Al Gore on Reason • The Daily Show with Jon Stewart • 25th May 2007

Al Gore lowers the boom on the boudary between entertainment and news, and dubs Jon and The Daily Show the equivalent of a medival court jester.

Another Christian Science Fair embarrasses itself • PZ Myers, scienceblogs.com • 25th May 2007

It's becoming a trend: Evangelical Christian institutions that try to do science inevitably demonstrate breathtaking inanity of their own. The latest victim is the Pawleys Island Christian Academy.

Christian sports workers degree ridiculed • telegraph.co.uk • 25th May 2007

Richard Dawkins, the best-selling author, yesterday ridiculed a new postgraduate course for Christian sports workers by comparing it to a Monty Python sketch.

Fears for Democracy in India • Martha C. Nussbaum, chronicle.com • 25th May 2007

On February 27, 2002, the Sabarmati express train arrived in the station of Godhra, in the state of Gujarat, bearing a large group of Hindu pilgrims who were returning from a trip to the purported birthplace of the god Rama at Ayodhya (where, some years earlier, angry Hindu mobs had destroyed the Babri mosque, which they claimed was on top of the remains of Rama's birthplace). The pilgrimage, like many others in recent times, aimed at forcibly constructing a temple over the disputed site, and the mood of the returning passengers, frustrated in their aims by the government and the courts, was angrily emotional. When the train stopped at the station, the Hindu passengers got into arguments with Muslim passengers and vendors. At least one Muslim vendor was beaten up when he refused to say Jai Sri Ram ("Hail Rama"). As the train left the station, stones were thrown at it, apparently by Muslims.

E.O. Wilson and Daniel Dennett • seedmagazine.com • 25th May 2007

The biologist and the philosopher meet up to talk about God, evolution, incest, and of course, ants.

God help us all - The No. 2 book on Amazon right now is a • attytood.com • 25th May 2007

The No. 1 book on Amazon.com right now is "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" -- no big surprise there. Of course, Hogwarts had nothing on the real-world deathly hallows sought by the thousands of "Christian"-Americans who are currently buying the No. 2 book on the list, ahead of Christopher Hitchens and Walter Isaacson and even John Grogan and his adorable deceased dog.

Penn & Teller's Bullshit - Holier Than Thou With Christopher Hitchens • Penn & Teller, video.google.com • 25th May 2007

To most of the world, highly revered figures such as Mother Theresa, Mahatma Gandhi and the Dalai Lama are larger-than-life symbols of love, peace and charity. But how much of our perception of "sainthood" is built on hype and not facts? This episode reveals the dark side of the so-called enlightened ones and delves into why we're so susceptible to buying into their bullshit.

Transcending Jerry Falwell • Kathleen Parker, realclearpolitics.com • 25th May 2007

Jerry Falwell's prosaic death in his Liberty University office -- just another body, unresponsive and pulseless, on a random floor -- has elevated speaking ill of the dead to the level of sacrament.

I'm Sure God is Scared • hogonice.com • 25th May 2007

Hitchens to Jehovah: "Had Enough?"

The Art of Handling Thetans • Ray, uncletaz.com • 25th May 2007

Unlike large numbers of people who have been invited off the street to take this famous personality test of theirs, I have only good and happy memories of my short excursion into Hubbardland. It was all in all an instructive and rewarding experience with considerable entertainment value.

Ministers bow to hybrid pressure • BBC News • 25th May 2007

Ministers have bowed to pressure to allow the creation of human-animal hybrid embryos for research.

Woman - Blame devil for infant in microwave • cnn.com • 25th May 2007

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) -- A woman blames the devil, and not her husband, for severely burning their infant daughter in a microwave, a Texas television station reported.

Comic in US 'hate speech' row • chortle.co.uk • 25th May 2007

A British stand-up has been accused of spreading 'racist hate speech' in California.

Importing a slave class • Ann Coulter, anncoulter.com • 25th May 2007

Apparently, my position on immigration is that we must deport all 12 million illegal aliens immediately, inasmuch as this is billed as the only alternative to immediate amnesty. The jejune fact that we "can't deport them all" is supposed to lead ineluctably to the conclusion that we must grant amnesty to illegal aliens — and fast!

Gay flamingos pick up chick • Yahoo! News • 25th May 2007

LONDON (AFP) - A pair of gay flamingos have adopted an abandoned chick, becoming parents after being together for six years, a British conservation organisation said Monday.

Jerry Falwell Deconverted on Deathbed! • Kristine, amused-muse.blogspot.com • 25th May 2007

While I was in the Galapagos the Rev. Jerry Falwell, as you know, walked into the funhouse mirror. (If you're a Cocteau fan, you get this).

Italian TV urged to scrap BBC film accusing Pope of abuse cover-up • John Hooper, guardian.co.uk • 25th May 2007

Italy's public broadcasting corporation, RAI, was accused yesterday of withholding approval for the screening of a controversial BBC documentary that accuses Pope Benedict of covering up sex crimes by Roman Catholic priests.

