Atheist News Oct 20 2018: Mother Might Be Executed for Blasphemy, Australia Stops Anti-Gay Schools

We discuss the latest news on religion and atheism in the past week 😃

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1. Asia Bibi, 53, a mother of five from Punjab, Pakistan is on death row since 2010. She was accused of insulting Prophet Mohammed during an argument over a cup of water. In June 2009, she went to fetch water for her fellow farm hands while working in a field picking berries. The Muslim women she worked with objected her drinking from the same water bowl as them as she was a non-Muslim. Ms. Bibi said the woman insulted her religion and she asked the Muslim women what their Prophet Mohammed had done to save mankind. Her response prompted the other women to go to the local imam and accuse Ms. Bibi of blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammed. Eisham, her daughter, watched her get beaten up by a violent mob. The daughter together with Asia's husband is in the UK, courtesy of Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need. She said she misses her mother whom she has not seen for nine years. If the Supreme Court does not rule in her favour, she will be the first executed for blasphemy.

2. The percentage of kids under age 2 who do not have any of their shots has quadrupled since 2001, according to new federal data. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention points to health insurance as leading to the problem. many states also give anti-vaxxer parents a loophole so their kids can attend school. Religious and philosophical reasons are acceptable as well.

3. In Michigan, a pharmacist refused to provide a woman medicine to help complete her miscarriage. Richard Kalkman refused to fill the prescription because he is a good Catholic male. When Rachel Peterson explained to him that the doctors confirmed the fetus was not viable, he essentially called her a liar. Now Rachel and the ACLU have sent a letter to the grocery chain where he’s employed. She demanded that the company discipline the pharmacist and implement a company-wide policy for how pharmacists should handle religious and moral objections.

4. Kat Kerr, the self-proclaimed Christian "prophetess", told an audience that she has miraculous powers. She explained that she walked on air. She claimed that she hovered for a second when no cameras were on her.

5. Dr. Don Boys, a former Indiana legislator and a BardWire contributor, wrote recently that Brett Kavanaugh was innocent of the sexual assault of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford because she never screamed about it. According to Deuteronomy 22: 23-24, rape is having sex with a woman while she screams for help.

6. On the 700 Club this week, Pat Robertson thinks that the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi who was reportedly killed, beheaded, and dismembered in a Saudi consulate in Turkey is not worth jeopardizing $100 billion worth of arms sales. He praised President Donald Trump's approach who doubted on the allegations against the Saudis.

7. Sixteen men have been jailed for a total of more than 200 years as part of a grooming gang who abused 15 girls in and around Huddersfield between 2004 and 2011. Earlier this year, the group's ringleader Amere Singh Dhaliwal, was jailed for life. The victims are teenage girls aged 11 and 17. The men groomed and exploited them for their own sexual gratification.

8. During a gathering of the Catholic bishops earlier this month, Archbishop Charles Chaput from Philadelphia, made it clear that he had a problem with any reference to "LGBTQ Catholics." He said Catholics should stop using that term because such groups did not exist.

9. Physicist Stephen Hawking says in no uncertain terms in his book, "There is no God. No one directs the universe." Regarding a question about God's existence, he was clear that he did not exist. He added that when we die, we return to dust.

10. In Australia, Scott Morrison, the prime minister, has promised to ban religious schools from discriminating against gay students. Some Australian states allow schools to turn away gay students. The issue has been a debate in the country after recommendations of a report on religious freedom were leaked.

Researchers say most of grooming gang members are Pakistani (Muslim) origin, and the majority of their victims are young, white girls:

The report found that 84% of ‘grooming gang’ offenders were (South) Asian, while they only make up 7% of total UK population and that the majority of these offenders are of Pakistani origin with Muslim heritage.