ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 42

The rise of Christian Nationalism in America

By Liz Theoharis On August 26th, during the Republican National Convention, Vice President Mike Pence closed out his acceptance speech with a biblical sleight of hand. Speaking before a crowd at the Fort McHenry National Monument in Baltimore, he exclaimed, “Let’s fix our eyes on Old Glory and all she represents. Let’s fix our eyes on …

Justices Thomas and Alito lash out at the decision that cleared way for same-sex marriage

By Ariane de Vogue and Chandelis Duster Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justice Samuel Alito, lashed out on Monday at the religious liberty implications of the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision that cleared the way for same-sex marriage nationwide. Thomas wrote that the decision, Obergefell v. Hodges, “enables courts and governments to brand religious adherents who believe that marriage is between one …

Why Male Baboons Benefit From Female Friends

By Elizabeth Preston In the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro, baboons live out their daily dramas. They tussle, they mate, they care for their young. Some are loners and others have lots of friends. Now research has shown that those platonic relationships might be just as important as the relationships that make more baby monkeys. Male …

Satanic Temple sues company that rejected group’s billboards in Arkansas

By the Associated Press A lawsuit filed by the Satanic Temple alleges that an advertising company unfairly refused to display some billboards promoting a ritual offered by the group to help people bypass abortion rules in some states. The group, based in Salem, Massachusetts, announced Wednesday that it has sued Lamar Advertising in Arkansas state …

Freedom From Religion group sues Alabama over ‘So help me God’ voter oath

By Greg Garrison The Freedom From Religion Foundation has filed a federal lawsuit challenging Alabama’s mandatory religious oath for voter registration. Alabama is the only state in the country that requires voters to register on a form mandating they swear “so help me God,” without allowing any option of a secular affirmation, the Madison, Wisconsin-based …

A new group of evangelical leaders forms in support of Biden

By Sarah Pulliam Bailey When he was pastor of a prominent megachurch in Orlando, Joel Hunter never told anyone how he voted, but like many White evangelical leaders, he picked Donald Trump in 2016. Trump was friendly with the conservative Christian community, and Hunter thought, “Well, let’s give it a shot.” “Hillary Clinton never did …

Did NASA detect a hint of life on Venus in 1978 and not realize it?

By Rafi Letzter If life does exist on Venus, NASA may have first detected it back in 1978. But the finding went unnoticed for 42 years. Life on Venus is still a long shot. But there’s reason to take the idea seriously. On Sept. 14, a team of scientists made a bombshell announcement in the …

Religious group scrubs all references to Amy Coney Barrett from its website

By the Associated Press A tiny religious organization tied to Amy Coney Barrett, Donald Trump’s supreme court nominee, sought to erase all mentions and photos of her from its website before she meets with lawmakers and faces questions at her Senate confirmation hearings. Barrett, a federal appeals judge, has declined to publicly discuss her decades-long affiliation with …

Ministries and photographer claim Virginia LGBTQ rights law forces them to ‘violate’ their beliefs

By Mirna Alsharif A Christian conservative legal group has filed lawsuits on behalf of nonprofit ministries and a photographer, saying a new Virginia law offering LGBTQ protections forces them to “abandon” their beliefs. The Virginia Values Act offers sweeping protections to the state’s LGBTQ community in areas including housing, employment, public spaces and credit applications. …

What Secularists Can Learn From the Religious Right About Accessing Power

By Jeffrey Guhin It’s easy to be cynical about the religious right, and, by extension, the direction of our country. Despite representing fewer and fewer American each year, they continue to exploit advantages baked into the Constitution via the Senate, the Electoral College, and the Supreme Court. They are now about to flip to the court a 6–3 conservative majority that …