BBC considers expanding its religious broadcasting output
Religious leaders in the UK have been invited by the BBC’s Director-General Lord Hall, above, to ‘join discussions about plans for multi-faith coverage’. The move, according to this report, follows a...
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Sabbatarians scupper Sunday swimming on Isle of Lewis
The National Secular Society is urging people to support a fundraising effort to open a swimming pool on Scotland’s Isle of Lewis on Sundays, which councillors are currently refusing to open on the...
View ArticleWestern countries are beacons of morality, says Saudi writer
Saudi writer Abdullah Alalweet, above, is a very brave man. Speaking on Rotana Khalijiyya TV in a December 4 interview, he told viewers that: The best way to attain moral values through rationality and...
View ArticleLaw that protects non-believers signed by Barack Obama
President Obama has been warmly commended by the American Humanist Association for signing the Frank R Wolf International Religious Freedom Act into law. In a statement, Roy Speckhardt, above,...
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NSS says religion’s role in the UK needs ‘significant reform’
As churchgoing and belief in God continues to decline, the public role of religion in Britain needs ‘significant reform’ says a new report from the National Secular Society. Rethinking Religion and...
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A Clash of the Uncivilised
Trump, Muslim Profiling and the Far-Right’s Assault Donald Trump’s suspension of new refugee admissions for 120 days and the barring of nationals from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia...
View ArticleBack in the fold: Toronto AA chapters that expunged God
Two secular AA chapters – delisted by the Alcoholics Anonymous Greater Toronto Area Intergroup – have regained acceptance following a lengthy dispute sparked by Larry Knight, 59, above. Knight,...
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US study shows that children fare better in secular families
For almost 40 years, Vern L Bengtson, above, a USC professor of gerontology and sociology, has overseen the Longitudinal Study of Generations, which has become the largest study of religion and family...
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NSS awards Secularist of the Year prize to Yasmin Rehman
The Irwin Prize of £5000 for Secularist of the Year 2017 was awarded in London yesterday by the National Secular Society to Yasmin Rehman, the secular campaigner for women’s rights. Rehman has spent...
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Rabbi allegedly stole funds from special needs school
Rabbi Osher Eisemann, 60, above, of Lakewood in New Jersey, has been indicted for stealing $630,000 worth of public tuition money from a special needs school that he founded – and used much of the cash...
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International Atheist of the Year ceremony held in Poland
At the weekend, the International Atheist Award was jointly handed in Warsaw to Michael Nugent, of Atheist Ireland and Fauzia Ilyas, founder of the Atheist & Agnostic Alliance Pakistan (AAAP) which...
View ArticleIreland’s latest census shows a steady decline in godliness
Reacting to Irish census figures that show a drop of just 3.4 percent of people claiming to be Catholic, Humanist Society of Ireland’s spokesperson Brian Whiteside, above, this week expressed his...
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Lay preacher: ‘NZ schools must stop favouring Christianity’
New Zealand’s Secular Education Network has filed a case with the Human Rights Review Tribunal over the teaching of Christianity in state schools. SEN’s spokesman, David Hines – third from right, above...
View ArticleNSS President attacks Church of England’s pastoral letter
Addressing voters in a pre-General Election pastoral letter, C of E Archbishops said faith has a central role to play in politics and that: Political responses to the problems of religiously-motivated...
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Why is Facebook silencing atheist and ex-Muslim voices?
The answer, according to Muhammad Syed, above, President of the Ex-Muslims of North America, is that Islamic fundamentalists are systematically attacking Facebook pages they do not like. Syed,...
View ArticleAustralian Christians told to butt out of matters of state
Australia can’t bring itself to legalise same-sex marriage because of interference from Christian prodnoses. That’s the view of Penny Wong, above, the Labor opposition leader in the Senate, who said in...
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Evolution is ‘too complicated’ for young minds in Turkey
The chair of Turkey’s Board of Education, Alpaslan Durmus, above, announced this week that evolution will no longer be taught in Turkish schools. Durmuse said in a video published on the Education...
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Floundering Ark Encounter seeks to avoid new safety tax
Ken Ham’s $100-million white dinosaur, the Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky, says it has been ‘blindsided’ by a recently implemented safety assessment tax introduced to upgrade emergency...
View ArticleReligion impacts negatively on the kindness of youngsters
A new study that shows that children from religious families are less kind and more punitive than those from non-religious households reminded me of Ryan Duffey Strode, above, a North Carolina kid who...
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World Meeting of Families slammed for welcoming gays
Ireland is to host the Catholic Church’s 2018 World Meeting of Families next August – but has already run into problems because the programme for the event makes clear that homosexual unions can...
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