A new year, a new link bomb.

Philosopher Nicholas Everitt discusses God’s various attributes (omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, omnibenovelence) and their incompatibility. Everitt recommends that theists tweak these traditional attributes, and some Mormon thinkers have done just that.

I’m not very persuasive, and the movie Inception explains why.

Before 1971, less than one percent of Canadians reported having “no religion” on national surveys. Today, nearly a quarter say they aren’t religious. Secularism is making advances in the United States as well, with an overwhelming majority of Americans (70%) feeling that religion’s influence is on the decline. A recent study, though, claims that America isn’t becoming less religious, only more honest. Despite all our pious professions, we Americans don’t act more religious than our European and Canadian counterparts.

None of this spells religion’s demise, however. If birth rates are any indication, atheists are a dying breed.

The 20 most interesting studies on religion from 2008-2010.

Another study that has been receiving a lot of press was done by BYU. The study claims that those who wait until marriage to have sex are more likely to enjoy healthier marriages. The study’s conclusion may well be true, but its methodology is seriously flawed.

Atheists have a diversity problem. A survey of the members of the Freedom From Religion Foundation found that 95% were white, and the majority male. Readers of this site don’t fare much better: 88% of SHAFTers are white, and 76% male.

Women are often the most victimized by religion, and yet—as we established above—they are less likely to leave religion. In fact, of the over 100,000 Britons who have converted to Islam, the average convert is a 27-year-old white woman. And while some assume that Mormon women are chaffing under the patriarchy of their church, only 10% of them want the priesthood.

Common Sense Atheism and Debunking Christianity, two of my favorite atheist blogs, compile their best posts of 2010.

Among the most damning evidences against Mormonism, in my opinion, is the botched translation of Egyptian papyri that is the Book of Abraham. A popular apologetic response is that we’ve lost the papyri from which Joseph Smith translated. But new research published in Dialogue, which employed a sophisticated statistical analysis of the papyri, indicates that we possess roughly the entire scroll.

I like to seek out thoughtful arguments against gay marriage; they force me to challenge my gay marriage advocacy and help me play contrarian with my fellow liberals. This case against gay marriage falls short of being compelling, but it is nonetheless worth your consideration.

Mormon Stories is doing a series of podcasts called “Atheism after Mormonism.” You can listen to the first episode here.

I hope Santa didn’t bring you any Power Balance bracelets, because they’re bunk. (I have a friend who manages to sell these with a straight face.)

A fascinating fringe movement: do-it-yourself transhumanism.

From the makers of the Mormon blockbuster The Singles Ward comes The Real Life Singles Ward, a documentary that examines and pokes fun at Mormon dating culture.

You’re welcome for the Facebook fodder.

For those of you who, like me, miss school, Open Culture has a list of 250 free online courses from the top universities in the world.

I prefer comedian Louis C.K.’s take on the Abraham-Isaac story to Kierkegaard’s or Derrida’s. Well, it’s funnier at least.

New research finds that people who think their lives are meaningless still enjoy their lives. Also, while religious people are slightly happier than the non-religious, this is due to social bonding, not spiritual engagement.

The Daily Show on Monday took aim at Fox and its coverage of the supposed War on Christmas.

At his blog, USU philosopher professor Dr. Kleiner shares his thoughts on Apple’s decision to pull an app for having “anti-gay” content. I agree with him that the decision was absurd.

Liberal LDS blogger Marshall Thompson makes the case that Mormons are pro-choice.

Provo, Utah Girls: A (surprisingly funny) Mormon parody of Katy Perry’s California Girls.

A high school student is now being homeschooled, because his personal finance class required that he read Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed. It’s a must-read book about poverty in America, but controversial at parts. Here is the offending paragraph:

“It would be nice if someone would read this sad-eyed crowd the Sermon on the Mount, accompanied by a rousing commentary on income inequality and the need for a hike in the minimum wage. But Jesus makes his appearance here only as a corpse; the living man, the wine-guzzling vagrant and precocious socialist, is never once mentioned, nor anything he ever had to say. Christ crucified rules, and it may be that the true business of modern Christianity is to crucify him again and again so that he can never get a word out of his mouth …”

As per Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, a Christian Pakistani woman is on death row for allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad. And a Palestinian atheist is jailed for a month for criticizing Islam on the internet.

A Texas atheist group participated in a local Christmas parade as—get this!—a vuvuzela marching band. Controversy ensued.

Atheism is on the rise in Indonesia. We’ve also discussed atheism’s rise in the US at this blog. These are encouraging developments, but we ought to temper our optimism about the demise of religion.

