Every year on the first Thursday of May a peculiar thing happens: the president and government officials across the nation ask us to pray. Not only do they ask us to pray, they inform us of the value of prayer and how, according to President Obama's 2012 National...

The issue of assisted suicide is in the public spotlight in Arizona following the sentence of probation for George Sanders, who admitted he shot his wife in response to her wishes after she was diagnosed with a gangrene infection that would require hospitalization and subsequent residence...

With the recent progress in the U.S. Senate on gun control, national attention is finally returning to the issue of gun ownership. How much we should control gun ownership in America is a question that divides religions, families and even some humanists--whose frequently progressive views might lead people...

Senator Rob Portman, who helped Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign and co-sponsored the Defense of Marriage Act, kick-started a firestorm among politicos and LGBTQ advocates across the nation with his recent reversal on same-sex marriage. The catalyst for this sudden change, according to the...

Now that Pope Benedict XVI has decided to resign Saint Peter's throne, the world is left to guess who will replace him as the head of the church. For many Catholics, this process is a vital component of their faith, but to most in the nonreligious...

Our federal government is in a bind as it's supposed to be providing solutions to some of the biggest national challenges, but is currently stuck in legislative gridlock due to intense partisanship. Some of the hot button issues on the table like gun violence and illegal immigration are...

Darwin Day is an international celebration of science and humanity that is held on the anniversary of Charles Darwin's February 12, 1809 birth. It's a time to celebrate the important discoveries and life of the person who first described biological evolution through natural selection with scientific...

The religious makeup of the Congress sworn in January 3 is virtually unchanged from the infamously gridlocked 112th Congress. There are 482 Christians, 33 Jews, 3 Buddhists, 2 Muslims, 1 Hindu, 1 Unitarian Universalist, and 1 open religiously unaffiliated member.

These numbers show that Congress,...

Politicians are working themselves into a frenzy trying to prevent the much feared "fiscal cliff," a term used to describe a bundle of momentous federal tax increases and spending cuts that will happen later this year if government officials fail to act. But as the White House and...

With the election over and Thanksgiving upon us, President Obama has a lot to be thankful for. He has been able to finally put his campaigning boots away and will be enjoying a delicious holiday meal this Thursday.

But before he slips in to a post-turkey food coma, I hope...

In almost every measure, the quality and affordability of healthcare in the US is embarrassing. While we spend more on healthcare than any other country, "all adults in the United States are at risk for receiving poor health care, no matter where they live; why and...

It's time to reconsider recent reasons for optimism regarding worldwide religious freedom. In September I wrote about how the Libyan embassy attack taught the world that true religious freedom requires not just that people are able to believe as they so choose, but it also demands the ability...

The news swept the globe this week of the senseless killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three of his staff members by an angry mob upset with a movie made in America. While we are immensely saddened by this unnecessary loss of life,

America's educational system isn't what it used to be. Our country was once known around the world for its stellar schools and teachers, which is part of the reason why so many people immigrated to this country in the first place. But after decades of budget cuts and...

For many of us, the first and most important lesson from our childhood is the Golden Rule. In a graduation speech at the University of Notre Dame, even President Obama made reference to it when he said

For if there is one law that we can be most...

Representative Pete Stark (D-CA), the only openly nontheist member of Congress, issued a proclamation recognizing the National Day of Reason, a day celebrating reason and its positive impact on humanity. As in previous years, the National Day of Reason is scheduled to be a more universally embraceable alternative...

Today's political climate makes it abundantly clear that American women need to have their rights and freedoms permanently protected through an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. New laws and regulations being pushed by the Religious Right are an open violation of every woman's basic dignity by forcing them into a...

Co-authored by U.S. Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) and American Humanist Association Executive Director Roy Speckhardt.

On Feb. 12 we'll commemorate the anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, a celebration around the world known as Darwin Day, to appreciate the advancement of human knowledge and the achievements of science and...

Think about the last time you voted. Was it in a school? A government building? What about a church? It's only intuitive that where you vote, and what's visible in the polling location, impacts how you vote. That's why there is a political line 75 to 100 feet or more...

We are once again in the middle of what can now be considered a new American tradition: falsely bashing nonbelievers for being anti-Christian in general, and anti-Christmas in particular. This annual religious right ritual claims that secular Americans are involved in some sort of insidious campaign to stop everyone from...