The Blairs' Witch Project • Ben Goldacre (The Guardian), badscience.net • 25th May 2007

So normally you just wouldn't bother with the New Age stuff. The people are pretty friendly and harmless, and they tend not to make too many scientific claims. But Tony Blair stepped over some pretty significant lines.

Atheists: Get off of our country! • prosebeforehos.com • 25th May 2007

I received an anonymous tip from an acquaintance living on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska in the form of the above clipping from the Kenai Peninsula Clarion, the region's daily rag. I've done a little research into the area, and other than the occasional moose attack (which makes the front page of the news) it seems like a normal sort of area.

Creationist Periodic Table of the Elements • re-discovery.org • 25th May 2007

Creationist Periodic Table of the Elements.

Species extinction • sciam.com • 25th May 2007

Endangered species.

Science education requires overcoming childhood understanding • John Timmer, arstechnica.com • 25th May 2007

It's not a secret that the general population hangs on to no end of non-scientific beliefs despite contrary evidence; the Nobel Intent forums have been visited by proponents of homeopathy and intelligent design, to give just two examples. Two developmental psychologists at Yale are now suggesting these and many other non-scientific beliefs—their list includes "unproven medical interventions; the mystical nature of out-of-body experiences; the existence of supernatural entities such as ghosts and fairies; and the legitimacy of astrology, ESP, and divination"—all originate in childhood. Becoming scientifically literate, in their view, requires overcoming our early mental development.

Adult breast-feeding sucks, authorities say • iol.co.za • 25th May 2007

Cairo, Egypt - Al-Azhar University, one of Sunni Islam's most prestigious institutions, ordered one of its clerics Monday to face a disciplinary panel after he issued a controversial decree allowing adults to breast-feed.

Prayer - A Neurological Inquiry • David C. Haas, csicop.org • 25th May 2007

Are silent prayers transmissible to, or readable by, a supernatural being? A brief examination of this question using modern information about the brain.

Fighting the Fundamentalists • Michael Ruse, csicop.org • 25th May 2007

The science and religion debate in America has seen its fair share of controversy, much of it bitter. From the moment that Charles Darwin published his On the Origin of Species in 1859, Americans have debated evolution, its place and role and significance, especially with respect to Christianity. Almost immediately, two leading Harvard professors, Louis Agassiz, the transplanted Swiss ichthyologist then building the Museum of Comparative Zoology, and Asa Gray, the diminutive professor of botany, clashed over the truth of evolution. Although both appealed to scientific facts, it was clear that religious issues were close to the surface. A decade later the leading American Presbyterian theologian, Princeton Seminary professor Charles Hodge, wrote a little book titled: What is Darwinism? He answered the question himself: It is Atheism!

Study shows primitive fish had genetic wiring for limbs • Will Dunham, Yahoo! News • 25th May 2007

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Primitive fish already may have possessed the genetic wiring needed to grow hands and feet well before the appearance of the first animals with limbs roughly 365 million years ago, scientists said on Wednesday.

Baby's 'miracle' recovery in British hospital to give Malta its first saint • Jonathan Petre and Simon Caldwell, telegraph.co.uk • 25th May 2007

The testimony of a British surgeon about the "miraculous" recovery of a baby has helped pave the way for the canonisation of Malta's first saint.

Exorcism exercise for fired-up faithful • Patrick Crewdson (The Dominion Post), stuff.co.nz • 25th May 2007

Casting out demons and healing the sick with prayer will be on the lesson plan at a school for evangelists.

Heliocentrism is an Atheist Doctrine • Sisyphus, Blogs 4 Brownback • 25th May 2007

What's even worse than the debate raging in American schools about the teaching of the soulless doctrine of evolution, is the non-debate over an issue that rational Americans have foolishly conceded to the secular among us: the issue of Heliocentrism, or the idea that the Earth revolves around the Sun.

Adam and Eve in the Land of the Dinosaurs • Edward Rothstein, NYTimes.com • 25th May 2007

PETERSBURG, Ky. — The entrance gates here are topped with metallic Stegosauruses. The grounds include a giant tyrannosaur standing amid the trees, and a stone-lined lobby sports varied sauropods. It could be like any other natural history museum, luring families with the promise of immense fossils and dinosaur adventures.

Angry atheists are hot authors • Rachel Zoll, AP, Yahoo • 24th May 2007

The time for polite debate is over. Militant, atheist writers are making an all-out assault on religious faith and reaching the top of the best-seller list, a sign of widespread resentment over the influence of religion in the world among nonbelievers.

Lightning damages Jesus statue • Jennifer Brown, Denver Post • 24th May 2007

A bolt broke off an arm and a hand and damaged a foot at the Mother Cabrini Shrine in Golden. The sisters hope the 22-foot piece can be repaired.

I Don't Believe in Atheists • Chris Hedges, Truthdig • 24th May 2007

On Tuesday night, Chris Hedges and Sam Harris debated "Religion, Politics and the End of the World." The following is Hedges' opening statement, in which he argues that Harris and other critics of faith have mistakenly blamed religion for the ills of the world, when the true danger lies in the human heart and its capacity for evil. We will post Sam Harris' statement and a recording of the debate soon.

