26th Mar 2008 : Today, Marth 26th, 2008, is Richard Dawkins' 67th birthday! Happy Birthday Richard!

Please use the comments below to send him your birthday wishes.

26th Mar 2008 : WESTON, Wis. — An 11-year-old girl died after her parents prayed for healing rather than seek medical help for a treatable form of diabetes, police said Tuesday.

26th Mar 2008 :

25th Mar 2008 : Since I was one of the group who watched Expelled at the Mall of America last week with Richard Dawkins and (not!) PZ Myers, I thought I should do my part to expose the movie for what it is. Richard and PZ have written responses, and a conversation between them about their experience is now online. I think the best contribution I can make to all of this is to give you as detailed an account of the actual film as I can, so that you don't have to give Mark Mathis any money in order to know what Expelled is all about.

25th Mar 2008 : Austin Dacey serves as a representative to the United Nations for CFI, and is also on the editorial staff of Skeptical Inquirer and Free Inquiry magazines. His writings have appeared in numerous publications including the New York Times. His new book is The Secular Conscience: Why Belief Belongs in Public Life.

25th Mar 2008 :

25th Mar 2008 : Traditionally Easter used to be the time when hellfire and stoppage was preached from the platforms of competing teachers' conferences. These days, regrettably, the Churches are getting in on the act. Over the weekend the fabulous Norman pile at Durham surrendered its calm to the far-from-pacific message delivered by its bishop, Tom Wright. Sermonising about the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, currently before Parliament, the bishop criticised the Government for "pushing through, hard and fast, legislation that comes from a militantly atheist and secularist lobby".

24th Mar 2008 : Sue Blackmore debates Alister McGrath (author of 'The Dawkins Delusion') at Bristol University on the motion that "belief in God is a dangerous delusion". This event took place on November 13, 2007.

23rd Mar 2008 : The blogs are ringing with ridicule. Mark Mathis, duplicitous producer of the much hyped film Expelled, shot himself in the foot so spectacularly that the phrase might have been invented for him.

19th Mar 2008 :

21st Mar 2008 :

23rd Mar 2008 : At Easter I, a longstanding atheist, find myself feeling affinity with religious folk

23rd Mar 2008 : Simon Jenkins replies to John Gray's challenge to Dawkins et al

21st Mar 2008 : This is a short clip from an upcoming discussion between PZ Myers and Richard Dawkins. I thought I should post the relevant piece about the film Expelled today.

21st Mar 2008 :

21st Mar 2008 : It's almost too perfect: P.Z. Myers tried to see the movie, "Expelled," at the Mall of America Thursday.

But he was expelled.

21st Mar 2008 : I'm expected to say something about the events that occurred last night at Expelled, but you all know the shenanigans involving my dad being expelled, but Dawkins getting in. Here's my impression of the movie:

20th Mar 2008 : There is a rich, deep kind of irony that must be shared. I'm blogging this from the Apple store in the Mall of America, because I'm too amused to want to wait until I get back to my hotel room.

19th Mar 2008 : In a dazzling display of erudition, this book presents a cogent argument for secular liberalism. Dacey, a philosopher who teaches at Polytechnic University and the State University of New York at Buffalo, claims that values and ethics—defining what is right and wrong, good and bad—are not the sole domain of theologians.

19th Mar 2008 : COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) -- Even in death Arthur C. Clarke would not compromise his vision.

The famed science fiction writer, who once denigrated religion as "a necessary evil in the childhood of our particular species," left written instructions that his funeral be completely secular, according to his aides.

"Absolutely no religious rites of any kind, relating to any religious faith, should be associated with my funeral," he wrote.

19th Mar 2008 :

19th Mar 2008 : Former residents say separation contracts, a ban on physical contact and teachings by an 'ex-gay' are part of Mercy Ministry's attempts to stamp out lesbianism in its flock, reports Ruth Pollard.

WHEN Mercy Ministries says it helps young women with "life-controlling issues", it means in part that it aims to teach them not to be lesbians.

19th Mar 2008 : IT IS one the biggest mysteries in physics - where did all the antimatter go? Now a team of physicists claims to have found the first ever hint of an answer in experimental data. The findings could signal a major crack in the standard model, the theoretical edifice that describes nature's fundamental particles and forces.

In its early days, the cosmos was a cauldron of radiation and equal amounts of matter and antimatter. As it cooled, all the antimatter annihilated in collisions with matter - but for some reason the proportions ended up lopsided, leaving some of the matter intact.

19th Mar 2008 : DEMONSTRATING the Lord works in mysterious ways, University of Oxford academics have received a research grant of pound stg. 1.9 million (which equals the Tasmanian budget on the present exchange rate) to investigate why people believe in God.

That the question has come up at all is a sign, not necessarily a divine one, of the times.

A century ago the answer would have been obvious: people believed in God because the supreme being's existence was manifest, what with him (never her) being omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient.

18th Mar 2008 :
The group that asked Hudsonville to remove God from the city's mission statement says it is having a hard time placing a billboard espousing its position.

"This is new, that a billboard company is censoring us," said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. The Madison, Wis.-based group, dedicated to the separation of church and state, bills itself as North America's largest group of atheists and agnostics with 12,000 supporters.

18th Mar 2008 : Legendary British science fiction writer Sir Arthur C Clarke has died in Sri Lanka at the age of 90.

He came to fame when his story was made into the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, by director Stanley Kubrick in 1968.

Once called "the first dweller in the electronic cottage", his vision captured the popular imagination.

18th Mar 2008 :

18th Mar 2008 :
For a second time in two weeks, religious groups have called for the closure of Russia's cartoon channel 2X2.

