Magician Penn Jillette, from Penn& Teller, has received death threats for his anti-religious beliefs. He has written books titled God, No! and Every Day is an Atheist Holiday! Penn is, and always has been, outspoken about his beliefs which has caused numerous death threats over the years.

In an interview with Seven magazine, Penn said “I think that 9/11 made a lot of atheists more vocal. A lot of us…Just took that as a sign of how dangerous it was to be quiet at all. I don’t think anybody became an atheist because of that event. But a lot of people who were atheist decided to shut up less about it. But I’ve been an outspoken atheist for 40 years. "

He joked about comparing death threats with Richard Dawkins and South Park creator Trey Parker. Penn continues on with the interview saying the death threats he receives are from mentally ill people, who may also happen to be religious.

He said “And all of a sudden it came to me that we weren’t really talking about religion at all. We were talking about mentally ill people we happen to label in a certain way. And the number are so, so, so small…yeah, once in a while the police are called on someone who’s written something that crosses a line, and that’s sad – and that person could just as easily be an atheist, or anything. You can talk all you want about the violent imagery of religion – but it’s not the violent imagery of religion that’s making people send out death threats. It’s a mental illness."

http://www.goddiscussion.com/115235/penn-jillette-receives-death-threats-because-of-atheist-views/

Imagine a police officer refusing to guard a Sikh temple, give a presentation on safety and crime prevention at a Catholic elementary school, conduct foot patrols in a neighborhood with a large Orthodox Jewish population, or come to the aid of an injured woman wearing a hijab.

As crazy as they may sound, these scenarios are not that far-fetched, given an Oklahoma police officer's recent refusal to serve community members with different religious beliefs.

In 2011, the Islamic Society of Tulsa organized a Law Enforcement Appreciation Day to show its gratitude for protection provided after threats to its mosque. As part of its longstanding community-policing initiative, the Tulsa Police Department requested some of its officers to attend, as they had for hundreds of other outreach events hosted by various religious organizations over the years.

One officer – Captain Paul Fields – refused, however, claiming his attendance would pose a "moral dilemma." Even when in uniform, Fields argued, he had a "duty to proselytize" anyone who doesn't share his Christian beliefs. Despite his supervisors' assurances that no one at the event would be required to participate in any religious observations or express or adopt any beliefs, and despite their offers that he send a subordinate in his place, Fields wouldn't follow orders.

https://www.aclu.org/blog/religion-belief-criminal-law-reform/sorry-officer-you-have-duty-protect-and-serve-not

A CATHOLIC couple of Roma origin who were judged unfit to raise two of their sons have failed to block the adoption of the boys by a same sex couple in Kent.

The Slovakian couple argued in a case brought before the High Court in London that their two young children would grow up alienated from their family and community.

In what Mrs Justice Theis described as a “very sad case”, the boys – aged two and four – were put up for adoption because of concerns about the couple’s parenting.

The court heard the boys’ older siblings’ school attendance was poor, that they were left alone and “over-chastised” – the father admitted he had beaten them – and sometimes appeared dirty and unkempt.

The judge had ruled the younger boys should be adopted, for their long-term welfare.

http://freethinker.co.uk/2014/05/24/gay-couple-chosen-to-adopt-children-of-unfit-parents/

Reginald Wayne Miller, the president and founder of Cathedral Bible College, is not allowed to set foot on the college campus in Marion or communicate with any of the school's current or former foreign students as an investigation continues into allegations that Miller threatened to cancel foreign students' visas if they did not work long hours for little pay.

Those terms are part of a $250,000 secured bond that Magistrate Judge Thomas Rogers set for Miller during a detention hearing Friday in federal court. In addition, Miller will be on home detention and will be required to wear an electronic monitoring device.

--snip--

Agents with Homeland Security Investigations filed a criminal complaint against Miller this week saying they have probable cause to charge him with forced labor, a felony that carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years for each count. Investigators say Miller forced foreign students to work at the campus and his personal residence for as little as $25 per week. Miller threatened to cancel the students' visas if they complained or didn't comply with his demands, according to an affidavit filed this week.

http://www.thestate.com/2014/05/23/3463855/bond-set-at-250000-for-wayne-miller.html#storylink=cpy

In her new autobiography, R&B singer Toni Braxton said that she believes God gave her 11-year-old son autism as punishment for an abortion she had years before.

According to The Frisky, Braxton wrote in Unbreak My Heart that she found out she was pregnant when she was taking the powerful acne drug Accutane.

