Atheism has some race and gender problems

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CNNs recent special report on atheists didnt draw many viewers, and has been kicked around a bit in the blogosphere. Certainly the program had its gaffes. Most important, as other critics have noted, the report trotted out the hoary and ridiculous claim that 1 in 3 millennials is an atheist. (The correct figure is closer to 3 percent.)

But that wasnt the biggest mistake. By focusing on the lives of atheists, CNN swept into the wings, with only the briefest of mentions, atheisms significant race and gender problems.

According to a much-discussed 2012 report from the Pew Research Center on Religion and Public Life, only 3 percent of U.S. atheists and agnostics are black, 6 percent are Hispanic, and 4 percent are Asian. Some 82 percent are white. (The relevant figures for the population at large at the time of the survey were 66 percent white, 11 percent black, 15 percent Hispanic, 5 percent Asian.)

The same report tells us that women are 52 percent of the U.S. population but only 36 percent of atheists and agnostics. The gender split has led some male atheists to muse about differences between the male and female brain which in turn unsurprisingly generated sharp ripostes. Certainly it makes the atheist movement less attractive to would-be adherents. As one commentator has put it, Show me a party to which women are invited but that they overwhelmingly choose to avoid, and Ill show you a party to which Id ask you to remember not to invite me.

Some feminist atheists contend that the gender split is a distinctively U.S. phenomenon. They point to a 2012 WIN-Gallup International survey tending to show that outside the U.S., men and women describe themselves as atheists at about the same rate.

But the WIN-Gallup data also point to what might be atheisms larger difficulty: race, nationalism and ethnicity. In the U.S., atheists and agnostics are disproportionately male and white, as we have seen. Around the world well, lets let the data tell the story.

Seven of the 10 least religious countries are in Europe. The other three are China, Japan and South Korea. Seven of the 10 most religious countries are in the developing world, headed by Ghana and Nigeria. When the data are tabulated by region, those most likely to describe themselves as atheists are from north Asia (42 percent) and western Europe (14 percent). At the other end are south Asia (0 percent), and Latin America and Africa (2 percent each).

At some point one has to admit that there is a pattern here. And just to pile on a bit, the estimable Craig Keener, in his huge review of claims of miracles in a wide variety of cultures, concludes that routine rejection of the possibility of the supernatural represents an impulse that is deeply Eurocentric.

Richard Dawkins, well-known apostle of atheism, only damages his cause when he insists that atheists are a race. Even if he was being tongue-in-cheek (and one certainly hopes so), hes more likely to stir an already boiling identity politics pot. Atheists themselves increasingly fight nasty battles over these issues at least online.

I had lunch a couple of years ago with a Yale colleague who is a committed atheist. He explained away the international data in pretty much the way one would expect: Those other countries have to be liberated. They are mired in a false consciousness as the result of oppression and lack of education. In other words, people around the world who continue to believe in God are too stupid to understand the glittering truths that atheists see clearly.

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Atheism has some race and gender problems

'Sun Worshipping Atheism' is not a religion, Californian court rules

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Phot: Pixabay

State flag of California.

A Californian appellate court has affirmed an earlier ruling that Sun Worshipping Atheism is not a religion.

According toRaw Story,the California Court of Appeal ruled on Tuesday that Marshel Copple's Sun Worshipping Atheism did not satisfy the requirements of a three-point checklist in order to be considered a religion.

The appellate court ruled that Sun Worshipping Atheism failed to demonstrate that it addresses "fundamental and ultimate questions having to do with deep and imponderable matters," and that it is comprehensive and not limited to only one subject matter. The court also said that religions "can often be recognised by the presence of certain formal and external signs," all of which are not present in Copple's atheism.

The case began after Copple, a former officer at theCalifornia Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, resigned from his work claiming that he was denied religious accommodation by the department. Copple promptly filed suit alleging religious discrimination, failure to accommodate and constructive discharge.

According to Copple, the Sun Worshipping Atheism advocatessleeping at least eight hours a day, daily fresh air, frequent exercise, having a job, social interaction, and scepticism of one's surroundings. As his job requiredeight hours of mandatory overtime if needed and up to 16 hours of overtime in the rare instances of a prison riot, Copple requested that the department limit his duty to eight hours a day.

According to the National Law Review, the Department denied his request. Copple then resigned and filed his lawsuit.

A Court issued summary judgement on Copple's suit and ruled that Sun Worshipping Atheism was not a religion, and there was no basis for the Department to grant Copple's request for religious accommodation. Copple appealed, and the Courts of Appeals upheld the decision on Tuesday.

"Although there is a set of principles on which plaintiff relies to guide his life, it reflects a moral and secular, rather than religious, philosophy," the court ruling said.