Christian and Muslim groups are demanding that 2X2 be shut down because it airs cartoons, such as South Park, which they deem to be anti-religious, violent as well as promoting homosexuality.

18th Mar 2008 :

18th Mar 2008 : A belief in God could lead to a more contented life, research suggests.

Religious people are better able to cope with shocks such as losing a job or divorce, claims the study presented to a Royal Economic Society conference.

Data from thousands of Europeans revealed higher levels of "life satisfaction" in believers.

However, researcher Professor Andrew Clark said other aspects of a religious upbringing unrelated to belief may influence future happiness.

17th Mar 2008 : Dinesh D'Souza is skeptical of skepticism and enthusiastic about the faith. by Tony Snow » There are two types of Christian apologetics. One makes the positive case for faith; the other responds to critics. Dinesh D'Souza's delightful book, What's So Great About Christianity, falls into the second category. It sets out to rebut recent exuberant atheist tracts, such as Christopher Hitchens's God Is Not Great and Richard Dawkins's The God Delusion.

17th Mar 2008 :

17th Mar 2008 :
THEY call themselves the Mercy Girls. And after years of searching they have found each other.

Bound by separate, damaging experiences at the hands of an American-style ministry operating in Sydney and the Sunshine Coast, these young women have clawed their way back to begin a semblance of a life again.

16th Mar 2008 :

16th Mar 2008 : LONDON -- After the Sunday service in Westminster Chapel, where worshipers were exhorted to wage "the culture war" in the World War II spirit of Sir Winston Churchill, cabbie James McLean delivered his verdict on Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.

16th Mar 2008 : "Anonymous" now has a bunch of faces to go without its name. The loosely bound group of net activists who've got a beef with the Church of Scientology showed up Sunday at the church's largest Los Angeles' locations. The protests were part of a global day of demonstrations against Scientology. Hordes of masked, costumed (and mostly young) picketers showed up in Boston, New York, Toronto, the U.K., Australia and a dozen other locations (thanks wikinews).

15th Mar 2008 : Selected and introduced by Richard Dawkins, The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing is a celebration of the finest writing by scientists for a wider audience - revealing that many of the best scientists have displayed as much imagination and skill with the pen as they have in the laboratory. This is a rich and vibrant collection that captures the poetry and excitement of communicating scientific understanding and scientific effort from 1900 to the present day. Professor Dawkins has included writing from a diverse range of scientists, some of whom need no introduction, and some of whose works have become modern classics, while others may be less familiar - but all convey the passion of great scientists writing about their science.

15th Mar 2008 : Many gamblers claim to have a "system", whether they're shooting craps, backing horses, or punting on the stock market. Now, researchers in Taiwan have devised an approach to spotting when a company is likely to fail based on the principles of natural selection. They report details of their system in a forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Electronic Finance.

15th Mar 2008 : What comes to mind when you hear the word "science"? Nerds in lab coats? Chalkboards crowded with indecipherable equations? How about multi-billion dollar particle accelerators that you can't quite remember the name of?

14th Mar 2008 : Opposition to religion occupies the high ground, intellectually and morally,' wrote Martin Amis recently. Over the past few years, leading writers and thinkers have published bestselling tracts against God. John Gray on why the 'secular fundamentalists' have got it all wrong

14th Mar 2008 : Richard Dawkins was the guest on Alan Colmes' Fox Radio show Thursday, March 13th. This audio file contains comercials, I'll try and upload a commercial-free version soon.

14th Mar 2008 :

13th Mar 2008 : The Vatican released a list of seven new sins on Monday. Dubbed the "social sins," they include conducting stem-cell research, polluting the environment, and causing poverty. Along with the old standbys—like lust, pride, and greed—these seven are considered to be of the "deadly" variety. What kinds of sins aren't deadly?

13th Mar 2008 :
A Catholic bishop has accused the gay community of leading a "conspiracy" against Christianity by allying itself with Holocaust survivors.

The Bishop of Motherwell, Joseph Devine, says a "homosexual lobby" has aligned itself with minority groups, including Holocaust survivors, to gain persecuted status.

13th Mar 2008 : A Roman Catholic bishop has likened books which criticise the teachings of the Church to works that deny the Holocaust took place.

The Rt Rev Patrick O'Donoghue, Bishop of Lancaster, told MPs that books critical of the Catholic faith should be banned from school libraries.

12th Mar 2008 : I have to admit, when I picked up the phone to call Michael Heller, the Polish cosmologist and Catholic priest who was today awarded the $1.6 million Templeton Prize, I was a little uneasy. I am strongly committed to the idea that science and religion don't mix, while the prize is awarded by the Templeton Foundation for "progress toward research or discoveries about spiritual realities".

12th Mar 2008 :
People feel strongly about their religious faith and are deeply offended if you insult it, Oxford University scientist Richard Dawkins told a full house Tuesday night at the Wisconsin Union Theater.

Dawkins asked: Why is it that people are so offended when you insult their religion but don't get as upset if you insult the music, art or books they like?

12th Mar 2008 : Militant atheism is on the rise. Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, and Christopher Hitchens have dominated bestseller lists with books denigrating religious belief as dangerous foolishness. And these authors are merely the leading edge of a far larger movement–one that now includes much of the scientific community.

12th Mar 2008 :

12th Mar 2008 : A TV ad campaign featuring lingerie-clad women praying for beautiful hair has been banned by the advertising watchdog because it might offend Christians.

The series of three TV ads, created by ad agency TBWA Manchester for beauty firm ghd, had an overall religious theme using the strapline "Ghd. A new religion for hair".