Category Archives: Atheist

They are ex-missionaries and military pilots, yoga instructors and computer programmers, mothers, fathers, professors and political activists.

Some left religion on a rocky, anguished path, stung by abuse or shunned by family. Others came to the realization slowly, after a lifetime of questions they couldn't shake.

Jay Brown was the missionary. Raised in small-town Iowa, he traveled the world spreading the Lord's Gospel until two years ago, when he realized he was an atheist.

The epiphany almosttore apart his marriage, but the family has persevered. Now, Brown says, he finds meaning in being a good father and husbandand helping others.

Zalman Newfield, a sociology professorfrom Hoboken, New Jersey, left his ultra-Orthodox Jewish upbringing years ago but still holds tight to the traditions of his childhood. Each week, he gathers his two young daughters to study the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible.

They are two travelers among many in one ofthe fastest-growing movements in America: the"Nones"people whose relationship with institutionalized religion can best be described as"none" or "nothing."

In a country founded on tales of devout worshippers willing to risk everythingfor religious freedom, from Puritans toQuakers to Mormons, surveys say the Nones (pronounced, ironically, "nuns") now accountfor about one in every four Americans. It'sa sea change set to transformthe country's religion, culture and politics.

Just as interesting as the exodus is what's replacing organized religion in people's lives: a more personal, often hard-to-define spirituality and search for meaning. That can manifest as a devotion to nature, meditation, yoga or political activism, among other things.

While atheism is growing in America, many of the Nones tell pollsters they still believe in a higher power, or even the Biblical God but on their own terms, not those of a preacher, rabbi or imam.

Ryan Burge, aSouthern Baptist minister, began pastoring a small church in Mount Vernon, Illinois, in 2006 while he was completing his graduate studiesin political science. Within adecade, he said, "my church went from having about 50 people in the pews to just over 20. What was happening in American religion was also happeningrightin front of me."

Within 10 years, the number of people in the U.S.whoaffiliate with no particular faithwill be larger than any individual religious denomination, predicts Burge, nowapolitical science professor at Eastern Illinois University. His book,"The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going," was published in March.

As many as 70million American adults now identify as Nones, he said.Their numbers rose steadily from the 1970s onward and then accelerated in the new century, leaping from 17% of the populationin 2009 to26% in 2019, according to a Pew Research Center survey.

In recentyears, one study after anotherhas sought to decipher their motivations and movements.

In late March, aGallup poll found that 47% of U.S. adults belonged to a houseof worship,the first time that group accounted for less thanhalf of thepopulation since the pollster began asking the questionnearly a century ago.

The Nones are largely a youth movement. A landmark survey of a half-million Americans released in Julyfound just over a third of adultsunder 30 were unaffiliated. In 1986, it was just 10%,according to the nonprofit Public Religion Research Institute.

Raised in a culture where they were urged to think creatively and "outside the box," today's youth are reinventing religious practices to accommodatetheir own lifestyles. Many optto be spiritually connected in a way that feels authentic to them but would likelyseem strange or heretical to their Bible-toting ancestors.

Nonesoften striveto find spirituality from within, be it through meditation, yoga or gatherings with communities of friends. They insist on forging their own journeys in a way that feels genuine to their souls.

"What we find are young people who are trying to figure out how to put the pieces together to create a flourishingspiritual life from a variety of sources," said Josh Packard, a sociologist and author of "The Emerging Church: Religion at the Margins."

"Many are turning to nature, online communities, meditationand other spiritual practices," said Packard, who is also executive director of the Springtide Research Institute inMinnesota, which studies the faith of young people.

"However we still see relatively high rates of prayer."

Some find their way to places likeOne Yoga & Wellness Centerin Hightstown, New Jersey,where Tracey Ulshafer, a master yoga teacher and interfaith minister, helps students find "a connection through body, mind and spirit."

Interest has been on the rise, said Ulshafer.Those who come for physical benefitsoften find a deeper transformation, she added.

Finding spirituality through yoga

"Yoga is a science of self-realization," Ulshafer said."When you are performing the poses, you are meditating. I bring a lot of spirituality to my classes. Spirituality is a calling in everyone, whether it's conscious or not. We are all divine beings, and we need to seek that out. You have to feel it for yourself."

Spirituality a "connection to a power greater than yourself"hasbecome the substitute for religion, said Linda Mercadante, an emeritus researchprofessor at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio and author of "Belief without Borders: Inside the Minds of the Spiritual but not Religious."

"Americahasa longreligious heritage, so it won't be thrown out soon. Instead, it will be replaced by a more vague spirituality," she said. "A lot of people won't say the word 'God' because that'snot popular. But they will say 'universe.' "

There's no one explanation for why people are fleeing organized faith. The Nones themselves offera myriad of reasons, including abusive experiences with religiouscommunities, doubts aboutdoctrine, disagreements with church leadersor the rigorous demands ofa devout lifestyle.

It's more socially acceptable today to identify as a None, sociologists note. Thegrowth of social media has made people less community-focused but more likely to find compatriots with shared interests. Others say a trend toward delaying marriage and having children has decreaseddevotion to organized religion.

While many people want to believe in something greater than themselves, they don't want to be tied down to an institutional approach, said Charles Zech, professor emeritusof churchmanagement at Villanova University, outside Philadelphia.

"They want to relate to God in the way that they want, not by followinga church's rules," he said.

What's striking is not the lack of belief in organized religion, but that so manycontinue to yearn for a connection outside of traditional methods of worship. While many have left churches, temples and mosques, they haven't abandoned spiritual life altogether.

"Many people in my classessayto me, `This is my temple, or my spiritual home,' " said Charlotte Chandler Stone, a yoga therapist and director at Stone Yoga in Teaneck, New Jersey. "They say they get more from yoga than sitting in a church pew saying prayers that theydon't believe in. It helps them to get in touch with themselves and understand their purpose on Earth."