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'Sun Worshipping Atheism' is not a religion, Californian court rules

Launch Pad Lecture: Celebrating Hubble's 25th Anniversary

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Courtesy photo - NASA The Hubble cameras revisited the Pillars of Creation, originally pictured in 1995. The result was clearer sharper images. Stars are forming inside the towering structures of cold gas and dust. The pillars are located some 6,500 light-years away, in the Eagle Nebula, toward the constellation of Serpens.

New Mexico Museuam of Space History Education Director Dave Dooling will discuss the accomplishments that resulted from the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Dooling is familiar Hubble since its inception. He worked as science reporter for Huntsville Times in Alabama and for Perkin-Elmer who built the telescope. He wrote documentation for maintenance and refurbishment of the telescope in space.

Although planning for Hubble started in the early 70s, it wasn't launched until 1990. Since then, the Hubble has sent back more than 45 terabytes of information. For those unfamiliar with a terabyte, one terabyte equals 1,023 gigabytes.

The Hubble space telescope was launched into low Earth orbit on April 24, 1990. It remains operational. With a mirror measuring nearly 8 feet, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared spectra.

The telescope was named after astronomer Edward Hubble. He proposed the expanding universe theory state. Hubble's findings fundamentally changed the scientific view of the universe.

The Hubble telescope has led to breakthroughs in astrophysics, such as accurately determining the rate of expansion of the universe.

Dooling said he would be hard pressed to pick out what was the most important discovery made. He explained if he were to try and pick out the top 10 at a conference, there would be an outcry as scientists came up with 10 others of equal import.

Dooling said that one of the most stunning occurred when astronomers pointed Hubble at an empty area of sky near Ursa Major, just above the Big Dipper, and discovered hundreds of distant here-to-fore galaxies. "They did this in December of 1995 for a 10-day period," he said. "They stacked the images, taking 342 images with 43 hours of exposure time. Over 900 scientific papers have cited this single discovery."

The portion of sky scrutinized was small yet it not only proved the enormity of the universe but just how crowded a place it was.

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Launch Pad Lecture: Celebrating Hubble's 25th Anniversary

NATO Secretary General at the European Parliament, 30 MAR 2015, Q & A Session – Video

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NATO Secretary General at the European Parliament, 30 MAR 2015, Q A Session
Question and Answer session following the NATO Secretary General #39;s address to the European Parliament #39;s Foreign Affairs Committee and Sub-Committee on Security and Defence in Brussels (30...

By: NATO

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NATO Secretary General at the European Parliament, 30 MAR 2015, Q & A Session - Video

US Convoy in Czech Republic: American soldiers return from Baltic NATO exercise Atlantic Resolve – Video

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US Convoy in Czech Republic: American soldiers return from Baltic NATO exercise Atlantic Resolve
NATO #39;s top military commander General Philip Breedlove has said an armoured vehicles convoy travelling by road in the Czech Republic sent a message of reassurance. Speaking in Romania ...

By: UKRAINE TODAY

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US Convoy in Czech Republic: American soldiers return from Baltic NATO exercise Atlantic Resolve - Video

Exercise will test NATO's new quick-reaction team

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STUTTGART, Germany NATO will begin testing the readiness of its new spearhead reaction force on Wednesday, marking the start of a series of exercises intended to bolster the alliances crisis-response capabilities.

Noble Jump, a 10-day drill in the Netherlands and the Czech Republic, will focus on mobilizing NATOs new quick-response team, formally known as the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force. The high-readiness unit will practice responding to rapid orders to move, under the new VJTF framework, NATO says.

As such, this event represents a learning process that will allow NATO military staff to identify both successes and shortfalls during the early stages of the development process, NATOs Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe said in an advisory.

The spearhead unit, which has reached interim capability and will eventually include some 5,000 troops, is a collection of forces that can respond to a crisis within 48 hours. It is part of the alliances larger NATO Response Force, which is expected eventually to double in size, reaching a force level of 30,000 troops.

The establishment of a spearhead force and an expanded overall NATO Response Force is part of an effort to bolster NATO capabilities in the wake of new security challenges, such as Moscows more aggressive military since last years revolution in Ukraine.

The spearhead force is designed to enable NATO to deploy troops during the early stages of a crisis. In particular, it could be helpful in countering irregular hybrid operations, such as the deployment of troops without national insignia or other infiltrators to create unrest, NATO officials have said.

The West has accused Russia of employing such techniques in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists have been at war with the Ukrainian military for the past year.

Moscow has denied providing support to the separatists, though it has admitted after initial denials that it sent its own troops into Crimea, which it annexed last March.

