Denmark Talks (Reluctantly) About a Ban on Circumcising Boys, Martin Selsoe Sorensen, New York Times, 2018-06-02 In Denmark, any proposal that can gather 50,000 signatures on Parliament’s official petition website is legally entitled to a debate and vote. A citizens’…
Atheist Freethinkers
Philosophical Materialism, Critical Thought, Secularism
Category: In the News
News articles
In the News: Denmark Bans Face Coverings in Public
Denmark becomes latest European country to ban full Islamic face veil in public spaces , Telegraph, 2018-05-31. The Danish parliament on Thursday passed a law banning the Islamic full-face veil in public spaces, becoming the latest European country to do…
In the News: Government Rejects Petition e-763 Against Religious Exception in Hate Propaganda
The federal government has rejected parliamentary petition e-763, lauched by AFT to request the repeal of the religious exception, i.e. paragraph 319(3)(b), in the Canadian law against hate propaganda (in the Criminal Code). Here is the essential part of the…
In the News: IHEU Corrects Vatican About Freedom From Religion
Actually, ‘freedom from religion’ is a human right, IHEU tells Vatican at the UN, Elizabeth O’Casey, IHEU, 2018-03-09 Humanists at the UN have today strongly rejected claims from the Vatican delegation that ‘freedom from religion’ is not a human right.…
In the News: Egypt May Imprison Atheists
Égypte : les athées seront-ils bientôt mis en prison ? (Egypt: Will Atheists Soon be Imprisoned?), France 2 Television, 2018-02-27 A French television network reports that Egypt may soon pass legislation which would criminalize non-belief and punish it with fines or even…
In the News: Elections Québec Now Accepts Candidates With Head Coverings
Quebec nixes rule forcing political candidates to remove head coverings, CBC News, 2018-02-21 Quebec’s chief electoral officer is changing a regulation that prevented people who wear religious head coverings from running for provincial office. For nearly 30 years, all potential…
In the News: Abortion Law Reform To Be Debated in Argentine Congress
Abortion Debate in Argentina Gains Momentum as Macri Says He Won’t Block It in Congress, The Bubble, 2018-02-23 The Casa Rosada has indicated it will not attempt to block a debate in Congress on proposals to decriminalize and legalize abortions.…
In the News: President of Tunisian Tunisian Assaulted
Le président de l’Association des Libres penseurs tunisiens agressé, la Fédération française de la Libre Pensée adresse une lettre ouverte à l’ambassadeur de Tunisie en France (President of Tunisian Freethinkers Assaulted, French Freethought Federation Writes to the Tunisian Ambassador in…
In the News: Iranian Women Bravely Remove Veils Publicly, Risk Arrest
Click to view video An elderly Iranian woman removes and agitates her veil in protest. She is apparently not one of those arrested. Iranian police arrest 29 for involvement in hijab protests, Eliza Mackintosh, CNN, 2018-02-03. Police in the Iranian…
In the News: Supreme Court Rejects Privilege for Aboriginal Spirituality
Top court deals blow to Indigenous peoples, Nathan VanderKlippe, The Globe and Mail, 2017-11-02 The Supreme Court of Canada has declined to grant special protection for religious freedom for aboriginal peoples, ruling that a private ski resort in British Columbia…
In the News: Markham, Ontario, Mayor Enables Political Islam
Click to view full size Proclamation, City of Markham, Ontario To the long list of dupes of political Islam, we can now add the name of the mayor Frank Scarpitti of the Ontario city of Markham, who has issued a…
In the News: Quebeckers from Muslim Background Denounce Exploitation of January 29
Un an après l’attentat de la mosquée de Québec, apaiser le climat social (One Year After the Quebec City Mosque Attack, Social Climate Needs Calm), Ferid Chikhi, Nadia El-Mabrouk, Ali Kaidi & Leila Lesbet of the Association québécoise des Nord-Africains…
In the News: Djemila Benhabib denounces “indecent” exploitation of January 29
