Religion and Society

A collection of 290 posts

evangelicalism

"Evangelicalism is One of the Most Hated Religious Sects in America, And They Only Have Themselves to Blame"

My friend Bruce Gerenscer recently wrote a letter to his local newspaper and I asked if I could repost it here; he kindly agreed: Letter to the Editor of The Bryan Times. It was published on July 8, 2021. Dear Editor, Evangelicalism is one the most hated religious sects in

Religion and Society

New sex education programme for Catholic primaries describes sex and puberty as a ‘gift from God’

This is from Humanists UK: Northern Ireland Humanists has expressed alarm about a new Catholic RSE resource describing sex and puberty as ‘a gift from God’ and claiming puberty shows ‘we are perfectly designed by God to procreate with him’. The resource, called Flourish, was developed by the Irish Bishops

evangelicalism

Josh Duggar Arrested by Feds

Reality TV star and all-round awesome conservative evangelical has been arrested. And it looks like it could be serious, considering it's the feds. People.com report (See the link for the whole piece): [caption id="attachment_34132" align="alignright" width="253"] Washington

Blasphemy

Humanists Call for the Release of Mubarak Bala after 365 Days of Detention

This is from the AHA: On the one-year anniversary of the illegal detention of Mubarak Bala, President of the Humanist Association of Nigeria, the American Humanist Association (AHA) joins 89 organizations and concerned individuals across the globe in publishing an open letter addressed to the Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi

Demographics of Religion

Nonreligious Americans Are A Growing Political Force

I posted from a recent written article that touched on this, the other day. Here's a very interesting podcast discussing the political importance of the nonreligious demographic in US politics.

atheists

It’s Not Just Young White Liberals Who Are Leaving Religion

I am fairly addicted to FiveThirtyEight, even though I am a Brit, although I've more recently been watching their podcasts and videos on YouTube. That said, a recent piece was particularly interesting: "It’s Not Just Young White Liberals Who Are Leaving Religion". It starts: Only

Dana Horton

Why Do We Create Myths?

Dana Horton is back with another one of his guest pieces - thanks ever so much! Over to him: Why Do We Create Myths? (4-minute read) Last week we talked about ‘Our Guy’ Heraclitus, and the idea of not being able to step in the same river twice. In the

alt-right

Far-Right Groups Raise Millions Via Christian Funding Site

The far-right can easily be associated with Christian fundamentalism. This can be seen in many contexts, from the Ku Klux Klan to the Proud Boys and this latest example of fundraising. I say "latest" because, last year, Christians raised inordinate amounts of money for right-w9ing shooter Kyle Rittenhouse.

Church

Religion's Talons Grip from Birth to Death

Bert recently contributed a piece the other day discussing how religion can get its grasping talons to exert their painful pressure on adherents lives from birth to death. Juniper, in the comment thread, had this set of personal accounts to add to Bert's piece, reposted with kind permission:

Demographics of Religion

Huge Generational Surge in UK Non-Religious

This is from Humanists UK. What to me is fascinating is the shrinking of the Anglican segment and the relative growth of "other Christians": The latest British Social Attitudes Survey has shown that the share of the population belonging to no religion has continued to grow, now standing

Blasphemy

Teacher suspended over depiction of Muhammad in Batley Grammar School lesson

This has been pretty newsworthy in the UK and it's great to see Humanists UK stand up for the teacher. We don't want to return to times of blasphemy laws. From Humanists UK: Controversy has erupted after a teacher showed pupils an image or images of

Crime & Punishment

Atlanta Shooter's Church Deletes Dodgy Sermons

The Atlanta gunman recently shot a number of women, most of them being Asian American women. This has caused a number of uncomfortable conversations to take place - was this a case of misogyny or good old-fashioned racism, or both, or neither? FiveThirtyEight had a really worthwhile conversation on this

Catholic Church

Are Catholic Clergy more Likely to Be Paedophiles than the General Public? REDUX.