A note to my fellow Mormon studies nerds at USU: On December 9 from 4:30-7:00 PM in Old Main 340, there will be a graduate seminar called “Mormon Encounters in Religion.” Ten graduate students will present on Mormonism’s relationships with other faith traditions.

Also this week, George Handley, professor of humanities at BYU, is hosting a conversation about environmental stewardship and Mormonism. This will be held on Friday, December 10 at 7:00 pm at the Crumb Brothers Bakery (291 S 300 W). There is no cost, but space is limited and registration is required. To RSVP, call 435-755-3239 or click here.

A letter to the editor published in the Salt Lake Tribune earlier this week claims, “Yes, gays can change.”

Christopher Hitchens, ever a stalwart defender of free speech, calls WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange “an unscrupulous megalomaniac.” Assange was arrested the other day under a Swedish law that prohibits sex without a condom (yes, really), but the US wants to prosecute him for publishing confidential diplomatic and defense information.

The question that stumps many pro-life activists.

The latest apocalyptic prediction: the Second Coming will happen May 21, 2011. Mark your calendars.

The same-sex partner of a slain Missouri cop will not receive survivor benefits, despite their having been a couple for 15 years, owning a home, and raising a kid together.

A Noah’s Ark theme park is planned in Kentucky. Plans include the construction of a full-size replica of Noah’s ark, and the project has been promised generous tax subsidies.

Two Philadelphia parents are being tried for the death of their toddler, who died of pneumonia last year. The parents forewent medical care for the child, opting instead to pray for his recovery.

A post-game interview with an atheist football player.

A study suggests that the Catholic Church in Germany engaged in a “systematic cover-up” to protect priests accused of sexual abuse. Only half of Americans rate clergy as ethical; I suspect the largely secular German people have an even less favorable view of clergy.

The top 10 daily consequences of having evolved.

Mormon blogger Joanna Brooks argues that the election of Mike Lee represents a decline in Mormon conservative intellectualism.

Thanks to Obama’s Faith-Based Office, at least $140 million dollars in stimulus money went to religious organizations.

A recent Newsweek article calls Utah “the new economic Zion”, because it has been largely insulated from the bad economy. Part of that is Utah’s low corporate taxes, making it a hospitable environment for business. And Newsweek attributes the rest to the Mormon work ethic.

The Truant (satirical) headline: “Pearl of Great Price” not worth that much after all”.

Some recently declassified FBI files shed light on conservative firebrand and Mormon leader Ezra Taft Benson’s relationships with the Eisenhower and the John Birch Society.

The Catholic blog “First Things” explains why the phrase “I’m spiritual, but not religious” is vacuous. “The word “spiritual” has no useful meaning if it does not refer to a relation to a real spirit … It’s not a useful word if it means a general inclination or shape of mind or emotional pattern or set of attitudes or collection of values. There is no reason to call any of these spiritual.”

The Center for Inquiry’s resident philosopher John Shook provides a detailed overview of the various naturalisms.

The LDS Church takes another stand on a hot-button political issue, and this time I agree with them. The church came out in support of comprehensive immigration reform.

A major study by renown sociologist Robert Putnam finds that Mormons are among the most devout religious groups, among the most likely to keep their faith as an adult, are unusually charitable, and have relatively positive and pluralistic views of other religions.

In his new book, the Pope condones condom use in exceptional cases. Well, kind of.

A father in Indiana is denied custody rights of his children because he is an agnostic. Absurd.

This YouTuber advocates a boycott of the Salvation Army this holiday season, because of its religious opposition to gay marriage and anti-discrimination ordinances.

Mormon apologist and Islam expert Daniel C. Peterson, in an online discussion board, writes, “I’m not sure whether Muhammad was a prophet or not. I’m reasonably confident that he received inspiration from God.”

A new study finds that Utah lags behind all other states in attainment of college degrees by women.

Philosopher Daniel Dennett and Linda LaScola of Tufts University release a landmark study on atheist clergy—priests and pastors who secretly disbelieve, yet continue to preach the Christian gospel. Dennett claims that this is a fairly common phenomenon. I’d argue, though, that the LDS Church doesn’t have this problem, as its leadership consists of lay members who, unlike most Christian clergy, don’t undergo religious/theological education.

Evolutionary biologist and philosopher Massimo Pigliucci worries that science vs. philosophy will be the next big culture war.

Andrew S. of Irresistible (Dis)Grace asks whether most Mormons even care about the truth.

