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 ...

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 ...

I've never been able to figure out why religion and guns go hand and hand so often. From KOCO.com: An Oklahoma church canceled a controversial gun giveaway for teenagers at a weekend youth conference. Windsor Hills Baptist had planned to give away a semiautomatic assault rifle until one of the event's organizers was unable to attend.The church's youth pastor, Bob Ross, said it's a way of trying to encourage ...

Ever wonder what it would be like to kill Mohammad and Jesus to stop the spread of the powerful monotheistic religions they helped create? Yeah, me neither. But apparently, a small game developer in Virginia has decided it's a good idea. Here's an excerpt from the article: The new game, not yet released, is giving a voice to the atheist community, that's according to the game's creator, a University of Virg ...

From MSNBC" The Texas Supreme Court on Friday threw out a jury award over injuries a 17-year-old girl suffered in an exorcism conducted by members of her old church, ruling that the case unconstitutionally entangled the court in religious matters. In a 6-3 decision, the justices found that a lower court erred when it said the Pleasant Glade Assembly of God's First Amendment rights regarding freedom of relig ...

Well, just like I promised on my website, I have sent out a letter to every member of Parliament asking for the right to be an Ordained Secular Minister. If you'd like to contact your member of Parliament and encourage them to look into this issue, please go here. This is my letter: I must confess that I am in dismay .Canada considers itself free and progressive, but in many instances, we are not. Although ...