I just ran across the Tennessee statute, Tenn Code Ann. § 36-6-404, that provides the factors that courts are to consider in determining physical custody as between two parents. Many states have such lists of factors, but the bold text seems to me to be unique to Tennessee: (b) … The court shall make residential […]
Archive | Atheism
Another Example of Unconstitutional Religious Discrimination in Virginia Marriage Law
By Ilya Somin on April 4, 2013 12:49 am in Atheism, Fourteenth Amendment, Religion, Religion and the Law
Co-blogger Eugene Volokh recently linked to a Virginia state court decision striking down as unconstitutional a state law that allowed religious societies without official clergy to designate only one member as having the power to perform wedding ceremonies, while religious groups that do have clergy can designate more. The court concluded that the First and […]
3-Year Sentence for Blasphemy in Egypt
Al Arabiya reports: An Egyptian Copt arrested on suspicion of posting online an anti-Islam film that ignited Muslim protests around the world was sentenced on Wednesday to three years in prison, a court source said Computer science graduate Alber Saber, 27, was arrested at his Cairo home on Sept. 13 after neighbours accused him of […]
The Boy Scouts’ Other Discriminatory Policy
Over the last decade, a lot of attention has focused on the Boy Scouts’ policy banning gays and lesbians from participating as Scouts or working for the organization. Most recently, a group of Eagle Scouts have returned their merit badges in protest of the policy. Unfortunately, very few have protested the Boy Scouts’ equally unjustified […]
Is Atheism a Religion?
At the Reason website, Kennedy (who apparently has only one name), argues at length that atheism should be considered a religion: [W]hether you make sense of the world as an atheist and don’t require the God postulate to complete your understanding, or you are a theist and your feelings and experiences tell you something greater […]
Atheism, Religion, and Presidential Voting
The New York Times Room for Debate Forum has an interesting symposium on the role of religion in presidential elections. In his contribution, polling expert Andrew Kohut cites a 2007 Pew survey showing that atheism is viewed more negatively by voters than virtually any other possible trait of a presidential candidate. A whopping 63% of […]
The Next Round of Leah Libresco’s Turing Test for Religion
Leah Libresco has now posted many of the questions and answers for the next round of her Turing Test for religion. They are available at her blog. In the previous round, her fifteen test participants (some real atheists, and some Christians) answered four questions about atheism, trying to persuade readers that they are genuine atheists. […]
Leah Libresco’s Turing Test for Religion
Atheist blogger Leah Libresco has now begun to implement her Turing Test for religion, which I previously wrote about here. At her blog, she has recruited fifteen test participants who will first answer four questions about atheism, trying to persuade readers that they are real atheists. They will then answer four questions about Christianity, seeking […]
A Turing Test For Religion
Inspired by Bryan Caplan’s ideological Turing Test, atheist blogger Leah Libresco proposes a religious Turing test to measure the extent to which Christians and atheists understand the arguments of the other side [HT: Bryan Caplan]: Just like Caplan, I’d like to put my money where my mouth is and play in an ideological Turing Test […]
Judge Grilling Parent in Child Custody Case About the Parent’s Secular Humanism
By Eugene Volokh on March 9, 2011 6:33 pm in Atheism, Child Custody and Constitutional Law, Parental Rights, Religion and the Law
From yesterday’s Atchley v. Atchley: The trial court addressed the following inquiry to the husband. Q. Now, you said you attend a Morning Star Church? A. Correct. Q. Do you donate money to the church? A. I don’t donate money to the church. Q. Do you—does [husband’s girlfriend]? A. No, she has not yet. Q. […]
New York Times on the Secular Right Blog
The New York Times recently ran an interesting article on the Secular Right blog, which I commented on here back when it was first established: As a child, Razib Khan spent several weeks studying in a Bangladeshi madrasa. Heather Mac Donald once studied literary deconstructionism and clerked for a left-wing judge. In neither case did […]
Explaining Group Differences in Knowledge of Religion
As I noted in a recent post, the Pew Research Center survey of public knowledge of religion found that atheists and agnostics, Jews, and Mormons are the groups with by far the highest knowledge levels in this field. The disparity between these groups and the rest of the population persists even after controlling for education. […]
Public Ignorance About Religion
A Recent Pew Research Center survey of American’s knowledge about religion shows widespread ignorance. The study asked 32 mostly relatively basic multiple choice questions about various religions (including a few on religion and public life): On average, Americans correctly answer 16 of the 32 religious knowledge questions on the survey by the Pew Research Center’s […]
Queensland University Suspends Lawyer for YouTube-Distributed Blasphemy
By Eugene Volokh on September 14, 2010 2:23 pm in "Hate Speech", Atheism, Blasphemy, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities, Religion and the Law, Religious Freedom
The Brisbane Times reports that: A Queensland University of Technology lawyer[,] … Alex Stewart[,] has taken leave from his non-academic position as a QUT [Queensland University of Technology] commercial contracts lawyer after controversy erupted over a YouTube clip in which he smokes self-made cigarettes rolled in pages from the [Koran and the Bible] before rating […]
Property Rights for Deities?
Co-blogger Eugene Volokh links to an Indian newspaper article about a ruling concerning the property rights of Hindu gods. According to the article, Hindu deities are allowed to acquire at least some types of property rights under Indian law, though perhaps “only deities of registered public trusts were allowed to acquire property in their names.” […]