Muhammad Syed of Washington, D.C., says he's found that purpose in helping others. The 42-year-old leftIslam in his 20s and became an atheist, shortly after emigrating to the U.S. from Pakistan. In 2013, he formed Ex-Muslims of North America,a nonprofit dedicated to helping othersleave thefaith.

"I don't believe one needs to have faith to be spiritual," he said. "I love nature. I love staring at the night sky. I find looking at the Milky Waya very spiritual experience. We can find meaning outsideof faith."

The coronavirus pandemic may have accelerated thetrend, experts say, although there'snohard data yet to back up thattheory.

"People haven't been able to show up to church in person for much of the pandemic,"said Mercadante."While many have attended virtually, for othersthe habit of church has been broken."

Although a 2020 Pew study found that28% of Americans reported thattheir faith was strengthened bythe health crisis, most of the subjectsinterviewed were already religiously connected.

Although the number of Republican Nones has also been rising, those shifting away from organized faithtend to be liberal and more heavily Democratic, say experts.

Their increase, along with growth in some right-wing religious groups, islikely to result in a further polarization of a country already divided along political and cultural fault lines, some scientists predict.

"You will have people who are either very religious or not religious at all," said Roberta Rosenthal Kwall, a professor specializing in Jewish law andculture at DePaul Universityin Chicagoand author of "Remix Judaism: Preserving Tradition in a Diverse World."

"It follows into social issues as well:Nones tend to support gay rights and abortion rights."

America has become less religious, and "the Nones are the best indicator of that," said John C. Green, a political scientist who has studied the impact of religion on politics. That may portend a decline in civic and political engagement by individual Americans, continuing a trend of withdrawing from public life.

A lack of religious affiliation "also seems to be an indicator on their involvement in civic activities," said Green, who teachesat the University of Akron in Ohio. "While religious people are champions at being involved in clubs and organizations, non-religious people don't volunteer or belong to organizations, even things like the PTA."

As older, more religious generations are replaced by younger ones, the U.S.could eventually look as secularized as Europe, with Nones dwarfing any singlereligious group, he said.

Yet the rise of the Nones could have positive impacts, ensuring that religion is "neither regulated nor prohibited by government," said Mercadante. "They are implementing better boundaries between church and state. They are also inserting spirituality into everyday life."

The Nones represent "an entirely new way of thinking about American social society," said Burge, the Illinois pastor and researcher. They will "create organizations and institutionswe've never seen or consideredbefore," he predicted. "There are already atheist groups forming to engage in social services in their local community, and I think this is just the beginning."

Though the pews are getting emptierat houses of worship, religion won't become obsolete.

The search for meaning is a universal and eternal questamong human beings. In a2017 Pew Research Center survey,90% of respondents said they still believein some kind of higher power, with 56% professingfaith in God as describedin the Bible.

Sixty percentof unaffiliated young people called themselves "at least slightly spiritual" in a2020 study by Springtide Research.

NorthJersey.com and the USA Today Network New Jerseyspent months chronicling the complex stories of those who have left organized religionto try to understand who they are,the forcesthat drive themand what it means to be spiritual in a highly secular world.

One thing is certain: We need to get used to the Nonesand their practices. They are not going anywhere, and some believe that in the coming years they may even dominate theculturallandscape.

Email:yellin@northjersey.com

Twitter:@deenayellin

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One in four Americans identify as Nones. Why are millions leaving organized religion? - NorthJersey.com

While C.S. Lewis wrote profound allegories, his fascinating life story will be coming to life on the big screen.

The Most Reluctant Convert: The Untold Story of C.S. Lewis is set to hit theatres in the U.S.A on November 3. The film isdirected by double-Emmy and double-BAFTA Award-winning filmmaker Norman Stone andstars Max McLean, Nicholas Ralph, and Eddie Ray Martin.

Lewis is best known for The Chronicles of Narnia's novel series. He published many other novels includingThe Screwtape Lettersand The Great Divorce. He penned a few non-fiction titles as well, and after doing a series of BBC radio talks during the Second World War, thosetalks were turned into the well-knownbook,Mere Christianity.

While Lewis became known as a renowned Christian apologist writer later in life, he struggled greatlywith his faith after his mother died. In fact, he was an atheist for many years.

According to New Release Today, the film is based on the hit U.S. playC.S. Lewis on Stage: The Most Reluctant Convert. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, it had been performed 287 times in 64 cities and on college campuses since its 2016 premiere. The play has been attended by roughly 100,000 people.

Different actors play varying ages of Lewis throughout the movie, showing the many hardships he faced. It alsoexplores the impact friends had on the dedicated atheist who was forced to question his own disbelief such as J.R.R. Tolkien, Hugo Dyson, and Owen Barfield.

Both the play and the upcoming film are based primarily on Lewis' memoir,Surprised by Joy.

Read the rest here:

Film about C.S. Lewis' life and reluctance to faith hitting screens this fall - CHVN Radio

How bad is the diversity gap when it comes to current and past presidents of the European Parliament? The answer is: quite bad. And this is true for not just one, but a number of different aspects of diversity.

In a curious twist, the elected parliament's first president, Simone Veil, was in many ways the flagship for diversity, compared to those that followed.

She was not a man, she was not conservative or socialist, and as an atheist Jew, she was also not a Christian. Without her, the diversity picture would look far more bleak.

Veil, who held the position from 1979 to 1982, was in many ways the exception, and it's now more than 40 years since she was elected, and the institution's diversity has been in decline.

The discussion about the diversity credentials of the president of the European Parliament is especially relevant now that chamber is heading for its traditional midterm re-shuffle of positions.

Manfred Weber, the leader of the conservative European People's Party (EPP) group, has declared he is "not available" for the presidential election later this year. In fact, his chances of winning were slim and he's merely bowing to reality.

