Posts Tagged ‘Atheist’

News & Submissions 1/21/2010

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

Voodoo Brings Solace To Grieving Haitians
Erol Josue lost more than two dozen friends and extended family in Haiti’s devastating earthquake. The Voodoo priest, who lives in New York, says he has spent the past week saying traditional Voodoo prayers. Read full story from wbur.org

What is an Atheist?
When defining something it often helps to define what it is not. Because of the many misconceptions (to be polite) about atheists, let’s start that way. An atheist is not an amoral or an immoral person, not licentious, and not un-patriotic. An atheist is your neighbor, practicing his/her constitutional right to hold his or her own freedom of thought. Read full story from madisoncountycourier.com

Lights, Action, Camera: Witch City TV is on the Air
The name of the local station will be Witch City TV, while our International Internet TV Station Network will continue to be Magick TV. We will combine a couple of different ideas, and do daily programming that is meaningful, purposeful, as well as entertaining and fun. Daily programming, and something that jumps beyond simply seeing people on Facebook, Myspace, Ning, and being available for real viewing and interaction in a way that we have come to enjoy, when you want, how you want. It is a very exciting dream Read full story from associatedcontent.com

Renee murder psychic probes spirit world kids
Joanne, who has penned a new book, Psychic Children about her work with youngsters, told the Highland News Group: “The wonderful array of psychic gifts and abilities that children possess include things like having imaginary friends, talking to spirit people and seeing angels. A psychic child can tell you things they could not possibly have known such as information that predicts the future, or even things that reveal the past. Read full story from highland-news.co.uk

Series to explore tough questions
Several diverse faiths will come together over the next month to debate where religion fits into some of the most contentious issues in our society. Read full story from martlet.ca

8 Ways Religious Groups Show Their Green Beliefs
When the pope says, “respect creation,” people are going to listen. And over the past few years, religious figures representing all faiths have been increasingly spreading the same message to the 85 percent of the world’s population that holds religious beliefs. From Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church, to the Akal Takht, the highest temporal authority in Sikhism, spiritual leaders have been telling their followers that protecting the environment is their moral and religious duty. Here are eight ways members of religious groups are paying heed. Read full story from treehugger.com

The mysterious production of blizzards
A town where the Weather Channel is treated with as much skepticism as a palm reader has little choice but to turn to superstition and charms. And the rituals surrounding the summoning of snow in this town are as eclectic as the residents themselves: some have been here for decades, others are as itinerant as the summer-phobes who bring them each season, and there are a few that — through their sheer insanity — lay bare a naked enthusiasm for these mountains. Read full story from telluridenews.com

Religious riots spread despite Nigerian troops
As street clashes broke out in Pankshin and Mangu, one report said 464 people had died in Jos, where the fighting between Christians and Muslims began on Sunday. “The figure sounds credible,” said local reporter Bashir Ibrahim Idris, “but it is impossible to verify due to the 24-hour curfew”. Read full story from independent.co.uk

The Big Question: Is Nigeria teetering on the brink of a major crisis?
Upto 265 people are reported to have died in the Nigerian city of Jos after fighting between Muslims and Christians. Calm has now been restored but only after a 24-hour curfew imposed by the government which has sent soldiers armed with machine guns to patrol the streets in pick-up trucks. But there are reports that the violence has now spread to Pankshin, 60 miles to the south-east. Read full story from independent.co.uk

News & Submissions 12/26/2009

Saturday, December 26th, 2009

Kenyan witch-hunt targets elders
Dozens of villagers in the Kenyan district of Kisii are falling prey to superstitious groups accusing them of witchcraft. Read full story from aljeezra.net

Despite the sceptics, there is real truth in the story of Christmas
There are enough question marks over the Christmas story for dogmatic sceptics to have a field day at this time of year, but the core historical realities are not easily swept away. Read full story from smh.com.au

Random Christmas thoughts for the day after
Most people enjoyed the presents they opened yesterday, the rest are in exchange lines today. And don’t forget that today is the first day of the after Christmas sales. Happy shopping. Read full story from highlandstoday.com

St. Joseph Skeptics Sign Stolen
The St. Joseph Skeptics had their sign stolen. It was a small sign that simply said, “Be Good For Goodness Sake,” and included the name of the organization and its website. It survived for three days until someone decided it was out of place surrounded by Christmassy style displays and ran off with it. Read full story from unreasonablefaith.com

News & Submissions 11/28/2009

Saturday, November 28th, 2009

Welcome to Melbourne for the Parliament of the World’s Religions, December 3-9, 2009
On behalf of the spiritual ancestors and the traditional owners of Melbourne, I invite you to Melbourne in 2009, for the Parliament of the World’s Religions to share in the traditions, culture and spirit of Australia. Read full story from parliamentofreligions.org

Hidden Symbols of Thanksgiving
According to an article published on the Fox News website, there are five secrets of Thanksgiving and they are:
1- A secret society invented Thanksgiving.
2- There’s a secret connection between the Bible and Thanksgiving.
3- A manuscript lost for two centuries resurfaces with true Thanksgiving meanings.
4- Pilgrims preferred Thanksgiving to Christmas.
5- The Statue of Liberty holds Thanksgiving Day secrets.
Read full story from  examiner.com

