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Rationalist International, 2001-02-22
Atheists from across the country are heading to Washington, DC this Saturday, 24 February, to picket the White House, and let President Bush know that they resent his call to spend public money on religious groups operating faith-based social services.
Rationalist International, 2001-02-22
An unusual and fascinating exhibition in Berlin, entitled Körperwelten (Body Worlds) and organized by a reputed anatomist, shows human corpses preserved for medical research and science.
Körperwelten has met with much appreciation by the public -- but also with furious protest. The latter comes, of course, from the Roman Catholic Church, which strongly condemned the exhibition on moral and religious grounds...
New York Times, 2001-02-28
The United States Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether it is unconstitutional for a religion-based youth group to hold its meetings at a public school.
Supreme Court Justices grappled with a church-state dispute Wednesday, whether a Christian youth group should be allowed to hold after-school meetings at a public school.
ABC News, 2001-02-13
An ambiguous legal situation in the USA.
The death of a teenager whose parents refused to get her treated for diabetes because of religious beliefs has been classified a homicide and the parents could be charged with murder, Colorado prosecutors said today...
In 1996, Congress enacted a law stating that the federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act did not include a requirement that ordered parents to provide children with medical treatment that goes against their religious beliefs.
National Science Foundation —
(USA), 2001-02
The National Science Board of the American National Science Foundation recently released the year 2000 installment of its biennial report on the health of U.S. science. It includes a new section, on
Belief in the Paranormal or Pseudoscience (in Chapter 8).
Voir —
Montréal, 2001-02-15
With the arrival of the new Attorney General of the U.S.A., the religious right is now firmly installed in the White House. The man hand-picked by Bush is opposed not only to abortion... he even opposes contraception!
Rationalist International, 2001-02-14
Muslim fundamentalists cause widespread destruction as they riot against a groudbreaking High Court judgement which banned religious edicts or fatwas as illegal. But the Bangladeshi government stands firm: "Bangladesh will never become a fundamentalist state", declared Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Meanwhile a huge rally in defense of religious and political freedom -- the majority of participants women -- took place in the streets of Dhaka on 3 February.
Rationalist International, 2001-02-14
Saudi Arabia's recent half-hearted attempt to join UN Human Rights conventions "as far as they do not contradict Islamic Sharia laws" has failed. A UN expert committee determined the obvious: they do contradict. Sharia law applied in the Muslim kingdom discriminates against women and non-Muslims and violates basic children's rights.
The Nation, 2001-02-19
George W. Bush's creation of a federal office to coordinate public financing of euphemistically labeled "faith-based" social services is a bold assault on the separation of church and state; it is also, ironically, a triumph of bipartisanship...
This is bad news. I believe that a democratic polity requires a secular state:
one that does not fund or otherwise sponsor religious institutions and activities; that does not display religious symbols; that outlaws discrimination
based on religious belief, whether by government or by private employers, landlords or proprietors--that does, in short, guarantee freedom from as well as
freedom of religion. Furthermore, a genuinely democratic society requires a secular ethos: one that does not equate morality with religion, stigmatize
atheists, defer to religious interests and aims over others or make religious belief an informal qualification for public office.
See also:
New York Times, 2001-02-10
A report on the emerging discipline of biohistory.
Rationalist International, 2001-02-04
A Christian Minister is forced to resign after claiming that the earthquake in
Gujarat, like the recent cyclone catastrophe in Orissa, was an expression of God's wrath over ill treatment of
Christian missionaries. Meanwhile, police arrested astrologer Amlal Patel for causing panic by predicting
further quakes. Back in the USA, leaders of Christian relief organization "Food for the Hungry" are rejoicing.
"This is a great opportunity for us to not only minister to them physically, but to share the gospel with them
as well" said a spokesperson. Claiming gains in the earthquake in Turkey, they now set their sights on India.
Rationalist International, 2001-02-04
On 29 January 2001, the offices of the English daily Frontier Post in Peshawar were raided by police. Five senior journalists and employees of the paper were arrested for blasphemy which carries the death penalty.
Later, a frenzied mob ransacked the offices of the paper and torched the printing press, which completely burnt down. The massive contingent of police that had been deployed outside the premises earlier was not there to stop them. The fundamentalists went on rampage in the whole city.
Rationalist International, 2001-02-04
Author Salaheddin Mohsen, 52, who promoted rationalism in four books and tried to establish an atheist organization in Egypt, was sentenced to three years' imprisonment with hard labor. His crimes: atheism, blasphemy against Islam, and "deriding religion".
Globe and Mail —
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2001-02
An article in support of the efforts of Henry Freitag to stop the daily recitation of the Lord's Prayer in the Ontario Legislature.
New York Times, 2001-02-01
Thursday began with the National Prayer Breakfast, an annual gathering of lawmakers, foreign heads of state and spiritual leaders. Bush promised to respect the separation of church from state even as he tries to funnel more government money to church groups.
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