He also would have been the 15th man to hold the job and the 8th in a row.

Since the first direct election of the parliament, in 1979, only two of the 16 presidents have been women. Nicole Fontaine, a conservative (and French, like Veil), served as president from 1999 to 2002.

To be sure the parliament's record on gender is far better than the two other big EU institutions.

Ursula von der Leyen is the first woman to hold the position of president of the European Commission in its 63-year history. The three presidents of the European Council, Herman van Rompuy, Donald Tusk and Charles Michel, all have been male.

But a weak showing by other EU institutions should not give European Parliament cover. After all, the Parliament is meant to be the most representative body to showcase the European project.

And of course gender is not the only issue when assessing diversity.

Another way to look at the diversity-gap among presidents of the parliament are the countries and regions they represent.

One-quarter of all presidents have come from just one member state, Germany, and almost two-thirds have come from just three different countries, Germany, France and Spain. Had Weber, a German, put himself forward and won the vote, he would have merely reinforced a pattern.

Just one president has been from Eastern Europe, Jerzy Buzek of Poland, who held the post from 2009 to 2012, and there has never been a president from either the Nordics or from one of the very small member states.

Then there's the political affiliation of the presidents. It is not exactly a secret in Brussels that the historically two largest groups, the EPP and the social democratic group, S&D, have tended to split the position between themselves.

Just over a third of presidents have been from the socialist family, and only two have been liberals, Veil and Pat Cox of Ireland. The rest have been conservatives either from the EPP or from the now-defunct European Democrats, that later merged with the EPP.

Of course the diversity-gap list does not stop at gender, geography and politics.

All of the European Parliament's presidents have been white Europeans, and with the exception of the first president, Veil, they all were affiliated with versions of the Christian faith. Adding other aspects such as declared sexual orientation, age and educational and occupational background would paint a similar picture.

So, looking at the historical record, a clear picture emerges: the president of the European Parliament is an above-middle aged white man, most likely German and with an overwhelming possibility of being either conservative or socialist. In the rare cases that the president is a woman, she will be from France, and either liberal or conservative.

What unfolds over the coming political season depends on political agreements and deals.

Yet the vote is secret, too, and so what MEPs choose to prioritise can also be decisive. Indeed, past presidential elections have seen diverse candidates in terms of gender, ethnicity and other aspects. They have just not been elected.

Among the current batch of 705 MEPs, there's no shortage of potential candidates who are both strong politically and who could help bridge the diversity gaps outlined above.

Among them are Sandra Kalniete (EPP); Stelios Kympouropoulos (EPP); Tanja Fajon (S&D); Kathleen van Brempt (S&D); Samira Rafaele (Renew Europe); Dita Charanzova (Renew Europe); Kira Marie Peter-Hansen (Greens); Assita Kanko (ECR); Manon Aubry (The Left); and Katerina Konecka (The Left).

Plenty more could be added, and this list omits some more obvious possibilities already discussed publicly such as the conservative Roberta Metsola, an elected member from the bloc's smallest member state, Malta.

This however mainly underlines my point: the possibilities for a more president of the European Parliament with far greater diversity credentials are there. The question is whether the parliament's various political groups will prioritise those qualities when putting forth their candidates over the coming weeks.

See the article here:

Sexism and the selection of the European Parliament president - EUobserver

Photo: Norm Macdonald, by Greg2600, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons.

The death of legendary Canadian comic Norm Macdonald last week caught North America by sad surprise. For years, the eccentricSNLstar had successfully hidden the leukemia diagnosis that took his life at 61. Its a young death for an entertainer who had an old soul. Many are mourning the loss of perhaps decades more laughs, while at the same time admiring the restraint it took to hide cancer for ten years.

Citing influences as varied as Bob Hope, Sam Kinison, and Leo Tolstoy, Macdonald had a style all his own that was nothing if not an acquired taste. He was best-known for his deliciously rambling shaggy dog bits, humor that didnt seem to have a point until it did (watchthe moth jokeif youre unfamiliarand wait for it). But in more recent years, some of his more memorable moments were completely serious, about serious topics such as, for instance, theGod hypothesis.

Norm jokingly dubbedhis 2012 interview with Guy MacPhersonthe least funny podcast with a comedian ever. But it may genuinely have been one of the most insightful. Norm was in a mood, and he had some venting to do, and being Norm he didnt care how big his targets were. (Listener discretion advised, Norms language is R-rated, as was his wont.)

In conversation with MacPherson, an atheist, Norm casually took on the entire scientific community for refusing to explore what he considered the fundamental question of Gods existence, a question of equally intense interest to religious people and atheists. Man, he drawls, they spend time trying to find new galaxies, as ifthatsimportant. Since Gods an unproven thing, just a hypothesis at this point, I think it would be good to study it. Even if they came back to announce theyd proven Godsnon-existence, Norm would accept that. At least it would besomething. I dont care what you prove. Like at least prove one of them. But try to work on the only important thing.

MacPherson pushes back that they cant, in the scientific process, because its not as if they found God floating around in space. What is there to test, or falsify? Scientifically, theyre bound to say its unknowable. But Norm is less than impressed with the word unknowable. I dont know when scientists started saying things were unknowable, but thats a new one on me, because thats not a scientific term as far as I know.

Good question. Whendidscientists start moonlighting as epistemologists? Where did Stephen Hawking get the idea that hes in any position to say God is a fairytale? Norm is just asking.

He further notes that the popular conception of the scientific method completely discounts the pivotal role of intuition. Einstein had an instinct and followed his nose. He wasnt following a rigid five-step program, any more thanKekuldreaming about the structure of benzene in front of his fire. Thats how important things are discovered, Norm says. And once we recognize the role of intuition, he proposes we cant deny the elephant in the room: Virtually every person that has ever lived intuits the God hypothesis, whether they admit it or not.

