humanist
Interfaith leaders find common ground promoting Internet freedom
By Brian Pellot — August 12, 2015
(RNS) Interfaith leaders are spearheading a new fight for net neutrality -- once the realm of tech wonks and digital rights activists -- and framing a free and open Internet as essential for religious freedom, social justice and interfaith cooperation.
Do ISIS’s atrocities against Christians, Yazidis and Shias really amount to genocide?
By Brian Pellot — August 6, 2015
Religious freedom advocates are calling for President Obama and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to label ISIS’s actions against religious and ethnic minorities “genocide.” Does the label fit? 13 experts weigh in.
Marijuana ministries * Chicken blood * Chocolate snakes: July’s Religious Freedom Recap
By Brian Pellot — July 31, 2015
Cannabis churches are billowing out across America. Chicken huggers are suing to keep ritual bird blood off Brooklyn’s sidewalks. And a South African prophet is being prosecuted for turning congregants into snakes and snakes into chocolate.
#LoveWins for gay couples, but for polygamy activists, the fight continues
By Brian Pellot — June 30, 2015
As the glitter settles following a weekend of SCOTUS celebrations and Pride marches, group marriage activists fight on. Is polygamy the next slide on our slippery slope to damnation or the next rung on our steep climb towards full civil rights and equality in America?
Philosopher says no to major science forum over Templeton funding
By Kimberly Winston — May 8, 2015
(RNS) A prominent philosopher-scientist has pulled out of a popular public science forum over concerns about one of its funders, the John Templeton Foundation.
Beef ban * Witch hunts * Too much Guinness : March’s Religious Freedom Recap
By Brian Pellot — April 1, 2015
An Indian state bans the sale and possession of beef. Tanzanians murder “witches” accused of murdering “magical albinos.” And Ireland nearly outlaws straight marriage, on accident. Who needs April Fools’ Day when reality is this strange?
My daughter isn’t a Mormon anymore
By Jana Riess — January 23, 2015
"I honor my daughter’s choice to become an atheist," says guest blogger Mette Ivie Harrison. "She has already taught me a lot in her life and I suspect she will teach me still more."
Meet the tireless women working to free Raif Badawi and Waleed Abu al-Khair
By Chris Stedman — January 20, 2015
Samar Badawi, Ensaf Haidar, and Elham Manea talk with RNS about their efforts to free Raif Badawi and Waleed Abu al-Khair—and explain what others can do to help.
Détente on Christmas * Beard passes * Christ Bless Mississippi: Religious Freedom Recap
By Brian Pellot — December 4, 2014
This month's religious freedom news and views from around the world. Read with caution. Prozac optional.
Myanmar journalists draft Religion Newswriters Resolution on Covering Religious Freedom and Conflict
By Brian Pellot — November 19, 2014
Religion Newswriters assembled 15 journalists, editors and media professionals from across Myanmar for an intensive training course on how best to cover religious freedom and conflict. Here’s the resolution they bring back to their newsrooms.
Navy faces suit over denying humanist chaplain
By Adelle M. Banks — November 6, 2014
(RNS) The suit charges that the Navy inconsistently requires accommodation of religious practices for sailors while not permitting a humanist chaplain because “the Navy does not consider Humanism to be a religion.”
Atheist coalition wants you to know they are ‘Openly Secular’
By Kimberly Winston — September 24, 2014
DECATUR, Ga. (RNS) A coalition of nearly 30 atheists, humanists and other nonreligious groups is taking a page from the gay rights movement to encourage people to admit they are “openly secular.”
Why I stopped saying America’s Pledge of Allegiance
By Brian Pellot — September 9, 2014
Atheists launched a “Don’t Say the Pledge” campaign on Monday to protest the phrase “under God.” I stopped saying the Pledge in my tweens for more reasons than one.
Philip Pullman: Atheists can learn from Jesus without believing he was the son of God
By Chris Stedman — August 4, 2014
World Humanist Congress speaker and "His Dark Materials" author Philip Pullman talks with RNS about atheism, Humanist funerals, and what atheists can learn from Jesus.
Humanists win right to solemnize their own weddings in Indiana
By Kimberly Winston — July 14, 2014
(RNS) “It is irrational to allow humanists to solemnize marriages if, and only if, they falsely declare that they are a ‘religion,’” Judge Frank Easterbrook wrote for a federal appeals court.
