Repression of atheists by the religious right

The Economist Magazine reports this morning that the number of people who identify as Atheists in the United States population has grown five-fold in the last five years. They derived this information from a Gallup poll which reinforces a year-old Pew survey, the latest in a series of such polls taken over the years. Read on…

Historical Humanists- Bagehot, Walter

Great and terrible systems of divinity and philosophy lie round about us, which, if true, might drive a wise man mad.”

“So long as there are earnest believers in the world, they will always wish to punish opinions, even if their judgment tells them it unwise, and their conscience it is wrong.”

— Walter Bagehot Read on…

“Atheists Lose Ground”

The Economist has printed a disturbing article about the growing respectability of Evangelism in the United States. “The Bond Between God And Power” discusses religious encroachment in three areas: government, business, and education. President Bush has his White House prayer circle and we may assume his “Higher Father” has sent him on a Holy Crusade in Iraq. God has become the “Businessman’s Partner” in some companies, and a Texas law now has thousands of pupils reciting a new pledge to … Read on…