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Mississippi to vote on 'personhood' : Nature News - 1/11/11
Ballot measure would give fertilized eggs human rights.
Making God Mad - David Barash - The Chronicle of Higher Education - RichardDawkins.net
Angry Zeus, Complete With Lightning Bolt The recent earthquake in Turkey, with its horrific consequences, reminds me of the following observation, reported in The New York Times a year and a half ago. A senior cleric, one Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi, warned that the "unIslamic" behavior of certain "loose" women is responsible for natural disasters in general and earthquakes in particular.
Proposals to make worship optional in schools rejected by Peers - NSS - RichardDawkins.net - 26/10/11
Peers in the House of Lords have rejected moves to make collective worship in schools optional, rather than compulsory.
The Republicans' war on science and reason - The Washington Post
Last month, Washington Post columnist Steve Pearlstein wrote that if you wanted to come up with a bumper sticker that defined the Republican Party's platform it would be this: "Repeal the 20th century. Vote GOP." With their unrelenting attempts to slash Social Security, end Medicare and Medicaid and destroy the social safety net, Republicans are, indeed, on a quest of reversal. But they have set their sights on an even bolder course than Pearlstein acknowledges in his column: It's not just the 20th century they have targeted for it's the 18th and 19th too.
BBC News - Bodies of Gaddafi supporters 'found executed' in Sirte - 23/10/11
Mr Abdul Jalil said the new Libya would take Islamic law as its foundation. Interest for bank loans would be capped, he said, and restrictions on the number of wives Libyan men could take would be lifted.
The Evangelical Rejection of Reason - NYTimes.com - 18/10/11
THE Republican presidential field has become a showcase of evangelical anti-intellectualism. Herman Cain, Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann deny that climate change is real and caused by humans.
House Passes ‘Let Women Die’ Bill :: NARAL Pro-Choice America - 13/10/11
Washington, D.C. - Today, Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, called the House passage of the "Let Women Die" bill, otherwise known as H.R.358, yet another reminder of how playing politics with women's health and privacy is a priority for Speaker John Boehner.

... Shockingly, H.R.358 would allow hospitals to refuse to provide a woman emergency, lifesaving abortion care, even if she will die without it.
Gay marriage ‘a danger’ to Scotland says ex-SNP chief - Edinburgh, East & Fife - Scotsman.com - 12/10/11
FORMER SNP leader Gordon Wilson has called for a referendum on the government's proposals to allow same-sex marriage, which he warned could have "extremely destructive consequences" for Scotland.

Last night, the Catholic Church in Scotland backed Mr Wilson's demand, with a spokesman saying he "agreed entirely" with the strongly worded statement.
The Associated Press: Israel copes with bout of extremist violence - 9/10/11
JERUSALEM (AP) - A new rogue element has emerged in the Israeli-Palestinian gallery: Unknown assailants, widely assumed to be Jewish extremists, have vandalized Muslim cemeteries, mosques and farmlands in a spate of attacks that have put the country on edge.
Progress In Spirituality: An Unholy Alliance - 30/9/11
For instance "Spiked" senior writer Tim Blacks rant against Oxford chemistry professor Peter Atkins recent book, "On Being - A scientist's exploration of the great questions of existence" provides a good picture of how dangerous they feel are the ideas of the new atheists.
Bishop steps up attack on gay marriage - Herald Scotland | News | Home News - 8/10/11
ONE of Scotland’s most senior Catholics has announced plans to step up the Church’s opposition to gay marriage after holding talks on the controversial issue with Alex Salmond.
Faith school employment discrimination challenged in the Lords | National Secular Society - 15/9/11
Amendments to the Education Bill initiated by the NSS were debated this week in the House of Lords. They were designed to reduce the extent to which discrimination is permitted against non-religious teachers by the law against teachers in faith and community schools.
Bachmann illegally endorsed from the pulpit? The IRS reaction? Fearful failure to enforce the law. - Sean Faircloth - RDFRS - RichardDawkins.net - 7/10/11
Fundamentalist preachers want to endorse candidates that spew hate against gay people and treat women as second-class citizens -- and they demand a tax subsidy to do it.
Fury as prayers are banned at council meetings - 2/10/11: News, Politics & Current Affairs • Rational Skepticism Forum
CHRISTIANS reacted furiously last night after it emerged that council members have been banned from saying prayers at meetings.

Two councils in East Sussex have been warned that Christian prayers are "not part of their duties".
War of words breaks out among Jehovah's Witnesses - Home News, UK - The Independent - 27/9/11
The official magazine for Jehovah's Witnesses has described those who leave the church as "mentally diseased", prompting an outcry from former members and insiders concerned about the shunning of those who question official doctrine.
Killer of governor of Pakistan's Punjab sentenced to death | Reuters - 1/10/11
A Pakistani court sentenced to death on Saturday the killer of the governor of Pakistan's largest province after he had called for reform of a law against blasphemy, a defense lawyer and state-run media said.
Tony Blair: a liability in Britain and the Middle East? - Telegraph - 30/9/11
Disparaged by Palestinians and booed by Labour Party conference delegates, the former prime minister is losing his appeal.
Rachel Maddow Rips Anti-Abortion, Gay Marriage Bills (VIDEO) - - - The Huffington Post - RichardDawkins.net - 29/9/11
Rachel Maddow gave her Thursday viewers an update on drives to ban gay marriage and restrict abortion in states across the country.
Same-sex marriage ban denies freedom, say religious groups - Scotsman.com News - 29/9/11
Religious leaders have backed the introduction of same-sex marriages and warned that the current ban is an "intolerable intrusion" into public freedom.
New Statesman - Less faith, but more faith-schools - 2/9/11
What lies behind the seemingly inexorable spread of religious-based education?