The drug, which shrinks and eliminates sebum-producing cells in the skin, was first used as a chemotherapy drug for pancreatic and brain cancers. Women are urged not to take the drug if they are pregnant or may become pregnant because the chemical attacks rapidly reproducing cells like those of a developing fetus. Embryos exposed to the drug can have severe birth defects.

--snip--

Years later, retribution came, she said, “I believed God’s payback was to give my son autism.”

--snip--

Braxton gave a nod to the anti-vaccination believers by noting that she first noted changes in her son’s behavior “after my son’s first MMR vaccine.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/05/24/singer-toni-braxton-god-gave-my-son-autism-because-i-once-had-an-abortion/

"In the last 50 years, evidence has steadily mounted that the components and conditions we believe necessary for life are common and perhaps ubiquitous in our galaxy," said Werthimer in his written testimony, adding: "The possibility that life has arisen elsewhere, and perhaps evolved intelligence, is plausible and warrants scientific inquiry."


http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/05/astronomers-tell-congress-almost-certain-et-exists/

A megachurch pastor confessed to covering up sexual abuse claims during this week's trial of a youth leader accused of molesting several boys. Nathaniel Morales, 56, was convicted Thursday of sexually abusing three young boys between 1983 and 1991.

Covenant Life Church former pastor Grant Layman admitted on Tuesday while testifying about allegations against Nathaniel Morales that he withheld incriminating information from the police about the abuse.

Public defender Alan Drew asked Layman if had an "obligation to report the alleged abuse?"

"I believe so," he replied.

"And you didn't?" asked Drew, to which Layman responded "no."

According to Brent Detwiler, who attended the trial and is a former Sovereign Grace pastor who now runs a watchdog blog about the ministry of which Covenant Life Church was part until 2012, Layman acknowledged that over the course of 1992 he learned that Morales had abused two boys, but did not go to authorities with these claims.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/megachurch-pastor-confesses-to-protecting-child-molester-for-years-119877/

In a study to be unveiled just hours from now, brilliantly titled “I Know What You Did Last Sunday,” the Public Religion Research Institute shows that Americans are lying their asses off when it comes to admitting how often they go to church.

How do they know? Researchers conducted two types of surveys — one over the phone and one online — in which they asked the same questions about going to church and belief in God. When participants had to provide answers to a human being over the phone, they were much more likely to inflate their church attendance numbers. And when they’re in front of a computer, they’re more likely to admit that they rarely, if ever, go to church.

The degree to which Americans over-report their religious participation varies considerably by religious affiliation. Among religious groups, Catholics and white mainline Protestants are more likely than white evangelical Protestants to over-report their levels of religious participation. When interviewed by telephone, fewer than 3-in-10 (28%) white mainline Protestants report that they seldom or never attend religious services, compared to 45% in the self-administered online survey.

Catholics are less than half as likely to report seldom or never attending religious services when responding to a telephone versus online survey (15% vs. 33%). Among white evangelical Protestants, the differences between modes are less stark: 9% report they seldom or never attend religious services when speaking with a live interviewer, compared to 17% who report the same in a self-administered survey. Among black Protestants, the differences between modes are also not as glaring. Only 14% of black Protestants report seldom or never attending on a telephone survey, compared to nearly one-quarter (24%) on the online survey.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2014/05/16/new-study-shows-that-americans-lie-about-how-often-they-really-go-to-church/

A Sandusky pastor who dodged a child rape conviction last year was indicted yet again this month for allegedly raping a young girl and fondling a young boy at his church a decade ago. Richard Mick, 52, of the 8000 block Ohio 101, is now facing two counts of rape and two counts of gross sexual imposition for the alleged incidents.

Both of the victims were about 8 years old when Mick allegedly abused them, and both were parishioners of his congregation, Lighthouse Baptist Church. Both are now teenage adults.

Mick was charged with similar crimes — two counts of rape — in 2012 for allegedly raping another young parishioner on two occasions years ago.

--snip--

The Bellevue-area girl Mick is now accused of raping told Sandusky police Detective Ken Nixon there were two instances in which Mick allegedly abused her — both occurring on church grounds. She recalled the abuse happening on days her family attended church services, Nixon said.

Meanwhile, the Sandusky boy Mick allegedly fondled said those incidents occurred two or three times. At the time, the 8-year-old boy occasionally had accidents. Mick allegedly accompanied the child into the bathroom to help him change his clothes, but would inappropriately touch him while doing so, Nixon said.

http://www.sanduskyregister.com/article/sexual-assault/5642011