This has come up in a thread again, so I thought I would regale you with a piece I wrote now three years ago on the subject, but now with some updated tweaks. This is a question that has been kicking around ever since the child sex abuse scandal involving

equality

Missouri Pastor in Deeply Sexist Sermon

America's a funny place. Where stuff like this happens: You've probably seen this on other blogs and places already. If you want to see the whole thing, here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU4cueSpYpU TYT analyse it here. I don't think

AHA

Religious Rivals Unite in Celebration Over Today’s Supreme Court First Amendment Ruling

This is from the American Humanist Association: Today, the American Humanist Association (AHA) celebrates this morning’s Supreme Court’s ruling, Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski, alongside typical opponent, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). This ruling upheld (8-1) a critical remedy in First Amendment cases. “Today’s ruling is a victory for the

GOP

Christians Worship A False Idol

1 Corinthians 10:14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. Jeremiah 10:2-5 Thus says the Lord: “Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them, for the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree

Democratic Party

Kinzinger's Family Letter: God, the GOP and Conservative Media

There are three legs to the stool upon which public opinion over Trump and the impeachment sits: God, the GOP as a tribal entity, and conservative media in its incurably rabid form. Nothing exemplifies this more acutely than the letter that Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican House Representative who voted

Biblical Exegesis

Ana Kasparian On Christian Biblical Exceptionalism

This video went viral recently and for good reason. It's brilliant. It was actually originally a rant from The Young Turks' panellist in 2018 but resurfaced due to Poland's right-wing, Viktor Orbana-esque government looking to deliver a moral rollback to its population in terms of

Comedy

Christian Comedy, the Church & Politics

This was a pretty interesting listen, with an insight into Christian communities and the growing politicisation of them (or, the greater likelihood of people being outspoken about their political positioning).   Stay in touch! Like A Tippling Philosopher on Facebook: A Tippling Philosopher You can also buy me a cuppa. Or

AHA

Humanists Celebrate as Congress Denounces Global Blasphemy Laws with Unified Voice

From the AHA: The American Humanist Association (AHA) applauds Congress, as the Senate joined the House in adopting a resolution calling for a global end to blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws Saturday evening. Senate Resolution 458, championed by Senator James Lankford (R-OK) and Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), calls upon the

AHA

Humanist Witness Testifies at Federal Hearing on Global Blasphemy Laws

From the AHA: At a virtual hearing conducted today by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), Humanists International director of advocacy Elizabeth O’Casey testified to how the United States can effectively work toward the repeal of blasphemy laws around the world within the scope of the

AHA

Humanists Applaud House’s Commitment to Ending International Blasphemy Laws

This is from the AHA: In a momentous victory for the rights of humanists, nontheists, and religious minorities around the world, the American Humanist Association (AHA) applauds the U.S. House of Representatives for passing House Resolution 512, which calls for a global end to blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws.

Blasphemy

Humanist victory! Scotland drops plans to ban insulting religion

From Humanists UK: Scottish Justice Minister Humza Yousaf today announced that the Government will drop sections of the draft Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill that would have criminalised insulting religious beliefs. The Bill will now protect ‘antipathy, dislike, ridicule and insult’ of religious beliefs, as part of people’

God's characteristics

Pearced Off! #11 - How the Westboro Baptist Church Is More Logically Coherent than Liberal Christians

I am running a series of the old podcast segments from my Pearced Off! section of the Skepticule Podcast (a British skepticism-based podcast now on hiatus) that I used to contribute to. Some of the earlier ones have some quieter audio. Apologies. They run at around ten minutes. Something to

conservatism

Does Belief in God Drive One's Politics or Politics Drive One's Belief in God?

Disclaimer: I, like many of you, am an agnostic-atheist and so the answer is neither. Or is it? Because this question can be applied to me, too. Let me elucidate... In general terms, for religious people, what is the direction of causality? A few things to note first here; firstly,