Does Islamic Law Have A Place In The U.K.?

The Archbishop of Canterbury sure kicked up a storm when he suggested Islamic Shariah law has a place in British society. His words upset a lot of people, including the Queen, politicians, the media and even some Muslims.

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Cartoon Reprint Reignites Fiery Protests

(AP) Muslims protested Friday in the Gaza Strip, Pakistan and Denmark against the reprinting of a Danish newspaper cartoon depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

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Muslim Cleric Protests New Indian Visa For Bangladeshi Writer

KOLKATA, India (AFP) -- Scores of Muslims led by a radical cleric protested Friday against India's decision to extend the visa of threatened Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, who is in hiding in New Delhi.

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Anglican Boycott Over Gay Bishop

NEW YORK (AP) -- Leaders from five Anglican provinces said Friday they will boycott a once-a-decade world Anglican summit because the U.S. Episcopal Church ordained a gay bishop.

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FreeThoughtAction Hero Of The Day - 02/15/08

Susan B. Anthony (February 15, 1820 - March 13, 1906)

According to Wikipedia, Anthony "was a prominent American civil rights leader who played a pivotal role in the 19th century women's rights movement to secure women's suffrage in the United States. She traveled the United States and Europe, and gave 75 to 100 speeches per year on women's rights for some 45 years....

"Susan B. Anthony, who died 14 years, 5 months and 5 days before passage of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote, was honored as the first real (non-allegorical) American woman on circulating U.S. coinage with her appearance on the Susan B. Anthony dollar."

Quotes:

The religious persecution of the ages has been done under what was claimed to be the command of God.

I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.

What you should say to outsiders is that a Christian has neither more nor less rights in our Association than an atheist. When our platform becomes too narrow for people of all creeds and of no creeds, I myself shall not stand upon it.

Also:

Happy Birthday to Freethinker Matt Groening

Church-State Watchdog Group Says Proposed Constitutional Amendments Would Allow For Public Funding Of Religion

Efforts to repeal a provision in the Florida Constitution that bars government funding of religious institutions should be rejected, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

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US-IRAQ: Surge Exposing Political Tensions

With the five-year anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion looming, two Washington think-tanks released reports today on the subject of increasing multi-lateral sectarian tensions in Iraq.

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See also:

Awakening to New Dangers in Iraq

Sunni Infighting Threatens Iraq's Stability

Rift threatens U.S. antidote to Al Qaeda in Iraq

U.N. to Help Organize Iraqi Elections Set for October

Muqtada, the man who would be ayatollah

The enigma of Muqtada al-Sadr

About 4.4 million Iraqis have been forced from their homes

Afghanistan's Refugee Crisis 'Ignored'

A growing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan is being overlooked as an unknown number of people are fleeing their homes, caught between security forces and the Taliban.

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Hezbollah Mourns Slain Militant, Vows Revenge

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- The chief of Hezbollah told throngs of supporters at a funeral for slain commander Imad Moughnieh his group would retaliate against Israeli targets anywhere in the world after accusing the Jewish state of killing the militant.

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See also:

Hezbollah leader: Israel faces 'open war'

Nasrallah: Mughniyah's blood will lead to elimination of Israel

Two Beirut rallies. Two visions for Lebanon

On Darwin's Birthday, Dover Still Isn't Over

Charles Darwin was born 199 years ago Tuesday, but the debate he ignited about the origins of species rages on. Florida's department of education will vote next week on a new science curriculum that could be in jeopardy, because some conservative counties oppose it.

Nine of Florida's 64 counties have passed resolutions over the last two months condemning the new curriculum that explicitly calls for teaching evolution. The resolutions, passed in heavily Christian counties in the state's northern reaches, demand that evolution be "balanced" with alternative theories, mainly creationist.

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College Courses Target Church Embezzlers

PHILADELPHIA -- The globe-trotting priest from Connecticut drove a Jaguar, shopped at Bergdorf Goodman and bought jewelry from Cartier, all of it with money stolen from his church's coffers. By the time the parish finance council caught on, he had embezzled $1.3 million.

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Pastor: IRS Probes Huckabee Endorsement

BUENA PARK, Calif. (AP) - Southern Baptist pastor Wiley Drake said Wednesday that he is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service for his endorsement of GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee in a press release written on church stationery.

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See also:

Americans United Commends IRS For Investigation Into Partisan Politicking By California Church

IRS Target Wiley Drake Asks Followers To Engage In Imprecatory Prayers Against Americans United Staff Members

Kansas School Won't Let Female Ref Call Boys' Game

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas activities officials are investigating a school's refusal to let a female referee call a boys' high school basketball game.

The Kansas State High School Activities Association said referees reported that Michelle Campbell was preparing to officiate at St. Mary's Academy near Topeka on Feb. 2 when a school official insisted that Campbell could not call the game.

The reason given, according to the referees: Campbell, as a woman, could not be put in a position of authority over boys because of the academy's beliefs.