Right-Wing Culture Warriors Warn of Atheist Attack on Thanksgiving!
Michael Tomasky notes that the annual “War on Christmas” has started early this holiday season. But that’s old hat — mainstream stuff that’s become just another part of the old holiday spirit among the Fox News set. Read full story from alternet.org

Christian church, Native American tribe reconcile
NEW YORK – Members of one of America’s oldest Protestant churches officially apologized Friday , for the first time , for massacring and displacing Native Americans 400 years ago. Read full story from philly.com

Let’s get it straight: Irish child abuse was perpetrated by the trendy, modern post-Vatican II Catholic Church
The Obama principle that a crisis is too good to waste is clearly being applied in the case of the clerical child abuse scandal in Ireland. A spin is being put on the shocking revelations in the report on abuse in the archdiocese of Dublin to implicate the “pre-Conciliar” Catholic Church in the wrongdoings of post-Vatican II pederasts. In the process, the name of a good man has been dragged into the cesspit, for political purposes. Read full story from telegraph.co.uk

O Christmas tree: Centuries-old tradition brings joy to the season
Decorating your home with an adorned tree or two during the holidays is a centuries-old tradition.Long before the ubiquitous ‘Christmas Tree’ was offered up in store windows, or tied to a cherished religious holiday, people decorated their homes with evergreen foliage during the bleak winter season as a reminder and symbol of life. Read full story from citizen-times.com

Have a Holly, Jolly Xmas Solstice!
OLYMPIA, Wash. — An atheist group has unveiled an anti-religion placard in the state Capitol, joining a Christian Nativity scene and “holiday tree” on display during December. Read full story from leatherpenquin.com

News & Submissions 11/23/2009

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

Witch Bottle Discovered; Made to Ward Off Evil Spirits?
October 29, 2009—In time for Halloween, a beer bottle-turned-talisman against malicious spirits has been found buried near a former pub in England, archaeologists say. Read full story from nationalgeographic.com

Ten-year-old refuses to stand for Pledge of Allegiance
When ten-year-old Will Phillips, of West Fork, Ark., found a principle he couldn’t stand up for––he sat down. And the repercussions from that action have spread across the country. Read full story from uuworld.org

Interview with Autumn Breeze, 5th Generation Witch
Personal Note: As I was heading to Butch and Nellie to interview Autumn Breeze, something very odd happened. Electric Avenue by Eddy Grant played three times on 3 different radio stations. Two times going to Butch and Nellie and one time leaving Butch and Nellie. Was I getting a message from the great beyond? Read full story from sacramentopress.com

Nativity scene proposed in Clarksville draws ire
The pastor at Grace Church of the Nazarene says he and his congregation will present their “Christmas on the Cumberland” Nativity scene despite objections from the American Civil Liberties Union. Read full story from theleafchronicle.com

TWISTED HISTORY: Pilgrims gone wild: A reality check on the early settlers
With the approach of Thanksgiving, and thoughts of pumpkins, turkey, cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes, I wanted to share a little information about the people who came up with this delicious bacchanal of food and drink that we enjoy so much. Read full story from registercitizen.com

Talks Julia Sweeney on letting go of God
Video on TED

Islam in Europe: Swiss to vote on banning minarets
The European backlash against Islam has entered a new phase. This Sunday, there’s a referendum in Switzerland on whether to add the sentence “The construction of minarets is forbidden” to Article 72 of the Constitution. Needless to say, Muslims, churchmen and Amnesty International are all pleading with the Swiss to vote against the ban.Read full story from telegraph.co.uk

Thanksgiving for all faiths
Like many other religious groups, Wiccans have a tradition of giving thanks in connection with the harvest season, said the Rev. Selena Fox, of Circle Sanctuary, a Wiccan church near Barneveld. Read full story from madison.com

Different faiths gather to mark annual interfaith celebration
The 25th annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Service and Celebration on Sunday began with a Muslim chant and the blowing of a ram’s horn from the second floor of the First Baptist Church of Austin. Dancers leading a procession wore bright purple dresses, green-and-white robes, Wiccan symbols, crosses, hijabs and yarmulkes. Read full story from statesman.com

Atheist groups flourish on college campuses
Bodnar is the happy face of atheism at Iowa State University. Once a week at this booth at a campus community center, the PhD student who spends most of her time researching the nutritional traits of corn takes questions and occasional abuse while trying to raise the profile of religious skepticism. Read full story from everydaychristian.com

Channel 4 returns to Africa’s witch children
Tonight’s Dispatches special shows intrepid Brit Gary Foxcroft returning to the Nigerian region where he uncovered widespread cruelty to children accused of witchcraft by rogue church pastors. Read full story from mirror.co.uk

Haunted by ghost monkeys
The owners and employees rarely ventured down to the basement as they went about their business in the 100-year-old building that had become the Candle Shoppe of the Poconos. There just was not very much need to head down there, and besides, there was some seriously creepy stuff in that basement. Read full story from poconorecord.com