Agnostic // Current TV

An agnostic crisis of faith

Because if there’s a genuine ethics out there that applies because it actually... more

hoosierdaddy
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1 year ago
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Christopher Hitchens 1949 - 2011: The best videos and articles submitted by you

The writer, journalist and contrarian Christopher Hitchens has died at the age of 62... more

sbacker
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1 year ago
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6 comments

Supreme Court rules giving tax credits for donations to religious schools is not violation of 1st Amendment

Goodbye tax payer standing - the government now can encourage majority religions through tax credits... and there is nothing you can do to challenge it. Thank you Justice Kennedy.

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From the article:

"In the Supreme Court’s 5-to-4 ruling about a school-choice program in Arizona, Justice Anthony Kennedy’s opinion leaves intact a program that has disbursed almost $350 million of state funds, most of it to schools choosing students on the basis of religion.

The holding all but overrules a landmark decision of the Warren court, Flast v. Cohen. As Justice Elena Kagan says powerfully in her first dissent, “by ravaging Flast in this way,” the majority “damages one of this nation’s defining constitutional commitments.”

The First Amendment’s establishment clause — “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion” — is meant to protect citizens even when they are not harmed. Before, under Flast, a taxpayer could ask a court to enforce this central right. Now, under this ruling, a taxpayer all but can’t, and any government can use the tax system to avoid challenges to financing of religion.

The only difference between cases considered under Flast since 1968 and the current one is the means of government spending. In past cases, it has come through appropriations. In this case, the money comes through a tax credit: any taxpayer can redirect up to $500 of what he or she owes the state to a nonprofit that uses the money for scholarships. What the court calls a tax credit and Arizona calls a voluntary cash contribution is, concretely, a redirected tax payment.

Justice Kennedy, in an opinion clearly intended to overturn legal precedent, says that the program’s financing comes from taxpayers taking advantage of this credit, not from the state, so the taxpayers bringing the lawsuit can claim no harm from the state and lacked standing to sue. To Justice Kagan, “this novel distinction,” has “as little basis in principle as it has in our precedent.” Whether a state finances a program with cash grants or targeted tax breaks, the effect is the same. Taxpayers bear the cost.

Since the Flast case, she writes, “no court — not one — has differentiated between these sources of financing in deciding about standing.” In five cases where taxpayers challenged tax expenditures, the court has dealt with the merits “without questioning the plaintiffs’ standing.” The court has relied on some of these decisions as “exemplars of jurisdiction” in other cases. (“Pause on that for a moment,” the justice entreats.)

When this case was argued last fall, the convolutions of the Arizona program seemed intended to mask its violation of the Constitution. The court’s ruling is another cynical sleight of hand, which will reduce access to federal courts while advancing endorsement of religion. "Goodbye tax payer standing - the government now can encourage majority religions... more

korourke
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2 years ago
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So There is a Higher Being? Top 20 Agnostic Blogs

Agnostics may believe in the Universe, themselves or have faith and hope in humanity.... more

eva2
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2 years ago
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Six great religious truths

1. Muslims do not recognize Jews as God's chosen people. 2. Jews do not... more

SleepDirt
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3 years ago
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Do you belive in miracales?

I don't believe in religion, I don't believe in God, and I most certainly... more

Paul_Ciavardini
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3 years ago
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The Good Life, After Faith

How are others finding life "beyond god"? If you are still in a religious... more

Naturechaplain
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3 years ago
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U.S. Treasury - Fact Sheet on the History of"In God We Trust"

Righters, you may say this was in the constitution, but the real story is more strange... more

GoodGodGuy
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3 years ago
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Former Fundamentalist Has Made a Career of Debunking the Bible

He says he's not trying to destroy your faith. He's not trying to bash the... more

korourke
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4 years ago
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THE PURPOSE OF LIFE

In the first Fireside entitled “Why Life”, the most basic questions of... more

Bahai144
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4 years ago
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100 comments

Brain Differences Found Between God Believers & Non-Believers

ScienceDaily (Mar. 5, 2009) — Believing in God can help block anxiety and minimize stress, according to new University of Toronto research that shows distinct brain differences between believers and non-believers.

In two studies led by Assistant Psychology Professor Michael Inzlicht, participants performed a Stroop task – a well-known test of cognitive control – while hooked up to electrodes that measured their brain activity.

Compared to non-believers, the religious participants showed significantly less activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a portion of the brain that helps modify behavior by signaling when attention and control are needed, usually as a result of some anxiety-producing event like making a mistake. The stronger their religious zeal and the more they believed in God, the less their ACC fired in response to their own errors, and the fewer errors they made.

"You could think of this part of the brain like a cortical alarm bell that rings when an individual has just made a mistake or experiences uncertainty," says lead author Inzlicht, who teaches and conducts research at the University of Toronto Scarborough. "We found that religious people or even people who simply believe in the existence of God show significantly less brain activity in relation to their own errors. They're much less anxious and feel less stressed when they have made an error."

These correlations remained strong even after controlling for personality and cognitive ability, says Inzlicht, who also found that religious participants made fewer errors on the Stroop task than their non-believing counterparts.

Their findings show religious belief has a calming effect on its devotees, which makes them less likely to feel anxious about making errors or facing the unknown. But Inzlicht cautions that anxiety is a "double-edged sword" which is at times necessary and helpful.

"Obviously, anxiety can be negative because if you have too much, you're paralyzed with fear," he says. "However, it also serves a very useful function in that it alerts us when we're making mistakes. If you don't experience anxiety when you make an error, what impetus do you have to change or improve your behaviour so you don't make the same mistakes again and again?"

The paper, appearing online in Psychological Science, was co-authored by Dr. Ian McGregor at York University, and by Jacob Hirsh and Kyle Nash, doctoral candidates at the University of Toronto and York University, respectively.ScienceDaily (Mar. 5, 2009) — Believing in God can help block anxiety and... more