Clashes With Islamists Who Claim To Be Taleban Kill 150 In Nigeria

Radical Islamists, who claim to be linked to al-Qaeda, have killed more than 150 people in two days of violence in northern Nigeria, news agencies reported.

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Nigeria hunts Islamic sect, women and children freed

Nigerian army storms Islamist sect's base

And...

AAI Affiliate Nigerian Human Movement Confronts Witch-Belief in Nigeria

Suicide Bombers Kill Eight And Injure At Least 50 In Attack On Jakarta Hotels

The menace of international terrorism returned to Indonesia when explosions ripped through two luxury hotels in Jakarta, killing eight guests and injuring at least 50 others.

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Taliban Running School For Suicide Bombers

Pakistan said yesterday it had rescued 20 young boys who were among hundreds recruited by the Taliban and brainwashed into becoming suicide bombers at a secret indoctrination camp.

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Iraq Police: 29 Killed By Mosque Bombs

(CBS/AP) Bombs exploded near five Shiite mosques in Baghdad, killing at least 29 people, in an apparent coordinated attack that targeted worshippers leaving Friday prayers, Iraqi police and hospital officials said.

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US Military Deaths In Iraq War At 4,329

Blasts kill 7 in Baghdad

The Burqa-Clad Bombers Who Terrorise Afghanistan

Male suicide bombers disguised in womens' burqas stormed government buildings and security headquarters in co-ordinated attacks which killed a dozen people and injured 22 others in eastern Afghanistan.

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Afghan Civilian Deaths up 24 Percent

Bombers dressed as women kill three Afghan officers

Seven suicide attackers strike at Afghan facilities

Four U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan

Understanding Atheism May Break Down Prejudices

Studies have shown atheists are less likely to be criminals and less likely to get divorced than theists. Countries with lots of atheists are strongly correlated with low murder rates, low poverty rates, low infant mortality rates, low illiteracy rates, high per capita income and high levels of gender equality. The more educated you are, the more likely you are to be an atheist. Atheists contribute more to charity than theists do.

Despite all of these positive qualities, atheists are more distrusted than virtually any other minority. Roughly three-quarters of the population wouldn't vote for an atheist, half views us unfavourably and one-quarter of the population believes that we are inherently immoral. As I've demonstrated briefly above, there doesn't appear to be any evidence to support this dim view, so I have to hope this is caused by a simple lack of understanding as to what atheism is.

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See also:

The comfort of your convictions

The folly of pretence

Ranks Of Atheists Grow, Get Organized

Americans United Commends Appellate Court Decision Against Bible Distribution In Mo. Public School

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that the South Iron R-1 School District may not allow distribution of Bibles to children in elementary school.

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FFRF Sues To Stop Religious Engravings At Capitol Visitor Center

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a state/church watchdog and the nation's largest association of atheists and agnostics, filed a federal lawsuit today to stop the prominent engraving of "In God We Trust" and the religious Pledge of Allegiance at the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, D.C.

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FFRF Asks Gates to Enforce Secularism in Military

FFRF Joins Facebook and Twitter!

Ralph Reed's New Group -- Yes, It Is "Your Daddy's Christian Coalition"

An Atheist public policy group today blasted Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed over claims that his latest political venture -- the "Faith and Freedom Coalition" -- does not share the tactics and objectives of its predecessor.

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The Culture Wars' New Front: U.S. History Classes In Texas

The Texas Board of Education, which recently approved new science standards that made room for creationist critiques of evolution, is revising the state's social studies curriculum. In early recommendations from outside experts appointed by the board, a divide has opened over how central religious theology should be to the teaching of history.

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Anti-Islam Sign On Display Outside Fla. Church

GAINSEVILLE, Fla. -- The sign at the Dove World Outreach Center reads "Islam is of the devil."

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US Evangelist 'Married' Under-Age Girls, Court Hears

A controversial American evangelist "married" under-age girls as young as eight before forcing them into sex, a court has heard.

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Arkansas Woman Dies During New Jersey Voodoo Cleansing Ritual, Cops Say

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- Authorities are investigating how an Arkansas woman died Sunday in what they call a voodoo cleaning ritual in a southern New Jersey town house.

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Death Sparks Debate On Jehovah's Witness Transfusion Ban

A teenage Jehovah's Witness who triggered a cross-country court battle when she refused blood transfusions as part of her cancer therapy has died, renewing debate about the religion's blood ban and its impact on children.

