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Religious News Verses: Rifts, Boycotts, Imprecatory Prayer and Public Opinion

Posted by God Discussion Reporter in In The News on 10 22nd, 2009 | no responses

NPR reports that there is a rift that is dividing atheists. The "new atheists" tend to be almost fundamentalist in nature when they attack religion with an "in your face" attitude that includes tasteless art and tactics meant to insult the religious. The more old school atheists, who promote thoughtful discourse that goes beyond simply attacking religion, fear that the "new atheist" movement may set the entire secular movement back.

Furious over the creation of Harvey Milk Day, "Save California" is calling on California Christian parents to boycott public schools. One News Now reports that Randy Thomasson, president of the group, claims that "The boycott needs to be established by parents to protect their children, but also to drive home a point that they do not want their children indoctrinated with a pro-homosexual philosophy."

The Rutherford Institute announced that it is representing the Chaplaincy of Full Gospel Churches, defendant in a case filed by Michael Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Weinstein, who has been the subject of the group's imprecatory prayers, says that these prayers have inspired the extreme Christians to terrorize his family. As reported earlier,

"– his family has received death threats, had a swastika emblazoned on their home in New Mexico, animal carcasses left on their doorstep and feces thrown at the house."

The Christian Anti-Defamation Commission is complaining about religious persecution because the University of North Texas conducted a survey of public opinion on the religious right, which the CADC thinks "encourages hostility against the Christian Right."

Editor's Note – This survey was mentioned in Tuesday's news and has been closed. I took the survey and saw nothing hostile at all — all questions could be answered favorably for the Christian Right or critically. Most required short answers. They were not "yes / no" types of questions that would have encouraged bias. A survey on political opinion is hardly "hostility" against the Christian Right. If you gave a negative answer about the Christian Right, the survey asked that you explain why. So, if you said something negative, you had to back it up with something. It seems that it is perfectly fine for Christian groups to criticize others and even participate in imprecatory prayers (basically, God-endorsed death wishes) against people that they disagree with; yet, they claim that they are being treated with hostility if anyone gives an opinion about them or talks about their agenda. I am talking about the Christian Right here; mainstream or progressive Christians do not behave in this manner. — Deborah

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Here in the States, a growing number of people are no longer affiliated with any religion. Yet, there are some Christian groups who continue to insist on blurring the lines of separation between church and state. For the non-churchgoers and freethinkers worldwide, this site features news, reviews and editorials on just about anything regarding religion. Your opinion is always welcome here, either as a columnist or commenter. Hey, this is not church -- you are allowed to speak your mind and think for yourself!

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Religious News Verses: Rifts, Boycotts, Imprecatory Prayer and Public Opinion

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