Backs Warren Mayor In Atheist Sign Flap

WARREN (WWJ/AP) -- A judge says the city of Warren did not violate the law when it barred atheists from displaying an anti-religion sign next to a nativity scene at city hall.

MORE: http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/06/07/judge-backs-warren-mayor-in-atheist-sign-flap/

Coming Out Atheist Is Not the Same Thing As Coming Out LGBT

Gays are different, but they don't send the message that heterosexuals are mistaken about their sexuality. On the other hand, not only are atheists different, but explicitly or implicitly, they are telling the faithful that they're mistaken about a core commitment (for some the core commitment) of their lives. As the number of open atheists increases -- and this seems likely -- we can expect some religious to become more defensive, more strident in promoting their beliefs. They will regard themselves as under attack.

MORE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ronald-a-lindsay/coming-our-atheist-is-not-the-same-as-coming-out-gay_b_1577843.html

Same-sex ceremony on Army post draws fire

The incident was an inevitable consequence of the end of the don't ask, don't tell policy in September, which previously banned homosexuals from military service, Fleming said.

MORE: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/07/same-sex-ceremony-on-army-post-draws-fire/

Buddhist Yoga Retreat Death Raises Questions on Ariz. Monk's 'Enlightenment' Preaching

An Arizona man who was a member of a Buddhist yoga retreat that his family compared to a cult was found dead in a mountain cave in Bowie, Ariz., Tuesday, weeks after being asked to leave the sect with his wife.

MORE: http://abcnews.go.com/US/buddhist-yoga-retreat-death-raises-questions-ariz-monks/story?id=16526754#.T9K6m8XpV8E

Televangelist Creflo Dollar arrested in alleged choking attack on daughter

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. -- Creflo Dollar, founder and pastor of World Changers Church International, was arrested early Friday on charges involving the choking of his 15-year-old daughter.

MORE: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/08/12126777-televangelist-creflo-dollar-arrested-in-alleged-choking-attack-on-daughter?lite

See also...

Creflo Dollar arrested for assaulting daughter
http://www.11alive.com/news/article/244082/40/Creflo-Dollar-arrested-for-assaulting-daughter

Health-Care Humbug: 'Religious Freedom' Rallies Threaten Religious Freedom

It's the 21st century and we live in a nation that supposedly separates church and state, but this whole thing has a whiff of the Dark Ages about it.
MORE: http://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/health-care-humbug-religious-freedom-rallies-threaten-religious-freedom

One Step Forward, One Step Back: Va. School Board Removes Commandments, But Adds Problematic Display

Most Americans are Christians and the Christian faith certainly has influenced morality for many, but the Commandments are not the basis of constitutional law. After more than 225 years, it's still legal to disrespect your parents (although you shouldn't), covet your neighbor's house and work on the Sabbath. And you can worship one god, twenty gods or decline to worship at all.

MORE: http://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/one-step-forward-one-step-back-va-school-board-removes-commandments-but

Classroom Clashes (Pt. 1): Teaching evolution

In a two-part series, AAAS talks with middle and high school teachers across the country to find out what it's like to be on the front lines of two often-controversial science topics -- evolution and climate change -- and how they deal with the push back. Part I features tales about teaching evolution and Part II, stories from climate science teachers.

MORE: http://membercentral.aaas.org/blogs/stemedu/classroom-clashes-pt-1-teaching-evolution

Why We Don’t Believe In Science

Why are some scientific ideas hard to believe in? What makes the human mind so resistant to certain kinds of facts, even when these facts are buttressed by vast amounts of evidence?

MORE: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/frontal-cortex/2012/06/brain-experiments-why-we-dont-believe-science.html

See also...

Scientists to hold bake sale for NASA
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57449767/scientists-to-hold-bake-sale-for-nasa/?tag=cbsnewsSectionContent.10

Does Cooperation Require Both Reciprocity and Alike Neighbors?

The researchers conclude that human societies can best achieve high levels of cooperative behaviour if their individuals interact repeatedly, and if populations exhibit at least a minor degree of structure.

MORE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120608100557.htm

See also...

The Power of Suggestion: What We Expect Influences Our Behavior, for Better or Worse
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120606142818.htm

Skin Cells Reprogrammed Into Brain Cells

ScienceDaily -- Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have for the first time transformed skin cells -- with a single genetic factor -- into cells that develop on their own into an interconnected, functional network of brain cells. The research offers new hope in the fight against many neurological conditions because scientists expect that such a transformation -- or reprogramming -- of cells may lead to better models for testing drugs for devastating neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease.

MORE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120607122307.htm

Splitting the Unsplittable: Physicists Split an Atom Using Quantum Mechanics Precision

ScienceDaily -- Researchers from the University of Bonn have just shown how a single atom can be split into its two halves, pulled apart and put back together again. While the word "atom" literally means "indivisible," the laws of quantum mechanics allow dividing atoms -- similarly to light rays -- and reuniting them. The researchers want to build quantum mechanics bridges by letting the atom touch adjacent atoms while it is being pulled apart so that it works like a bridge span between two pillars.

MORE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120605102807.htm

Lesson From The North: Canadian Catholic Schools Get Public Funds -- And Public Regulations

When will religious organizations learn that they just can't have it both ways? If they're going to accept government funding, then they're also going to have to accept government conditions that come with those funds.