Norm defends his position by simply pointing out all the ways that atheists functionally construct their worldviews on suppositions that make no sense without God. For example, Norm finds it highly irrational to assert that man has purpose in life without God. Yet you wont find any popular atheists saying man has no purpose. Its not consistent, of course. If a dog or a bee cant make its own purpose, what gives us the idea were any different? Norm suggests it must be because at their core, atheists likewise dont really believe they have no more value than animals.

I personally think Norm may have been over-optimistic in this assessment. Perhaps if hed spent less time honing his comic genius and more time reading bioethics, he would have encountered more actually consistent atheists. But hes certainly right that this crazy idea persists subconsciously among those who havent succeeded in completely searing it over, this sense that man has some quality to him. You know, he opines, atheists have this idea that they cant quite resolve within themselves that man is divine, but they cant say divine, because that means God. But they believe it. No man, I dont care what they say, no man believes hes equal to an insect. No man. (This despite the fact that Norm himself thinks evolution certainly happened.)

I dont know if Norm had ever heard our favorite Richard Lewontin quote, about not allowing a divine foot in the door, but Im sure he would have said See? They cant say divine. Because that means God.

However, if Dawkins is going to insist, Norm wants to know what makes him so special. After all, if everything was created by accident, then everything includes Richard Dawkins. So why the f*** should I listen to him? Like why would an accident be able to convey to me how he became an accident through a series of accidents? That makes no sense to me.

Norm repeats several times that hes a fundamentally intuitive guy. Hes a comedian, not a philosopher. He wouldnt claim to have any evidence for his strong intuition that God exists. Hes just always had it, and hes going to stick with it, as he sticks with intuition in general, because the mind can play tricks on you. Its what guides science itself. Its what would make him immune to a rational case for murder.

Id say Norm sells himself short, because intuition is its own kind of evidence. Indeed, in the language of inference to the best explanation, its what we would expect if the God hypothesis was true. We would expect Norm to have a certain gut feeling, nudging him in a certain direction. We would expect him to look in Jerry Seinfelds eyes and see an eternal being, which made Seinfeld crack up in the moment.

Except this time, Norm wasnt joking.

Read more from the original source:

Norm Macdonald's God Hypothesis - Discovery Institute

According to the latest barometer from the Center for Sociological Investigations (CIS) of September 2021, Spain has reached its lowest number of Catholics, 57.4% (1.8 points less than in 2020), and the second lowest number of practicing Catholics, 18.4%.

The absolute minimum of practicing Catholics was reached in May 2020, in the midst of a pandemic and with many churches closed, at 17.6%.

The question asked was: How do you define yourself in matters of religion: practicing Catholic, non-practicing Catholic, believer of another religion, agnostic, indifferent or not believer, or atheist, the concept of practicing being left to the discretion of the interviewee.

Considering the percentages of those who go to Mass several times per month, the result gives 24.1% as practitioners compared to those who say they are believers. Thus, the percentage of practicing Catholics in Spain compared to the population is 13.8%.

A September 2021 projection reveals that those who consider themselves to be atheists, i.e., those who deny the existence of God, represent 14.6% and therefore outnumber practicing Catholics.

These figures remain questionable, but it is not unreasonable to consider that the lasting downward trend is very certain.

The short to medium term forecasts are not good at all. The number of canonical marriages had already hit an all-time low before the pandemic, and last year's numbers were even worse.

In 2020, church marriages fell 72.7%, to just 9,444 unions, but only time will tell if the number will rise again and it may simply the effect of the closing of the churches.

The impact of this situation on infant baptism is known to everyone. Remember that the birth rate is 1.26 in Spain, the lowest in Europe, except for Malta. And this situation has been going on for almost 30 years.

Originally posted here:

Spain: Historic Drop in the Number of Catholics - FSSPX.News

Tue, Sep 21, 2021

IranSourcebyHamed Farmand

An Iranian-Christian clergywoman (R) and a worshipper wearing protective face masks pray during a New Year mass prayer ceremony in the Saint Gregory church amid the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Tehran on January 1, 2021. Iranian-Christians perform the New Year mass pray ceremonies on January 1st as Iranian Government ban people of being out of their homes from 9pm to 4am. (Photo by Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto)

It was the last week of September 2020 when an Iranian-Christian-convert couple lost custody of their two-year-old adopted daughter,Lydia. The court statement mentioned that Lydia had a strong attachment to her parents since they received temporary custody in February 2019. They also agreed that Lydia was born with a poor health system and demanded medical treatment.

Despite these facts vital to Lydias best interest, the District Court and Court of Appeal of Bushehr, a southern port city, rejected the parents request to keep custody. The court revoked custody of Lydia because [the parents] have converted to Christianity.

Unfortunately, Lydia is not the only child whose best interests have been overlooked and rights violated due to discrimination and unjust laws in the Islamic Republic of Iran. In practice, Irans discriminatory law affects almost all aspects of minority childrens lives, such as safety and well-being and access to health and education.

In a separate case, Darya, an eight-year-old girl, may lose her parents of more than two years due to incarceration, since theyre of the Bahai Faith. The Iranian constitution doesnt recognize the Bahai religion and Iranian authorities deny their most fundamental human rights. Most of the time, courts look at the Bahai Faith as an opposition group, and the judge will likely punish Daryas parents based on that. This is in direct contradiction of the Family Protection Act, which calls for providing for the best interests of children and adolescents to be respected in all courts and executive officials decisions. Ironically, this very act has been called an achievement in the 2016reportof the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Systemic discrimination against all religions and beliefs

In January 2020, some Bahai familieswere told that they must declare their religion to get a national identification card. However, the Iranian constitution only recognizes four religions: Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism. In this way, Bahai families, Yarsanies, Sabean-Mandaeans, and other religious minorities or atheists must either lie to receive a national identification card or be denied access to services, such as insurance, education, banking, and, most recently, public transportation.

