Wilmington, NC City Council Asked To Stop Unconstitutional Sectarian Prayers

The American Humanist Association is asking the Wilmington, NC city council to stop holding sectarian prayers during public meetings because it is a violation of the separation of church and state. The prayers have frequently been expressly Christian in nature.

MORE: http://www.americanhumanist.org/news/details/2012-07-wilmington-nc-city-council-asked-to-stop-unconstitut

Atheists to launch Tennessee lobbying group

A national atheist group plans to organize a lobbying group in Tennessee to advocate for stronger separation of church and state.

MORE: http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120710/NEWS06/307100064/Atheists-to-launch-Tennessee-lobbying-group?nclick_check=1

See also...

Atheists register lobbying group to fight church and state issues
http://www.examiner.com/article/atheists-register-lobbying-group-to-fight-church-and-state-issues

Atheists to lobby on church separation
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20120714/FEAT04/207140303/Atheists-lobby-church-separation?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CHome%7Cs

Existence of Atheists Offends Christians

The more of these billboards that go up around the U.S., the better. The more the local news highlights Christian offended by such thoroughly inoffensive messages, the better. When Christian bigotry is exposed, the eventual result will be fewer Christians.

MORE: http://www.atheistrev.com/2012/07/existence-of-atheists-offends.html

200,000 pledge to vote for Jesus in 2012

Keller is claiming that over 200,000 people have already pledged to vote for Jesus Christ on their November ballots.

MORE: http://www.examiner.com/article/200-000-pledge-to-vote-for-jesus-2012

False Prophets: Religious Right's Military Chaplaincy Predictions Bomb

When plans were made for gays to serve openly in the military, Religious Right zealots and the Catholic hierarchy were predictably apoplectic. They imagined a range of dire consequences including a devastating impact on the work of military chaplains.

MORE: http://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/false-prophets-religious-right-s-military-chaplaincy-predictions-bomb

Atheist Points Out Biblical Hatred of Homosexuals

Many Christians use the excuse that some parts of the Bible are outdated and don't fit in with how they feel -- and this appears to be a whitewashed excuse for not following their own religion.

This, on its own, poses the valid question: Why, then, do you even follow the religion?

MORE: http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981465288

Atheist Calls Out Pastor on Gays Can Go to Heaven Comments
http://www.christianpost.com/news/atheist-calls-out-pastor-on-gays-can-go-to-heaven-comments-77973/

Saints to change name on atheist night at ballpark

The St. Paul Saints plan to change their name for a game sponsored by atheist groups.
 
The American Association minor league club will call itself the "Mr. Paul Aints" when they host the Amarillo Sox on Aug. 10.

MORE: http://hamptonroads.com/2012/07/saints-change-name-atheist-night-ballpark

It's Graduation, Not Confirmation -- South Carolina School Begins Commencement With Prayer

Since when can a vote decide the extent to which a public educational institution adheres to religious liberty?

MORE: http://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/it-s-graduation-not-confirmation-south-carolina-school-begins-commencement

County Commission Starts Clergy List; Atheist Escorted Out By Deputy After He Defies Chairman

The County Commission started its meeting on Thursday with the first opening prayer by a clergyman from the new ministerial list and ended the meeting with a declared atheist being escorted from the room by a deputy.

MORE: http://www.chattanoogan.com/2012/7/12/230107/County-Commission-Starts-Clergy-List.aspx

Stamp Of Disapproval: Bishops And Religious Right Intensify Crusade Against Contraceptives

Right-wing religious groups that seek to curtail Americans' ability to get and use birth control are feeling newly empowered.

MORE: http://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/stamp-of-disapproval-bishops-and-religious-right-intensify-crusade-against

Bradlee Dean Blowback: Junkyard Prophet Ordered To Pay Up

In March, Dean's band Junkyard Prophet performed at a public school in Dunkerton, Iowa. According to the LaCrosse Tribune, Junkyard Prophet didn't offer much in the way of religion or hatred during its performance for the whole school, but when the band asked to divide the boys and girls into separate groups for breakout sessions, things really got bad.

