Anti-Terror Law Requires God Be Acknowledged

Under state law, God is Kentucky's first line of defense against terrorism.

The 2006 law organizing the state Office of Homeland Security lists its initial duty as "stressing the dependence on Almighty God as being vital to the security of the Commonwealth."

Specifically, Homeland Security is ordered to publicize God's benevolent protection in its reports, and it must post a plaque at the entrance to the state Emergency Operations Center with an 88-word statement that begins, "The safety and security of the Commonwealth cannot be achieved apart from reliance upon Almighty God."

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Al-Qaida No. 2 Calls On U.S. To Embrace Islam

CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader appeared in a new video posted Friday calling on Americans to embrace Islam to overcome the financial meltdown, which he said was a consequence of the Sept. 11 attacks and militant strikes in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Bomber Targets Iraqi Shiites At Mosque

(AP) A suicide bomber detonated his explosives belt in a line of Shiite worshippers near the entrance of a mosque south of Baghdad during Friday prayer services, killing at least nine people, Iraqi officials said.

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Mumbai Hotel Siege Thwarted

(CBS/AP) Indian commandos killed the last remaining gunmen holed up at a luxury Mumbai hotel Saturday, ending a 60-hour rampage through India's financial capital by suspected Islamic militants that left more than 150 people dead and rocked the nation.

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Authorities differ on whether Mumbai standoff is over

Freethinking Winter Solstice Sign & Billboard

In addition to erecting a jaunty "Reason's Greetings" billboard in downtown Olympia on East 5th Avenue (cross street Jefferson), the Foundation and its membership have a permit to display a Winter Solstice sign in the Washington State Capitol for the month of December. Members of the Foundation will assemble at 10 a.m. on Monday, December 1, on the third floor (near the George Washington bust) to dedicate the sign.

Foundation co-president Dan Barker, author of the new book, Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists, will be there for the dedication.

The engraved sign will read:

At this season of the Winter Solstice, may reason prevail.

There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell.

There is only our natural world.

Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts

and enslaves minds.

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"Imagine No Religion" Billboard Comes Down in Cucamonga

FFRF Sues City of Rancho Cucamonga over Censorship of "Imagine No Religion" Billboard

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Atheist Foundation of Australia Bus Slogan Rejected!

Atheist Foundation of Australia

Vast Stores Of Water Ice Surround Martian Equator

Ice glaciers hundreds of metres deep are lurking just underneath the Martian surface around the planet's mid-latitudes, new radar measurements suggest.

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Hopes rise for liquid water on Saturn moon

NASA Prepares For New Juno Mission To Jupiter

Dawn Spacecraft Glides Into New Year

Holiday Get-Together: Jupiter, Venus, Moon

Potentially Universal Mechanism Of Aging Identified

ScienceDaily -- Researchers have uncovered what may be a universal cause of aging, one that applies to both single cell organisms such as yeast and multicellular organisms, including mammals. This is the first time that such an evolutionarily conserved aging mechanism has been identified between such diverse organisms.

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Two From One: Evolution Of Genders From Hermaphroditic Ancestors Mapped Out

The Religious Right's War On Christmas Began Centuries Ago

The "war on Christmas" traces back, historically, to Calvinist bans on the celebration of Christmas which began in Geneva and then migrated, with the spread of Calvinist theological views, to Scotland, where Christmas was banned in 1583, a ban that remained in force four almost four hundred years and was only lifted in the 1950's.

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NPR Sends Wiccan Priestess To Public Prayer Booth

NPR vehemently denied that its coverage was opposed to prayer or organized religion.

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Child Deaths Test Faith-Healing Exemptions

OREGON CITY, Ore. - When Dr. Seth Asser saw row after row of flat headstones marking children's graves in a small cemetery not far from the end of the historic Oregon Trail, he knew many of these early deaths should not have happened.

The children's parents relied on faith healing, instead of doctors.

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WFISD To Move Forward With Bible Course For High Schools

In the beginning, the state of Texas created a Bible course. And the course was formless and void. Darkness hung over the details of the course.

Eventually, the state said, "Let there be K-12 instruction in religious literature that includes the Old and New Testaments."

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Iowa College Bases Musical On Bible's 'Terror' Stories

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Don't expect to hear these Bible stories at church.

Cannibalism, rape, a bear that mauls children -- this is the Bible?

They're among six stories from the Old Testament acted out in "Terror Texts," a musical at Northwestern College in Orange City.

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I'm Not One Of Those 'Love Thy Neighbor' Christians (Humor)

Mormon Aid To Prop. 8 Campaign Investigated

SAN FRANCISCO -- California officials are planning to investigate whether the Mormon church gave an accurate accounting of its role in the campaign that succeeded in getting a same-sex marriage ban approved in the state.

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Mormons' Uneasy Victory

Did Mormon Church hide its support for Proposition 8?

Mormon film boss resigns after 'gay marriage' protests

US Vatican Abuse Case To Go Ahead

A US federal appeals court has ruled that a lawsuit against the Vatican over claims it covered up decades of child sex abuse by priests can go ahead.

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Vatican 'forgives' John Lennon (as if he needed their forgiveness)

Ex-Altar Boy Sues Catholic Church

DETROIT -- The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit is facing a second civil lawsuit over allegations it failed to stop a priest who molested children when he served at parishes in Warren, White Lake, Redford, Pontiac, and Utica.

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Jehovah's Witness Jailed For Molesting Boys

Sydney -- A member of the Jehovah's Witness church who molested three male church members after "ingratiating himself" into their families has been sentenced to more than 10 years in jail.

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Cambodian Monk Accused Of Rape And Robbery

(AP) A 17-year-old Cambodian monk was charged with raping a British woman while taking her on a tour of a mountain cave near his Buddhist temple, a court official said Thursday.

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Mosque Tutor Accused Of Abusing Girls

Two women have told a court that they were sexually abused by a teacher at a mosque when they were children.

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UN Bans "Defamation of Religion" In Islamic Bid To Curb Free Speech

Geneva -- By a vote of 85 to 50, with 42 abstaining, the UN General Assembly today adopted a draft resolution calling on all countries to alter their legal and constitutional systems to prevent "defamation of religions," asserting that "Islam is frequently and wrongly associated with human rights violations and terrorism."

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AJC Condemns UN Vote on Defamation of Religions

Saudi Religious Police Troubled by Youth Fashion Trends

Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat - The Saudi Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice is looking into a number of customs it believes to be "foreign" as part of study that it will embark upon in cooperation with King Saud University in Riyadh.

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Saudi girl band challenges the rules limiting women