As one of the Five Pillars of Islam, every financially and physically capable Muslim must make at least one visit to Mecca, the holiest city in the religion, in a pilgrimage called the hajj. But for Muslims living in China, performing this trip is more difficult due to the watchful eyes of the Chinese government.
A Muslim mob attacked a Christian community in eastern Pakistan after some members were accused of desecrating the Quran, resulting in churches, homes, and even a cemetery being vandalized and set on fire.
A Muslim woman and her daughter in Australia provoked anger among Hindus after a video of them dumping a used menstrual pad that reeks of urine on a Hindu religious statue went viral on social media.
The now-viral video was uploaded on TikTok by @eshana_autar and was also shared on X (previously known as Twitter), YouTube, and other social media platforms. In the footage, two Muslim women living in Sydney wearing burqas were seen putting a used menstrual pad and wet tissues on the religious statue of their Hindu neighbor, who installed security cameras near the statue.
As Hindu nationalism continues to grow its influence in India, pseudoscience and falsehoods, often based on Hindu mythology and belief systems, are finding their way into the country’s top academic institutions, where the next generation of India’s scientists, doctors, and other experts are being educated.
After their company fired them for refusing to participate in daily Christian prayers, two non-religious employees in the United States filed a lawsuit against the firm, winning a $50,000 settlement.
Congratulations to freethinkers John McGaha and Mackenzie Saunders for their court victory after being fired for not attending company prayers. https://t.co/RuB2bxVvip via @RNS
If you’ve always wanted to seek advice from Jesus Christ on personal matters or if you’ve wanted to ask questions to certain characters in the Bible, a newly-launched, AI-powered app will let you chat with some of Christianity’s most prominent characters or at least simulate a conversation with them.
The first atheist organization in Kenya is fighting for its survival after a Christian bishop and politician filed a case to have its registration suspended.
The Atheists in Kenya Society (AKS) said that fundamental civil liberties and rights for non-religious organizations and individuals in primarily religious Kenya are uncertain as it prepared to file a submission last July 24th in response to a petition filed against the group and the Kenyan registrar of societies by Stephen Ndichu, a bishop and speaker of the Kiambu County Assembly.
A federal judge in West Virginia ruled that the state’s corrections agency cannot force an atheist inmate to participate in a religiously-affiliated substance abuse program to be eligible for parole.
Charleston-based US district court judge Joseph Goodwin decided after Andrew Miller, an atheist and secular humanist imprisoned at the Saint Marys Correctional Center and Jail, filed a lawsuit against the West Virginian state government last April for allegedly forcing Christianity on incarcerated people and failing to accommodate his requests to honor his lack of belief in God.
When Christopher Nolan’s latest film Oppenheimer was released worldwide, it sparked a new Internet phenomenon called Barbenheimer after being screened with Greta Gerwig’s Barbie on the same date, and it also reignited debates on whether the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II were justifiable and necessary.
A 21-year-old Indian Muslim man suffered severe injuries and trauma after experiencing violent religious coercion in the district of Bhilwara in the northern state of Rajasthan on July 8th. This incident reflects the ongoing religious violence between the country’s Hindu and Muslim communities.