MORE: http://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/bradlee-dean-blowback-junkyard-prophet-ordered-to-pay-up

Some businesses see benefits to pro-gay stance

Google's campaign, announced last week, comes on the heels of Mother's and Father's Day promotions by J.C. Penney featuring same-sex parents, a Gap ad featuring a male Broadway performer and his boyfriend, and Target selling t-shirts as a fundraiser for the Family Equality Council, a group lobbying against a same-sex marriage ban in the retailer’s home state of Minnesota.

Last November, four dozen companies ranging from Nike to Microsoft signed a statement essentially supporting gay marriage by objecting to the Defense of Marriage Act. In February, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein participated in a Human Rights Campaign web video in support of marriage equality. "There's no doubt that American businesses will be central to the dismantling of DOMA," Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese told Politico last month.

MORE: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/12/12667034-some-businesses-see-benefits-to-pro-gay-stance?lite

Mississippi's end run around abortion

The state has instituted a series of unreasonable regulations for doctors who perform abortions. Using a practice very similar to the kind of bottlenecking that was done to suppress black votes during the Jim Crow era, Mississippi has systematically squeezed the number of abortion clinics in the state down to just one.

MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/11/opinion/granderson-mississippi-abortion/index.html?hpt=hp_bn7

See also...

Judge lets Mississippi's only abortion clinic stay open -- for now
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/11/us/mississippi-abortion-clinic-hearing/index.html?hpt=hp_bn1

Strange religious bedfellows unite for letter against hotel porn

(CNN) -- A letter penned by two notable scholars – a Christian and a Muslim – and sent to a number of different hotel industry executives has asked those hotels to remove pornography from their company’s in-room movie selections.

MORE: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/12/strange-religious-bedfellows-unite-for-letter-against-hotel-porn/?hpt=us_t5

Faithful flock to 'bleeding' Virgin Mary

Dozens of believers gather on the lawn of a Baton Rouge family after their statue of the Virgin Mary appears to bleed.

MORE: http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t2#/video/us/2012/07/13/dnt-la-bleeding-virgin-mary-statue-wbrz.cnn

A Blip That Speaks of Our Place in the Universe

It is natural for those not deeply involved in the half-century quest for the Higgs to ask why they should care about this seemingly esoteric discovery. There are three reasons.

MORE: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/10/science/in-higgs-discovery-a-celebration-of-our-human-capacity.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

See also...

A Super-Sized Sister Solar System!
http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2012/07/11/a-super-sized-sister-solar-system/

The Good Fight

Prominent scientists are in a bitter struggle over the origins of kindness.

MORE: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/primate-diaries/2012/07/09/the-good-fight/

See also...

Love Thy Neighbor, Unless They Are The Weakest Link
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120712224624.htm

Scientists place 500-million-year-old gene in modern organism
http://phys.org/news/2012-07-scientists-million-year-old-gene-modern.html

New Pluto Moon Found--"Fringe Benefit" of Search for Risky Rings

Unnamed natural satellite underscores Pluto's surprising complexity.

MORE: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/07/120712-pluto-moon-hubble-space-telescope-satellite-science-nasa/

Death of scientific evidence mourned on Parliament Hill

Scientists, concerned citizens hold mock funeral in Ottawa to protest federal cuts.

MORE: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/07/10/pol-death-evidence-protest-parliament-hill.html?cmp=rss

Evolution? I don't believe it. Haven't you heard of Nessie?

They confidently claim that the Loch Ness monster disproves Darwinism and that there is clear proof of creationism. But that has not stopped a set of controversial Christian qualifications - used by dozens of British private schools - being described as comparable to international O and A levels.

--snip--

Some of the claims made in Accelerated Christian Education curriculum materials:

A science textbook denies that the sun is powered by nuclear fusion and says its creation took place "a few thousand years ago".

Evolution is described as an "indefensible theory".

One textbook says "no transitional fossils exist".

A current course textbook describes homosexuality as a "learned behaviour".

MORE: http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6259996