In March 2020, the Iranian Supreme Court approved Bahais rights to access the national identification card, which helped some receive their rights. However, a lack of transparency and the absence of a willingness to protect minority citizens rights still are a cause for concern in regard to their childrens rights to access essential resources. This is the fragility of the life of minorities in Iran.

Its worth noting that the Islamic Republic apparatus, such as the Basij and Friday prayer imams, have played a role in promoting these rights violations. Hate speech and calling Bahai familieskafar(infidels) of Islam is commonplace in Iran. It can also lead to death, as it did in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas in 2013 after a hate speech made by a Friday imam.Ataollah Rezvani, a father of two children and an active member of the Bahai Community in Bandar Abbas, was shot to death in August of that year. Not surprisingly, the judicial system dropped the investigation of his murder.

Similarly, in May 2020, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting interviewed a woman who claimed to be a Bahai survivor and made false accusations about the Bahai Faith in theprogramMesl-e Mah (Like a Moon). She claimed that Bahai people look at themselves as a member of a cult, not a religion, and that they have been guided by the United States, Britain, and Israel and want Islam to be destroyed.

However, this hate speech and discrimination isnt unique to the Bahai Faith and includes other religious minorities like the Sabean-Mandaeans. Even choosing and officially registering a Mandaean nameincreasesgreat fear of being insulted and facing educational and financial obstacles, said one of the members of this community to Behnaz Hosseini, a research fellow at the University of Oxford. As Hosseini noted in her March report, Sabean-Mandaeans are often called infidels and impure Muslims in the mosques, which negatively impacted [their] collective emotions.

Children face discrimination in education

In Iran, children are expected to announce their religion at school and are treated differently based on their answers. Children of the Bahai Faithgetharshdiscipline,such as being insulted, degraded, threatened with expulsion, and, in some cases, summarily dismissed from school.

Since the 1979 revolution, preventing Bahai children from attending school was systematic and ordered from the top, including the Education Ministry and the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, whose members are appointed by the Supreme Leader.Designing and implementing policies and plan in culture and educational systems, such as schools and universities, is part of the Councils primary mission.

Additionally, other children are encouraged by schoolteachers and principals to emotionally abuse minority children at school. Forexample, school-age children in western Kermanshah province were called to the front of the classroom and forced to listen to classmates insulting their religion. In another account, one elementary school student reported that their classmates avoid touching them because they were told that Bahais are najes (impure).

This doesnt mean that children who belong to other minoritiesChristians, Sunnis, and other formally accepted minoritiesdont face any issues at school. They usually must attend separate segregated classrooms based on their faith. The ideological hatred and discrimination doesnt stop here. It is also merged with most school subjects, such as history, sociology, and even the Persian language.Researchby Saeed Paivandi, an academic at the University of Lorraine in France, shows that the appearance of discriminatory attitudes is not accidental, or sporadic but continuous, consistent, and systematic. Children from Shia families also learn the Islamic Republics version of Shiism, while children from secular and atheist families dont get a chance to be taught their familys ways of life.

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Iran in June 1975,asksstate parties to have respect for the liberty of parents and legal guardians and let parents educate and raise children under their religion, beliefs, and culture. However, Iran uses Islam as a tool to control its citizens regardless of their religion or beliefs.

Its worth noting that children are also denied choosing their lifestyle due to their own and families religion or beliefs. For example, girls as young as seven years of ageregardless of their religion or beliefsare expected to wear the hijab in public. Families who dont think their daughters should wear a hijab at a certain age or not at all are expected to obey this discriminatory law, which violates childrens rights on different levels (i.e. mobility, health, and freedom of choice).This aligns with the November 2020 report of the United Nations Human Rights Council, which referredto the gross violation of fundamental freedoms, including the right to practice the religion of choice and the rights of minorities in Iran.

A law that has yet to be implemented

There has been some public pressure on the Iranian government to protect the rights of children. On June 13, 2020, then-President Hassan Rouhani signed a bill into law to protect children in Iran. Thisholistic, but discriminatory law applies to all individuals below eighteen, regardless of their parents religion or beliefs. The bill can protect all school-age children from all kinds of violence and assault and concentrates on the most fundamental rightsthis includes rights to health and education for all children, regardless of their religion or beliefs. However, more than a year after ratifying and signing the new law, there is no sign of implementing the protection it claimed it would provide for all children in Iran.

Children cannot advocate for their rights and their rights to be heard have been denied in the Islamic Republic. Its the duty of activists, researchers, and journalists to take a stand on their behalf and be their voice. Whenever advocating for human rights, its imperative that childrens rights also be included, especially children of minorities. Nevertheless, the violation of the rights of religious minorities is systematic in Iran. As such, advocating for the rights of minorities needs to address the roots of the issuediscriminatory laws and regulations in Iran.

Hamed Farmandis a childrens rights activist and founder of the non-profit organization, Children of Imprisoned Parents International (COIPI). He is also a research consultant at Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion of human rights and democracy in Iran. Follow him on Twitter:@ha_fa54.

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Iranian children are being punished based on their parents' religion and beliefs - Atlantic Council

One of the first original series from Warner Medias HBO Max streaming service, Raised By Wolves got generally solid reviews when it debuted its first season in September 2020. HBO Max quickly ordered a second season, but not much has been revealed about the sophomore entry. So when is Raised by Wolves Season 2 coming, and what will it be all about? Heres a quick look at everything we know.

Read more:Whats new on HBO Max

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HBO Max is your home for Warner Bros-made movies and TV shows like The Lord of the Rings, the DC Comics superheroes and more. It's also the home for new and original movies and shows available nowhere else.