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A Burning Devotion

The ancient ritual of burning paper replicas, or dzi-dzat, to send into the afterlife has kept pace with modern times: paper laptops and cellphones are burned along with bank notes and model mansions.

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Council Pays Psychic For Exorcism

BBC -- Easington Council employed medium Suzanne Hadwin after Peterlee tenant Sabrina Fallon reported paranormal activity including moving objects.

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Zapatero Tells Church To Stop Election Meddling

A row between church and state over Spain's forthcoming elections came to a head last night when the Socialist prime minister met the Vatican's envoy in Madrid to insist that bishops stop urging people to vote for the opposition.

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Knesset Nixes Secular Marriage Rights

The Knesset on Wednesday rejected two bills calling for the state to recognize the rights of couples who did not marry in religious ceremonies.

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Newspapers Reprint Controversial Mohamed Cartoon

Denmark's leading newspapers today reprinted a cartoon that depicts the Prophet Mohamed wearing a bomb-shaped turban.

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Earlier:

Three arrested in Denmark over plot to kill Muhammad cartoonist

Update:

Iran condemns reprinting of Muhammad cartoon

Saudi Woman Faces Death For Witchcraft

A human rights group appealed to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah yesterday to stop the execution of a woman accused of witchcraft.

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See also:

Arab states plan TV crackdown

Muslims Protest Wikipedia Images Of Mohammed

San Francisco (CWNews.com) - More than 100,000 signatures have been collected to protest the images of Mohammed that appear on the English-language section of the online reference site, Wikipedia.

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US Military Accused Of Harboring Fundamentalism

Since his last combat deployment in Iraq, Jeremy Hall has had a rough time, getting shoved and threatened by his fellow soldiers. The trouble started there when he would not pray in the mess hall.

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Smaller Version Of The Solar System Is Discovered

Astronomers said Wednesday that they had found a miniature version of our own solar system 5,000 light-years across the galaxy -- the first planetary system that really looks like our own, with outer giant planets and room for smaller inner planets.

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Happy Darwin Day!

Today marks the 199th birthday of Charles Darwin (February 12, 1809 - April 19, 1882), perhaps the ultimate FreeThoughtAction hero.

According to Wikipedia, Darwin "was an eminent English naturalist who achieved lasting fame by convincing the scientific community that species develop over time from a common origin. His theories explaining this phenomenon through natural and sexual selection are central to the modern understanding of evolution as the unifying theory of the life sciences, essential in biology and important in other disciplines such as anthropology, psychology and philosophy."

Darwin's 1859 publication of On the Origin of Species and his 1871 The Descent of Man not only unified the life sciences, it revolutionized human thought, overturning the argument from design (or teleological argument), that had prevailed for thousands of years.

Special News For Darwin Day!

(Washington, D.C.) On the anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin, a day known internationally as Darwin Day, the American Humanist Association announced an award to one of the foremost defenders of evolution in public schools. Judge John E. Jones III of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania will receive the organization's Humanist Religious Liberty Award. It will be presented Saturday afternoon, June 7, 2008, at the World Humanist Congress to be held in Washington, D.C.

Judge Jones became nationally famous overnight when, on December 20, 2005, he ruled the teaching of "intelligent design" unconstitutional in public schools. His landmark decision in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District set off a firestorm of criticism from the right wing. Phyllis Schlafly, Bill O'Reilly, and the Discovery Institute labeled Jones an "activist judge"--he even received death threats. But Jones has stood firm on his decision and remains outspoken on the point that intelligent design is a species of creationism and, as such, is a religious doctrine that cannot be taught as science in public schools.

"We humanists are honored that Judge Jones has agreed to accept the 2008 Humanist Religious Liberty Award and address the international gathering at the World Humanist Congress," said Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association. "We could think of no better day than Darwin Day to let the world know of this award and his acceptance--and of our support for all that he's done to ensure the religious neutrality of our public schools and a state-of-the-art science education for our children."

Darwin Day is an international humanist celebration held every February 12th to honor Darwin and the modern theory of evolution. Darwin was born in 1809 and this is his 199th birthday. Among the more than 100 chapters and local affiliates of the American Humanist Association, operating in cities from coast to coast, Darwin Day is widely celebrated. More information on specific celebrations worldwide can be foundat: http://www.darwinday.org/.

And next year, in 2009, the celebration will be the largest ever, honoring Darwin's bicentennial. "We are looking forward to the biggest bash of the decade," declared Fred Edwords, the American Humanist Association director of communications.

LINK

Florida State School Board Should Reject Religious Right Effort To Weaken Science Standards

Americans United for Separation of Church and State today urged the Florida State Board of Education to reject a Religious Right drive to weaken proposed new science standards.

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Hateful Response To "Imagine No Religion" Message

It is hard to credit how one little freethought billboard could create such insecurity by religionists! The Freedom From Religion Foundation's pretty billboard, with its wistful, John Lennon-inspired message, "Imagine No Religion," has been attacked by not just one, but two billboards in Chambersburg, Penn. The Foundation image was placed in December for six months in three rotating spots in Chambersburg, Penn., thanks to the generosity of a Chambersburg-area Foundation member seeking to make a freethought statement in a religion-drenched area.

