ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 108

Texas church expelled from Southern Baptist Convention for hiring sex offender as pastor

By Holly Meyer The Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee expelled a Texas church Tuesday (Feb. 18) for employing a pastor who is a lifetime registered sex offender. The 80-plus-member body, which acts on behalf of the Southern Baptist Convention when it is not in session, took a vote to disfellowship Ranchland Heights Baptist Church in Midland, Texas, during its regularly …

Domestic union instead of marriage? Missouri bill would reduce the nuptial definition

By Alisa Nelson State Representative Adam Schnelting, R-St. Charles, wants to change the legal definition of marriage to civil unions. During a Missouri House General Laws Committee hearing today about Schnelting’s bill, he says he wants to replace marriage licenses with contracts of domestic unions – sparking opposition by some traditional marriage supporters and the …

How Do You Get from the Trailer Park to a White House Job? Give Money to Trump’s Spiritual Adviser.

By Stephanie Mencimer On a Friday morning in February, televangelist Paula White-Cain spent more than two hours preaching at the King Jesus church Supernatural Ministry School in Miami. With top billing on the event website as “Donald Trump’s spiritual adviser,” White stood in front of a stage with a light show befitting a Pink Floyd cover band. …

How the Celebrated “Pale Blue Dot” Image Came to Be

By Carolyn Porco Thirty years ago, on February 14, 1990, the Voyager 1 spacecraft directed its cameras to take one last historic array of planetary images. Sitting high above the ecliptic plane, nine years and three months beyond its last planetary encounter with Saturn and four billion miles from the sun, farther than the orbit of …

What’s on pastors’ minds? It’s not religious liberty

By Emily McFarlan Miller, Religion News Service What’s on pastors’ minds? It may not be what you think, according to a new report from Barna Group. A survey by the California-based Christian research firm found that Protestant pastors are worried less about hot political topics like religious liberty than they are about the decline of …

Religious Socialization and Millennial Involvement in Organized and Digital Nonbelief Activities

By Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme and Joel Thiessen Abstract Drawing on a representative survey sample of just over 2,500 young adult respondents between the ages of 18 and 35 from across the USA and Canada, our study seeks to understand who exactly takes part in organized and digital nonbelief activities. Our findings show that (a) there is …

The Further Adventures of Betelgeuse, the Fainting Star

By Dennis Overbye Betelgeuse, the red supergiant star that marks the armpit of Orion the Hunter, has been dramatically and mysteriously dimming for the last six months. Some astronomers and excitable members of the public have wondered if the star is about to explode as a supernova. Others have suggested more prosaic explanations, involving long-term cycles of variability, sunspots …

Pete Buttigieg Is “Deserving of Death” For Being Gay, Preacher Says

By David G. McAfee Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is “deserving of death” because he is gay, according to a preacher writing for Charisma News. Mayor Buttigieg’s homosexuality is actually bringing the “death rattle of a nation,” writes Bert Farias, who said in 2014 that homosexuality is a “putrid-smelling demon.” Farias is upset that people are celebrating that Buttigieg is able to …

Right wing minister claims being trans is a Jewish plot to make humanity androgynous

By John Gallagher Every once in a while along comes proof that crackpots are ecumenical in their hatred. White supremacists are also homophobes, and birthers are also Islamophobes (like the president). The latest example comes from minister Rick Wiles, but this time there’s a novel twist. Right Wing Watch reports that Wiles hosted and agreed with guests who managed …

Word Of Faith’s Pattern Of Abuse ‘Got Worse Over Time,’ Says ‘Broken Faith’ Author

By Rachel Martin In 1979, Jane Whaley and her husband Sam started the Word of Faith Fellowship church in North Carolina. In recent years, the organization has been investigated for alleged abuse of its congregants — and has faced other charges ranging from fraud to human trafficking. Pulitzer Prize winner Mitch Weiss and Holbrook Mohr, journalists who have been exposing …