Un drame et son instrumentalisation (A Tragedy and Its Exploitation), Djemila Benhabib, le Nouvelliste, 2018-01-26 We still do not know the motives of Alexandre Bissonnette, the presumed murderer, whose trial begins on March 26th 2018. Nevertheless, Islamist lobbyists, politicians at…
In the News: Relative of Victim Rejects Day Against “Islamophobia”
Attentat à la mosquée de Québec, Il n’y a pas d’islamophobie au Québec, selon une proche d’une victime (Attack on Quebec City Mosque, There is no Islamophobia in Quebec, Says Relative of Victim), TVA Nouvelles, 2018-01-23 A year after the…
In the News: Fake News of Hijab Scissor Attack
Hijab scissor attack against 11-year-old did not occur: Police, Jenna Moon, Toronto Star, 2018-01-15 Police say the events described did not occur. […] Toronto Police say they have concluded that an incident reported Friday in which an eleven-year-old girl’s hijab…
In the News: Charlie Hebdo, Three Years After
Click to enlarge Front page of CH#1328 Il has been three years since the attack on the satiric newspaper Charlie Hebdo, on January 7th 2015. In an editorial entitled “Freedom of Expression, What Does It Cost?” and published in no.…
In the News: Iran Claims to Soften Dress Code for Women
Tehran Police Say Women Will No Longer Be Arrested For Violating ‘Islamic’ Dress Code, Hayley Miller, Huffington Post Canada, 2017-12-28. Police in Iran’s capital are loosening up restrictions regarding dress code after decades of pushback from women in the country.…
In the News: Egypt to Ban Atheism
Egypt’s parliament takes serious actions to combat atheism, Marina Gamil, Egypt Today, 2018-01-04 CAIRO – 4 January 2018: Parliament’s Committee on Religion is about to prepare an explanatory note on the draft law to criminalize atheism in Egypt, amongst several…
In the News: Ireland: Abortion Law Changes
Eighth Amendment committee agrees to recommend abortion law changes, Sarah Bardon, The Irish Times, 2017-12-13. The Oireachtas committee on the Eighth Amendment has agreed to recommend a series of changes to abortion laws, including access to terminations without restriction up…
In the News: Saudia Arabia: Apostasy Penalty Unchanged
Official source denies allegations that the Kingdom is planning to abolish apostasy penalty, Saudi Press Agency, 2017-12-02. An official source declared to the Saudi Press Agency that the allegations published by some sources in good intention or otherwise that the…
In the News: MNA Agnès Malthais proposes a commission on indoctrination by sects
Endoctrinement des sectes: Maltais veut une commission parlementaire (Indoctrination by Sects: Maltais Wants a Parliamentary Commission), Ian Bussières, Le Soleil, 2017-11-23 MNA Agnès Malthais has asked the Commission on Institutions of the Quebec National Assembly to investigate methods of indoctrination…
In the News: Transport Canada Allows Small Blades on Airplanes
Transport Canada decision to allow blades on planes incurs wrath of Quebec politicians, Angelica Montgomery, CBC News, 2017-11-22. In a nearly unanimous vote, Quebec’s lawmakers have passed a motion asking the federal government to review Transport Canada’s decision to allow…
In the News: In Malaysia, Atheism is “Unconstitutional”?
Atheism is ‘unconstitutional’, says Malaysian deputy minister: Report, Channel NewsAsia, 2017-11-23. KUALA LUMPUR: Atheism is “unconstitutional” and should not be allowed in Malaysia, said Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki […] atheism “contradicts” both the…
In the News: Charlottesville: White Supremacists & Islamist Extremists Have Much in Common
The Charlottesville Aftermath Showed What White Supremacists and Islamist Extremists Have in Common, Muhammad Fraser-Rahim & Muna Adil, Newsweek, 2017-08-26 (The authors are associated with Quilliam International.) This grievance and victimhood narrative is one that is strikingly similar in both…
In the News: Launch of Atheist Magazine in Poland
Kazimierz Lyszczynski Foundation, Press Release 2017-08-10 Kazimierz Lyszczynski Foundation to Launch Przeglad Ateistyczny FKL (KLF Atheist Review) Warsaw, Poland, August 10th, 2017 – The Kazimierz Lyszczynski Foundation announced today that the premier issue of the first ever atheist magazine in…
