Violence Tears Across Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Car bombs and gunfire killed more than two dozen civilians and wounded more than 60 in attacks throughout Iraq on Saturday, officials said.

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Iraqi Widow Saves Her Home, But Victory Is Brief

BAGHDAD -- The two men showed up on Tuesday afternoon to evict Suaada Saadoun's family. One was carrying a shiny black pistol.

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In God Our Press Trusts

The question about whether the media treat religion fairly really ought to have two parts, and the second half ought to read: "Do the media treat skepticism about religion fairly?" The answer to both questions is no.

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Market Bombs Kill 119 Across Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Bombers launched two deadly strikes Thursday in crowded Shiite marketplaces in Baghdad and a town north of Iraq's capital, killing 119 people and wounding 171. At least 17 others died in other bombings and gunfire around the country.

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Dobson: Thompson Must Express Faith

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- As senator turned actor Fred Thompson considers a presidential run, his Christian credentials are being questioned by Dr. James Dobson, a major voice among Christian conservative voters.

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Richard Dawkins Explains 'The God Delusion'

Listen to Dawkins on Fresh Air from WHYY, March 28, 2007.

Dawkins Says Religion Is "Like Sucking A Dummy"

Professor Richard Dawkins has described religious believers as "sucking on dummies" for comfort and said that giving children a religious education was comparable to "erecting a firewall in their minds" against scientific truth.

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God Is On Our Side. Does That Mean War?

Does believing that "God is on our side" make it easier for us to inflict pain and suffering on those perceived to be our enemies? If we think God sanctions violence, are we more likely to engage in violent acts?

The answer to both those questions, according to new research, is a resounding "yes," even among those who do not consider themselves believers.

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Snake Oil And Holy Water

Are science and religion converging? No.

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FreeThoughtAction Hero Of The Day - 3/28/07

Daniel Clement Dennett (b. March 28, 1942 in Boston, Massachusetts)

According To Wikipedia, Dennett "is a prominent American philosopher and atheist advocate. Dennett's research centers on philosophy of mind, philosophy of science and philosophy of biology, particularly as those fields relate to evolutionary biology and cognitive science. He is currently a professor at Tufts University....

"He defends a theory known by some as Neural Darwinism....

"Dennett's views on evolution are identified as being strongly adaptationist, in line with the views of ethologist Richard Dawkins. In Darwin's Dangerous Idea, Dennett showed himself even more willing than Dawkins to defend adaptationism in print..."

More Bombing, Blasts, And Death In Iraq

Today's reports HERE.

French Scientists Rebut U.S., Muslim Creationism

ORSAY, France (Reuters) - With creationism now coming in Christian and Muslim versions, scientists, teachers and theologians in France are debating ways to counteract what they see as growing religious attacks on science.

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Extremists 'Are Encouraging Violence Against Muslim Women'

UK -- Islamic extremists are fuelling the spread of "honour" based violence against women in Britain, the country's most senior Muslim prosecutor has warned.

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Man Cuts Tongue For Religious Faith

India -- A man was rushed to the government civil hospital here Monday after he cut his own tongue to offer it to a goddess.

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I Saw Boys Murdered -- Then Their Parents Got Guns To Kill Each Other

Sunnis began shooting at Shia houses and Shias began firing on Sunnis.

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God-Fearing Villagers Snub "Satanic" Bar Codes

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A hundred residents of a Russian village have refused to switch to new passports because they believe the documents' bar codes contain satanic symbols, state television reported Wednesday.

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FreeThoughtAction Hero Of The Day - 3/26/07

Clinton Richard Dawkins (born March 26, 1941)

According to Wikipedia, Dawkins "is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and popular science writer who holds the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University.

"Dawkins first came to prominence with his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, which popularised the gene-centered view of evolution and introduced the term meme into the lexicon, helping found memetics. In 1982, he made a widely cited contribution to the science of evolution with the theory, presented in his book The Extended Phenotype, that phenotypic effects are not limited to an organism's body but can stretch far into the environment, including into the bodies of other organisms. He has since written several best-selling popular books, and appeared in a number of television and radio programmes, concerning evolutionary biology, creationism, and religion.

"Dawkins is an outspoken atheist, humanist, and sceptic, and is a prominent member of the Brights movement. In a play on Thomas Huxley's epithet 'Darwin's bulldog,' Dawkins' impassioned defence of evolution has earned him the appellation 'Darwin's rottweiler.'"

Can You Live With The Voices In Your Head?

Angelo, a London-born scientist in his early 30s with sandy brown hair, round wire-frame glasses and a slight, unobtrusive stammer, vividly recalls the day he began to hear voices. It was Jan. 7, 2001, and he had recently passed his Ph.D. oral exams in chemistry at an American university, where, for the previous four and a half years, he conducted research into infrared electromagnetism. Angelo was walking home from the laboratory when, all of a sudden, he heard two voices in his head. "It was like hearing thoughts in my mind that were not mine," he explained recently. "They identified themselves as Andrew and Oliver, two angels. In my mind's eye, I could see an image of a bald, middle-aged man dressed in white against a white background. This, I was told, was Oliver." What the angels said, to Angelo's horror, was that in the coming days, he would die of a brain hemorrhage. Terrified, Angelo hurried home and locked himself into his apartment. For three long days he waited out his fate, at which time his supervisor drove him to a local hospital, where Angelo was admitted to the psychiatric ward. It was his first time under psychiatric care. He had never heard voices before. His diagnosis was schizophrenia with depressive overtones.

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Cartoons Did Not Incite Hatred, French Court Rules

A French court yesterday ruled in favour of a satirical weekly that printed cartoons of the prophet Muhammad, rejecting accusations by Islamic groups that the newspaper incited hatred against Muslims.

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Employee Claims She Was Unfairly Dismissed For Being A Witch

A teaching assistant is claiming that she was unfairly dismissed because of the fact that she is a witch.

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