atheism

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The 'Nones' Are the 'Small but Mighty' Group Voting for Dems

Per AP VoteCast, voters with no religious affiliation supported Dem candidates, by a lot, in midterms

(Newser) - When members of the small Pennsylvania chapter of Secular Democrats of America log on for their monthly meetings, they're not there for a virtual happy hour. "We don't sit around at our meetings patting ourselves on the back for not believing in God together," said founder...

Harvard's New Chief Chaplain Is an Atheist

Greg Epstein is author of 'Good Without God'

(Newser) - In best-selling book Good Without God, Greg Epstein argues that belief in a higher being is not a mandatory requirement for leading a good, moral life. It's also not a requirement for becoming chief chaplain at Harvard. Epstein, the university's humanist chaplain since 2005, has been unanimously elected...

School Shouldn't Have Barred Child With Atheist Parents: Judge

Gary Mangel, Mai Yasue didn't want holiday decor in school; school said daughter couldn't come back

(Newser) - It began with a dispute over classroom holiday decorations and ended with a preschool keeping a student's registration "hostage to a demand." That's according to a judge on the BC Human Rights Tribunal in Canada, ruling Tuesday that the Bowen Island Montessori School erred in its...

Einstein's 'God Letter' Fetches Ungodly Price

Christie's unloads document calling 'the word God' as 'product of human weakness' for nearly $3M

(Newser) - Albert Einstein didn't hold back in his famous 1954 "God letter," which fetched nearly $3 million at a Christie's auction Tuesday. "The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still...

Almost Everyone Thinks Atheists Are the Worst
Almost Everyone Thinks
Atheists Are the Worst
NEW STUDY
Aug 8, 2017 10:58 AM CDT

Almost Everyone Thinks Atheists Are the Worst

'Atheists are broadly perceived as potentially morally depraved and dangerous': study

(Newser) - When given a hypothetical scenario describing a fictional character who progresses from torturing animals as a child to murdering homeless people as an adult, most people assume that this person is an atheist—and that includes atheists themselves. That's what researchers at the University of Kentucky in Lexington are...

Atheist Suing Over Denial of 'IM GOD' License Plate

He wants to show it's impossible to disprove that statement

(Newser) - Bennie L. Hart wants to drive around with a license plate declaring "IM GOD" not because he truly believes he's God—he's actually an atheist—but because he wants to show "that it's impossible to disprove anyone's claim to being 'God,'"...

Atheists Banned From Public Office in 7 States

 Atheists Banned 
 From Public Office 
 in 7 States 
in case you missed it
Dec 13, 2014 3:22 PM CST

Atheists Banned From Public Office in 7 States

Nonbelievers attempting to get rules dumped

(Newser) - If you're an atheist living in Arkansas, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, or Texas, you're technically not allowed to hold public office. Those states have articles in their constitutions requiring public officials to believe in God—in fact, in Maryland, even jurors and witnesses are technically...

'Godless' Churches Open Doors

To the tune of 'Man in the Mirror,' in some cases

(Newser) - Apparently, atheists are yearning for their crack at potluck dinners and picnics: There's no church in the traditional sense, and no steeple, but what opened its doors in Rochester, NY, this past Sunday is no less than an atheist church. Dubbed the Sunday Assembly , the group skipped the pastor...

Pastafarian Wears Colander as Hat in DMV Photo

Oklahoma atheist says it symbolizes religious freedom

(Newser) - America is the land of the free, the kind of country where you can wear a colander on your head and call it religious headgear. That's not a joke—there has been a Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster since 2005, and Oklahoma's Shawna Hammond is a practitioner...

China Creating New 'Theology' for Christians

One that will 'better integrate with Chinese culture,' says an official

(Newser) - The number of Christians in China is on the rise, a fact that's making the country's control-freak atheistic government quite nervous and causing tensions between police and worshipers. To address this issue, state media reports that China is creating its own Christian-based theology that will conform more closely...

