ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 353

Some Americans don’t believe Muslims, atheists have First Amendment rights

By Kimberly Winston

(RNS) — Nearly 1 in 5 Americans incorrectly believe that Muslim citizens don’t have the same First Amendment rights as other American citizens.

Also incorrectly, 1 in 7 believe that atheists aren’t protected by those rights.

These are among the findings of a new study by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, which also found that a fraction of Americans surveyed — 15 percent — named freedom of religion when asked to name the rights guaranteed under the First Amendment.

Those rights are: freedom of religion, speech and the press, and the right of assembly and to petition the government.

“These results emphasize the need for high-quality civics education in the schools and for press reporting that underscores the existence of constitutional protections,” said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center.

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The Social Life of Opioids

By Maia Szalavitz

In the story of America’s opioid crisis a recent tripling in prescriptions of the painkillers is generally portrayed as the villain. Researchers and policy makers have paid far less attention to how social losses—including stagnating wages and fraying ties among people—can increase physical and emotional pain to help drive the current drug epidemic.

But a growing body of work suggests this area needs to be explored more deeply if communities want to address the opioid problem. One study published earlier this year found that for every 1 percent increase in unemployment in the U.S., opioid overdose death rates rose by nearly 4 percent.

Another recent study from researchers at Harvard University and Baylor College of Medicine reported U.S. counties with the lowest levels of “social capital”—a measure of connection and support that incorporates factors including people’s trust in one another and participation in civic matters such as voting—had the highest rates of overdose deaths. That review of the entire U.S. mined data from 1999 through 2014 and showed counties with the highest social capital were 83 percent less likely to be among those with high levels of overdose. Areas with low social capital, in contrast, were the most likely to have high levels of such “deaths of despair,” with overdose alone killing at least 16 people per 100,000.

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The House just passed a bill that could politicize churches

By Jack Jenkins

The U.S. House of Representatives quietly passed a spending bill on Thursday that could transform churches and other houses of worship into entities more closely resembling SuperPACs.

When House members passed a $1.2 trillion “megabus” spending bill yesterday in a 211-198 vote, media attention largely focused on the proposal’s high cost and potential challenges in the Senate. But according to the House Appropriations Committee press release, the bill contains a rider with a provision that would make it difficult to enforce the so-called Johnson Amendment, a part of the tax code that prohibits churches and other houses of worship from endorsing political candidates.

“Members of Congress had ample opportunities to strike [the provision] from this bill; when it was debated at the sub-committee level, at the full committee level, when Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz offered an amendment to cut it from the bill, and when it was on the floor of the House of Representatives,” Larry T. Decker, Executive Director of the Secular Coalition for America, said in a statement. “At every point, Congress failed to stand up for a law which has helped maintain the separation of church and state for more than 63 years.”

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Final pictures from Cassini as probe smashes into Saturn

By Leah Crane

Cassini is dead; long live Cassini. On the evening of 14 September, the Cassini spacecraft sent back its final images of the Saturn system. Early this morning, it sank into the top of the giant planet’s atmosphere and melted. It survived about 30 seconds longer than scientists expected.

The epic mission’s legacy will live on in the thousands of pictures it has taken and the data that will fuel new scientific results for decades to come.

“These final images are sort of like taking a last look around your house or apartment just before you move out,” said Cassini project scientist Linda Spilker at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. “You walk around the downstairs, as you go upstairs, you run your fingers along the banister, you look at your old room and memories across the years come flooding back.”

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Christian Man Sentenced to Death in Pakistan for Supposedly Insulting Islam

By Hemant Mehta

In Pakistan, where even perceived slights against Islam are considered blasphemy, a Christian man has been sentenced to death for allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad over WhatsApp.

Nadeem James, 35, was said to have committed blasphemy in a poem he sent to a Muslim friend on the WhatsApp messaging service.

James’ lawyer says he did no such thing and that this is merely an act of revenge.

“My client will appeal the sentence in the high court as he has been framed by his friend, who was annoyed over Mr James’ affair with a Muslim girl.”

The incident took place more than a year ago, and James was on the run for a little while… until he was captured.

The reason the lawyer may be citing this as an act of revenge is because lawmakers are being urged to amend the blasphemy law to put to death those who falsely accuse others of blasphemy… though blasphemers would still be subject to death.

