ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 97

Roy Moore Says Closing Churches Is ‘Tyranny,’ Tells Pastors They Have Duty to Assemble

By Peter Montgomery Roy Moore, the failed Senate candidate and twice-removed former Alabama chief justice, is telling pastors that it is their “duty” to continue church assemblies in spite of public health officials’ social-distancing guideline, the Alabama Political Reporter noted Wednesday. “I am writing a letter to pastors on the duty to continue church assemblies, even in the midst …

States differ on exempting worship from coronavirus closures

By Elana Schor NEW YORK (AP) — As multiple governors issue orders to curb large gatherings and implore residents to stay home in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus, at least a half-dozen states have exempted some level of religious activity. The divergent treatment of faith in some states’ pandemic-fighting orders comes …

‘Become experts on the thing that is threatening you’: Advice from astronauts on isolation on Earth

By Meagan Flynn Before living for months in space, Christina Koch lived at the South Pole and Chris Hadfield lived at the bottom of the ocean, in a laboratory just off the coast of Florida. The astronauts didn’t get out much, or couldn’t, with Koch surrounded by frozen terrain and Hadfield 62 feet underwater. But …

Trump’s Bible study teacher says coronavirus was caused by gays & environmentalists

By Alex Bollinger The Trump administration’s Bible study teacher says coronavirus may be God’s punishment for LGBTQ people. In a study guide posted to his blog, Ralph Drollinger lays out the case that the U.S. is being punished by God for homosexuality, environmentalism, and other things conservatives generally don’t like. Drollinger states at the beginning …

Miley Cyrus quit church because gay friends ‘weren’t being accepted’

By Gwen Aviles Singer-songwriter Miley Cyrus said she stopped attending church because her gay friends weren’t accepted and were forced to undergo conversion therapy. “I had some gay friends in school,” Cyrus told Hailey Bieber during an episode of “Bright Minded,” Cyrus’ recently launched Instagram show. “The reason why I left my church is that they …

Satanists Want You To Respond To The Pandemic With Compassion. And Reason.

By Joseph Laycock The Coronavirus is changing America’s religious landscape as social distancing forces most religious communities to cancel in-person services and invent new online forms of worship. One might assume that Satanists would be unaffected by social distancing or even take a misanthropic delight in it. In 2017, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson advised Satanic …

Life on the Planet Mercury? ‘It’s Not Completely Nuts’

By Shannon Hall Mercury — a planet with a surface hot enough to melt lead — might once have contained ingredients needed for life. Though that’s a pretty big might. The new theory, published last week in the journal Scientific Reports, is based on a particularly muddled feature on the planet orbiting closest to the sun, …

Yes, the government can force churches to close. Here’s why

By Kelsey Dallas Faced with new restrictions on in-person gatherings, most houses of worship in the U.S. have temporarily closed their doors. But some churches, synagogues and mosques have rebelled against requested — or, in some cases, required — changes, and sometimes faced police raids as a result. Amid a public health crisis like COVID-19, can the government really …

State Officials Try to End Legal Abortion During COVID-19 Crisis

By Dennis Carter Governors and other state officials across the United States are deciding whether abortion care is an “essential” health-care service, as many states halt nonessential surgeries to create capacity for the expected crush of COVID-19 patients. Declaring a medical procedure as “nonessential” would mean postponement for those seeking care. In a March 18 joint statement, …

Jerry Falwell Jr. is keeping Liberty University’s campus open while publicly minimizing the threat of coronavirus

By Grace Panetta Jerry Falwell Jr., the president of Liberty University and a close ally of President Donald Trump, is keeping campus open as students return from spring break, despite hundreds of colleges across America moving online and sending students home for the rest of the semester. This week, approximately 5,000 Liberty students return to …