Religion

By National Secular Society Liberal Democrats have voted in support of a motion to abolish compulsory worship in schools and to end religious discrimination against teachers in faith schools. Conference delegates however rejected an amendment to ban faith schools from selecting children on the basis of faith. The votes took place in the conference debate …

Image courtesy of Catholic Church of England and Wales By Herb Silverman There’s an elephant roaming through the Vatican these days, but apparently the pope hasn’t noticed. Its name is Women. Pope Francis recently called for a two-week meeting of Catholic bishops to consider matters related to “the family.” The pope publicly encouraged the bishops to speak openly …

By Sarah Jones Four days a week in Warren, Mich., volunteers pray with local residents. But the prayers aren’t happening at a church. Instead, they’re taking place in city hall, at a “prayer station” established for exactly this purpose. Originally created by members of the Tabernacle Church, a local Pentecostal denomination, Warren’s “prayer station” endured …

Image credit: WSB-TV By Maureen Downey The debate continues over the Christian-themed monument at the Madison County High School field house. At last week’s home game, football players continued their new and controversial tradition of touching the rock-like monument before the game. Inscribed on the donated monument are Bible verses: Philippians 4:13 “I can do all …

By Dan Arel According to an article published today in the Courier Journal, Ken Ham’s Ark Encounter may be losing its recent 18 million dollar tax incentive due to the discriminatory hiring practices that were uncovered and highlighted right here. “The Commonwealth doesn’t believe that Ark Encounter, LLC will be complying with state and Federal law in …

By Todd Stiefel Many groups are victims of prejudice in America. Women earn less for the same job as their male counterparts, African Americans still face disgusting hostility, and gay people are denied the right to marry those they love. Yet, a different group consistently scores worse than all others in polls gauging discrimination: the nonreligious. …

By Americans United A journalist who exposed the Religious Right’s efforts to infiltrate America’s public schools and a Mississippi student who bravely challenged unlawful religious activity at her public high school will be recognized by Americans United for Separation of Church and State on Nov. 10. Katherine Stewart, author of The Good News Club: The Christian …

Image credit: Pascal Deloche/Getty By Elizabeth Picciuto Suppose you actually do have an angel over your shoulder telling you the right thing to do. That angel probably wouldn’t tell you anything you didn’t already know. A recent study in Science aimed at uncovering how we experience morality in our everyday lives suggests that religious people are no more moral—or …

Image credit: YouTube By Lindsay Toler Ballwin officials voted Monday to reject a plan to to put up an “In God We Trust” sign on city property.  The Holy Infant Knights of Columbus had pledged $750 to putting the motto on a sign in this St. Louis suburb. All the plan needed was the approval of the …

Image credit: Mike McQuade By David P. Barash Every year around this time, with the college year starting, I give my students The Talk. It isn’t, as you might expect, about sex, but about evolution and religion, and how they get along. More to the point, how they don’t. I’m a biologist, in fact an evolutionary biologist, although …

Image credit: Gerben Oppermans/Getty By Jonny Scaramanga Students at Accelerated Christian Education schools don’t graduate with GCSEs or A levels: they complete the International Certificate of Christian Education. As BBC Newsnight pointed out last month, the ICCE is unrecognised by the qualifications authority for England, Ofqual. Nevertheless, according to responses to Freedom of Information requests received …

By Herb Silverman Some people avoid labels, but not me. I’m a Jew, a humanist, a secular humanist, an atheist, an agnostic, a skeptic, a freethinker, a rationalist, an infidel, and much more. Which label(s) I lead with depends on the context and with whom I’m communicating, but they all help define me in some …