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Will Jehovah's Witnesses be banned in Russia?

Vote On Gay Bishops Threatens Archbishop With Another Schism

The archbishop of Canterbury is bracing himself for fresh turmoil in the Anglican Communion ahead of a crucial vote that could overturn a ban on the ordination of gay bishops.

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See also:

CofE 'could back rebel US Church'

Anglo-Swedish rift over church gay marriage

And...

British study reveals Bible knowledge in decline

Catholic Clergy Braced For Fallout From Abuse Report

CATHOLIC clergy are preparing for an onslaught of criticism in the long-awaited report on the hierarchy's handling of paedophile priests, due to be given to the government this week.

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A secret shame: Inside the latest scandal to rock the Catholic church

And...

Irish Catholics go online to lose religion

No records kept on people leaving Church

Blasphemy Law Is Silly, Dangerous And Unjust

It is silly because it revives a medieval religious crime in a modern pluralist republic. And it is dangerous because it incentivises religious outrage, by making it the first trigger for defining blasphemy.

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Catholics Hurl Firebombs At Belfast Police

Militant Catholics hurled gasoline bombs, fireworks and other makeshift weapons at Northern Ireland police Monday in a failed effort to prevent a Protestant parade from passing through the bitterly divided north side of Belfast.

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Religious Schools 'Undermine Cohesion'

The rise of faith-based schools in Australia is restricting the ability of some students to relate to people of diverse backgrounds, a university sociologist has warned.

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Saudi Family Sues Genie, Alleges Harassment

In Islamic cultures, a belief in genies, or jinns, is common.

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Orthodox Strife Grips Jerusalem

Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem have clashed with police in protest at what they see as interference by the Israeli authorities in their community.

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Kids TV Praises Gaza Mom's Suicide Bombing

GAZA CITY (CNN) -- It's meant to be a children's program, but "Young Pioneers" on Hamas-run television is well-known for pushing the boundaries of what most people would deem suitable content for children.

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Youths Test Religious Rights In Macedonia

TETOVO, Macedonia (AFP) -- Open displays of faith among Macedonia's rival Christian and Muslim youths are stoking religious tensions that have smouldered since the fall of communist Yugoslavia.

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Iran Singer Gets Jail Term For Koran Disrespect

TEHRAN (Reuters) - An Iranian singer and composer who has been likened to Bob Dylan has received a five-year jail sentence in absentia for disrespecting religious sanctities, according to Iranian television.

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Sudan Women 'Lashed For Trousers'

Several Sudanese women have been flogged as a punishment for dressing "indecently", according to a local journalist who was arrested with them.

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Fresh Fighting Erupts In Somalia

(CNN) -- Fresh fighting erupted Sunday between Somalia's transitional government forces and Islamist rebels, continuing a wave of violence that a top United Nations official called a "grave violation of human rights" that could possibly amount to war crimes.

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Islamist insurgents behead 7 Somalis for 'spying on government and abandoning Islam'

Deadly Blasts Hit Two Hotels In Jakarta

Suspicion immediately fell on Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), the Islamist terrorist network with ties to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist network that was tied to the 2003 Marriott attack and the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed more than 200 people, mostly foreign tourists.

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Bomb Kills At Least 7 In Southern Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- At least seven people were killed Friday in a roadside bombing in a southern Afghan border town, Afghan officials said.

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July becomes deadliest month for foreign troops in Afghanistan

2 U.S. Marines killed in Afghanistan

Bombs Kill 11 In Iraq

(AP) A suicide bomber on Wednesday killed six people, including an Iraqi policeman, in an attack on security forces in a former insurgent stronghold in Iraq's western Anbar province, police said. A Baghdad bombing killed five other people.

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3 coalition soldiers killed in attack on Iraq base

4 killed, 32 wounded as 6 Baghdad churches bombed

7 U.S. troops, linguist wounded in blast in Iraq

Al Qaeda Message Urges Pakistanis To Back Militants

(CNN) -- The people of Pakistan must back Islamic militants to counter the influence of the United States in their country or face punishment from God, Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda's second in command, said in an audio message released early Wednesday.

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Explosion kills 11 in Pakistan

Evolution Guides Cooperative Turn-Taking, Game Theory-Based Computer Simulations Show

ScienceDaily -- It's not just good manners to wait your turn -- it's actually down to evolution, according to new research by University of Leicester psychologists.

