(RNS) The city council of Santa Monica, Calif., has voted to halt unattended, private displays in a public park after a fight last year between atheists and Christians who had erected Nativity scenes for decades. By Adelle M. Banks.

(RNS) Ryan Cragun doesn't want to completely revoke the tax-exempt status of religious organizations. Instead, he thinks tax exemptions should only be allowed for nonprofit groups -- religious or secular -- whose services the government would have to supply if those organizations disappeared. By Kimberly Winston.

NEW ORLEANS (RNS) Jerry DeWitt is beginning to develop a national profile in the small universe of organized unbelievers as a former Pentecostal preacher who little by little lost his faith right there in the pulpit. Now DeWitt is out of the pulpit, and public about his nonbelief. By Bruce Nolan.

ATHENS, Ala. (RNS) A new film, "Hell and Mr. Fudge,'' follows the story of Edward Fudge as he began an intensive study of the Bible and the doctrine of hell. What he found made him question one of the bedrock doctrines of Bible-based Christianity -- and nearly got him run out of town. By Kay Campbell.

(RNS) Atheists and others who don’t adhere to a religion often say they can be good without God. And now, three new studies seem to back them up. By Kimberly Winston.

WASHINGTON (RNS) One of the biggest growth areas in political activism around religion is coming from an unlikely source: the nonreligious. And it's happening far from the marbled corridors of power in the nation's capital. Kimberly Winston tells why.

(RNS) The Secular Coalition for America's new leader is a Republican lobbyist who has worked for two Republican presidents and four Republican senators. Here's why she got the job. By Kimberly Winston.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (RNS) As Christians prepare to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, Bart Ehrman, an agnostic, convincingly demonstrates there was a historical Jesus. As for the "mythicists" who argue otherwise -- many of them his biggest fans -- Ehrman has some choice words: "sensationalist," "wrongheaded" and "amateurish." By Yonat Shimron.

(RNS) In his new book, "Religion For Atheists: A Non-believer's Guide to the Uses of Religion," Swiss philosopher Alain d Botton outlines an array of things he contends religions get right and atheists can adopt to create a better, richer secular society. By Kimberly Winston.

WASHINGTON (RNS) Atheists and nonbelievers gathered on the National Mall Saturday (March 24) in a bid to show politicians, voters and even themselves that they have grown into a force to be recognized and reckoned with. By Kimberly Winston.

(RNS) Thousands of nonbelievers will gather this Saturday (March 24) on the National Mall for the "Reason Rally," a daylong event to "unify, energize and embolden secular people nationwide." By Kimberly Winston.

(RNS) After more than a year of planning, atheists in the military will stage a public event celebrating their lack of religious beliefs at North Carolina's Fort Bragg -- a recognition, they hope, of nonbelievers who are outnumbered in what they call an overly Christianized military. By Kimberly Winston.

PORTLAND, Ore. (RNS) William Hamilton, the retired theologian who declared in the 1960s that God was dead, died Tuesday (Feb. 28) in his downtown Portland apartment. He was 87. By Nancy Haught.

LONDON (RNS) A controversial Oxford University professor billed by many as the world's ``most famous atheist'' now says he is not 100 percent sure that God doesn't exist _ but just barely. By Al Webb.

(RNS) Many African-American atheists say that the act of "coming out" as nonbelievers in their community is to risk everything -- friends, family, business ties -- even their racial and cultural identity. By Kimberly Winston.