ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 155

California Church Leaders Lured Homeless Into Forced Labor, U.S. Says

By Emily S. Rueb A dozen leaders of a California-based ministry have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that they lured homeless people into forced labor with the false promise that they would be provided meals and shelter, prosecutors said this week. Instead, the authorities said, they were imprisoned in group homes …

A New Timeline of the Day the Dinosaurs Began to Die Out

By Katherine Kornei The giant asteroid’s impact into shallow waters in the Gulf of Mexico 66 million years ago was bad enough. But then an amalgam of additional disasters ensued: Rocks fell from the sky, wildfires ignited and tsunamis inundated distant shorelines. It was the beginning of the end of the Mesozoic Era when dinosaurs …

Prosperity gospel’s false promises aren’t always about money

By Alan Cross Last week, Benny Hinn, prominent charismatic healing evangelist and prosperity preacher, again renounced his adherence to the prosperity gospel by declaring that “the blessings of God are not for sale.” The egregious form of prosperity preaching that Hinn now renounces is easy to spot and reject because this kind of preaching often appeals to …

Jerry Falwell, Jr.: The FBI Will Investigate Everyone at Liberty Who Hates Me

By Hemant Mehta In response to POLITICO‘s lengthy article about Jerry Falwell, Jr. and the way he’s wielded power and fear over people at Liberty University, Falwell now says he’s getting the FBI to look into the breach of security at his school. Because employees who tell the world about their shitty boss by speaking with a journalist are a national …

Almost-Blockbuster Netflix Series ‘The Family’ Exposes a Christian Network Whose God is Power

By Peter Laarman Mark Sanford’s move to position himself as the savior of the Republican Party—as the white knight who brings the GOP back to its authentic birthright as the immigration-friendly party of Big Business—may be complicated by more than just the hilarity (already picked up on by Trump) of his concealed affair with an Argentinian paramour. …

Genetic ‘road map’ reveals the lost birthplace of a 150-year-old butterfly

By Stephanie Livingston Some scientific battles are epic: Think Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison’s war of currents. Others fly under the radar, like a heated dispute over the origins of Mead’s skipper (above), a 150-year-old butterfly gathering dust on a Harvard University museum shelf. Now, using DNA from the dead insect, scientists have discovered its …

Trump, Pence Open Door to Firing LGBTQ People Over ‘Religion’

By Sarah Warbelow Since its first day in office, the Trump-Pence administration has targeted our most vulnerable — asylum seekers and children, hospital patients and students. Through regulations, executive orders, and the megaphone of Trump’s Twitter account, the Trump-Pence administration has worked to systematically dismantle the civil rights safety net so many of us rely …

‘Someone’s Gotta Tell the Freakin’ Truth’: Jerry Falwell’s Aides Break Their Silence

By Brandon Ambrosino At Liberty University, all anyone can talk about is Jerry Falwell Jr. Just not in public. “When he does stupid stuff, people will mention it to others they consider confidants and not keep it totally secret,” a trusted adviser to Falwell, the school’s president and chancellor, told me. “But they won’t rat him out. …

What Draws Atheists, Jews and Catholics to a Presbyterian Church

By Rick Rojas Observant Presbyterians are always part of gatherings at Rutgers Presbyterian Church. But much of the time, so are Roman Catholics and Jews, as well as a smattering of people who consider themselves vaguely spiritual. Valerie Oltarsh-McCarthy, who sat among the congregation listening to a Sunday sermon on the perils of genetically modified …

‘Failure is part of the game’: Indian spacecraft presumed lost after moon landing attempt

By Sanjay Kumar India’s attempt to land near the south pole of the moon, part of the Chandrayaan-2 mission, ended when mission managers lost contact with the lander—seconds before touchdown—just 2 kilometers from the moon’s surface. The lander, which would have made India the fourth nation to land on the moon after the United States, …