A study in the University's School of Psychology sought to explain how turn-taking has evolved across a range of species. The conclusion is that there is an evolution-based "invisible hand" that guides our actions in this respect. What's more, the researchers have shown that this behavior can be simulated using a simple computer algorithm and basic genetic laws.

--snip--

The researchers say that playing "tit for tat" -- copying in each time period whatever the other individual did in the previous period ­-- can explain synchronized cooperation, but cannot fully explain turn-taking. "For example, many predatory animals hunt in pairs or larger groups, and this involves synchronized cooperation. 'Tit for tat' has been shown to work very well in initiating and sustaining this type of cooperation."

"But where cooperation involves turn-taking, a 'tit for tat' instinct could sustain the pattern once it was established but could not initiate it in the first place. For example, in a mating pair of penguins who both went foraging or both incubated the eggs at the same time, 'tit for tat' would not be enough to evolve the habit of taking turns."

Using evolutionary game theory and computer simulations, Professor Colman and Dr Browning discovered a simple variation of "tit for tat" that explains how turn-taking can evolve in organisms that pursue their individual self-interests robotically.

The researchers state: "Turn-taking is initiated only after a species has evolved at least two genetically different types that behave differently in initial, uncoordinated interactions with others. Then as soon as a pair coordinates by chance, they instinctively begin to play 'tit for tat'. This locks them into mutually beneficial coordinated turn-taking indefinitely. Without genetic diversity, turn-taking cannot evolve in this simple way."

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Scientific Achievements Less Prominent Than A Decade Ago

ScienceDaily -- A new report by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press finds that overwhelming majorities of Americans believe that science has had a positive effect on society and that science has made life easier for most people. The public - even those skeptical of some scientific conclusions on such topics as climate change and evolution - rates scientists highly and believes government investments in science pay off in the long term.

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Is There A Place For Atheists In America?

In 2006, a University of Minnesota study found that atheists are the least trusted among several categories. In that study, some 40 percent of Americans said of atheists, "This group does not at all agree with my vision of American society."

Compare this number to other groups that often experience discrimination, such as Muslims who were next at 26 percent, and gays just after that at 23 percent.

Yet, a recent survey by Trinity College in Connecticut found that 15 percent of Americans claim they adhere to no religion, making them the fastest growing group of believers -- or, rather, nonbelievers -- in the United States.

The American Religious Identification Survey also found that the number of people who self-identify as "nonreligious" is growing in every state.

With the nonreligious far outnumbering Jews and Muslims, and pulling roughly even with Episcopalians, one would assume acceptance in American society.

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Pharmacists Can't Refuse Plan B Pill, Appeals Court Says

Pharmacists are obliged to dispense the Plan B pill, even if they are personally opposed to the "morning after" contraceptive on religious grounds, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.

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Humanists Applaud 9th Circuit Court's Plan B Decision

Americans United Applauds Ninth Circuit Decision Favoring Patients' Right To Pharmacy Access

Obama Says He Supports 'Robust' Protections For Health Workers With Moral, Religious Objections

And...

Americans United Urges Senate Judiciary Committee to Ascertain Sotomayor's Views on Church-State Separation

Second Atheist Billboard In Moscow, ID Declares "Prayer Not Required"

For all who "Want a Better World" the American Humanist Association has a message: "Prayer not Required." A billboard emblazoned with this slogan went up this week in the Moscow, Idaho area on Highway 95 (JPEGs of the billboard can be found here: http://americanhumanist.org/system/storage/29/996/billboard_paryernot2.jpg).

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Residents Want Sign Promoting Atheism Removed

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WSVN) -- Community residents are protesting a billboard they call offensive to Christians.

--snip--

The sign states: "Being a good person doesn't require God. Don't believe in God? You're not alone. http://www.freethoughtflorida.com/."

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Conn. Church Creates Stir With Gay Exorcism Video

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) -- The video shows the 16-year-old boy lying on the floor, his body convulsing, as elders of a small Connecticut church cast a "homosexual demon" from his body.

"Rip it from his throat!" a woman yells. "Come on, you homosexual demon! You homosexual spirit, we call you out right now! Loose your grip, Lucifer!"

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See also:

Survey: 60% of gays say faith is important to them

And...

Does God Hate Women?

Paleontologists Brought To Tears, Laughter By Creation Museum

PETERSBURG, Kentucky (AFP) -- For a group of paleontologists, a tour of the Creation Museum seemed like a great tongue-in-cheek way to cap off a serious conference.

