Atheist Media Blog

Judge Wants Ten Commandments Monument in Tennessee Courthouse

2010-07-29T10:20:00.001-04:00

July 27, 2010 on 6 News

A Hawkins County judge wants to have a "Foundations of American Law and Government" display put up at the justice center that opened in January, but there's controversy.

The suggested plan is to put up several framed historic documents and the Ten Commandments up on a bare wall in the building.
Read more

Mike Huckabee and Tim LaHaye on Obama and the End Times

2010-07-29T08:11:00.000-04:00

*Re-queued with full interview
Who is Tim LaHaye?

In 1979, he helped to establish the Institute for Creation Research, along with Henry Morris, in Santee, California. The same year he encouraged Jerry Falwell to found the Moral Majority, whose board of directors he sat on. In the 1980s, LaHaye founded the American Coalition for Traditional Values and the Coalition for Religious Freedom. He founded the Pre-Tribulation Research Center along with Thomas Ice in 1998. The center is dedicated to producing material that supports a dispensationalist, pre-tribulation interpretation of the Bible.
From Wikipedia

(via Right Wing Watch)

QI - The Miracle of the Herrings

2010-07-28T16:26:00.000-04:00

Australian Liberal Candidate Sacked Over Anti-Islam Comments

2010-07-28T15:44:00.003-04:00

July 25, 2010 on ABC News (Australia)

Today Mr Barker stood by his statements, telling the ABC there should not be a Muslim in parliament and questioning whether the country was ready for an atheist prime minister. “...I don’t know if we want at this stage in Australian politics a Muslim in the parliament and an atheist running the government.”
Read more

(via Project Reason)

Mitchell and Webb - Jesus' Love

2010-07-28T15:06:00.000-04:00

Mitchell and Webb satirise door to door christians spreading the word and love of jesus. Another great clip from their radio 4 series "that mitchell and webb sound".

(via Unreasonable Faith)

Arguing with Non-Skeptics, Part 1 of 2

2010-07-28T12:02:00.000-04:00

Download MP3

Posted July 27, 2010 on Scientific American

A panel discussion on arguing with non-skeptics at the recent Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism in New York City featured James Randi, George Hrab, D. J. Grothe and podcast host Steve Mirsky. Julia Galef moderated.

Is God Great? - Christopher Hitchens vs. John Lennox

2010-07-28T11:01:00.001-04:00

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Leading atheist and acclaimed journalist Christopher Hitchens, author of God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, debates Christian apologist and Oxford Professor John Lennox over the question of God's greatness.

Also available on DVD and iTunes
(via Daily Hitchens)

Judge Judy - Christian Minister Throws Borrowed Wedding Dress "Because it's Possessed"

2010-07-27T17:02:00.003-04:00

(via ilovejesus420)

ABC Lateline: Ayaan Hirsi Ali

2010-07-27T10:04:00.001-04:00

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July 26, 2010 on ABC Lateline (Australia) - Transcript

(Thanks DS)

Bad Universe - Sneak Peek | New Series

2010-07-27T09:33:00.000-04:00

Coming soon, it's all NEW on Discovery! Take a sneak peek at Bad Universe, a new series starring Phil Plait, an astronomer on a mission to debunk all the the junk myths about the universe

(via Pharyngula)
*Reposted with fixed video

A.C. Grayling: The Link Between Religion and Education

2010-07-27T09:08:00.001-04:00

A.C. Grayling talks at the British Humanist Association's 2010 Annual General Meeting on children's education and the links between religion and education.

Catholic Sex Scandal: Undercover Reporter Films Priests At Gay Clubs (NSFW)

2010-07-26T14:22:00.003-04:00

Posted July 22, 2010 on Panorama.it (Translated from Italian)

Another gay scandal has hit the Catholic Church in Italy after three priests were allegedly filmed having casual sex and visiting gay nightclubs.

Italian weekly news magazine Panorama said its undercover reporter filmed the three with the help of a gay accomplice.

A god of life

2010-07-26T12:00:00.001-04:00

by Pat Condell

British Girls Undergo Horror of Genital Mutilation Despite Tough Laws

2010-07-25T21:12:00.000-04:00

From The Guardian:

Female circumcision will be inflicted on up to 2,000 British schoolgirls during the summer holidays – leaving brutal physical and emotional scars. Yet there have been no prosecutions against the practice
Read more

(via RichardDawkins.net)

Trouble in Amish Paradise

2010-07-24T23:31:00.000-04:00

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Originally Aired February 18, 2009 on BBC Two

An extraordinary insight into the secretive world of the Old Order Amish of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. When two radical Amish men, Ephraim and Jesse Stoltzfus, start to question some of the most fundamental aspects of their Amish culture, they face excommunication from their church and total rejection by their friends and family.

