This month saw the release of a new Dawkins related documentary called The Genius of Charles Darwin - you can read more about it here or just download the torrents here. My criticism of Dawkins has always been that he's so hardcore about his disdain for religion it turns off many religious fence sitters who might be more receptive to a moderate atheist message. Yeah, I know the whole 'moderate atheism will ...

More 'No love for atheists in today's Democratic party' articles! But this one includes an interesting anecdote from the early days of America's history, when atheist presidential candidates roamed the earth: And if Senator Obama, a committed Christian, were ever attacked for something so minute as, say, making space on a dais for a Humanist clergyperson? He could successfully take a page from the president ...

From the Washington Post: At various times in years past, women, blacks, Jews, and gays were the political outcasts in one or both parties. Now it seems the only group of untouchables are the atheists. This year, the Democrats have chosen a black man as their presidential candidate and they nearly chose a woman. In 2000, a Jewish man was on the ticket as a vice presidential candidate. Gays have won the righ ...

Apparently in Northern Ireland, it's slightly harder than you'd imagine to get a simple non-religious burial. I personally got a kick out of the end, it's practically a punchline. A Donegal atheist had to be buried in Londonderry because the county has no facilities for non-religious burials. Journalist Roy Greenslade's mother was buried in Ballyowen cemetery in Derry on Tuesday after a humanist service. He ...

Here's an interesting article that traces the history of messed up religious rituals from Muslim self flagellation to the Christian 'mortification of the flesh' to the sado-masochistic rituals of the Church of Body Modification. The conclusion? Sexuality and religion share a common thread: what you do to yourself is your own business, just don't drag children into the equation. ...

We've come a long way over the past 100 years, but do you ever feel like we're slowly starting to slide backwards when you hear about stuff like this? Leading academics, authors and scientists are launching a campaign to stop state-funded faith schools from discriminating against students and teachers on the grounds of religion. From Monday, such schools will be allowed to include faith as a selection crite ...

You will probably see a lot more posts relating to religion and American politics, since the two seem to have become hopelessly tangled lately. Welton Gaddy explains some of the basic rules surrounding religion and elections, and talks about the importance of keeping things separate: The leader we choose may have a faith of his own, but he must lead members of all faiths present in the nation - as well as t ...

Republicans aren't the only ones dragging faith and religion deeper into the American political landscape. Here's DNC head Howard Dean talking about the Democratic party's attempt to 'increase its displays of religiosity': Faith is faith,he exclaimed. Faith in God is something that is common to human beings. He was quick to acknowledge that secular people in the Democratic Party still have values. Dean su ...

Here's Richard Dawkins reading some of the love letters he receives from religious people. ...

Wow, who could have foreseen this one. From the AFP: DHAKA (AFP) - A crocodile killed and devoured a 25-year-old man in Bangladesh who waded into a pond next to a shrine hoping to be blessed by the animal, police said Thursday. Inspector Humayun Kabir told AFP that Rubel Sheikh and his mother travelled 50 kilometres (30 miles) from their home to visit the Muslim Khan Jahan Ali shrine, where the attack happe ...