The Freethinker - The voice of atheism since 1881

Muslim denied an Islamic funeral because he sold property to Jews

November 17, 2018 By Barry Duke

Citing a fatwa issued in 1935 by Amin al-Husseini, the Nazi-supporting grand mufti of Jerusalem, the present mufti – Ekrima Said Sabr, above – refused to allow the burial of a Palestinian to take place at a Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem. Instead, the family of Alah Kirsh , who was killed in a traffic accident, were told they could plant him in a Jewish cemetery. Aryeh Stern, the Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel’s capital, ruled this week as a rabbinical… Read more

Mormon church may be sued for Utah cannabis ballot interference

November 16, 2018 By Barry Duke

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The Mormons, with their long history of poking its nose into the political affairs in their home state of Utah and beyond, faces a possible lawsuit for interfering in the recent Proposition 2 ballot regarding medical cannabis. A week after Utah voters approved the initiative, a lawyer representing patients and advocates formally told the church to preserve records that may reveal its alleged attempts to undermine Proposition 2 which ultimately passed by roughly 52-46 percent, with some ballots still left… Read more

UK man who gave a Nazi salute at Jewish rally is jailed for six months

November 16, 2018 By Barry Duke

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Joseph Brogan, inset, who gave a Nazi salute and accused Jews of being ‘child killer’ at Manchester rally staged to protest against anti-Semitism, was jailed this week for six months. In sentencing Brogan, 27, for a racially aggravated public order offence, Judge Martin Rudland at Manchester Crown Court said a message needed to be sent that, especially in the current climate, behaviour like this wouldn’t be tolerated. This was targeted specifically at members of the Jewish community at a rally… Read more

New US tax law could extract $1.7 billion from churches over ten years

November 16, 2018 By Barry Duke

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The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) of the Southern Baptist Convention has called ‘foul’ over a new tax law that squeezes churches and nonprofits to the tune of around $1.7 billion over a decade. The commission, part of a coalition of some 32 faith-based organisations, sent a letter to Congress, demanding the repeal of a provision in the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that will force churches and other historically tax-exempt organisations to file federal and likely state… Read more

Faith-based homophobia has just cost Tanzania millions in foreign aid

November 15, 2018 By Barry Duke

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At the beginning of November, a defiant Paul Makonda, above, announced plans to round up and punish members of Tanzania’s LGBT community, saying he didn’t care a jot what other countries thought of this attack on human rights. The Commissioner for the commercial capital Dar es Salaam said he expected criticism from abroad but added: I prefer to anger those countries than to anger God. Well, his words have just cost his country almost $10-million. Denmark has just announced that… Read more

Brexit is God’s plan to crush secularism and boost ‘biblical standards’

November 14, 2018 By Barry Duke

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In the midst of the ongoing chaos surrounding Brexit, a Christian blowhard called David Hathaway – founder and President of Eurovision Mission to Europe – insists that Britain’s planned exit from the European Union will free the country from the EU’s ‘ungodly yoke’. The evangelist is reported here as saying: I believe that prophetically this is God’s way forward for us as a nation to take a lead in returning to Biblical standards in Europe, free from the secularism of… Read more

Malaysia: censors deny claims they butchered Bohemian Rhapsody

November 14, 2018 By Barry Duke

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In Muslim-majority Malaysia they don’t ‘promote’ homosexuality. They cure it instead. So when Bohemian Rhapsody, the recently released movie celebrating Queen and its lead singer Freddy Mercury came to Malaysia, the gay scenes hit the cutting room floor, much to the annoyance of cinema-goers who claimed that the censors had butchered the film to such an extent that it had been rendered unwatchable. It was widely reported this week that around 24 minutes had been cut, but this has been… Read more

Convicted Neo-Nazi once wanted to become Jewish, a UK jury is told

November 14, 2018 By Barry Duke

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Adam Thomas, 22, and and his partner Claudia Patatas, 38, were found guilty at Birmingham crown court this week of being members of the extreme right-wing organisation National Action, which was banned in 2016. Now here’s the weird part: Thomas, who has a baby called Adolf in “admiration” of Hitler, claimed to have lived in Israel for nearly two years in a bid to convert to Judaism. During evidence in his defence, given from the witness box, Thomas – a self-confessed… Read more

Faith-based therapies pose a growing threat to gay people in the UK

November 13, 2018 By Barry Duke

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The creature preacher pictured here is Gbenga Samuel, a UK pastor who was the subject of the lead report on ITV News last night about the extent of abuse suffered by members of the LGBT at the hands of Christian ‘pray-away-the gay’ zealots . The Winners’ Chapel pastor was secretly filmed as he screamed and bellowed in tongues as he tried to rid an undercover reporter of his homosexuality. The journalist was pushed to the floor and spun in circles…. Read more

Kim Davis plans to team up with Jesus to embark on a new career

November 12, 2018 By Barry Duke

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If you can’t use your position as a public servant to exercise your God-given right to be an obstructive pain in the arse, what on earth can you do? Anti-gay marriage Rowan County clerk Kim Davis has the answer, according to PinkNews. She is is planning to be an evangelical preacher, but not, this time, on the taxpayers’ dime. Davis, during the recent mid-term US elections, lost her re-election bid last on November 6 – three years after she became… Read more