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Great Seal Of U.S. Mysteries Revealed

THE GREAT SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES
AS IT APPEARS ON THE BACK OF THE $1 DOLLAR BILL
NOTE: THE GREAT SEAL IS DISPLAYED HERE FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.
(AP) Conspiracy theorists take note: The myths surrounding one of America's oldest and most enduring national symbols are about to be debunked ... if you believe the government, that is.

The keepers of the Great Seal of the United States, the familiar emblem on the back of the $1 bill, want you to know what it is not. It is not a sign that Freemasons run the country, it has nothing to do with the occult, and it does not contain clues to a fabulous hidden treasure.

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Partial summary of statements by Joseph Campbell on the symbolism contained in the Great Seal:

Obverse:

The eagle is the incarnation principle of the deity, the American counterpart of the eagle of Zeus, the highest god. The eagle is the downcoming of the god into the field of time - descending into the world of the pairs of opposites, which is the field of action. Thirteen arrows in one claw for war, a laurel leaf with thirteen leaves for peace in the other. The eagle is looking toward peace.

Above his head are thirteen stars in the form of Solomon's Seal. Each triangle is a Pythagorean tetrakys, where the apex represents the creative center, out of which energy, the universe and everything comes.

As soon as this energy enters the field of time, it breaks into pairs of opposites. When you have two, you have three ways of relationship; this one dominant over that one, that one dominant over this one, or both balanced in accord. From these three relationships, all things in the four quarters of space derive (out of Tao - the transcendent - comes the One; out of One come Two; out of Two come Three; out of Three come all things). Two of these symbolic triangles are interlocked on the Great Seal, creating thirteen points with six apexes - one above, one below, and four in the four quarters. The sense of this is that from above or below or from any point of the compass, the creative Word might be heard, so that anyone from any quarter might speak the truth, because no one is cut off from it.

This is the great thesis of democracy.


Reverse:

There are thirteen ranges on the pyramid, this is the number of states and the number of transformation, resurrection, and rebirth or new life.

The desert behind the pyramid is representitive of the past; the plants in the foreground are representitive of the future.

The pyramid has four sides. These are the four points of a compass. Someone could be at any point at the lower levels of the pyramid. When you get to the top, all the points come together and the eye of the God of Reason opens up.

We were the first nation established on the basis of reason. It symbolizes that all people in the world are capable of reason, without special revelation or authority reserved for the privileged.

This is the fundamental principle of democracy.

Retailer Halts Sales Of 'Jesus' Cosmetics

SINGAPORE - A cosmetics range with cheeky taglines that extolled the virtues of "Looking Good for Jesus" has been pulled from stores in Singapore after some Roman Catholics complained the items were disrespectful, a newspaper reported Tuesday.

Promising to "Redeem your reputation and more," the product line included a "virtuous vanilla"-flavored lip balm and a "Get Tight with Christ" hand and body cream, as well as bags and other items sold by British retailer Topshop and produced by Blue Q, The Straits Times said.

--snip--

On the packaging of one of the products, Jesus, wearing a bright white robe, looks heavenward while a blonde, heavily made-up woman with an arm draped across his shoulder gazes dreamily at his face.

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Calif. Company Claims Faster, Cheaper Gene Map

WASHINGTON - A California company predicts it will soon be able to sequence an entire human gene map in four minutes, for just $1,000.

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Dogs Alert Master To Fire, Then Perish

(AP) Bella, a 3-year-old golden retriever/collie mix who was once rescued as an abused puppy, returned the favor to her owners by alerting them to a house fire.

--snip--

Bella had jumped on Feuling's bed early Friday morning and started barking, and Feuling then smelled smoke, grabbed her daughter and rushed out of the house. But Feuling couldn't coax the dogs out of the house, even when she tried to run back in to yell for them.

"Bella must have thought Mckenzie was still in the house," Feuling said.

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U.S. Forces Find 13 Bodies In Iraq Mass Grave

BAGHDAD - U.S. forces have found the bodies of 13 men in a mass grave in Iraq's restive Diyala province northeast of Baghdad, police said on Tuesday, the latest such grisly find in recent months.

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'Terror Plot' To Kill Mohammed Cartoonist

(CNN) -- Danish authorities said Tuesday they have arrested three people who allegedly were plotting a "terror-related assassination" of a cartoonist whose drawing of the Prophet Mohammed sparked rage in the Muslim world two years ago.

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Top Anglicans Rally To Besieged Archbishop

CAMBRIDGE, England -- The archbishop of Canterbury received a strong show of support from the Church of England's top clerics and laymen on Monday in response to demands for his resignation over his call for Britain to accept some aspects of Shariah, the legal code of Islam based on the Koran.

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Livingston Parish Council Refuses To Repeal Soothsaying Ban

A proposal to repeal the Livingston Parish ordinance outlawing soothsaying died in silence last night before the Parish Council.

