Richard Dawkins is considered one of the top British intellectuals of the 21st Century. He’s known for his opinions on atheism and his books on evolution. In his most recent book, Outgrowing God, he talks about his own experience with religion, and how science offers us a far more convincing and concrete view of the world we live in.

It’s the nature of human beings and their beliefs. And this assumed superiority is continuously reinforced by shaming proponents of any heterodoxy that emerges in groups of shared belief, like for example in conservative evangelical Protestant factions.

This is a man who grew into authenticity and is now reaping the reward. He brings to mind the advice of Polonius from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”: “This above all: to thine own self be true.” Polonius’ words encourage us to live honestly with ourselves. Similarly, Beltran shares a personal lesson with his friends, namely that we cannot lie to ourselves (or others) without negative consequences.

The article reported that an American Enterprise Institute survey of more than 2,500 Americans showed “little evidence of a … surge in religious interest” among millennials, even though many now are married with children and have mortgages. AEI’s survey reported that data suggested several key reasons...

Millennials have earned a reputation for reshaping industries and institutions — shaking up the workplace, transforming dating culture, and rethinking parenthood. They’ve also had a dramatic impact on American religious life. Four in ten millennials now say they are religiously unaffiliated, according to the Pew Research Center. In fact, millennials (those between the ages of 23 and 38) are now almost as likely to say they have no religion as they are to identify as Christian. 1

Madalyn Murray O’Hair founded the American Atheists organization in the 1960s following the landmark Supreme court ruling that banned prayer in public schools — of which O’Hair pushed for herself. The mission of the American Atheists was in part inclusive, and O’Hair opened her arms to people of all kinds — including ex-cons. It would be this willingness and openness, though, that would lead to her grisly demise more than 30 years later.

When an American Airlines crew member asked Swati Runi Goyal to get her things and follow him to the front of the plane during her Oct. 30 flight from Florida to Nevada, she thought she was getting upgraded to first class.

The worn hinges squeak as I pull the heavy wooden door open. Inside is a cavernous room, its walls made of stone. Looking back at me is a fireplace with a wrought-iron log holder that reminds me of an overgrown spider. The stone surrounding it is scarred with black ash.

When given a hypothetical scenario describing a fictional character who progresses from torturing animals as a child to murdering homeless people as an adult, most people assume that this person is an atheist—and that includes atheists themselves. That's what researchers at the University of Kentucky in Lexington are now reporting in the journal Human Behavior. "It is striking that even atheists appear to hold the same intuitive anti-atheist bias," lead researcher and psychology professor Will Gervais says, per the Guardian.

This is the second post from a series of three articles in which religious views of well-known scientists will be listed. The other two posts, you may guess, will celebrate believers and agnostics in the field of physics. You ready for this?

Should you believe in a God? Not according to most academic philosophers. A comprehensive survey revealed that only about 14% of English-speaking professional philosophers are theists. As for what little religious belief remains among their colleagues, most professional philosophers regard it as a strange aberration among otherwise intelligent people. Among scientists the situation is much the same.

There’s a brand new 90-million-year-old fossil of an ichthyosaurus now on display in England, but the real story is that it could have been on display nearly 170 years ago if not for religion.

"Thoughts and prayers for others should be employed selectively," says an economist behind a new study on the value of the phrase.

Non-Christians want you to keep your thoughts and prayers to yourself during times of tragedy, according to a new report. Researchers Linda Thunström and Shiri Noy conducted an experiment with 400 Christian, atheist and agnostic survivors of Hurricane Florence in an attempt to place value on thoughts and prayers. Participants of other religious faiths were excluded from the study...

David Quinn of the Iona Institute has written a blog post taking issue with my statement that: “I believe we should treat every individual person with the same respect and dignity and love.” David agrees with this, but says that as an atheist I cannot justify believing it. David says that some atheists say that we should treat each other with respect because we are a social species, and our ancestors evolved to survive through cooperation.

It's like going off a drug.

As people sour on the religious beliefs they grew up with, a new generation is embracing astrology apps, tarot cards, crystals and other spiritual practices.

A B.C. nurse who lost his job when he refused to attend a 12-step program for addiction will get a chance to argue he was discriminated against as an atheist. Byron Wood contends Alcoholics Anonymous's emphasis on placing your life in the hands of a higher power simply won't work for someone who doesn't hold any religious beliefs.

The Michigan Supreme Court just issued a ruling that could allow parents who murdered one child to regain custody of their three other kids… all because they happen to be religious. The story began in early 2017, when Abigail Piland was born without any obvious problems. But when the midwife who helped deliver her checked back the next day, Abigail didn’t look healthy.

This week I learned that anti-blasphemy laws aren’t the only statutes U.S. state governments still have on their books to enforce religion on citizens. Constitutional articles in seven states still specifically prohibit atheists from holding public office, and an eighth, Pennsylvania, also, in effect, disallows atheist public officials but with more round-about language. Those states with a direct constitutional prohibition are Arkansas, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. The statutory language for each is shown here.