Not strictly a religious killing, but worthy of note, because the cultural tradition that allows the murder of those suspected of 'adultery' comes straight from Islam. This one has a ...

Judge Commits 8 Over Exorcism Killings MEXICO CITY - A judge committed eight relatives to the psychiatric ward of a prison Thursday for the ritualistic slayings of two young family members ...

In true holiday spirit, some current or former CUT members have shown their colors in the comment section of "The Atheist Manifesto." This blog was started with the desire to include all viewpoints, and within a certain range, I try to do that. I've never banned any IP addresses--until now. The only other time I've deleted comments is after notifying the commenter he was not welcome, and having the commenter himself ask me to delete them.

I know this is late, but better late than never, Right? Still not too late to wish anyone Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable CHRISTMAS, or that ...

Father jailed over 'possessed' baby 22 December 2005 A school adviser who worked closely with police has been jailed for life for torturing and killing his baby because he thought she was ...

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A federal judge on Tuesday banned the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution by Pennsylvania's Dover ...

The last time I saw my mother It was a beautiful day in October, 2000, in Bozeman, Montana. My three sisters and I all ...

One hundred and fifty pounds of the plastic explosive compound C-4 and 250 pounds of undetectable "sheet explosives" — a flexible explosive material that can be hidden in books and ...

Adherents of faith often bemoan the lack of 'values' in modern culture. But don't they secretly enjoy the diversity provided by the secular world? The 85-90% of Americans who say ...

Nothing I could say would match the power, insight, and sheer genius of this essay by Sam Harris. Thanks to Goosing the Antithesis for posting this first.

Typepad took a major dump last night. So I'm commemorating the event with an appropriate image from Special Defects. Nothing ...

Pinkerton writes: Any movie that features white people sailing off to the Third World to capture a giant ape and carry it back to the West for exploitation is going ...

Two more people have fallen victim to belief. A 17-month-old child is dead, and her mother will probably spend the rest of her life in jail. A woman who ...

When we look at the remarkable descent this culture has made into smut, contempt, vulgarity and the pornagraphic, those of us who are not willing to drink the Kool-Aid marked ...

From the comment files: Re: moral code, I think it's pretty clear cut that self-interest is the highest moral principle. This must be looked at in the long-term i.e. selfishness vs. self-interest. Selfishness would be short term taking advantage of others for personal gain--which would have long term consequences such as loss of reputation, running afoul of laws, etc. In a word, selfishness of this type would be just plain stupid. A person acting this way would quickly become a pariah, and thus lose the benefit of any short-term gain.

Another of my salon letters in response to this article: Of all the circumstances that govern a families' food consumption, the most important is choice. If the fast food is ...

A recent article in the New York Times frets about government use of cell-tracking data. This highlights a strong paradox in the growing privacy debate: With a benign government, no ...

U.S. Life Expectancy Hits All-Time High

For years, I've resisted the temptation to wade into the controversy surrounding my parents and their church. I wanted to discuss my own views free from a focus on them. ...

Marxist pilgrims from China can't wait to get to the capitalist shops

"Ethical" concerns seem to be sweeping the press and some sectors of the scientific world regarding the recent "face transplant" in France. People are concerned about many things: the identity confusion of a person having someone else's face whether the use of stem-cells should have been undertaken at the same time the mental health of the patient whether something less radical could have been done whether or not the patient should receive money for photographs Some perspective is needed: First, we should be celebrating the fact that medicine has advanced to the point where such an operation is possible. Second, we should be most concerned whether the procedure works, and whether the patient can tolerate the foreign tissue long-term. That answer won't be known for months. Let's hope she makes a full recovery.

Letter about this story on salon. Family secrets are the beginning of all social hypocrisy. It may be a shame that young children have to hear about the murder of ...

A school today defended its decision to exclude a pupil after she refused to take off her crucifix necklace. Sam Morris, 16, was told to remove her ...

A proper non-religious response to world AIDS day. Are you listening, Benedict and George W?? The Obelisk of Buenos Aires is covered with a giant condom to ...

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Some 56 percent of U.S. consumers think Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is bad for America, according to a Zogby International poll released on Thursday by one of the ...