The council ignored the recommendation of its attorney, Blayne Honeycutt, who had advised council members to repeal the ordinance in the face of a Wiccan minister's federal lawsuit, which Honeycutt said the parish probably will lose.

A Wiccan woman asked the council to repeal the ordinance, which she said makes unlawful a practice of a recognized religion.

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Man Finds Jesus Image In Tree

People say Jesus spreads his message in a lot of different ways and interesting places. His image has been seen in a potato, a piece of granite and now a log.

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Open Letter To President Putin From The Members Of The Russian Academy Of Sciences

We have watched with deepening concern the increasing clericalization of Russian society, the Church's infiltration of all areas of public life. The Constitution of the Russian Federation declares our country to be secular and separates the Church from the public education system. We address this letter to you as the holder of the highest office in this country and guarantor of the Constitution's basic principles.

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Gecko Inspires New Glue

Inspired by the gravity-defying, rapid attach-and-release movement of geckos scampering up vertical surfaces, scientists have invented a non-sticky adhesive that mimics the reptiles' padded feet and actually gets stronger with use.

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Writer Sues Mel Gibson Over 'Passion' Script

Scribe claims actor 'callously and greedily exploited' him.

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No Red Roses For Saudi Sweethearts

RIYADH - Saudi Arabia's religious police have banned red roses ahead of Valentine's Day, forcing couples in the conservative Muslim nation to think of new ways to show their love.

The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has ordered florists and gift shop owners in the capital Riyadh to remove any items colored scarlet, which is widely seen as symbolizing love, newspapers said.

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Enraged Over Injured Boy

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- After an 8-year-old boy lost his leg in a rocket attack over the weekend, angry residents of Sderot in southern Israel protested in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem Monday, demanding the government do more to prevent such attacks on their town.

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See also:

Fearing Israeli attacks, Hamas leaders hide

Al Qaeda's New Face Of Terror: American?

(CBS) U.S. officials are increasingly worried that the next attack on America could be carried out by Americans trained in terror tactics inside al Qaeda's safe-haven in Pakistan.

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See also:

DHS: Bombers may use 'pregnancy prosthetics'

U.S. seeks death penalty for 9/11 suspects

Suicide Bomber Kills 25 In Iraqi Market

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A suicide car bomb detonated Sunday evening near a market in Balad, killing at least 25 people and wounding 40 others, an Interior Ministry official said.

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See also:

North Iraq Blasts Kill Dozens

Suicide car bomber kills 21 in Iraq

Conflicts Deepen Between Local Iraqi Governments and US-Backed Sunni Groups

America's Sunni allies go on strike in Iraq's Diyala province

Anti-Qaeda fighters in street protest against city police chief

More Bombing Creates New Enemies

Earlier:

Death squads undoing surge's progress

Arming Iraq's Future Street Gangs?

Sunni militiamen demand police jobs to fight Al-Qaeda

The Iraqi Displacement Crisis

U.S. Deficient Against Muslim Insurgents, Study Says

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. military is seriously deficient in meeting "the threat of Islamist insurgencies," says a Pentagon-commissioned study released Monday.

The Rand Corp. report characterizes "U.S. military intervention and occupation in the Muslim world" as "at best inadequate, at worst counter-productive, and, on the whole, infeasible." The Pentagon asked the nonprofit research organization to review strategies to thwart insurgents.

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See also:

Army Buried Study Faulting Iraq Planning

Conservative Rabbis To Vote On Resolution Criticizing Pope's Revision Of Prayer

The revision of a contentious Good Friday prayer approved this week by Pope Benedict XVI could set back Jewish-Catholic relations, Conservative Judaism's international assembly of rabbis says in a resolution to be voted on next week.

The prayer calls for God to enlighten the hearts of Jews "so that they may acknowledge Jesus Christ, the savior of all men."

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Battle Of The Chambersburg Billboards

Chambersburg has become the battleground of dueling billboards on the subject of faith and religion.

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[Note the lack of effort by the reporter to obtain any a contrary opinion in the piece above. There is no comment from FFRF, no comment from an atheist, and no comment from even a neutral source. It is totally unbalanced reporting without even the pretence of objectivity or even-handedness.]

See also THIS.

Religious Symbols To Be Removed From Chapel

The Beckley Veterans Affairs Medical Center has taken steps to remove faith-specific symbols from its chapel, said Debbie Voloski, the hospital's public affairs director.

Similar actions are being taken at VA hospitals nationwide as the VA attempts to enforce its own policy enacted in July 1953 that states, "Chapels will be appointed and maintained as places for meditation and prayer for members of any faith group or denomination."

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Exorcism Undergoes A Revival Across Europe

Citing modern ills, hundreds of priests have trained to expel the devil.

