“Consciousness Creates Reality” – Physicists Admit The Universe Is Immaterial, Mental & Spiritual

http://www.collective-evolution.com/2014/11/11/consciousness-creates-reality-physicists-admit-the-universe-is-immaterial-mental-spiritual/

How Atheists Are Turning ‘Religious Freedom’ Laws Against Religion

http://www.zaobao.com.sg/realtime/world/story20150521-482657

Think Progres - For almost a year now, the nation has been locked in almost constant debate over various state and federal versions of the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act (RFRA), a 20-year-old law that was broadened by the Supreme Court in 2014 and has since been embraced by right-wing politicians and pundits — especially religious conservatives. But in an unusual twist, an atheist activist is galvanizing support for a legal campaign to use the federal RFRA to remove the phrase “In God we trust” from U.S. coins and paper bills.

Michael Newdow, who unsuccessfully sued to have “Under God” removed from the Pledge of Allegiance in 2004, published a guest post on the The Friendly Atheist blog last Friday outlining a new initiative to challenge the decades-old policy of printing the religiously themed American national motto on U.S. currency. He explained that while courts have dismissed claims that the phrase violates the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution — which prohibits Congress from passing laws that establish one religion above others — his new legal argument is rooted in RFRA’s stipulation that religious activity cannot be “substantially burdened” without a “compelling government interest.” The government’s interest in emblazoning currency with “in God we trust,” Newdow argues, is suspect.

“Because Constitutional principles can be twisted and perverted, the challenges to this practice under the Establishment Clause have, so far, failed,” Newdow wrote. “Challenges under RFRA, however, are not as susceptible to misapplication. This is because every Supreme Court justice involved in the three RFRA cases heard to date has agreed that, under RFRA, religious activity may not be substantially burdened without a compelling governmental interest and laws narrowly tailored to serve that interest.”

Newdow, who plans to file the case in 7 federal court circuits, told Think Progress that although many Americans simply ignore the motto, it can be infuriating for those who don’t believe in God.

 “Imagine if Christians had to carry on their body something they disagree with religiously, like ‘Jesus is a lie’ — how long do you think that would stand?” Newdow said. “But atheists are so denigrated in this society that people accept this without a second thought.”

Use of “In God We Trust” has long frustrated hardline supporters of the separation of church and state, who often note that its inclusion on U.S. paper currency is a relatively recent phenomenon that emerged out of a specific historical context. The phrase didn’t even become theofficial U.S. national motto until 1956, for example, replacing the mantra “E pluribus unum” during the early years of the Red Scare — an era when the U.S. was locked in a Cold War with Russia and its officially atheistic communist government. Paper bills began bearing the aphorism the following year, joining several kinds of metal coins that had been imprinted with it since 1864. The phrase “Under God” was also added to the Pledge of Allegiance during this time, and the state of Ohio changed its motto in 1959 to “With God, all things are possible.”

For more, please check Think Progress

The end of religion as we know it: Why churches can no longer hide the truth

The end of religion as we know it: Why churches can no longer hide the truth

丹尼尔·丹尼特（Daniel Clement Dennett，1942年3月28日－），是一名美国哲学家、作家及认知科学家。其研究集中于科学哲学、生物学哲学，特别是与演化生物学及认知科学有关的课题。目前是塔夫斯大学（Tufts University）的哲学系教授、Austin B. Fletcher讲座哲学教授及认知研究中心的共同主任。

丹尼特是一名坚实的无神论及世俗论者，美国世俗联盟（Secular Coalition for America）咨询委员会成员，及明智思想运动（Brights movement）一名突出的支持者。有媒体将丹尼特、理查德·道金斯、山姆·哈里斯及克里斯托弗·希钦斯称作新无神论（New Atheism）的四骑士。

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