A large cross-sectional study discovers that atheism is correlated with higher IQ.

(15) comments | Read the full article.

A profile of a medical student who turned into an Islamic militant.  “Frustrated strivers” with strong educational backgrounds are making Islamic militant groups even more potent enemies of the West.

Read the full article.

For the first time, the White House will meet with representatives from a non-theist organization.

(7) comments | Read the full article.

Article highlights atheist books found in the home of a person suspected of arson attacks on churches.

(7) comments | Read the full article.

The leader of a US religious cult was “outraged” when a one-year-old boy did not say “Amen” before a meal and ordered her followers to deprive him of food and water until he died, a prosecutor told jurors on Monday.

(14) comments | Read the full article.

Lose a tumour, gain self-transcendence.

Removing part of the brain can induce inner peace, according to researchers from Italy. Their study provides the strongest evidence to date that spiritual thinking arises in, or is limited by, specific brain areas.

(2) comments | Read the full article.

The finding that religion scarcely influences moral intuition undermines the idea that a godless society will be immoral, says Philip Ball. Whether it ‘explains’ religion is another matter.

(7) comments | Read the full article.

In the theater of American public apologies, it’s common for celebrities to invoke their faith.

Disgraced golf superstar Tiger Woods did it Friday, in fact, with a twist. He cited the role of Buddhism in his life - and will look to it to help him recover from serial infidelity.

(3) comments | Read the full article.

A recent Pew Research study of people 18 to 29 years old found, among other things, that they “are slightly more supportive than their elders of government efforts to protect morality, as well as somewhat more comfortable with involvement in politics by churches and other houses of worship.”

(1) comments | Read the full article.

The government in the Indian state of Meghalaya has confiscated textbooks showing pictures of Jesus Christ holding a cigarette and a can of beer.  State Education Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh said legal action against the publishers was being contemplated.

(4) comments | Read the full article.

Our genome is an unmitigated mess. The replication and repair mechanisms are inadequate, making mutations commonplace. The genome is infested with parasitic DNA that often wreaks havoc. The convoluted control mechanisms are prone to error. The huge amount of junk, not just between genes but within them, wastes resources. And some crucial bits of DNA are kept in the power factories - mitochondria - where they are exposed to mutagenic byproducts.

Lesch-Nyhan syndrome causes compulsive self-mutilation. Children eat their lips or fingers, and stab their faces with sharp objects. They feel the pain, but they cannot stop themselves. Why would a loving, all-powerful creator allow anyone to be born with such an awful disease?

(9) comments | Read the full article.

The Christian “truth” about America’s founding has long been taught in Christian schools, but not beyond. Recently, however some activists have decided that the time was right to try to reshape the history that children in public schools study.

(6) comments | Read the full article.

More coverage of the Global Atheist Convention to be held in Melbourne in March.

(4) comments | Read the full article.

The Church of England’s ruling council has passed a motion calling on Church leaders to emphasise the compatibility of belief in both God and science.

(11) comments | Read the full article.

There has been a swathe of dubious reports recently about the supposed benefits of religion – how it makes you healthier, happier, less anti-social and ensures that you grow better tomatoes.  Now we are seeing the opposite claims beginning to emerge. A new study published in Trends in Cognitive Science finds that religion may have evolved as a by-product of non-religious, cognitive processes, dispelling a competing theory that religion served as an adaptation to help unrelated individuals cooperate.  The findings, published on Monday, suggests that people’s gut instinct for what is right and wrong operates independently of religious upbringing.

(6) comments | Read the full article.

There has been a swathe of dubious reports recently about the supposed benefits of religion; how it makes you healthier, happier, less anti-social and ensures that you grow better tomatoes.

Read the full article.

An employment tribunal case being heard this week illustrated just how serious an issue religious bigotry is becoming in schools.  Nicholas Kafouris, who claims he was forced out of his job at Bigland Green Primary School in east London, was accused by one parent of believing that “Christianity is better than Islam”. She said he had made an “insulting” remark about her daughter wearing a headscarf in class.

(3) comments | Read the full article.

A class experiment has left a deep mark in a strongly religious community in Ohio.  The firing of a christian, middle school science teacher has divided a town, and surfaced the undeniable truth that creationism is being taught in American public schools.

(2) comments | Read the full article.

Sikhs should be allowed to carry ceremonial knives in schools and other public places, says Britain’s first Asian judge. But can religion ever justify loopholes in the law?

(9) comments | Read the full article.

Every bit of Christian teaching can be summed up in three words: God is love. That is the simple truth that teaches tolerance of same-sex unions.

(2) comments | Read the full article.