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Darwin Day Celebrations

All Celebrations for Darwin, Science and Humanity to take place on/or near February 12th, 2008

HERE

Public Funds Should Not Support Coercive Faith-Based Ministries

Tax dollars should not be used to support prison ministry programs that coerce inmates into participation, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

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The Passion of 'Anonymous'

A loose-knit consortium of hackers and activists calling itself "Anonymous" has declared "war" on the organization.

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Violations Of 'Islamic Teachings' Take Deadly Toll On Iraqi Women

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The images in the Basra police file are nauseating: Page after page of women killed in brutal fashion -- some strangled to death, their faces disfigured; others beheaded. All bear signs of torture.

The women are killed, police say, because they failed to wear a headscarf or because they ignored other "rules" that secretive fundamentalist groups want to enforce.

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Jailed Cleric Abu Hamza To Be Extradited To US

London -- The Muslim cleric Abu Hamza will be extradited to the United States to face terror charges, the Home Office has announced.

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See also:

9/11 terror suspect extradited to Spain

Officials Identify Child Rape Suspect Killed By Deputies

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- Officials have released the name of child rape suspect shot and killed by deputies Wednesday afternoon. They say Geoffrey Shaub had molested a 7-year-old Orlando boy.

Schaub also is believed to have multiple victims that he raped in both Orange County and the city of Orlando. Since the shooting, investigators were seen pulling bags and boxes of evidence from his home in a rural east Orange County neighborhood.

--snip--

Schaub was also an ordained minister who worked as a custodian at the Oviedo Presbytarian Church. Pastor Paul Ogne would not answer when asked if he knew Schaub was a sex offender. Ogne said that was part of his pastor/member confidentiality. He did praise his part-time custodian and fill-in pastor who recently graduated from an Oviedo seminary with a masters in biblical studies.

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UK PM Rejects Special Laws For Muslims

LONDON, England (CNN) -- The UK's leading Christian leader has drawn fierce government criticism after he suggested that Islamic -- or Sharia -- law be used to resolve financial and domestic issues between UK Muslims.

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A "Holy Grail" Of Healing

This powder is a medical product called extracellular matrix. Made from pig bladders, it is a mix of protein and connective tissue surgeons often use to repair tendons. But it's the matrix's unusual power to regenerate tissue that's helping launch a new field: regenerative medicine.

--snip--

If this helped Mr Spievak's finger re-grow, could you grow a whole limb?

"In theory," Badalyk said.

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Where'd Ya Get Those Baby Blues?

Danish geneticists say everyone with blue eyes is not just related, but descended from one person.

--snip--

Brown, they say, is the default color for human eyes ... produced by melanin.

Blue eyes are caused by a genetic switch, programmed to suppress the melanin. It's a genetic mutation.

--snip--

The first blue eyed person was probably born near the Black Sea just 10,000 years ago when the entire population of the world was less than 50,000.

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Al-Qaeda Targets Hearts, Minds

MOSUL, Iraq -- Al-Qaeda militants operating here have shifted tactics to try to improve their image among Iraqis and avoid the mass civilian killings that alienated the public in Baghdad and other cities, the U.S. military says.

The changes include warning locals to take cover before bomb attacks, relaxing the enforcement of strict Islamic laws and staging fewer attacks on Iraqi police.

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See also:

Mosul, the next major test for the U.S. military in Iraq

Shia Call on Mehdi Army to Take Up Arms Again in Iraq

Islamic Fanatic 'Wanted To Groom His Three-Year-Old Daughter To Marry A Terrorist'

The fanatic who plotted to kidnap and behead a British soldier wanted his three-year-old daughter to marry a jihadi terrorist, a court heard.

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Religious Police In Saudi Arabia Arrest Mother For Sitting With A Man

A 37-year-old American businesswoman and married mother of three is seeking justice after she was thrown in jail by Saudi Arabia's religious police for sitting with a male colleague at a Starbucks coffee shop in Riyadh.

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First Jesus Potato, Now Virgin Mary Pancake?

Two weeks before National Pancake Day, one Houston area family celebrated by preparing some 'flapjacks.' They were stunned when they saw a sacred Christian image on the egg-flour product.

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Atheist Sees Image Of Big Bang In Slice Of Toast

Huddlesfield, UK Excitement is growing in this northern England town following news that a local man saw an image of the Big Bang in a piece of toast. Thirty-six year old atheist Donald Chapman was sitting down for breakfast when an unusual toast pattern caught his eye.

"I was just about to spread the butter when I noticed a fairly typical small hole in the bread surrounded by a burnt black ring," Chapman told local newspaper The Huddlesfield Express. "However the direction and splatter patterns of the crumbs, as well as the changing shades emanating outwards from this black hole, were very clearly similar to the chaotic-dynamic non-linear patterns that one would expect following the Big Bang. It's the beginning of the world!" he added excitedly.

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Humanists Monitor Church Polling Places

The American Humanist Association announced today that, during the presidential primaries, it is encouraging its 10,000 members and 110 local chapters and affiliates nationwide to take special note of those polling places that are set up in churches. "We are on the lookout for politicized religious propaganda and blatant religious symbolism that may influence voters," declared American Humanist Association President Mel Lipman, a civil-liberties attorney and professor of constitutional law. "We stand ready to take legal action wherever a religiously charged and politically biased atmosphere is created at the polls."