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Attack Ad Against Atheist School Board Candidate: She’s “Not Right” for Kids

By Hemant Mehta

Last February, I posted about a dedication ceremony for a new fitness trail outside Cooper Elementary School in Rogers, Arkansas.

The event included the participation of a school board member, the assistant superintendent, the principal, the vice principal, all four of the school’s gym teachers, a State Representative, and third grade students.

And a nun who blessed the trail with holy water. And a formal prayer.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation said those last two things violated the First Amendment because this was clearly a school event, whether or not it was voluntary, and it was promoting religion. They sent a letter to the Bentonville Public Schools asking them to promise never to do it again.

My post about that event was shared by many people online, including a group called the Bentonville Public Schools Citizens for Equality, run by a woman named Amy Gillespie.

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Most Americans Oppose Restricting Rights for LGBT People

By Daniel Cox, Ph.D., and Robert P. Jones, Ph.D.

Wedding Vendors

A majority (53%) of Americans oppose allowing businesses that provide wedding services, such as catering, flowers, and wedding cakes, to refuse services to same-sex couples, compared to about four in ten (41%) who say they would support allowing these wedding-based businesses to refuse services to same-sex couples for religious reasons.

Opinion is fractured along racial and ethnic lines. More than six in ten black (61%) and Hispanic Americans (68%) say wedding-based businesses should be required to provide services to same-sex couples. White Americans are divided: 48% agree that businesses ought to be required to serve same-sex couples, while 47% say they should not. Notably, there are no major differences among white Americans by education.

Two-thirds (67%) of Republicans believe wedding-based businesses, like those making wedding cakes, should be able to refuse serving same-sex couples if doing so would violate the owner’s religious beliefs. By contrast, only 40% of independents and about one in four (24%) Democrats hold this view. More than seven in ten (72%) Democrats and a majority (55%) of independents say wedding-based businesses should be required to provide the same services to same-sex couples as they would to all other customers.

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Advocates highlight effort to block D.C. law banning discrimination based on birth control, abortion decisions

By Jenna Portnoy

Advocates on both sides of the abortion debate warned House members that they will closely monitor votes on a measure to block a District law that says employers cannot discriminate against workers based on their reproductive health decisions.

Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) last month filed an amendment to the House appropriations bill for fiscal year 2018, to prevent the District from using funds to carry out the Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Amendment Act.

The House is expected to pass the measure late Wednesday, but it must still clear the Senate and be signed by President Trump before it can take effect.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America and NARAL Pro-Choice America — as well as the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State — urged lawmakers to oppose Palmer’s amendment.

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Four indicted for publishing blasphemous material

By Shahid Rao

Islamabad – The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Islamabad Tuesday indicted four persons arrested for their alleged role in publishing blasphemous material on the social media.

The ATC Judge Shahrukh Arjumand conducted hearing of this matter and framed the charges against the four accused facing the charges of publishing blasphemous content on the social media.

However, the accused including Professor Anwar, Abdul Waheed, Rana Nauman and Nasir denied the charges. Therefore, the court issued summons to the witnesses and deferred the proceedings till September 25.

Earlier, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had submitted a charge sheet against the four suspects, and the judge directed the FIA to provide copies of the charge sheets to the suspects.

According to details, the FIA has included the alleged blasphemous content and a forensic report part of the charge sheet.

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Atheists Are Raising Money to Help Victims of Hurricane Irma

By Hemant Mehta

Foundation Beyond Belief has been running a fundraiser for Hurricane Harvey relief since before it hit Houston, and they just announced where all of the money is going. At the same time, they’re asking people to donate to support victims of Hurricane Irma.

First, the news about the Harvey funds. We already knew a $25,000 grant was given to All Hands Volunteers, a “volunteer-powered disaster relief organization.” FBB has now announced that another $25,000 will be given to BakerRipley, which “brings resources, education, and connection to emerging neighborhoods.” $10,000 goes to The Montrose Center, which offers “mental and behavioral health services for the LGBT community in Houston.” And $5,000 will go to Portlight Inclusive Disaster Strategies, a “cross-disability disaster relief and recovery organization.”

That’s $65,000 in total, raised primarily by atheists, helping victims of Harvey including those who may be overlooked and forgotten.

FBB is now asking for your help chipping in for Irma relief.

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