Richard Dawkins to appear in Second Life • Transworld Publishers, RichardDawkins.net • 23rd May 2007

Richard Dawkins, author of the bestselling The God Delusion, will appear in a week of screenings to be held in Second Life, launching on Tuesday 29 May.

'Einstein - His Life and Universe' • Walter Isaacson, NYTimes.com • 23rd May 2007

"I promise you four papers," the young patent examiner wrote his friend. The letter would turn out to bear some of the most significant tidings in the history of science, but its momentous nature was masked by an impish tone that was typical of its author. He had, after all, just addressed his friend as "you frozen whale" and apologized for writing a letter that was "inconsequential babble." Only when he got around to describing the papers, which he had produced during his spare time, did he give some indication that he sensed their significance.

The Conversion of the Casual Evolutionist - You can't spell love without evolve • Jeff Guhin, bustedhalo.com • 23rd May 2007

For most of my adult life, I was what you might call, a casual evolutionist. You know, the type of person who could handle your run-of-the-mill, cocktail-party conversation on Darwinism. All the obvious stuff just seemed to make sense, like how giraffes with longer necks had a better shot than their shorter cousins. Or that stronger lions killed more zebras than the weak ones. Or how Donald Trump is still able to date fashion models because…

Dental healer finds share of faithful believers • Christopher O'Donnell, Herald-Tribune • 23rd May 2007

Faith healer says he embodies God's power to repair dental problems -- and, sometimes, to perform alchemy

Busted Halo • bustedhalo.com • 23rd May 2007

BustedHalo.com -- An online magazine for spiritual seekers in their 20's and 30's.

Shark virgin birth mystery is solved • metro.co.uk • 23rd May 2007

It was the 'virgin birth' that baffled scientists for years. But now the mystery of a hammerhead shark born at a zoo where there were no male sharks has been solved – it seems females of the species can reproduce without having sex.

A galactic fossil - Star is found to be 13.2 billion years old • PhysOrg.com • 23rd May 2007

How old are the oldest stars" Using ESO's VLT, astronomers recently measured the age of a star located in our Galaxy. The star, a real fossil, is found to be 13.2 billion years old, not very far from the 13.7 billion years age of the Universe. The star, HE 1523-0901, was clearly born at the dawn of time.

The God question • Sarmad Abbasi, Literate, NOS, The News International • 23rd May 2007

Simple, passionate, straightforward, rational, uncontrived and uncompromisingly honest, 'The God Delusion' is perhaps the most important work by Richard Dawkins.

Despite what the scholars say, God isn't dead yet • Rachael Kohn, smh.com.au • 23rd May 2007

A scene from The Root of All Evil?, a two-part television series on religion by Richard Dawkins, shows Dawkins accusing the evangelical pastor the Reverend Ted Haggard of running worship sessions in the way the Nazis ran their rallies.

Some US Muslims say suicide attacks OK • Alan Fram, Yahoo! News • 23rd May 2007

WASHINGTON - One in four younger U.S. Muslims said in a poll that suicide bombings to defend their religion are acceptable at least in some circumstances, though most Muslim Americans overwhelmingly reject the tactic and are critical of Islamic extremism and al-Qaida.

Gay row US Anglicans miss summit • BBC News • 23rd May 2007

Two bishops at the centre of divisions in the US over homosexuality have not been invited to next year's Lambeth Conference of the Anglican Communion.

Liberty U student plotted to set off explosives, police say • cnn.com • 23rd May 2007

LYNCHBURG, Virginia (CNN) -- A first-year Liberty University student was arrested in what police said was a plot to detonate explosive devices Tuesday, the day of the Rev. Jerry Falwell's funeral.

Mysteries to Behold in the Dark Down Deep: Seadevils and Species Unknown • William J. Broad, NYTimes.com • 22nd May 2007

When, more than 70 years ago, William Beebe became the first scientist to descend into the abyss, he described a world of twinkling lights, silvery eels, throbbing jellyfish, living strings as "lovely as the finest lace" and lanky monsters with needlelike teeth.

Prayer can improve physical health • Tamara McLean, theaustralian.news.com.au • 22nd May 2007

COMMUNICATING with God or other spirits can improve your physical health, Australian researchers suggest.

For the God Question, a Biological Perspective • Kendrick Frazier, csicop.org • 22nd May 2007

That a book so forthrightly titled (no subtitle necessary!) and forcefully argued as The God Delusion could reach and make an extended stay on the upper strata of the best seller lists over the past months may tell us something about a shifting cultural climate. It may be a changing Zeitgeist (a term the author employs late in his book for just such welcome raisings of consciousness) to counter the excesses of those who have aggressively pushed a narrow religious agenda upon the mainstream.

The root of all evil? • John Huxley • 22nd May 2007

He has denounced God as an ethnic cleanser. He has described faith as the biggest obstacle to peace in the 21st century.