AN 82-year-old Catholic priest, father Marques Barbosa, became an unwitting porn star when he was shown on Brazilian TV last week having sex with a 19-year-old altar boy.
He was the “star turn” in a report on the SBT TV programme Conexao Reporter which also included charges by three former altar boys that they had [...]
DUTCH Catholic bishops have ordered an independent inquiry into alleged sexual abuse of children by priests. The investigation, according to the BBC, would be launched “as soon as possible” into more than 200 reported cases of abuse.
Earlier, the Vatican defended its response to child sex abuse allegations in a number [...]
Continue reading about Catholic Church child abuse: focus now switches to the Netherlands
THE stupidification of American children continues at depressing speed …
According to this report, Christian-based teaching materials dominate an escalating home-school education market encompassing more than 1.5 million students.
And for most home-school parents, a Bible-based version of the Earth’s creation is exactly what they want.
Federal statistics from 2007 show 83 percent of home-schooling parents want to [...]
Continue reading about Home schooling: a sneaky way of exposing children to religious claptrap
MEMBERS of a religious cult who starved a toddler to death because he refused to say “amen” during a mealtime prayer face jail sentences of up to 60 years each.
Cult leader Queen Antoinette, founder of 1 Mind Ministries, was convicted yesterday in Baltimore of the second degree murder of Javon Thompson, aged about 16 months, [...]
WHITE House officials yesterday met with leaders of the atheist community to discuss their concerns about privileges given to religious groups by the government.
According to the Secular Coalition of America, the meeting was:
The first time in history that a presidential administration has met for a policy briefing with the American non-theist community.
The issues addressed, [...]
WHILE the Irish press was giving blanket coverage to this week’s meeting between the Pope and bishops summoned to Rome in the wake of the Irish church’s vast paedophilia scandal, theatre-goers scrambled for seats to see a play which unflinchingly tackles the issue of clerical abuse and hypocrisy.
Irish playwright Thomas Kilroy’s new [...]
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
