http://www.religionnewsblog.com Religion news about religious cults, sects, world religions, and related issues Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:33:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23812/cyber-attacks-smite-atheist-websites http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23812/cyber-attacks-smite-atheist-websites#comments Thu, 22 Oct 2009 05:21:00 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23812 Australian atheists are under attack, with the websites of both the Atheist Foundation of Australia and the Global Atheist Convention knocked offline in a major cyber attack yesterday afternoon.

The attacks may be related to the Global Atheist Convention, which is being held in Melbourne in March next year.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23812/cyber-attacks-smite-atheist-websites/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23712/imagine-no-religion http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23712/imagine-no-religion#comments Mon, 28 Sep 2009 09:13:32 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23712 A series of controversial billboards recently displayed throughout Metro Detroit is drawing curious stares and criticism from the local faith community.

The seven billboards read "Imagine No Religion" and "Praise Darwin: Evolve Beyond Belief" with a stained-glass window motif. They are sponsored by the Madison, Wis.-based Freedom from Religion Foundation, a nonprofit group that touts itself as the largest free thought association in the nation.

The billboards, at various Detroit locations, are part of a monthlong campaign aimed at provoking debate about the role religion plays in daily life and public policy, said Annie Laurie Gaylord, co-president of the foundation.

But many in the local religious community consider the billboards offensive.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23712/imagine-no-religion/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23664/atheism-groups-on-college-campuses http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23664/atheism-groups-on-college-campuses#comments Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:55:04 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23664 The number of atheist or agnostic student groups on U.S. campuses has more than doubled in the past two years -- from 80 to 162 -- according to the Secular Student Alliance (SSA), the national organization for the secular student movement.

The rise of the secular student movement parallels that of the broader secular demographic in the U.S.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23664/atheism-groups-on-college-campuses/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23607/philip-pullman-scoundrel http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23607/philip-pullman-scoundrel#comments Wed, 09 Sep 2009 10:22:24 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23607 Philip Pullman, the children's author, is set to cause controversy with a new book - called The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ - denying that Jesus was the son of God.

Publisher Jamie Byng said that Pullman's book, which will be published next Easter, "strips Christianity bare and exposes the gospels to a new light".]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23607/philip-pullman-scoundrel/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23590/maybe-religion-is-the-answer-claims-atheist-scientist http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23590/maybe-religion-is-the-answer-claims-atheist-scientist#comments Mon, 07 Sep 2009 21:38:14 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23590 Lord May, the president of the British Science Association, said religion may have helped protect human society from itself in the past and it may be needed again.

Speaking on the eve of the association’s annual conference, the committed atheist said he was worried the world was on a “calamitous trajectory” brought on by its failure to co-ordinate measures against global warming.

He said that no country was prepared to take the lead and a “punisher” was needed to make sure the rules of co-operation were not broken.

The former Government chief scientific advisor said in the past that was God and it might be time again for religion to fill the gap. ]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23590/maybe-religion-is-the-answer-claims-atheist-scientist/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23340/there-is-probabl-no-god http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23340/there-is-probabl-no-god#comments Mon, 16 Mar 2009 04:49:27 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23340 "If there were no religious advertising, there would be no atheist advertising," said Ariane Sherine in a phone conversation from her home in London. Sherine is a journalist who spearheaded the idea for ads saying, "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

From a marketing perspective, however, the problem with the atheist brand may be that it is essentially selling nothing; not God, but no God. [video]]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23340/there-is-probabl-no-god/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23174/atheist-bus-ads http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23174/atheist-bus-ads#comments Sat, 17 Jan 2009 12:19:16 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23174 A devout Christian has become the first driver to refuse to get behind the wheel of a bus bearing an atheist poster declaring God probably does not exist.

"There would be no way buses would be able to drive around with an anti-Muslim message like that on the side mentioning Allah. There would be uproar," he says.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23174/atheist-bus-ads/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23021/freedom-from-religion-foundation http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23021/freedom-from-religion-foundation#comments Sun, 07 Dec 2008 07:32:08 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23021 Alongside a Nativity scene at the Legislative Building in Olympia, Washington, a sign put up by an atheist organization celebrates the winter solstice. But it's the rest of the sign that has some residents and Christian organizations calling atheists Scrooges for attacking the celebration of Jesus Christ's birth.

"Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds," the sign says in part.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23021/freedom-from-religion-foundation/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/22835/atheism-london-bus http://www.religionnewsblog.com/22835/atheism-london-bus#comments Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:33:32 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=22835 British atheists announced Tuesday a high-profile advertising campaign to put posters on London buses that say: "There is probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

"We wanted it to be a positive message," said Hanne Stinson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association, which plans to advertise on buses starting in January. "It's about telling people that it's okay if you don't believe in God. If it raises a smile, too, good."]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/22835/atheism-london-bus/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/21618/religion-foes-billboard-sparks-discussion-shrugs http://www.religionnewsblog.com/21618/religion-foes-billboard-sparks-discussion-shrugs#comments Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:34:22 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=21618 Denver's secularists wanting freedom from religion have taken over one corner in the public square to make the point.

They've emblazoned a billboard six blocks from the state Capitol with the message, inscribed over faux stained glass, "Imagine No Religion."]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/21618/religion-foes-billboard-sparks-discussion-shrugs/feed 0