At the moment, theres no clear word on when the second season will drop on HBO Max. We do know from a Twitter message from cast member Abubakar Salim that filming for the second season began in early March 2021. Its likely that we will have to wait until sometime in 2022 for Raised By Wolves Season 2 to finally premiere.

The first season of Raised By Wolves established the setting of the show. In a future timeline where Earth has been destroyed by war between religious and atheist humans, a pair of androids head into space with a small group of embryos. The androids, named Mother (Amanda Collin) and Father (Salim), raise the one human that came from those embryos on an alien world for several years. However, the group later learns that other humans have managed to escape Earth, including some other young children.

Later in the first season, Mother learns she has somehow become pregnant. In the final episode of season 1, she gives birth, but to a flying snake-like alien rather than a human. Season 2 will likely see the two androids, as well as the other remnants of humanity, try to survive on this alien world, while also dealing with this snake creature.

Deadline reports that several new cast members have signed up for season 2. Perhaps the most interesting new role is Grandmother, an ancient android played by actor Selina Jones. Grandmother was built thousands of years ago by the civilization that used to live on the planet where the few human survivors now reside. How she will get along with Mother and Father, and the human refugees, remains to be seen.

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Raised by Wolves season 2: Everything we know about the HBO Max sci-fi series - Android Authority

ORRVILLE, Ohio - As "God Bless the USA" echoed through his rural church, Pastor Jerry O'Brien geared up for a sermon of sorts about politics in America.

Today's church is too disengaged, said O'Brien, who leads Faith Harvest Fellowship in Orrville. He said Christians don't know enough about elections or the politicians who seek to represent them.

"We need to inform our people, or the spirit of fear is going to continue to wreak havoc throughout our churches," O'Brien said.

Enter Josh Mandel.

The former Ohio treasurer visited Faith Harvest Fellowship recentlyto make his pitch for U.S. Senate, the latestin a series of campaign stops at churches across the state. Mandel uses these events to preach his own gospel, one that's anti-abortion, pro-gun and gives oxygen to debunked claims about the 2020 election.

At the heart of it all, he says, are Judeo-Christian values that will guide his decisions in Washington if he's elected.

"I believe the only place in which were going to win back the hearts and minds of our kids and save the country is in churches, and thats why Im running my campaign through churches," Mandel, who is Jewish, said in an interview.

Although he's made it a hallmark of his campaign, Mandel isn't the only U.S. Senate candidate using religion to connect with Republican voters.And Ohio's evangelical base, which helped send former President Donald Trump to the White House,is now looking for a new warrior in Washington.

"God help our country," said Jean Wood, of Wooster. "Democrats are just leading us down a bad hole. It's so sad."

Evangelicals are one of the most prominent religious groups in Ohio, especially among political conservatives.

According to the Pew Research Center, 29% of all Ohioans and 39% of Republicans consider themselves evangelicalProtestants. They're dispersed throughout the state, which gives them a strongvoice in elections and significant influence in Republican politics, saidKimberly Conger, a professor at the University of Cincinnati.

Meanwhile, 19% of Democrats in Ohio identify as evangelical Protestants and 64% are Christians.

Conger said evangelicals began to make their mark on the GOP decades ago, and they went into George W. Bush's presidency satisfied with his values and plans for the country. But 9/11 disrupted Bush's domestic agenda and left that base itching for morea discontent Trump seized upon.

As a result, a whopping 77% of white evangelical voters nationwidewent for Trumpin 2016, a survey from Pew found. Exit polls from the 2020 election analyzed by the New York Timesestimated that 82% of white evangelicals or born-again Christians in Ohio cast ballots for Trump.

Research also shows that some white Americans who backed the former president began identifying as evangelical between the 2016 and 2020 elections.

"When you have a Biblical world view, your spiritual truths that anchor you are the most important thing," saidPastor JC Church, who leadsVictory in Truth Ministries in Bucyrus."Its not the political as much as its the personal convictions and values."

White evangelicals were attracted to Trump's message that he would fight for the average person, Conger said. Theyfeel embattled by a society with increasingly progressive views about abortion andsame-sex marriage, and seeissues like critical race theory as an attack on being American.

"They feel like a traditional understanding of the world is under attack, so they need these kinds of champions to fight back for them," Conger said.

Mandel hears that message and presents himself as a fighter who will go to Washington armed with a Bible and the U.S. Constitution. At the same time, critics have called him racist for his comments on critical race theory and refugees and attacked him for comparing President Joe Biden's vaccine order to edicts in Nazi Germany.

"Some of my opponents are racking up a ton of endorsements from politicians," he said. "I can tell you I dont care about endorsements from state reps and state senators and congressmen at all."

Instead, Mandel has garnered support from Church and other pastors, as well as groups likeOhio Value Voters andRight to Life Action Coalition of Ohio.

"I believe we are way past the time to have leaders who lead with a deep conviction, who stand with courage," Church said.

Other Republican Senate candidates say they're betterequipped to fight for the needs of thisbase. Former Ohio GOP chair Jane Timken recently blasted her alma mater, Harvard University, for electing a president of chaplains who identifies as an atheist. As part of her crusade against abortion, she visited pregnancy centers thataim to dissuade people from getting the procedure.

Timken, a Catholic, said Ohio's evangelical voters have become increasingly outspoken in the political sphere because ofprogressive policies.

"Theyre very concerned about these issues eroding their constitutional liberties, and theyre very concerned about the eradication of God out of our country thats been pushed by the left," she said.

"Hillbilly Elegy" author and venture capitalist J.D. Vancecriticized the politicization of the churchin a 2016 New York Times column and said it "encourages us to point a finger at faceless elites in Washington." He has since converted to Catholicism and nowtouts views on bread-and-butter evangelical issues like opposing abortion and promoting a "patriotic" education for children.

Vance also secured an endorsement from anti-abortion activist Penny Nance, who leads Concerned Women for America.

