The Vatican actually has an observatory and actual astronomers working in it. The observatory apparently came about because of the church’s deep interest in creating accurate calendars since the fixing of some holy days such as Easter depend upon the positions of stars and planets. Maybe they also secretly hoped that they might get a glimpse of god as he wandered around in the sky.
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Whenever religious people in the US claim some privilege for themselves, unbelievers like us warn them that they would not like it if the tables were turned and minority religions take advantage of those same privileges. It turns out that our friends at the Satanic Temple (the ones who proposed putting up a Satanic statue on the Oklahoma state capital grounds) are the ones taking the lead on this, taking steps to advance their religion using the same legal arguments that Christians have used in achieving their recent victories.
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I said that I had gotten bored with making fun of the bogus ‘war on Christmas’. How many jokes and snide remarks can you keep making year after year? But I see that American Atheists has not lost its zest for the fray and is not letting the season go by without using it as another way to increase the visibility of atheists in the US and they have unveiled yet another new billboard campaign.
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Noted documentary maker Alex Gibney has a new film coming out on the Scientology movement. It is based on the book Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief (2013) by Lawrence Wright that I reviewed favorably here. The film is being produced by HBO and will be released early next year.
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Religious organizations and individuals, the Catholic church in particular, put Oliver Twist to shame. Their recent string of legal victories against having to provide contraception coverage to their employees has made them even more greedy about claiming privileges. Molly Redden says that the Catholic church now argues that even having to show up in court to fight a lawsuit is a violation of their religions freedom.
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Via Michael Stone I learn that Nome, a town in Alaska facing a serious budget shortfall, is considering a move to eliminate the tax exemption for churches and other non-profits and charities.
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The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a decision by a US District Court judge that the tax-free housing rental allowances given to clergy were unconstitutional since the heads of atheist organizations did not get a similar benefit. The lawsuit had been brought by the Freedom From Religion Foundation. You can read the opinion here.
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The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the US Constitution tersely says that “Congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion”. Over time, this short phrase has had to be fleshed out and this has resulted in a messy stew of decisions resulting in great confusion.
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A recent survey found that a surprisingly large number of clergy in the Church of England do not believe in a god or are doubtful.
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