Atheism

Britain's most senior Roman Catholic cardinal gave a stern warning earlier this week against the dangers of secularism and claimed that secular values fostered violence and helped establish the totalitarian regimes that killed millions in the 20th century.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, who stepped down as leader of England's Catholics three years ago, warned during a speech in front of other Catholics in Leicester, England, that the rise of atheism in Britain is "very, very dangerous" and accused secularists of trying to drive Christianity out of the country.

"In the name of tolerance it seems to me tolerance is being abolished," Murphy-O'Connor stressed. He presented as evidence the British government's attempts to redefine the traditional definition of marriage as between one man and one woman to include same-sex couples. Both Catholic and Anglican officials in Britain remain opposed to this movement, but the steady rise of secularism in the nation may pave the way for such plans to become a reality. more >>

A Canadian atheist conference with speakers from across the world was sold out of tickets some time before registration closed.

The "Imagine No Religion 2" Conference, set to take place this weekend in Kamloops, British Columbia, announced their success last week via email.

Don Hutchinson, director of the Centre for Faith and Public Life of The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, told The Christian Post that the conference's announced success was "a relative term." more >>

As the race for the White House heats up, various groups are hoping to play a part in the shaping of American politics, including the Secular Coalition for America, which has published a scorecard that rates candidates on their stances concerning nontheistic issues.

The group's website features a scorecard of how potential presidential candidates for this year's general election, including all past GOP nominees, fare on secular issues. While President Barack Obama has the most positive scores in various categories, Mitt Romney, the likely GOP candidate, scored an "A" in the "God, Faith and Governance" category; President Obama was only given a "C."

The category questions:"Has the candidate ever claimed that God or any other supernatural entity spoke to or sent him or her messages directly? Does the candidate profess that his or her personal religious beliefs will guide his or her actions while in office? Does candidate believe the end times are approaching?" more >>

In his new book, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Religion and Politics, Jonathan Haidt, a social psychology professor at University of Virginia, argues that our intuitions come before our reasoning and our reasoning is usually a post-hoc justification for those intuitions. As a result, humans do a horrible job at understanding those with whom they disagree.

Haidt's research uncovered six moral foundations that are innate to human nature: care, fairness, loyalty, authority, sanctity and liberty.

Liberals, Haidt found, mostly pay attention to just three moral foundations -- care, fairness and liberty. Conservatives, though, especially social conservatives, pay attention to all six. As a result, Haidt argues, liberals have to work harder to understand conservatives than vice versa. Haidt also believes that conservatives have an advantage in elections because they are better equipped to speak to all six moral foundations. more >>

The Secular Coalition of America announced that Republican lobbyist Edwina Rogers has been named executive director of the largely atheist and nontheistic lobbying organization.

Rogers has a long history on Capitol Hill, having worked in both Bush administrations, as general counsel for the National Republican Senatorial Committee and as an attorney and lobbyist for a number of Washington law firms.

"For too long, the 50 million secular Americans have been ignored, underappreciated and undervalued-that's what drew me to the Secular Coalition for America," Rogers said in the group's press release. "It's time to change that. Secular Americans are increasingly pulling together as a voting bloc that demands attention – a constituency that is due formidable representation in Washington, D.C." more >>

Three U.S. cities along with Nebraska joined in the effort to establish a National Day of Reason this year, with local politicians signing proclamations making the first Thursday of May such a day of observance. The movement was created as a counter-balance to the National Day of Prayer, which some critics consider unconstitutional.

The National Day of Prayer was established in 1952 when President Harry S. Truman signed it into law -- and consequently every president since, including President Barack Obama -- and its roots extend to the nation's founding fathers. The National Day of Reason is not federally established, and has been "held in parallel with the National Day of Prayer" for the past nine years, while its proponents have been asking the public to "work to have a Day of Reason proclaimed by your state or local government."

Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) sponsored a proclamation establishing National Day of Reason in 2011, as well as this year. more >>