But while there were a few laughs and some clowning for the camera, most left more offended than amused by the frightening way in which evolution -- and their life's work -- was attacked.

"It's sort of a monument to scientific illiteracy, isn't it?" said Jerry Lipps, professor of geology, paleontology and evolution at University of California, Berkeley.

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Church Camps Closing Amid Declining Use, Economy

"I think this fall through Christmas we will see as many as 10 to 15 percent of camps decide they no longer can continue operating," said Kobielush, whose organization has about 950 member camps. He estimates there are about 3,000 church-affiliated camps nationwide.

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Christianity Is Finished In Britain, Says Church Of England Bishop

A long-serving Church of England bishop has predicted that the Church of England will cease to exist within a generation. In an article in the Sunday Telegraph, the Right Reverend Paul Richardson said declining church attendance and the rise in multiculturalism meant that "Christian Britain is dead".

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Praying for divine intervention as capital kirks face threat of closure

Daniel Radcliffe: A Cool Nerd

In an interview with Esquire magazine, Radcliffe risked the US box office prospects of the new Harry Potter film by declaring himself to be an atheist.

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New Lease Of Life For Brian As Glasgow Ends Film Ban After 29 Years

For almost 30 years, one of the classic comedy films has been unofficially "banned" in Glasgow, after it was branded blasphemous by councillors on its release.

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Australian Policeman Suspended Over Alleged Exorcism On Teenager

A policeman in Australia has been suspended from duty over allegations that he tried to perform an exorcism on a teenage boy during a church camp.

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Nigerian Humanists And Child Rights Activists To Tackle Witchcraft

The Nigerian Humanist Movement, an affiliate of the Atheist Alliance International, and the UK NGO, Stepping Stones Nigeria, are organising an international symposium on Witchcraft and Child Rights in Cross River State, Nigeria on July 29 2009. This symposium is part of the wider efforts being made by both organisations to combat witchcraft accusation, stigmatization and persecution of children in Nigeria.

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Game Show Looks To Convert Atheists

ISTANBUL (Reuters) -- What happens when you put a Muslim imam, a Christian priest, a rabbi and a Buddhist monk in a room with 10 atheists?

--snip--

"We don't approve of anyone being an atheist. God is great and it doesn't matter which religion you believe in. The important thing is to believe," Soylu said.

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Islamic Fundamentalists Jailed For Arson Attack At Publisher's Home

Three Islamic fundamentalists were jailed yesterday for an arson attack on a London publisher who planned to print an "offensive" book about the Prophet Muhammad.

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156 Dead As Muslim Uprising Hits China

Deep-seated ethnic tensions erupted into the deadliest outbreak of violence the country has seen since the Tiananmen Square massacre.

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Al Qaeda Branch Steps Up Raids In North Africa

WASHINGTON - Al Qaeda's affiliate in North Africa has carried out a string of killings, bombings and other lethal attacks against Westerners and African security forces in recent weeks that have raised fears that the terrorist group may be taking a deadlier turn.

American and European security and counterterrorism officials say the attacks may signal the return of foreign fighters from the Iraq war, where they honed their bomb-making skills.

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Bomb Blasts Kill 64 As Violence Surges In Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A roadside bomb targeted a police patrol in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, killing a civilian bystander Thursday, a police official told CNN.

It is the latest in a series of attacks across Iraq that have killed at least 64 people and wounded 167 others over the past two days.

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Scores die as suicide bombers keep up rebel efforts to destabilise Iraq

Drive-by shooting marks third day of Iraq attacks

Bombings in Iraq kill at least 19, wound some 60

Baghdad market bombing adds to soaring death toll

9 killed as attacks intensify in Baghdad

Bombing Kills 25 In Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Fifteen students were among the 25 people killed when a truck rigged with explosives detonated south of Afghanistan's capital, local officials said.

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2 British soldiers killed in Afghanistan

11 NATO troops killed in 2 days in Afghanistan

Suicide bomber kills 2 in Afghanistan

Seven American Troops Killed in Afghan Incidents

Women's rights 'in decline' in Afghanistan

Pakistan: Taliban Buying Children For Suicide Attacks

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- A top Taliban leader in Pakistan is buying and selling children for suicide bombings, Pakistani and U.S. officials said.

