freethought

Rep. Rashida Tlaib joins Congressional Freethought Caucus
(RNS) — Rep. Rashida Tlaib, one of the first Muslim women in Congress, has joined the Congressional Freethought Caucus.

‘Nones’ get their first congressional caucus
(RNS) — The new caucus comes as the religious ‘nones’ — those who claim no religious affiliation — jumped from about 16 percent of the U.S. population in 2007 to nearly 23 percent in 2014, according to the latest Pew data.

Meet the tireless women working to free Raif Badawi and Waleed Abu al-Khair
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.

Secular Solstice: Doing good for goodness’ sake
OAKLAND, Calif. (RNS) A newly minted observance called “Secular Solstice” takes religious ritual common to the holiday season and adds its own spin.

Atheist coalition wants you to know they are ‘Openly Secular’
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.”

Atheists may not pray, Brevard (Fla.) county commissioners say
(RNS) Brevard County commissioners voted to ban atheists from opening public meetings, a direct challenge to a Supreme Court ruling.

Does the Air Force ‘encourage atheism’ and ‘prosecute Christianity’?
Is the Air Force Academy creating an atmosphere that “encourage[s] atheism [and] prosecute[s] Christianity,” as a commentator is claiming? No. Here’s why.

Iraqi refugee works to make life safer for secular humanists
(RNS) Most people assume that because Faisal Saeed Al-Mutar is an Iraqi refugee, he is Muslim. This is not the case. Al-Mutar is a secular humanist, and an outspoken one at that.

Godless funerals thrive in ‘post-Catholic’ Ireland
DUBLIN (RNS) After 32 years as an interior designer, Patricia Wojnar went back to school for a master’s degree in bereavement studies, a hot commodity in Ireland’s “post-Catholic” economy that features growing markets for wedding and funeral officiants who aren’t associated with the scandal-scarred Catholic Church.

Humanists slice and dice the world’s sacred texts
(RNS) “A Jefferson Bible For the 21st Century” takes Thomas Jefferson’s slice-and-dice Bible one step further. By Kimberly Winston.
Campus atheists score big funding from Wisconsin university
(RNS) An atheist student group at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has scored nearly $70,000 in funding, a national record for a campus atheist group. By Kimberly Winston.
Survey finds record 19 percent of religiously unaffiliated Americans
(RNS) Unbelief is on the uptick. People who check “None” for their religious affiliation are now nearly one in five Americans (19 percent), the highest ever documented, according to the Pew Center for the People and the Press. By Cathy Lynn Grossman.

Do atheists have a sexual harassment problem?
(RNS) Women's attendance at atheist conferences is down and sexual harassment accusations are rising, which leads to the question: Does the nontheist community have a sexual harassment problem? By Kimberly Winston.
Atheist files complaint over Pennsylvania restaurant’s discount for churchgoers
LANCASTER, Pa. (RNS) For more than a year, Prudhomme's Lost Cajun Kitchen in Lancaster County, Pa., has offered a Sunday special: Diners who bring in a current church bulletin receive 10 percent off the purchase of their dinners. But the promotion rubs atheists the wrong way. By Sue Gleiter.