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A litigious atheist organization known for its lawsuits challenging Christian prayer and symbols in public spaces and Bibles in public schools is now voicing objection to the designation of a Muslim prayer space at the University of Iowa (UI). The Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) says it is “questioning the appropriateness” of the two prayer rooms created primarily for male and female Muslim faculty and students at UI. FFRF states in a press release: The public university, located in Iowa City, has recently established two prayer rooms for its Muslim students. This is in addition to a longstanding university...

Jillette: "I sat on TV, while my hero Tommy Smothers yelled in my face how pissed off he was at me for appearing on Glenn Beck. It broke my heart."

From Tommy Smothers.

Did Penn & Teller Set a World Record for Most Falsehoods in One Show? Bill Donahue, president of the Catholic League, has said, "Penn & Teller's Nazi-like assault on Catholicism that took place on August 27 will go down in history as one of the most vile, obscene programs ever aired in any nation." However, will the show also go down in history for airing the most number of lies, falsehoods, and misleading statements in a single half-hour show? Not counting credits, the guilty episode runs less than 26 minutes. Here's a lie-by-lie list of the falsehoods that Penn Jillette...

The church, which is the worldwide head of the Anglican Communion, tweeted well-wishes for Dawkins, 74, and his family on Friday night, writing, “Prayers for Prof Dawkins and his family.” “The tweet was a prayer,” he wrote. “Nothing controversial in that.” Despite intending no ill will in sending the tweet, Arora said that a row quickly unfolded, with some claiming that the Church of England was “trolling” Dawkins over his illness. In the end, Arora said that the reactions made it apparent that there is profound confusion prayer. “What is clear in some of the responses is a misunderstanding of...

THE population of nonreligious Americans -- including atheists, agnostics and those who call themselves "nothing in particular" -- stands at an all-time high this election year. Americans who say religion is not important in their lives and who do not belong to a religious group, according to Pew Research Center, have risen in numbers from an estimated 21 million in 2008 to more than 36 million now. Despite the extraordinary swiftness and magnitude of this shift, our political campaigns are still conducted as if all potential voters were among the faithful. The presumption is that candidates have everything to gain...

A Satanic group is set to deliver an opening prayer at an upcoming meeting of the Phoenix City Council, sparking controversy. The local Satanic Temple will deliver the invocation at the Council’s Feb. 17 meeting after winning approval -- and at least one Councilman is calling that a joke, Fox 10 reported Thursday. "Well it's definitely going to be making a mockery of everything, they want to mock the City of Phoenix, the taxpayers, and the people who want to take this stuff seriously," the councilman Sal DiCiccio told that station.

Growing up, Bernie Sanders followed the path of many young American Jews. He went to Hebrew school, was bar mitzvahed and traveled to Israel to work on a kibbutz. But as an adult, Sanders drifted away from Jewish customs. And as his bid for the White House gains momentum, he has the chance to make history. Not just as the first Jewish president — but as one of the few modern presidents to present himself as not religious. "I am not actively involved with organized religion," Sanders said in a recent interview. Sanders said he believes in God, though not...

According to presidential candidate and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, there's one thing that more important to him than the country he's running to lead: his God. In a remarkable exchange in New Hampshire, Politico reports, Cruz told reporters "I'm a Christian first, American second, conservative third and Republican fourth." "I'll tell ya, there are a whole lot of people in this country that feel exactly the same way," he added. Cruz, currently ranked second in GOP candidate polls according to RealClearPolitics, enjoys wide support among evangelical Christians in important, early-voting primary states like Iowa, where Cruz is locked in a...

Is nonconformity and freethinking a mental illness? According to the newest addition of the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), it certainly is. The manual identifies a new mental illness called “oppositional defiant disorder” or ODD. Defined as an “ongoing pattern of disobedient, hostile and defiant behavior,” symptoms include questioning authority, negativity, defiance, argumentativeness, and being easily annoyed. - See more at: http://theunboundedspirit.com/nonconformity-and-freethinking-now-considered-mental-illnesses/#sthash.2oD6Hpv1.dpuf

In comments likely to enhance his progressive reputation, Pope Francis has written a long, open letter to the founder of La Repubblica newspaper, Eugenio Scalfari, stating that non-believers would be forgiven by God if they followed their consciences. Responding to a list of questions published in the paper by Mr Scalfari, who is not a Roman Catholic, Francis wrote: "You ask me if the God of the Christians forgives those who don't believe and who don't seek the faith. I start by saying - and this is the fundamental thing - that God's mercy has no limits if you go...