Through its legal arm, the Appignani Humanist Legal Center, the Association filed just such a suit in November 2006. The case, Rabinowitz v. Anderson, involved Emmanuel Catholic Church in Delray Beach, Florida. Plaintiff Jerry Rabinowitz had been assigned to vote there and alleged that, to enter the polling place, he found it necessary to walk past a church-sponsored "pro-life" banner framed by multiple giant crosses. Then, in the voting area itself, he observed many religious symbols in plain view, both surrounding the election officials and in direct line above the voting machines.

Though not prevailing in that case, the legal center has honed its arguments and vows to relaunch the litigation in another jurisdiction. (Further details of this case are available online at
http://www.humanistlegalcenter.org/cases/cp/cppressrelease.html.)

Churches are the most common polling locations in America. Some states and local governments have rules that require the covering of religious symbols during such use, but others do not. Lack of sensitivity in this matter has resulted in new complaints, such as one during the Florida primaries last Saturday where an Ormond Beach resident, voting at Prince of Peace Catholic Church, declared she was confronted by rows of white crosses symbolizing "4,000 babies aborted daily in the USA." For the forthcoming Massachusetts primary, religious symbols at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in West Boylston were slated to be covered or removed during voting, but that plan was abandoned when the Secretary of State's office declared no Massachusetts law requires it.

"We want to protect voters and the voting process from anything that may serve to intimidate or unduly influence those entering the polls," noted Bob Ritter, a civil-liberties attorney and legal coordinator for the Appignani Humanist Legal Center. "America's polling places should be oases of freedom in a sea of political and social pressure."

Lipman concluded: "Recent studies reveal that environmental cues have a measurable effect on electoral results. Therefore, the government must provide a neutral setting for voters, free from religious or other influences."

The Appignani Humanist Legal Center is part of the American Humanist Association. Consisting of over two dozen humanist lawyers and backed by humanists from coast to coast, it is the first nontheistic legal center in the nation's capital.

Atheist Campus Group Denied Recognition

While the Campus Clubs department understands the goals and visions of your organization, they are not compatible with the guidelines of what may be approved and incorporated into our department. While the promotion of reason, science and freedom of inquiry are perfectly legitimate goals, what is most in question in regards to your club's vision is the promotion of "a fulfilling life without religion and superstition."

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Americans United Urges IRS To Investigate Two Religious Right Groups For Biased Voter Guides

The Internal Revenue Service should investigate two prominent tax-exempt Religious Right groups that produced biased voter guides for the presidential election, according to Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

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Earlier:

Americans United Cautions Southern Baptist Convention About Partisan Politicking

Study Suggests No Dearth Of Earths

Supposedly, there's no place like home. But a new study suggests that earthlike planets orbit or are forming around many, if not most, nearby sunlike stars, providing places where life might have gained a foothold.

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See also:

Exploding black holes could expose hidden dimensions

Key to fusion power may be found in space

Scientists explain vapor plume on Saturn moon

Sprinting Down The Evolutionary Highway

Far from having stopped, the pace of 'advantageous mutation' is moving much faster than we thought, a new study discovers.

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See also:

A Mutant Obsession

An Altar Beyond Olympus For A Deity Predating Zeus

PHILADELPHIA -- Before Zeus hurled his first thunderbolt from Olympus, the pre-Greek people occupying the land presumably paid homage and offered sacrifices to their own gods and goddesses, whose nature and identities are unknown to scholars today.

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Atheists To Celebrate At Darwin Day In Coconut Creek

A godless minority will gather Saturday to celebrate the birthday of Charles Darwin and promote unconstrained scientific inquiry.

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See also:

Rice U. Celebrates Darwin Day

MySpace Deletes Hacked Web Site For Atheists And Agnostics

For the third time in three years, what may be the largest group of organized atheists in the world is struggling to stay on MySpace, said a Cleveland State University assistant professor who founded the site for nonbelievers.

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See also:

MySpace Atheist and Agnostic Group Restored (sort of)

Apologetic billboard replaces atheistic sign

Muslim Opening Prayer At Iowa Statehouse Raises Concerns

The Iowa Legislature started just over a week ago and some people were upset before the first issue was every addressed.

When the session began, a Muslim Imam began the prayer in the Iowa Legislature. This is where the controversy begins. The prayer asked of "Victory over those who disbelieve," and "Protection from the great Satan" among other things.

Pastor Steve Smith of the Evangelical Free Church in Albert City is among those concerned about the Muslim prayer. Rev. Smith admits that he doesn't know about all the levels of Muslim but knows that the Jihadists believe those in the U.S. are the great Satan.