France is starting to teach philosophy in school to kids as young as four. Let’s just hope they’re not reading Nietzsche quite yet. Then in the UK, you have Islamic schools that are teaching children how to cut of thieves’ hands and that there is a Jewish plot for world domination.

The New Scientist has compiled their best articles on the science of morality into one special report.

Lastly, something to think about this Thanksgiving: The weird evolutionary story of cranberries.

Last night, I attended BYU professor William Bradshaw’s lecture on the biological origin of homosexuality. It was epic. Dr. Bradshaw made a compelling case that homosexuality is primarily caused by genetic factors and is not a choice. He concluded with a plea for compassion toward homosexuals. The presentation was well-received—it got a standing ovation, in fact.

You can listen to Dr. Bradshaw’s presentation here, courtesy of Mormon Stories. (At 1:22:55 in the recording, I asked, “Do you have any thoughts about last weekend’s Evergreen International conference?” He declined to answer the question, and I suspect it’s because he didn’t want to publicly criticize the general authority who spoke there.)

Today is the 120th anniversary of “The Manifesto”, the 1890 statement by LDS Church president Wilford Woodruff that (ostensibly discontinued the practice of polygamy.

Science blogger Chard Orzel tries to distill quantum physics into seven essential elements. If, like me, you know relatively little about quantum physics, this article is a good place to start.

Fred Karger is the first Republican to officially announce his candidacy for president in 2012. His group Californians Against Hate helped uncover the extent of Mormon involvement in Proposition 8.

A recent study from the National Center for Atmospheric Research proposes that the parting of the Red Sea described in Exodus might have occurred (if it occurred at all) as a natural phenomenon, not a miracle. Their simulations found that a strong wind of over 60 mph could have pushed the water into two separate basins, creating a pathway.

The Deseret News reported on Sunday that 1 in 5 Utah women use antidepressants—double the rate of Utah men. Roy, Hooper, Riverdale, Brigham City, Layton, and southern Cache County dole out the most antidepressants.

You Are Not So Smart argues that humans “tend to ignore random chance when the results seem meaningful or when you want a random event to have a meaningful cause.” We often mistake the common for the uncanny.

The most bizarre rituals in human history. Not for the squeamish.

Andrew of Irresistible (Dis)Grace explains why he doesn’t identify as ex-Mormon despite his disbelief. And Eliza R. Snitch discusses her reluctance to resign from the LDS Church.

The Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian advocacy group, has declared this Sunday “Pulpit Freedom Sunday.” Over 100 pastors will risk their church’s tax-exempt status and endorse specific candidates for the mid-term elections.

Career conspiracy theorist Alex Jones told his radio show listeners that the government is chemically engineering gay people to curb population growth.

In what I think was an unwarranted curtailment of free speech, The UK arrested six men for burning Qur’ans on September 11th.

The first annual “Galileo Was Wrong” conference will be held in November. There, Catholic academics will defend geocentrism, the theory that Earth is at the center of the universe. Yes, really. It needs to be mentioned, though, that these Catholics are not speaking on behalf of the Vatican.

This is old news, but the pope visited the UK last week. In his address, he called Nazism an example of “atheist extremism.” Richard Dawkins, predictably, was incensed. I’ve tried to be charitable to the pope’s claim that Nazism was atheistic, but it’s just bad history. Hitler, and Nazism more generally, had a complex and conflicted relationship with religion.

I mentioned in the previous link bomb that Christopher Hitchens recently debated David Berlinski. The video is now available. The cancer has taken an obvious toll on Hitchens, but his mind remains as agile as ever.

My post about The Daily Universe‘s censorship of a letter to the editor critical of Prop 8 garnered quite the audience. PZ Myers, The Salt Lake Tribune, and The Huffington Post picked up the story, along with several prominent Mormon and LGBT blogs. Cary Crall, the BYU student who wrote the letter, will be interviewed live by Mormon Stories’ John Dehlin on Tuesday at 8 PM (MST). Call in with questions.

In related news, Chuck Cooper, the lead defense attorney for Prop 8, spoke to BYU law students on Thursday about the threat of gay marriage. Cooper’s disappointing performance prompted one attendee to ask: “If Chuck Cooper can’t defend Prop 8 in front of a group of BYU students, then how is he going to defend it in front of the Supreme Court?”

Patheos has a series of thoughtful articles on the future of secular humanism. We have reason to be optimistic.

In their magazine Awake!, Jehovah’s Witnesses critique the ‘new atheism,’ ironically complaining that atheists are “not content to keep their views to themselves.”

Despite undergoing chemotherapy for esophageal cancer, Christopher Hitchens marshaled enough strength to debate David Berlinski, author of The Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions, last week. By all accounts, Hitchens was at the top of his game.

