Atheist News Nov 15 2018: Shooting Victim’s Mother Say No to Prayers, Young People Leaving Religion

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

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1. The British singer, once-One Direction member, Zayn Malik, was the celebrity many Muslims especially Pakistani ones, liked to claim as their own because he had a father who was a Pakistani Muslim and his family appears to be Muslim. In an interview to British Vogue, Zayn was asked if he would call himself a Muslim. His reply was, "No, I wouldn't". Some of his fans are canceling him.

2. Pastor Jean Jacob Jeudy, a 48-year-old Texas pastor of the church Walk By Faith International Missionary, was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a child. He blamed Satan for the charges. He said they are being made through the devil. He was booked Thursday into the El Paso County Jail on a bond totaling $30,000 and was released on bail later that day.

3. Kevin Stitt, an anti-vaxxer and a Republican businessman, got elected as Oklahoma's 28th governor. He beat Democrat Drew Edmondson by 12 points despite never having run for elected office before. He gives all the credit to God.

4. Before the rampage at a bar in Thousand Oaks, California, the mass shooter apparently posted about the uselessness of "hopes and prayers" on Facebook. Ian David Long, a 28-year-old former Marine who served Afghanistan, shot people at the Borderline Bar & Grill Wednesday night. This was his post on facebook:

“I hope people call me insane… (laughing emojis).. wouldn’t that just be a big ball of irony? Yeah.. I’m insane, but the only thing you people do after these shootings is ‘hopes and prayers’.. or ‘keep you in my thoughts’… every time… and wonder why these keep happening…”

His motives are still unknown.

On the other news, a mother of the mass shooting victim said that she does not want prayers, she wants gun control. Her son, Telemachus Orfanos was a survivor of another mass shooting in Las Vegas. The mother's message was:

“I hope to God no one sends me anymore prayers. I want gun control. No more guns!” – mother of shooting victim Telemachus Orfanos. She says he survived the #LasVegasShooting but did not survive the #ThousandOaksMassacre.

5. The Parkway Playhouse came to Mitchell High School in Bakersville to perform the Shakespeare play on Thursday. A group of parents and pastors were so offended about the presentation that they formed a prayer circle for the students.

6. In the 1990s, Rachelle “Shelley” Shannon shot and injured abortion provider Dr. George Tiller who was later assassinated. Rachelle also committed multiple acts of firebombing and acid attacks against abortion clinics. She was sentenced to more than two decades in prison but now she is free.

7. Friday morning President Donald Trump signed a presidential proclamation that will bar migrants who cross into the US illegally through the southern border from seeking asylum. This would ban migrants from applying for asylum outside of official ports of entry. The American Civil Liberties Union has already called the rule "illegal," and legal challenges are expected to follow.

8. This week the Trump administration issued final regulations that give "conscience protections" for employers that have "religious or moral objections" to providing employees birth control. Under the new rules, businesses, nonprofits, and religious groups have much more flexibility to withhold any form of contraception from their workers, a decision that would primarily affect women.

9. A video showing the brutal killing of a young Syrian girl by her own brother has been released online. She was killed to "bring back the honour" of her family. The video shows a young man, Bashar Bseis, holding a Kalashnikov rifle in hand, pointing at a young girl wearing a scarf and couching on the floor. "Make sure we can see both your faces," a voice orders him. His friend told him, "Go ahead, Bashar - cleanse your honour." Bashar then proceeds to shoot multiple bullets into his sister and watches her die. This was reportedly live streamed on Facebook. The girl had been killed after indiscreet pictures of her were posted on the social media site. Bashar is a member of the Free Syrian Army, with its own police and courts and might never be held to account.

10. In the United States, the fastest-growing religious affiliation is "no affiliation," and it is leading to a major crisis for religious leaders. The report cited a Pew Research poll which found that 36% of younger millennials identify as either atheist, agnostic, or "nothing in particular." The report found that the vast information available through the internet is leading many away from churches, and toward their own personal journeys of spiritual discovery.