"JDs pro-life, pro-family message resonates not only with evangelical Christians, but with the majority of all Ohioans," spokeswoman Taylor Van Kirk said."Ohio voters are finding out that he actually believes what he says, and isnt just another politician."

What sets Mandel apart, though, is years of listening to these voters as a statewide elected official and speaking their language, said a GOP consultantwho is unaffiliated with any campaigns and requested anonymity to speakcandidly. Mandel has long been popular with social conservatives, the consultant said, and stumping in churches allows him to connect with a more receptive audience.

"Social conservatives are the base," the consultant said."Theyre not separate from the party structure. Theyre part of the party structure."

Haley BeMilleris a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

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Josh Mandel is campaigning for U.S. Senate in churches. Will that win over Ohio's evangelical voters? - The Columbus Dispatch

One of the major themes of Mike Flanagans (The Haunting of Bly Manor) Midnight Mass is sobriety, and it connects Joe Collie (Robert Longstreet) and Riley Flynn (Zach Gilford) in a fundamental level. Both of these characters have caused misery and pain to others because of their drinking, and that, in turn, has devastated them and left them with almost nothing. After Father Paul arrives on Crockett Island, he sets up an AA chapter there. Initially, its just Riley who attends the meeting, but Joe soon joins them. The meetings seem to have positive effects on them both, but neither gets the chance to pursue their sobriety to completion. If you are wondering whether Joe Collie and Riley Flynn live or die in Midnight Mass. SPOILERS AHEAD.

Yes, Joe is dead in Midnight Mass. After having a challenging day, Joe comes to speak to Father Paul as the latter told him earlier that his doors were always open. What he doesnt know is that Father Paul is having a difficult time of his own. His metamorphosis into a vampiric creature has begun, and Joe ends up being his first victim. He recognizes the eerie similarities between Father Paul and their previous priest, Monsignor Pruitt. Although Joe survives the initial fall after a scuffle with Father Paul, he dies when the latter sucks his blood dry.

Joe always had issues with his drinking. One day, while being under the influence of alcohol, he accidentally shot Leeza, the daughter of the settlements mayor. She subsequently had to use a wheelchair. After Joes death, Father Paul and the close circle of people who know the truth about him begin justifying his actions.

Yes, Riley Flynn is also dead in Midnight Mass. After realizing that Father Paul lied about Joes late sister, Riley goes back to the community center and encounters the creature, which is there to give more of its blood. The creature attacks him and seemingly kills him in the final moments of episode 4. However, in episode 5, Father Paul brings him back to life by rearranging his neck. The two of them subsequently spend considerable time locked inside the community center, and Father Paul explains to Riley his current situation. Riley realizes that Father Paul is Monsignor Pruitt, a man under whom he had served several years as an altar boy.

Unlike Father Paul, Riley doesnt see his current circumstances through the tinted glass of religion. Four years ago, he killed a young girl while driving completely intoxicated. He returns home after being out from prison on parole. Everyone in the settlement except Erin sees him as a social pariah. Even his father doesnt want him at his home. He keeps having these visions, in which the dead girl appears before him, with light pouring out from each of her wounds. His time in prison has also made him an atheist.

In episode 5, Riley takes Erin on a boat ride and reveals what has happened to him. Although Erin has a hard time believing him, she still questions why he has brought her to the middle of the ocean. When the dawn breaks, his reasons become clear. Riley has brought himself and Erin there so that he wouldnt have a way to escape. Furthermore, he wanted to prove to Erin that he was telling the truth. As flames engulf his body and Erin begins screaming in horror, Riley has one last vision of the girl before his death. But this time, she doesnt have any injuries on her. She reaches out, and Riley takes her hand.

Read More: Best Horror Shows

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Are Joe Collie and Riley Flynn Dead or Alive in Midnight Mass? - The Cinemaholic

Ex-Muslims are publicly flaunting their rejection of Islam as never before: a steamy tell-all memoir tops the countrys best-seller lists. One video (with 1.5 million views) shows a copy of the Koran ripped into pieces; another video shows a woman in a bikini cooking and eating bacon; and blasphemous cartoons of Muhammad.

Beyond such provocations, ex-Muslims work to change the image of Islam. Wafa Sultan went on Al Jazeera television to excoriate Islam in an exalted Arabic and over thirty million viewers watched the video. Ayaan Hirsi Ali wrote a powerful autobiography about growing up female in Somalia and went on to author high-profile books criticizing Islam. Ibn Warraq wrote or edited a small library of influential books on his former religion, including Why I am Not a Muslim (1995) and Leaving Islam: Apostates Speak Out (2003).

Behind these individuals stand Western-based organizations of ex-Muslims that encourage Muslims to renounce their faith, provide support to those who have already taken this step, and lobby against Islam with the knowledge of insiders and the passion of renegades.

Together, these phenomena point to an unprecedented shift: The historically illegal and unspeakable actions among Muslims of open disbelief in God and rejection of Muhammads mission has spread to the point that it shakes the Islamic faith.

To non-Muslims, this shift tends to be nearly invisible and therefore is dismissed as marginal. When it comes to Arabs, Ahmed Benchemsi notes, Westerners see religiosity as an unquestionable given, almost an ethnic mandate embedded in their DNA. The Islamist surge may have peaked nearly a decade ago but the eminent historian Philip Jenkins confidently states that, By no rational standard can Saudi Arabia, say, be said to be moving in secular directions.

To help rectify this misunderstanding, the following analysis documents the phenomenon of Muslims becoming atheists. The word atheist, along with the organization Ex-Muslims of North America, in this case, refers to Muslims who adopt no positive belief of a deity, including agnostics, pantheists, freethinkers, and humanists. Atheist emphatically does not, however, include Muslims who convert to Christianity or to any other religion.

Two main factors make it difficult to estimate the number of ex-Muslim atheists.

