ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 61

The Supreme Court’s Religious Crusaders Take On the Pandemic Response

By Linda Greenhouse I know I should be jaded by now by the persistence of the Supreme Court’s conservative justices in seeking to elevate religious interests over those of secular society. After all, in the closing days of the court’s term, religious employers won the right to withhold from female employees the contraception coverage to which federal …

Atheists start an international community-building project: #oneATHEIST

By RNS Press Release Distribution Service On Saturday International Association of Atheists (IAA) announced their newest initiative, #oneATHEIST, an effort to build a positive, outspoken community under the label atheist and remove the stigma. “Atheists have struggled with the stigma associated with being non-religious for far too long. It’s time to prove to the world what I know …

Child rape charges refiled against Mexican megachurch leader

By Associated Press California on Wednesday charged the leader of a Mexican megachurch with child rape and human trafficking, months after a court dismissed the previous allegations because of prosecution errors. Naasón Joaquín García, the self-proclaimed apostle of La Luz del Mundo, was charged with three dozen felony counts. Also charged were Susana Medina Oaxaca …

OPEN DISCUSSION AUGUST 2020

This thread has been created for discussion on themes relevant to Reason and Science for which there are not currently any dedicated threads. Please note it is NOT for general chat, and that our Comment Policy applies as usual. There is a link to this at the foot of the page. If you would like …

Ancestors of coronavirus have been hiding out in bats for decades, ready to infect humans

By Yasemin Saplakoglu The ancestors of the novel coronavirus may have been circulating in bats unnoticed for decades. And those coronaviruses likely also had the ability to infect humans, according to a new study. To understand where the novel coronavirus, known as SARS-CoV-2, came from and how it spread to humans, scientists need to trace …

It’ll Cost $850 to Clean Arkansas’ Ten Commandments Monument After “Anointing”

By Hemant Mehta The other day, I mentioned that four women had “anointed” the stand-alone Ten Commandments monument outside the Arkansas State Capitol. The women weren’t charged with any crimes mostly because Capitol officials said there wasn’t any criminal intent and no clear cut evidence of damage, at least at the time. I wanted to ask State Sen. Jason Rapert, …

Alabama politician resigns as a Southern Baptist pastor after KKK leader’s birthday celebration

By Sarah Pulliam Bailey Alabama state Rep. Will Dismukes (R) said this week that he has no plans to resign from his state legislator position amid national calls for him to step down after he attended a private celebration of the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. On Wednesday night, however, he resigned …

Cleveland evangelist Perry Stone ‘acted inappropriately’ with female employees

By Wyatt Massey Perry Stone has been away from his multimillion-dollar ministry in Cleveland, Tennessee, for three months, leaving many of his followers confused. But in an audio message played for a small, in-person group of church members several weeks ago — and obtained by the Times Free Press — Stone said he acted inappropriately …

Sleeping microbes wake up after 100 million years buried under the seafloor

By Rafi Letzter Microbes found themselves buried in the dirt 101.5 million years ago, back before even Tyrannosaurus rex when Earth’s biggest meat-eating dinosaur, called Spinosaurus roamed the planet. Time passed, continents shifted, oceans rose and fell, great apes emerged, and eventually human beings evolved with the curiosity and skills to dig up those ancient cells. …

Atheists Warn Spokane Sheriff Against Using Bible-Based Training Program

By Hemant Mehta In October, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office in Washington will require employees to attend a two-day “Bulletproof Warrior” training seminar. The seminar received renewed attention a couple of years ago when it was discovered that the cop involved in the murder of Philando Castile had been an attendee. It also doesn’t help that the …