Afghan Atheist Wins Asylum in UK

Lawyers say he could have faced death sentence

(Newser) - In a landmark case in Britain, an Afghan man has been granted asylum because he fears persecution for his lack of religious belief. The man, now 23, was brought up as a Muslim in Afghanistan but became an atheist after he fled to Britain at age 16, the Guardian reports....

America Might Be Ready for an Atheist President
America Might Be Ready
for an Atheist President
OPINION
Dec 11, 2013 5:56 PM CST

America Might Be Ready for an Atheist President

New Republic essay thinks another political taboo is poised to fall

(Newser) - A Politico Magazine story sounds a pessimistic note about the prospects for an atheist president, noting that Barney Frank came out as gay 25 years ago but waited until after his political retirement to announce that he was a non-believer. But at the New Republic , Isaac Chotiner finds "surprising...

US Atheists Can Now Attend a 'Mega-Church'

'Sunday Assemblies' springing up across America

(Newser) - Which of these things is not like the other: Sunday mornings, music, inspirational speakers, atheists? Trick question! They all belong together, reports the AP in a look at the "atheist mega-churches" that are now finding a toehold in the US. The "Sunday Assemblies" have relatively short roots, having...

Christian College Student President Comes Out ... as Atheist

Eric Fromm: "I don’t have to hide anymore"

(Newser) - What's worse than coming out as a gay man at a Christian college? Perhaps coming out as a longtime atheist. Student body president Eric Fromm dropped the bombshell on his peers at Oregon's Northwest Christian University last week in the Beacon Bolt student newspaper, as pointed out by...

Atheism Course Coming to Irish Primary Schools

Or at least, the small handful of them that aren't run by the Catholic Church

(Newser) - Soon, some Irish school children will be learning about doubt. Atheist Ireland has gotten the go-ahead to teach classes about non-belief to primary school children, and will begin doing so with the September 2014 class, the Guardian reports. The program is being developed along with Educate Together, and will be...

At 10 Commandments Shrine, Atheists Build ... a Bench?

Because, they say, it's practical

(Newser) - Thou shalt not believe? A group of atheists are holding a sit-down—quite literally—at a monument to the 10 Commandments outside a Florida courthouse. As a testament to their non-belief and a protest to the granite slab they sought to remove, American Atheists unveiled their own monument yesterday: A...

31 Celebrity Atheists
 31 Celebrity 
 Atheists 
Jun 1, 2013 10:15 AM CDT

31 Celebrity Atheists

Daniel Radcliffe, Keira Knightley, and other stars who don't believe in God

(Newser) - Not all celebrities are thanking God when they practice their Oscar acceptance speeches. CNN rounds up 31 famous atheists:
  • Daniel Radcliffe: "I'm an atheist, but I'm very relaxed about it. I don't preach my atheism, but I have a huge amount of respect for people like
...

Vatican: Oops, Atheists Still Hell-Bound

Looking a little toasty for Protestants, too

(Newser) - Pope Francis' admission that atheists are capable of doing good has been followed by a Vatican statement clarifying that the church still believes atheists are going to hell. In a corrective statement that suggests people misunderstood the pontiff's remarks, a Vatican spokesman stresses that the church believes all salvation...

Arizona House Doubles Up on Prayer to Counter Atheist

Christian lawmaker calls second one 'repentance' for colleague's non-prayer

(Newser) - A little addendum to a story out of Arizona this week about an atheist state lawmaker who took a turn offering a prayer of sorts before the day's session. In doing so, Juan Mendez asked his peers not to bow their heads and extolled the values of his own...

The Good News: Pope Francis Is Cool With Atheists

The godless may not care, but Mary Elizabeth Williams applauds His Holiness' tolerance

(Newser) - Pope Francis had a refreshing message when asked about atheists yesterday on Vatican radio, assuring his flock that yes, the godless could be good people, too. "'But father, he is not Catholic! He cannot do good,'" Francis imagined a follower protesting. "Yes, he can. He...

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