MORE: http://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/lesson-from-the-north-canadian-catholic-schools-get-public-funds-and-public

Dawkins calls for 'Catholic' honesty

People who describe themselves as Catholic but do not accept the church's key teachings should be "honest" and admit they no longer belong to the faith, atheist author and scientist Prof Richard Dawkins has told a Dublin audience.

MORE: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0606/breaking34.html

Monks' gambling prompts South Korean temple to change financial management

(CNN) -- The chief of South Korea's biggest Buddhist order says he will hand over a temple's financial management to experts after monks were caught gambling illegally.

MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/08/world/asia/south-korea-gambling-monks/index.html?hpt=wo_bn4

Leo Igwe--The Constant Fight Against Irrationality

At the World Skeptics Congress in Berlin, a prominent poster display by Leo Igwe featured graphic accounts of the trials that he and many of his supporters have faced in Africa--their work to oppose the persecution and killing of children and minorities, and the failures on the part of law enforcement and religious leaders to challenge such atrocities.

MORE: http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/leo_igwethe_constant_fight_against_irrationality/

Petition to defend Indian rationalist from false accusations

Sanal Edamaruku, President of the Indian Rationalist Association, has for decades been a tireless campaigner for science and against superstition. He is widely known for his exposure of the tricks used by self-professed 'God-Men' and gurus and has often been on Indian television explaining the everyday science behind supposed miracles.

MORE: http://richarddawkins.net/articles/646169-petition-to-defend-indian-rationalist-from-false-accusations

Spanish artist faces prison over 'how to cook Christ' film

Javier Krahe prosecuted for 'offending religious feelings' after 1978 short film was broadcast on Spanish TV.

MORE: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/may/28/spanish-artist-cook-christ-film

Israel to build housing in West Bank

Jerusalem (CNN) -- Israel announced it will construct 851 housing units in the West Bank, a move the United States immediately said "undermines peace efforts."

MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/07/world/meast/israel-palestinian-settlements/index.html?hpt=imi_c2

3 dead in blast on Afghan prison wall

A Taliban spokesman said in a website communique that fighters attacked guards and blew a hole into the main prison wall, SITE said.

MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/08/world/asia/afghanistan-prison-deaths/index.html?hpt=ias_c2

See also...

Bomb blast kills 19 in northwestern Pakistan
http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/08/world/asia/pakistan-blast/index.html?hpt=ias_c2

"The Atheists Go Marching In" to NOLA

"The Atheists Go Marching In" is the message on a New Orleans streetcar advertisement to inform the city that humanists, atheists, freethinkers and skeptics are coming to New Orleans June 7-10 for the 71st Annual American Humanist Association (AHA) Conference.

The New Orleans Secular Humanist Association, the local chapter of the AHA, is also running a billboard ad near the Superdome welcoming conference attendees to town, says executive director, Roy Speckhardt.

MORE: http://www.wwl.com/pages/13329018.php?contentType=4&contentId=10755765

See also...

The American Humanist Association's 71st Annual Conference
http://conference.americanhumanist.org/

Atheism to Defeat Religion By 2038

Countries with the best standard of living are turning atheist. That shift offers a glimpse into the world's future.

Religious people are annoyed by claims that belief in God will go the way of horse transportation, and for much the same reason, specifically an improved standard of living.

MORE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nigel-barber/atheism-to-defeat-religion-by-2038_b_1565108.html

See also...

Atheist Lobbyist to Organize in Hawaii
http://hawaii.politics.government.blogs.civilbeat.com/post/24426719533/atheist-lobbyist-to-organize-in-hawaii

Teresa MacBain - 'From the Edge of Faith to the Embrace of Reason'

See also...

Footsteps into a New Life
http://www.brooklynrail.org/2012/06/local/footsteps-into-a-new-life

The Challenges for High School Atheists

Over the past few years, high school and university students have started up their own freethinking safe havens by way of Secular Student Alliance groups. According to Lyz Liddell, the SSA’s Senior Campus Organizer, affiliate groups are growing exponentially. Young people are identifying more and more as atheistic or agnostic.

MORE: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2012/06/05/the-challenges-for-high-school-atheists/

How Humans Became Moral Beings

In a new book, anthropologist Christopher Boehm traces the steps our species went through to attain a conscience.

MORE: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/How-Humans-Became-Moral-Beings.html

'You Can’t Be Moral & Believe in God'?: Penn Jillette Sits Down with The Blaze

Jillette, who claims he was a believer until he read the entire Bible, was a Congregationalist before becoming a secularist. He maintained his religious beliefs until high school and he concludes that reading the holy book from cover to cover "is the fast route" to non-belief.

MORE: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/you-cant-be-moral-believe-in-god-penn-jillette-sits-down-with-the-blaze-and-credits-glenn-beck/

See also...

The Good Book gets a rewrite
http://www.lansingcitypulse.com/lansing/article-7459-the-good-book-gets-a-rewrite.html

And...

Richard Dawkins’ Next Book to Detail His Personal Path to Atheism
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/richard-dawkins-next-book-to-detail-his-personal-path-to-atheism/