ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 153

The Clergy Project has 1000 Participants!

By Linda LaScola Wow! I must say I never thought this day would come. The Clergy Project, that I helped to found, along with Dan Dennett, Richard Dawkins, Dan Barker, Carter Warden (formerly known as “Adam Mann”) and “Chris”, now has 1000 participants. This comes after starting as a private website in 2011 with 52 people, …

Same-Sex Couple Demands Action After Alleged Attack By Oklahoma Church Group

By Aaron Brilbeck BLACKWELL, Oklahoma – A same-sex couple said they were attacked at a Blackwell church and one was held down, while church goers tried to, quote, “pray the gay away.” Gary Gardner of Blackwell said he and his boyfriend, Sean Cormie, were invited to The First Assembly of God Church by Cormie’s family. Gardner …

How Does the New Interstellar Object Differ From ‘Oumuamua?

By Ryan F. Mandelbaum The second interstellar object on record has visited our solar system, according to astronomical observations made in recent week. But how does this new visitor differ from ‘Oumuamua, the first interstellar object? Scientists have been eager to learn more about Comet C/2019 Q4 (Borisov) since amateur astronomer Gennady Borisov first spotted …

Mormon Church Reaffirms Opposition to Marriage Equality

By Jacob Ogles In case anybody forgot, the leader of the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints made clear in a speech the institution remains opposed to marriage equality. But at least it stopped punishing children for the supposed sins of their parents, he said Church president Russell Nelson told students at Brigham …

Atheists Demand Georgia School Stop Promoting Christianity in Sports and Online

By Hemant Mehta Let us all appreciate the public schools that openly brag about how they’re violating the Establishment Clause. They make everything so much easier for First Amendment attorneys. The American Humanist Association says that the Griffin First United Methodist Church was allowed to host “a breakfast and sermon for football players” at Spalding High School …

Rare 10 million-year-old fossil unearths new view of human evolution

By University of Missouri Near an old mining town in Central Europe, known for its picturesque turquoise-blue quarry water, lay Rudapithecus. For 10 million years, the fossilized ape waited in Rudabánya, Hungary, to add its story to the origins of how humans evolved. What Rudabánya yielded was a pelvis—among the most informative bones of a …

Pakistan blasphemy riots: Dozens arrested after Hindu teacher accused

By BBC Asia Dozens of people have been arrested in Pakistan after a teenager accused his Hindu headteacher of blasphemy, sparking riots. The principal, who owns the school, was accused of making comments about the Prophet Muhammad in Sindh province. A large mob then allegedly attacked a Hindu temple, shops and the school in the …

Arizona Supreme Court rules business can refuse to make wedding invites for LGBTQ couple

By Owen Daugherty The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Monday that a Phoenix business can refuse services to an LGBTQ couple that requests custom wedding invitations. The Arizona Republic reports the court ruled that the Phoenix ordinance that protects lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination can’t be used in this case to force the artists to make …

A former Catholic priest likely to spend the rest of his life in prison for abusing an altar boy in New Mexico

By Nicole Chavez and Artemis Moshtaghian A former Roman Catholic priest who spent decades on the run was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for sexually abusing an altar boy in New Mexico. At a sentencing hearing Friday, US District Judge Martha Vazquez described the case involving Arthur Perrault, 81, as the “worst case …

We Now Have an Image of the Second Interstellar Object Ever Observed

By Ryan F. Mandelbaum Last week, the Minor Planet Center announced that astronomers had tentatively discovered the second interstellar object on record—and now we have a picture of it. Amateur astronomer Gennady Borisov discovered the object, provisionally named Comet C/2019 Q4 (Borisov), on August 30. Follow-up observations have revealed that the object has a hyperbolic orbit, …