Atheism

By Bethany Lindsay Health-care professionals who work in Vancouver-area hospitals and medical clinics will no longer be required to attend 12-step programs if they want to keep their jobs after being diagnosed with addiction. The change comes as a result of a settlement between public health authority Vancouver Coastal Health and former nurse Byron Wood, …

By Hemant Mehta During a rally in Iowa City last night, Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren was asked by an audience member, “What is your plan for protecting the rights of atheists and other non-believers?” Warren gave a roundabout answer that didn’t really answer the question. Instead, she spoke about the importance of religious freedom. Actual religious freedom. Where there’s no …

By Hemant Mehta The city of Fitchburg, Wisconsin will no longer be giving a $10,000 grant to a local church after the Freedom From Religion Foundation raised questions about the constitutionality of that move. The program in question is called the Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative which aims to improve three specific parts of the city with respect to …

By Hemant Mehta For the eighth straight year, Humanists International has released its annual “Freedom of Thought Report” describing serious cases of discrimination and persecution against atheists around the world. You can download the report right here by clicking on the “Download the 2019 Key Countries edition (PDF)” link. There’s some good news overall. Since 2015, eight countries (or …

By Juhem Navarro-Rivera In many states today is Election Day, and millions of people will be going to the polls. Of course, next year voters across the country will be deciding on the next president of the United States. In the intervening twelve months I will be looking at different aspects of secularism and politics …

By Hemant Mehta Andrew Zwicker is exactly the kind of person you wish were in elected office but almost never is. He’s not only a physicist, he’s the Head of Science Education at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. Unlike the Republicans who treat science as a four-letter word, Zwicker, a Democrat, is a proud advocate of the STEM fields. In …

By Hemant Mehta Atheist activist Justin Scott, the Iowa State Director for American Atheists, wasn’t picked to ask Pete Buttigieg a question during a town hall in Iowa. But while waiting to shake hands with the Democratic presidential candidate, Justin asked if he’d consider hiring a Secular Outreach Director now that he’s already hired a person to connect with people of …

By Hemant Mehta Atheist activist Justin Scott, the Iowa State Director for American Atheists, has done it again. Yesterday, at a town hall in Maquoketa, Iowa, he had the chance to ask Joe Biden the same question he asked Elizabeth Warren: Would he consider hiring a Secular Outreach Director? (Someone in that position would stress to non-religious voters that the candidate …

By Leonardo Blair Ryan J. Bell, former pastor of the Hollywood Adventist Church in California, launched an experiment to live without God on New Year’s Eve in 2013 after preaching for 20 years. A year later, he concluded that God did not exist. Five years into that decision, he admits that for a while he missed Christianity, …

By Luke Douglas If I believe in God and He exists, I’ve gained everything. If I believe in God and He doesn’t exist, I’ve lost nothing. If I disbelieve, and He does exist, I’ve lost everything. Therefore, a rational person who has any doubt should take the leap of faith just in case. I don’t …

By Hemant Mehta Just days after he got Sen. Elizabeth Warren to say she’d consider hiring a Secular Outreach Director for her presidential campaign, Justin Scott, the Iowa State Director for American Atheists, had a chance to speak to former Obama Cabinet member and current presidential candidate Julián Castro during a meeting at the University of Northern Iowa. He asked Castro what …

By Hemant Mehta Sen. Elizabeth Warren said during a town hall meeting in Cedar Falls, Iowa last night that she would think about hiring a staffer whose sole job would be to connect with Americans who aren’t religious. Among the Democratic presidential candidates who have hired “faith outreach directors” to communicate specifically with religious voters …