Breast Ironing of Young Girls in Cameroon

2010-07-24T17:32:00.000-04:00

*Warning: Graphic Content
From HuffPost:

Affecting one out of every four girls, the brutal practice of "breast ironing" is on the rise in the African country of Cameroon. The procedure -- which involves the flattening of a young girl's growing breasts with hot stones, coconut shells and other objects -- is considered a way to curb the country's staggering number of teenage pregnancies, particularly high in rural areas, as well as limit the risk of sexual assault.

According to a new report by CurrentTV, Cameroonian mothers believe breast ironing will protect their daughters from becoming pregnant and being assaulted in that it will postpone their development and men will not be enticed by their breasts. With dietary habits in the country improving, girls are beginning to hit puberty as young as 9, and are subject to the practice around at the same age.

Though only limited medical research has been done on the practice, Cameroonian women say breast ironing can lead to numerous physical issues, such as burns and deformations, not to mention psychological problems. The procedure has been compared to the custom of female circumcision/genital mutilation.

Tan Le: A Headset That Reads Your Brainwaves

2010-07-24T11:38:00.000-04:00

Posted July 2010 on TED

Tan Le's astonishing new computer interface reads its user's brainwaves, making it possible to control virtual objects, and even physical electronics, with mere thoughts (and a little concentration). She demos the headset, and talks about its far-reaching applications.

Carl Sagan: Consider Again That Pale Blue Dot

2010-07-23T10:56:00.001-04:00

Woman Doesn't Know About Light Refraction

2010-07-22T20:09:00.000-04:00

*Repost
(via RichardDawkins.net)

FOX: Debate Over Right to Die Billboards

2010-07-22T09:36:00.002-04:00

July 22, 2010 on Fox News
Related: Sir Terry Pratchett: Shaking Hands with Death (2010)

BBC Panorama: Can Condoms Kill? (Clip)

2010-07-22T08:42:00.000-04:00

Panorama explores HIV prevention in Uganda, where HIV rates have actually gone down - an unusual occurance in Africa. Many Catholics believe that abstinence and a return to monogamy, not condoms, are beating HIV. Are they right?

Arab Guilty of Rape After Consensual Sex with Jew

2010-07-22T00:12:00.001-04:00

July 21, 2010 on Al-Jazeera English
From The Guardian:

A Palestinian man has been convicted of rape after having consensual sex with a woman who had believed him to be a fellow Jew.

Sabbar Kashur, 30, was sentenced to 18 months in prison on Monday after the court ruled that he was guilty of rape by deception. According to the complaint filed by the woman with the Jerusalem district court, the two met in downtown Jerusalem in September 2008 where Kashur, an Arab from East Jerusalem, introduced himself as a Jewish bachelor seeking a serious relationship. The two then had consensual sex in a nearby building before Kashur left.

When she later found out that he was not Jewish but an Arab, she filed a criminal complaint for rape and indecent assault.
Read more

Congress Debates Biblical Stance on Immigration

2010-07-21T15:52:00.004-04:00

July 21, 2010 on Fox News
From Texas Insider:

A congressional hearing last week featuring religious leaders turned into a debate about the Bible and whether it provides more backing to reform advocates or to those who favor tougher enforcement of existing laws.

“The Bible contains numerous passages that support the rule of law. The Scriptures clearly indicate that God charges civil authorities with preserving order, protecting citizens and punishing wrongdoers,” declared Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), a critic of immigration reform legislation.

“Ezekiel 47 details the promised land’s boundaries,” noted Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), another immigration reform opponent.

“I’m not a theologian,” Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) chimed in. “I didn’t come here with my Bible. I’m a good Catholic, you know. But I’ll tell you, I learned two things: to love God above everything else and to love my neighbor as I love myself.”

For supporters of strict church-state separation, the debate crossed a line but also demonstrated the perils of trying to use the Bible to set public policy.
Read more

Dimitar Sasselov: How We Found Hundreds of Earth-Like Planets | TED2010

2010-07-21T15:09:00.001-04:00

Filmed and Posted July 2010 on TED

Astronomer Dimitar Sasselov and his colleagues search for Earth-like planets that may, someday, help us answer centuries-old questions about the origin and existence of biological life elsewhere (and on Earth). How many such planets have they found already? Several hundreds.

Councillor Faces Inquiry Over ‘Stupid’ Scientologists Tweet

2010-07-21T00:45:00.001-04:00

July 20, 2010 on BBC Newsnight
Concillor John Dixon's tweet:

I didn't know the Scientologists had a church on Tottenham Court Road. Just hurried past in case the stupid rubs off.