Atheism

The Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers started a petition at WhiteHouse.gov to eliminate the “What is your religion?” question from enlistment forms, leaving recruits the option to add their religion on the form at a later date. They also are petitioning to add a “Humanist” option on military entrance processing forms.

Jason Torpy, president of MAAF, explained in an email to The Christian Post that when new low ranking recruits come in and are met with unfamiliar circumstances they experience more pressure to choose a specific religion on the forms.

His organization would prefer that “the information be asked at a later date, if and only if, the individual opts in.” Torpy said this “would eliminate the pressure and institutional bias for choosing some type of religion.” more >>

A scorecard developed by the Secular Coalition for America has created debate over whether candidates should be allowed religious views or forced to follow a secular constitution.

The scorecard is a review by the coalition based on candidates’ stances on religious based issues. It was developed to help secular and nontheistic Americans to elect a candidate who would support their views. However, most presidential candidates received failing marks for mentioning their religious beliefs.

President Barack Obama was voted to have the most “secular stance,” but still only received average scores. Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, and Rick Santorum scored all but one “F” on the scorecard. Mitt Romney and Ron Paul also fell somewhere in between with mixed scoring, but few A’s. more >>

Atheists’ giving to charity is on the rise this year. A group of atheists from the site Reddit.com raised more than $207,000 for the organization Doctors Without Borders during the month of December.

While charitable giving is fairly normal during the holiday season, atheists haven’t always been known for their generosity.

Back in 2003, Arthur C. Brooks of The American Enterprise Institute released a study on giving by religious and secular people. more >>

A lawyer in Scotland has called for the abolition of the religious court oath, quoting an increasing number of atheists in the country.

"Historically swearing, an oath to God served two purposes; firstly, the religious aspect is that the witness is promising to tell the truth and shall answer to God if they lie in court," lawyer Sean Templeton wrote in a piece for The Scottish Herald, published Monday. "Secondly, the legal aspect is that the witnesses' status changes from an everyday citizen to a person whose answers to questions must be truthful as otherwise they are committing an offence, and potentially a very serious offence."

The current oath in the United Kingdom is: "I swear by Almighty God that I will tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." more >>

Stanley Hudson from NBC’s “The Office” appears to have lightened up this year’s battle over being politically correct during the Christmas season in a recent episode that many, including Christian leaders, are giving a thumbs up.

The episode “Christmas Wishes,” that aired Dec. 8, begins in typical style of the program, a staff meeting with employees. It then evolves into a rant by Stanley.

“The Office” is described by its producers as a fly-on-the-wall "docu-reality" parody about modern American office life. The show delves into the lives of the workers at Dunder Mifflin, a paper supply company in Scranton, Pa. more >>

An atheist organization is so offended by a public expression of faith that it has threatened to sue the city of Warren, Michigan.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation claims its purpose is "to promote the constitutional principle of separation of state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism,” as stated on its website.

The group is outraged by a public Christmas Nativity scene and is calling on the Warren mayor, James Fouts, to display an anti-religion sign directly next to the nativity scene to promote balanced views and what they refer to as "equal time,” according to The Daily Caller. more >>