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Pentecostal Preacher Pledges Holy War Against GOP Senator

In a Jan. 22 closed-circuit broadcast of his 2008 Ministers' Conference obtained by Roll Call, Copeland pledges a holy war against "Brother Grassley" and the Senate for attempting to get a look at the controversial ministry's finances. Grassley wrote a Nov. 6 letter to Copeland and five other prominent ministers requesting a variety of financial information.

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Interesting video HERE.

Catholic Nuns And Monks Decline

The Vatican has reported a further dramatic fall in the number of Roman Catholic monks and nuns worldwide.

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Nun Accused Of Sexual Assault To Spend 1 Year In Jail

MILWAUKEE -- A Roman Catholic nun who pleaded no contest to sexually abusing two Milwaukee boys years ago will spend a year in jail.

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Victory For Sex-Abuse Killer Who Exposed Catholic School's Dark Past

Paul Gordon has waited 30 long years for justice. This week the former "pasty-faced and weak" schoolboy, who was sexually abused by a religious order who paid off his father, finally saw his tormentors sent to jail.

The sex abuse case is the latest to hit the Catholic Church in Ireland, whose moral authority has been destroyed. A government-funded compensation process has been established, involving up to 15,000 claimants at a cost of more than a billion euros.

From the mid-1960s, St John's National School in Sligo, northwest Ireland, was a dangerous place for children. Police believe that at least 50 boys, and probably many more, were abused by religious and lay teachers.

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Churches, schools and charities braced for flood of claims after ruling on Lotto rapist

Irish cardinal attempts to block publication of child abuse files

Call to seize secret church abuse files

Documents Detail Church Coverup

Hundreds of pages of just-released documents that the Milwaukee Catholic Archdiocese compiled over four decades reveal a coverup of pedophilia that involved top church leaders and touched a prominent law-enforcement official.

The documents, which a California court released as part of a $16.65 million settlement of civil lawsuits in that state, paint more than just another graphic story of a priest who sexually abused children: They could be a harbinger of things to come for the church here as victims of abuse press their cases in the courts and the Legislature.

The archdiocese fought to keep sealed the documents, which focus on Franklyn Becker, an archdiocesan priest who has been accused of sexually abusing nine teenage boys in Wisconsin and one in California, the first case dating to just two years after his ordination.

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Bradenton Church Copes With Accusations

BRADENTON -- Once they got over their immediate shock, Bethel Baptist Church leaders moved quickly to comfort students who authorities say were secretly videotaped by a youth pastor while they undressed.

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Man Says He Was Performing Exorcism When Wife Died

ODESSA, Texas - A man accused of killing his wife said he was holding her facedown on the floor during an exorcism when the devil entered his body and caused her to die, according to a probable cause statement.

Jan David Clark, 60, of Odessa was arrested Friday after authorities went to his home and found Susan Kay Clark's body wrapped in a bed sheet with a cross and sword on top of it.

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Ex-Priest Jailed For Crucifying Nun In 'Exorcism'

A former Romanian Orthodox priest has been jailed for seven years for fatally crucifying a young nun during an "exorcism".

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U.N. Rights Investigator Slams Religious Violence

GENEVA (Reuters) - U.N. freedom of religion investigator Asma Jahangir has called on Israel and the Palestinian authorities to denounce all violence inflicted in the name of religion, the United Nations said on Monday.

Jahangir, a Pakistani human rights activist, also criticized Israel for laws barring non-religious people from marrying there, and condemned the mistreatment of women and "intolerance" of Christians in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

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Defending Israel to the 'End Times'

Six Killed In Israeli Airstrike On Hamas Base

GAZA CITY (CNN) -- An Israeli airstrike pounded a Hamas base in southern Gaza on Tuesday, killing at least six Hamas militants and injuring 10 -- three critically, Hamas security sources said.

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Eight Die in Israeli Strikes in Gaza

Hamas says it was behind suicide blast in Israel

IDF kills nine Hamas men in Gaza, Qassams rain on Sderot

Suicide bomber strikes in Israeli desert town

Israeli suicide strike may have originated in Gaza border chaos

Faeces Change the Face of Gaza

Death Toll At 21 In Grenade Attack In Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- Officials have increased the death toll to 21 in Tuesday's grenade attack in northeastern Somalia, in the first attack of its kind in the area.

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Sunni Vs. Shia: The Real Bloody Battle For Baghdad

Reconciliation between Sunni and Shia, seen by the US as essential for political progress in Iraq, is not happening. The difficulty in introducing measures to conciliate members of the old regime is illustrated by the way in which a new law, originally designed to ease the path of former Baath party members into government jobs will, in practice, intensify the purge against them.

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At Least 68 Dead in Baghdad Market Bombs

U.S.: 'Demonic' militants sent women to bomb markets in Iraq

Severed Heads and Bodies Found in Iraq Field

US Says It Accidentally Killed Nine Iraqi Civilians

Iraqi cleric threatens to end militia freeze unless attacks stop

How Jihad Went Freelance

Al-Qaeda has evolved from a single group to an amorphous movement. Does that make it less dangerous or more so?