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Pakistan: At least 1 dead as motorcycle bomber hits bus

Bridge blast wounds eight in troubled northwest Pakistan

Amnesty: Israel Killed Hundreds Of Gaza Civilians

(CNN) -- Israeli troops killed hundreds of unarmed civilian adults and children, broke laws and committed war crimes during their winter offensive in Gaza, Amnesty International said in a scathing report released Thursday.

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Israel moves forward with settlement construction

Bomb Blast Kills 3 In Philippines

(CNN) -- Three people were killed and 37 injured after a bomb exploded Sunday morning in Cotabato City, Philippines, the military said.

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

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

--snip--

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

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See also:

Brain Detects Happiness More Quickly Than Sadness

Morning People And Night Owls Show Different Brain Function

Scientology: The Truth Rundown

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

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

See also:

Scientology leadership rife with physical violence, report says

Scientology Media Blitz to Counter Critics Seems Counter-Productive

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

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

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

Atheist Bus Campaign In... New York City!

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

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

American Atheists Joins Secular Coalition For America

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

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

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

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No Rush For Pews

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

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Orphanage Abuse: Christian Brother Jailed

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

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

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British Man Snatched Over Religion

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

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

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

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

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Scores Killed In Baghdad Market Bombing

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

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See also:

62 people killed in Baghdad blast

And...

Wave of bombings kill at least 22 in Baghdad

Iraq: Death toll from huge suicide blast soars

Record Crowds At Stonehenge For Summer Solstice Celebrations

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

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India's Romeo And Juliet Tragedy

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

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

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

--snip--

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

More...

See also:

US religious freedom watchdog 'barred from India'

Saudi Arabian Religious Police Arrest 67 Filipino Men At Drag Party

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

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Statistics Defy Israeli Settlement Stance

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

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

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

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A Lecture By Robert Sapolsky

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

HERE

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

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

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Judge Rejects Defense Argument In Oregon Prayer Case

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

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ACLU Wants La. To Ban Creationism In Public Schools

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

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

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

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See also:

AAI Applauds US Court Ruling on Oklahoma County 10 Commandments Display

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

And...

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

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

Christian Prayers to Open City Council Meetings Illegal, Watchdog Charges

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

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

New Support Group Recovering Religionists Helps People Who Leave The Church

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

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Accused Abortion Doctor Killer Claims More Violence Is Planned

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

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Recruitment Shooting Suspect Doesn't Think Killing Was Murder

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

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Prosecutors Demand End Of Scientology

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

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Light Sensors Cause Religious Row

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

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

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

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Catholic Group Call For Madonna Show To Be Axed

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

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Mother Caned In Bangladesh For Talking To Hindu Man

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

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See also:

Christian Murdered for Drinking Tea from a Muslim Cup

American Soldier Killed By Bomb In Iraq

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

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See also:

Baghdad double bombing kills 2

Teen guns down Iraqi lawmaker, bombs mosque

Market shoppers killed in Iraq suicide blast

Explosion kills 7 at Baghdad bus station

2 injured in Baghdad mortar attack

Police chief hurt, bodyguard killed in Iraq suicide attack

US Military Deaths In Afghanistan Region At 632

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

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See also:

Suicide bomber kills 17 in Afghanistan

11 Killed As Truck Bomb Strikes Five-Star Pakistan Hotel

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

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See also:

13 killed in separate attacks in Pakistan

Roadside bomb kills 2 in Pakistan

Pakistan region hit by suicide bomb that kills 40 people

Anti-Taliban cleric killed in double suicide attack

At least 9 dead in Pakistani hotel blast

Shooting At Thai Mosque Kills 10, Police Say

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

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Rebels Seize 9 Foreigners In Yemen

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

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Hamas: 5 Killed In Attack On Israeli Forces

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

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Humanists Speak Out About Godless Billboard In The Phoenix Area

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

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

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

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

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Last week: Godless Billboard Greets New Orleans Motorists

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

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

--snip--

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

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Humanists Lament Murder Of Dr. George Tiller

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

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

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

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Chuckling Chimps Traced To Human Laughter

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

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

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

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

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Child Rape Survivor Saves 'Virgin Myth' Victims

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

--snip--

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

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Malaysia Christians Still Banned From Using 'Allah'

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

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Terror Suspect Student 'Had Suicide Vest And Explosives'

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

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Blast At Pakistan Mosque Kills 30

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

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3 Troops Killed In Afghan Attack

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

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