Author: Manya A. Brachear

Source: Chicago Tribune

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-06-16/news/ct-met-church-cta-bus-ad-20100616_1_freedom-from-religion-foundation-freethinkers-ariela-keysar

When the Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign and American Humanist Association wanted to spark a public conversation last spring about the origin of religion, they...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Times Series

http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/8186532.Humanist_advisers_appointed_by_police/

Hertfordshire police have recruited two Humanist advisers in the same week Pagan police officers were officially recognised by the Home Office.

The constabulary's chaplaincy team, which advises and supports police officers has recruited Pam Burn and Ray Owen, who both have extensive...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Jamestown Sun

http://www.jamestownsun.com/event/article/id/112158/group/Life/

A Fargo atheist’s request for a personalized license plate reading “ISNOGOD” was approved Thursday by the North Dakota Department of Transportation.

The deity-denying license plate Brian Magee wanted was initially rejected last week by NDDOT officials, prompting Magee to appeal the decision to the state...

Author: Mark Hicks

Source: The Detroit News

http://www.detnews.com/article/20100528/METRO01/5280364/1041/LIFESTYLE04/-Anti-Muslim--ad-sparks-suit

An ad aimed at Muslims who want to leave Islam that was rejected for display by a regional bus system has prompted a lawsuit alleging violation of constitutional rights.

"Americans have a right to know the truth -- Islam is a religion of intolerance...

Author: Chika Oduah and Lauren E. Bohn

Source: Beliefnet/Religion News Service

http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2010/05/blacks-mirroring-larger-us-tre-1.php

Standing before a room full of fellow African-Americans, Jamila Bey took a deep breath and announced she's come out of the closet.

Her soul-bearing declaration is nearly taboo, she says.

"It's the A-word," said Bey, 33, feigning a whisper. "You commit social...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Beliefnet

Wire Service: AP

http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2010/05/opponents-of-religion-in-inaug.php

Atheists who oppose prayer and other religious elements in presidential inaugurations have lost a case in a federal appeals court.

A three-judge panel on Friday upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit that sought to stop Barack Obama from using the words "so help me...

Author: Mark Barna

Source: Colorado Springs Gazette

http://www.gazette.com/articles/national-98160-aim-prayer.html

Colorado Springs’ reputation as a stronghold of Christian conservatism has created a backlash in the form of reoccurring billboards sponsored by groups that support the separation of church and state.

The latest billboard campaign in the Springs is funded by the Freedom From Religion Foundation...

Author: Todd Richmond

Source: Google News

Wire Service: AP

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hWiD9zVD5IijUKfLEQzg-1jMWLTAD9F911PG0

To pray or not to pray? That's the issue government leaders across the country are facing after a federal judge ruled that the National Day of Prayer set for May 6 was unconstitutional.

The ruling can't take effect until all...

Author: Dirk Johnson

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/24/us/24atheist.html

Annie Laurie Gaylor clicked through a flurry of e-mail messages warning her to repent or she would burn in hell.

“Herod,” one messenger called her.

Ms. Gaylor leaned back and sipped from a cup of tea, unfazed and even a bit surprised at the relative tameness of the attacks. Fresh from her latest godless triumph, she had...

Author: Samuel G. Freedman

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/03/us/03religion.html?ref=us

Four or five Sundays in 2005, his own atheism notwithstanding, Dale McGowan took his family into the neo-Gothic grandeur of St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in Minneapolis on a kind of skeptic’s field trip.

Mr. McGowan went because he wanted his three young children to have “religious...

Author: Steve Pardo

Source: The Detroit News

http://www.detnews.com/article/20100316/LIFESTYLE04/3160348/1041/lifestyle04/Atheist-ads-on-buses-in-area-are-defaced

The vandalism of bus signs supporting atheists shows the prejudice nonbelievers face, the campaign's organizers said Monday.

The signs, which read "Don't believe in God? You are not alone," were defaced on three...

Author: Henry McDonald

Source: Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/15/ireland-referendum-blasphemy-law

Ireland is to hold a referendum on removing a blasphemy ban from the constitution, the justice minister announced yesterday.

At the beginning of the year, the republic introduced legislation making blasphemy a crime punishable with a fine of up to €25,000 (£22,800).

The...

Author: Adelle M. Banks

Source: Beliefnet/Religion News Service

http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2010/03/pledge-is-constitutional-feder.php

The Pledge of Allegiance, with its inclusion of the words "under God," is constitutional, a federal appeals court ruled on Thursday (March 11), reversing a previous ruling.

The 2-1 ruling answers a challenge by California atheist Michael Newdow, who argued that the use of the pledge...

Author: Tom Greenwood

Source: The Detroit News

http://www.detnews.com/article/20100304/LIFESTYLE04/3040427/1041/Bus-messages-try-to-connect-atheists

Atheists are taking their message to the streets.

More than a dozen SMART buses for the rest of the month will carry the message "Don't believe in God? You aren't alone" as part of a national campaign to raise the spirits of atheists. The...

Author: Michelle Boorstein

Source: The Washington Post

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2010/02/white_house_hosts_secular_honchos_today.html

Secular Americans took heart when President Obama gave them a shout-out - believed to be a first - during his inaugural address, now they're looking to push the White House a bit more.

A group of secular leaders is coming to the...