First, some of them prefer to stay within the bounds of Islam to retain a voice in the religions evolution and especially to participate in the fight against Islamism, something they lose on leaving the faith. There is a phenomenon whereby Muslims make a tactical decision not to break with religion completely, presenting themselves as secularists, progressive Muslims or Muslim reformers. They feel more can be achieved by challenging oppressive religious practices than by questioning the existence of God, since they are unlikely to be listened to if they are known to be atheists.

The path of reform, however, is fraught with dangers. The eminent Egyptian authority on Islam, Nasr Abu Zayd, insisted he remained a Muslim while his opponents, perhaps motivated by financial considerations, deemed him an apostate. His foes succeeded in both annulling his marriage and forcing him to flee from Egypt. Worse, the Sudanese government executed the great Islamic thinker Mahmoud Mohammed Taha as an apostate.

Second, overtly declaring oneself an atheist invites punishments that range from ostracizing to beating, to firing, to jailing, to murder. Families see atheists as blots on their honor. Employers see them as untrustworthy. Communities see them as traitors. Governments see them as national security threats. The idea of an individual atheist as a threat seems absurd, but authorities realize that what starts with individual decisions grows into small groups, gathers force, and can culminate in the seizure of power. In the most extreme reaction, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia promulgated anti-terrorist regulations on March 7, 2014, that prohibit Calling for atheist thought in any form, or calling into question the fundamentals of the Islamic religion on which this country is based. In other words, free thinking equates to terrorism.

Indeed, many Muslim-majority countries formally punish apostacy with execution, including Mauritania, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Afghanistan, Malaysia, and Brunei. Formal executions tend to be rare but the threat hangs over apostates. Sometimes, death does follow: Mubarak Bala, was arrested in Nigeria and disappeared for his blasphemous statements. In a case that attracted global attention, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini called on freelancers to murder Salman Rushdie in 1989 for writing The Satanic Verses, a magical-realist novel containing disrespectful scenes about Muhammad. Vigilante violence also occurs; in Pakistan, preachers called on mobs to burn down the houses of apostates.

This external pressure at least partially succeeds, notes Iman Willoughby, a Saudi refugee living in Canada: the Middle East would be significantly more secular if it was not for heavy-handed religious government enforcement or the power mosques are given to monitor communities. Fearful of trouble, more than a few ex-Muslims hide their views and maintain the trappings of believers, making them effectively uncountable.

Nonetheless, Willoughby observes, Atheism is spreading like wildfire in the Middle East. Hasan Suroor, author of Who Killed Liberal Islam? notes that theres a tale we dont usually hear about how Islam is facing a wave of desertion by young Muslims suffering from a crisis of faith . . . abandoned by moderate Muslims, mostly young men and women, ill at ease with growing extremism in their communities. . . . Even deeply conservative countries with strict anti-apostasy regimes like Pakistan, Iran and Sudan have been hit by desertions. That tale, however, is now more public: I know at least six atheists who confirmed that [they are atheists] to me, noted Fahad AlFahad, a marketing consultant and human rights activist in Saudi Arabia, in 2014. Six or seven years ago, I wouldnt even have heard one person say that. Not even a best friend would confess that to me, but the mood has changed and now they feel freer to divulge this dangerous secret.

Whitaker concludes that Arab non-believers are not a new phenomenon but their numbers seem to be growing. Professor Amna Nusayr of al-Azhar University states that four million Egyptians have left Islam. Todd Nettleton finds that, by some estimates, 70 percent of Irans people have rejected Islam.

Turning to survey research, a WIN/Gallup survey in 2012 found that convinced atheists make up 2 percent of the population in Lebanon, Pakistan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan; 4 percent in the West Bank and Gaza; and 5 percent in Saudi Arabia. Revealingly, the same poll found not religious persons aremore numerous: 8 percent in Pakistan, 16 percent in Uzbekistan, 19 percent in Saudi Arabia, 29 percent in the West Bank and Gaza, 33 percent in Lebanon, and 73 percent in Turkey. Conversely, a GAMAAN poll found that just one-third, or 32.2 percent, of born Shiite Muslims in Iran actually identify as such, plus 5 percent as Sunnis and 3.2 percent as Sufis.

The trend is upwards: a Konda survey in Turkey found that atheists tripled from 1 to 3 percent between 2008 and 2018, while non-believers doubled from 1 to 2 percent. Arab Barometer polls show a substantial increase in the number of Arabic-speakers who say they are not religious, from 8 percent in 2012-14 to 13 percent in 2018-19, a 61 percent increase in five years. This trend is even stronger among people between the ages of fifteen and twenty-nine, among whom the percentage went from 11 to 18 percent. Looking country by country, the largest increases occurred in Tunisia and Libya, with middle-sized ones in Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, and Sudan, and almost no change in Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, and Iraq. Yemen stands out as the one country to count fewer non-religious persons. It is particularly striking to note that about as many Tunisian youth (47 percent) as Americans (46 percent) call themselves not religious.

Atheism among Muslim-born populations has historically been of minor importance. It appeared especially negligible during the surge of Islamism over the past half-century. As recently as twenty years ago, atheism among Muslims was nearly undetectable. But no longer. Atheism has turned into a significant force with the potential to affect not just the lives of individuals but also societies and even governments.

It enjoys such potency because contemporary Islam, with its repression of heterodox ideas and punishment of anyone who leaves the faith, is singularly vulnerable to challenge. Just as an authoritarian regime is more brittle than a democratic one, Islam, as practiced today, lacks the suppleness to deal with internal critics and rebels. The result is an Islamic future more precarious than its past.

Daniel Pipes is president of the Middle East Forum. Follow him on Twitter @DanielPipes.

Image: Reuters.

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Atheism Among Muslims is Spreading Like Wildfire - The National Interest