NATOs other spearhead force exercises this year include one in effort in Poland in June, followed by Trident Juncture, a large NATO multinational exercise that will begin in October and will include some 25,000 troops spread across Italy, Spain and Portugal.

vandiver.john@stripes.com

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Exercise will test NATO's new quick-reaction team

NATO chief in Europe: convoy of US troops crossing E Europe reassures allies, tests bridges

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BUCHAREST, Romania NATO's supreme commander in Europe says a convoy of U.S. troops crossing eastern Europe is a way of reassuring allies of the military alliance's support and of practicing little-used skills.

Gen. Philip Breedlove said Tuesday during a visit to Bucharest that the exercise tested many things that "hadn't been done for a long time in NATO....like multiple border crossings and which bridges are capable of handling the vehicles."

The "Dragoon Ride" convoy started last week from Estonia and passed through Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, before entering the Czech Republic on a return journey to a German base.

The soldiers took part in the Atlantic Resolve exercise intended to demonstrate NATO's readiness to defend its members.

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NATO chief in Europe: convoy of US troops crossing E Europe reassures allies, tests bridges

NATO Fast Facts

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CNN Library

(CNN) -- Here's a look at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.

Facts: The organization's charter states that the signing parties will "seek to promote stability and well-being in the North Atlantic area," and will "unite their efforts for collective defense and for the preservation of peace and security."

April 4, 1949 - Established when 12 nations sign the North Atlantic Treaty in a ceremony in Washington, D.C.

2009-present - The current secretary general is Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark.

28 Member Countries: Albania (2009) Belgium (1949) Bulgaria (2004) Canada (1949) Croatia (2009) Czech Republic (1999) Denmark (1949) Estonia (2004) France (1949) Germany (1955, as West Germany) Greece (1952) Hungary (1999) Iceland (1949) Italy (1949) Latvia (2004) Lithuania (2004) Luxembourg (1949) Netherlands (1949) Norway (1949) Poland (1999) Portugal (1949) Romania (2004) Slovakia (2004) Slovenia (2004) Spain (1982) Turkey (1952) United Kingdom (1949) United States (1949)

Timeline (selected): April 4, 1949 - The 12 nations of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States sign the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, D.C.

July 25, 1950 - First meeting of NATO Council Deputies in London. U.S. Ambassador Charles M. Spofford is elected permanent chairman.

December 19, 1950 - General Dwight Eisenhower is appointed the first supreme allied commander.

April 2, 1951 - Allied Command in Europe becomes operational with Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Roquencourt, near Paris.

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NATO Fast Facts

NATO Reassures East European Allies of its Support

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NATO's supreme commander in Europe said that an armored vehicles convoy of U.S. troops crossing eastern Europe is a "good message of reassurance to member nations for the military alliances support.

Speaking Tuesday in the capital of Romania, Bucharest, General Philip Breedlove said that the exercise tested many things that "hadn't been done for a long time in NATO ... like multiple border crossings.

He added that the crowds have come out to welcome these soldiers and their vehicles as they returned home." He said that was a a good message to our nations and we were able to exercise some skills that we haven't exercised in quite some time."

Breedlove said that a decision on whether Romania would host heavy military equipment from NATO would be announced soon. The so-called "Dragoon Ride'' convoy started its journey last week from Estonia and passed through Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, before entering the Czech Republic on its way home to a German base.

The convoy received a warm welcome in Poland and the Baltics, NATO members that have voiced concerns about their security because of the armed conflict in Ukraine.

Earlier Tuesday a Czech citizen, Milan Wunsch, greeting NATO troops passing through his country, said that he expected them to stop the Russian expansion which is advancing toward Europe."

"If the Russians think we belong to them, said Wunsch, these people [U.S. Army] are here to stop them."

NATO troops participated in the Atlantic Resolve exercise intended to demonstrate NATO's readiness to defend its members.

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NATO Reassures East European Allies of its Support

Is There Any Privacy Online? Edward Snowden, the NSA & Information Privacy (2014) – Video

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Is There Any Privacy Online? Edward Snowden, the NSA Information Privacy (2014)
Ongoing news reports in the international media have revealed operational details about the United States National Security Agency (NSA) and its international partners #39; global surveillance[1]...

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Is There Any Privacy Online? Edward Snowden, the NSA & Information Privacy (2014) - Video

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Satanic child sex ring investigation, NSA shooting, and a weather system – Video

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Satanic child sex ring investigation, NSA shooting, and a weather system
When several interesting stories roll out at the same time, I tend to take notice of the geopolitical context. Satanic worship scandal, NSA shooting, and a weather system: reports occur around...

By: Rise Together

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Satanic child sex ring investigation, NSA shooting, and a weather system - Video

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