Pope Francis says God opens heaven's doors to non-believers who "obey their conscience," shattering a widely-held assumption about Christian beliefs and reinforcing his image as the most progressive pontiff in history. "You ask me if the God of the Christians forgives those who don't believe and who don't seek the faith," Francis wrote Friday in an open letter published in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. Francis was responding to questions from the paper's 91-year-old founder Eugenio Scalfari, reports Britain's The Independent.

Once upon a time in a galaxy right here and now the Creator God who made it all decided that although his man children had become nasty pieces of work (consult your local headlines) He loved these fallen creatures enough to try and give them a last chance at the really good stuff called the afterlife (or heaven). So He sent His Son (who was also Him) down to Earth to give His life for them, and all they had to do was believe that the Father God loved them enough to do such an outrageous thing, and then they...

Atheism is cool. At least, that's the popular perception of a worldview that's enjoyed a rebrand and a renaissance in the last couple of decades. Authors like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens have issued forceful public challenges to the claims of the major faiths and the rights they've traditionally been granted, while well-respected and high-profile public figures have lent vocal support to their ideas. When Stephen Fry outlined an atheist (or even anti-theist) position on an Irish talk show, the interview went viral in hours, while comedian Ricky Gervais frequently uses his substantial platform to attack and undermine religion in...

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- A prominent professing atheist group is seeking to put an end a Tennessee police department's "Adopt a Cop" program, which invites local residents to pray for members of the city's police force. The Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation sent a letter on Tuesday to the Johnson City Police Department to object to the program. The initiative involves assigning an officer to those who sign up for the effort, who in turn promise to pray daily for the officer's safety and well-being, as well as to send him or her a word of encouragement.

MUSLIM students repeatedly disrupted a lecture on blasphemy given by a human rights activist with one making a death threat, it has been claimed. Maryam Namazie was giving a lecture on blasphemy at the Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society (ASH), of Goldsmiths in London. Her talk was repeatedly disrupted by members of the university's Islamic Society (ISOC) with hecklers shouting and turning off her Powerpoint presentation when she showed a cartoon of Jesus and the prophet Muhammad. One member of the audience also claimed he received a death threat during Ms Namazie's talk.

Protesters from the Goldsmiths University Islamic Society have heckled and aggressively disrupted a talk from ex-Muslim and feminist campaigner Maryam Namazie. Ms Namazie was giving a speech on blasphemy and apostasy at the invitation of the Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society at Goldsmiths University when several men from the Goldsmiths Islamic Society (ISOC) arrived and started disrupting the event. The night before the event the president of the Islamic Society wrote to the ASH society saying "we feel extremely uncomfortable by the fact that you have invited Maryam Namazie. As you very well probably know, she is renowned for being...

What do you get when a magician buys an A-frame house in the desert? A sprawling, brightly colored compound that looks like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. It has hidden rooms, fire poles, and a place where visitors must sign in and have their mugshot taken. The Slammer is the creation of Penn Jillette. It sits on 10 acres of land in the Las Vegas desert. The residence started out as an A-frame house and grew as the magician, one half of the act Penn and Teller, added on. It has covered parking, a recording studio, a home...

Atheists Blast Ted Cruz's Response When Asked How Important It Is for a President to 'Fear God' Atheists are decrying Ted Cruz’s recent claim that any president who does not pray to God each day is unfit to serve as commander-in-chief.The Center for Freethought Equality, a secular lobbying group, released a statement on Monday condemning the Texas senator and Republican presidential candidate over a response that he gave to a question at the National Religious Liberties Conference in Des Moines, Iowa, on Friday.Cruz, who was asked how important he believes it is for “the president of the United States to...