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U.S.: Al Qaeda Video Shows Armed Boys In Training

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The U.S. military said disturbing video that shows masked boys brandishing guns was an al Qaeda in Iraq training and recruiting tool.

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Insurgencies Spread In Afghanistan And Pakistan

Islamic insurgents are expanding their numbers and reach in Afghanistan and Pakistan, spreading violence and disarray over a vast cross-border zone where al Qaida has rebuilt the sanctuary it lost when the United States invaded Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks.

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Pakistani Taliban grows bolder, taking fight to doorstep of frontier city

Shootout echoes across Pakistan

One of Bin Laden's top six aides is killed in suspected US strike

Three Reports Sound Alarm Bells On Afghan Mission

Three independent reports are all sounding alarm bells over the mission in Afghanistan, warning changes are necessary if NATO is to succeed in its objectives.

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NATO's Not Winning in Afghanistan, Report Says

Nato allies divided on how to tackle growing Afghan crisis

Failing state

Afghan Reporter To Die For Insulting Islam

(AP) Afghanistan's upper house of parliament lauded the death sentence handed down against a local journalist who was found guilty of insulting Islam, an official said Wednesday.

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Protesters in Kabul Call for Release of Detained Afghan Journalist

UPDATE: Afghan senate's blasphemy retreat

'Adultery' Sisters To Be Stoned To Death In Iran

Two Iranian sisters convicted of adultery face being stoned to death after the supreme court upheld death sentences against them, Iranian media have reported.

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Family Of Teen Muslim Invited Men To Rape Her

A GIRL of 15 was tricked into a "telephone marriage" ceremony to a Sheffield man with a mental age of five in a ceremony recognised by sharia (Islamic law).

When the girl arrived from Pakistan expecting to meet the handsome man she had been shown in a photograph, she found that he was 40 years old, unemployed and disabled.

To make matters worse, her mother-in-law decided to exploit her attractive looks by forcing her into prostitution.

The family invited men to the family home to rape her before she managed to escape to the police by bolting through the front door. She was taken into care and now lives in a refuge.

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Female Muslim Medics 'Disobey Hygiene Rules'

Muslim medical students are refusing to obey hygiene rules brought in to stop the spread of deadly superbugs, because they say it is against their religion.

Women training in several hospitals in England have raised objections to removing their arm coverings in theatre and to rolling up their sleeves when washing their hands, because it is regarded as immodest in Islam.

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'No One Leaves Islam,' Judge Rules

No one ever leaves Islam, according to a judge in Egypt who has cited Islamic religious law in rejecting a request from a Muslim convert to Christianity to be allowed to change his religious affiliation on his national identification card.

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Egyptian court refuses to rule in case of Muslim convert to Christianity

Uganda: Religious Share Blame For Kenya Strife

WHILE it is now 'official' that the ongoing post-election violence in Kenya was ignited along ethnic and perhaps economic considerations, the key question is, where is religion in this jigsaw puzzle?

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Spain: Church Enters Election Campaign

"Not all the parties and manifestoes are equally compatible with the faith and Christian life," the church's governing body in Spain said in a statement.

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Catholic Group compares Spanish Socialist Government with the Third Reich

Mozambique: Not Child Trafficking, But Religious Indoctrination

The Mozambican police have detained seven people in connection with the alleged abduction of 40 children.

The children are from the northern provinces of Nampula and Cabo Delgado, and the central province of Zambezia. The truck carrying them to the south was seized by the police on Monday, after one child escaped and denounced the alleged kidnapping. It was feared that the children had fallen into the hands of child traffickers.

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Huge Pro-Secular Protest In Turkey

ANKARA (AFP) -- More than 100,000 Turks took to the streets on Saturday to protest against government plans to lift an Islamic headscarf ban at universities and to defend the country's strong secular tradition.

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Turkish MPs set to vote on easing of headscarf ban

German Authorities Slam "The God Delusion" For Kids

The German Family Ministry is pushing to have a book it says slurs Judaism, Christianity and Islam labeled dangerous for children. The book's publisher says kids have a right to enlightenment.

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Multiple Wives Will Mean Multiple Benefits

Even though bigamy is a crime in Britain, the decision by ministers means that polygamous marriages can now be recognised formally by the state, so long as the weddings took place in countries where the arrangement is legal.

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Muslim husbands with more than one wife to get extra benefits as ministers recognise polygamy

Hindus Attack Government Over Gangotri Killing

Hindu community leaders have criticised the "unacceptable lethargy" of the Government following the controversial killing of a cow at Aldenham's Bhaktivedanta Manor in December.

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Jehovah's Witness Husband Allegedly Wages Holy War On Catholic Wife

RACINE -- A man allegedly threatened to injure and kill his wife after an all-day argument over religion.

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Andy Rooney Rebuffs Street Corner Witness

When street evangelist Tony Didlo (right) saw CBS News' commentator Andy Rooney during Super Bowl festivities in Phoenix, Didlo asked if Rooney believed in God. "No, I'm an atheist," Rooney said, "I think it's sad you people believe in that stuff."

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