Our friend Craig, over at his blog, credits Mormonism for his atheism. I can relate, as I’m sure many of you can too. A disproportionate number of nonbelievers come out of institutional and legalistic religions like Mormonism and Catholicism.

A new study finds that atheist/agnostic doctors are twice as likely than their religious peers to hasten the death of terminally-ill patients.

The president of the Montana Tea Party was forced to resign after joking about hanging homosexuals.

An atheist and computer science student at Purdue has been blogging his way through the entire Bible, providing chapter summaries and critical commentary.

CTR rings are a thing of the past. Introducing CTR brass knuckles…

Atheist philosopher Keith Parsons says goodbye to the philosophy of religion. “I just cannot take [theistic] arguments seriously any more,” he writes, “and if you cannot take something seriously, you should not try to devote serious academic attention to it.”

Utah artist Jon McNaughton, who drew national attention for this painting, has produced yet another controversial piece—this one depicting President Obama standing on the Constitution while previous presidents look on in astonishment and disgust.

A professor at a Catholic college in India had his hand chopped off by the Islamic Popular Front of India for allegedly preparing a paper with derogatory references to Muhammad. Adding insult to injury (literally!), the college fired him for offending “religious sensibilities.”

The Liberal Agnostic Who Could updates the 13 Articles of Faith.

Julian Baggini, editor of The Philosopher’s Magazine, argues that science hasn’t killed god, only rendered him unrecognizable. The universe of Hawking and other scientists leaves no room for what Baggini calls “the activist god of the Bible.”

One of the members of our sister group SHIFT recently created the website LDS Origins, a resource for early Mormon history. Also at the site is the transcript of a conversation this SHIFT member had with an unnamed LDS apostle.

Robert Fisk of The Independent documents the growing problem of so-called honor killings, which claim the lives of at least 20,000 women a year.

A group of teenagers disturbed worship at a Rochester, New York mosque on Monday. They drove around the mosque, honking car horns, shouting obscenities and racial slurs, and firing a shotgun into the air.

Last weekend, a Phoenix Catholic church ordained another female priest—the fourth woman ordained to the priesthood in that area. The Vatican has called these ordinations a “crime against faith” and promise excommunications.

The Washington Post debunks five myths about American mosques.

Trying to co-opt the civil rights movement and its legacy, Glenn Beck held his “Restoring Honor” rally at the same place and on the same day that MLK Jr. gave his “I have a dream” speech. Beck argued that America has “wandered in darkness” and needs to turn to god. Christopher Hitchens called the rally “the Waterworld of white self-pity.” Hitchens’ Slate colleague William Saletan disagrees, writing that liberals should celebrate the fact that conservatives have embraced MLK Jr., a man they once perceived as a radical.

Austin Cline of About.com: Atheism/Agnosticism provides us with a helpful overview of the various explanations for why religion exists.

In his new book, The Grand Design, Stephen Hawking concludes that no god was needed to create the universe. The universe was instead the inevitable result of the laws of physics.

The Center for Inquiry (of which SHAFT is an affiliate) released a statement defending the right to build an Islamic center near Ground Zero. A couple of popular LDS blogs urge Mormons to support the center. Mormon politicians are divided on the issue. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) backs the center, while Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) and Mitt Romney oppose it.

All this talk about Obama being a secret Muslim is silly. We all know he’s a closet non-believer.   ;)

TheoreticalBullshit recently posted a 30-minute video about morality without god. TBS, DasAmericanAtheist, and ProfMTH are among the most thoughtful and articulate atheists on YouTube. Subscribe to their channels.

Some missionaries burned dozens of copies of the Book of Mormon and have the pictures to prove it. (It’s not what you think.)

Contra the Word of Wisdom, an extensive 20-year scientific study found that both moderate and heavy drinkers outlive non-drinkers. A similar study found that a pint of beer is slightly better than water at rehydrating the body after a workout. Too bad it tastes terrible.

A new survey reveals that 1 in 8 Americans identify as “ex-Christian.” American adults are leaving Christianity at four times the rate they’re joining it.

Conservapedia would have you believe that Einstein’s E=mc2 is a liberal atheist conspiracy.

A Mormon bishop was senselessly murdered in California in between on Sunday. The shooter, Kenneth James Ward, was a former Mormon with many mental issues. He was bipolar and had post-traumatic stress disorder from serving in the Persian Gulf War.

The Council for Secular Humanism asks, “Are secularists less generous?” The answer: Yes, but it’s complicated.