Saving Africa’s Witch Children

I hope that focusing the whole world on Africa during this years FIFA World Cup it will be to show the world some of the horrors that still take place in this very underprivileged continent.

Infuriating, sad, and heartbreaking. Absolutely heartbreaking. These kids in villages across Nigeria are beaten, tortured, burned, starved, and murdered because some idiot religious figure deemed them witches. If they’re lucky they’re merely abandoned. National religious figures in Nigeria are getting rich selling the child witch panic by producing gruesome videos and anointing local bishops with witch-detecting power (for a fee, of course). I’ve never been moved by a documentary to immediately write a check. I wrote one last night to an organization called the Children’s Right and Rehabilitation Network, which has established a sanctuary to care for the outcast kids.

Read the article and watch a preview here

BBC Life

Being in Australia I couldn't watch BBC's Life series when it was aired in 2009, but I've made up for that over Australia's long weekend.

It is incredible, almost as good as Planet Earth, and goes to show that if you want a to understand more about our planet and the great number of organisms fighting for their place on it, you need look no further the BBC.

Supposedly, in the US they had to cut each episode down by 15 minutes and get Oprah Winfrey to narrate instead of David Attenborough. Is it any wonder they allow Creationism Science to be taught in the classroom.

View their webpage

View their interactive Tree of Life

Scenes from the Gulf of Mexico

Based on recently revised estimates, BP's ruptured oil well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico continues to leak 25,000 to 30,000 barrels of oil a day. The new figures suggest that an amount of oil equivalent to the Exxon Valdez disaster could still be flowing into the Gulf of Mexico every 8 to 10 days. Despite apparent efforts to restrict journalists from accessing affected areas, stories, video and photographs continue to emerge. Collected here are recent photographs of oil-affected wildlife, people and shorelines around the Gulf of Mexico on this, the 51st day after the initial explosion.

Read the Article

Sam Harris Breaking the spell

American Jewish University presents best-selling authors Sam Harris and Rabbi David Wolpe in a debate about the existence of God and the role of religion and faith in society. Sam Harris is a renowned atheist and author of The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation. Rabbi David Wolpe, of Sinai Temple, is the author of Teaching Your Children About God and Why Be Jewish. This debate is moderated by Los Angeles Times religion editor Steve Padilla.



American Jewish University is grateful to Jewish Television Network for their partnership in making it possible for the public to view more of our programs.

Watch the entire Video

Rich countries accused of carbon 'cheating'

Some rich countries are seeking new rules under the UN climate convention that campaigners say would allow them to gain credit for "business as usual".

Russia, Australia, Canada and some EU countries are among the accused.

The rules relate to land-use change, which can either release or absorb carbon, depending mainly on whether forests are planted or chopped down.

Rich countries, apart from the US, could account for about 5% of their annual emissions through this loophole.

The US is not involved in these negotiations because the proposals fall under the Kyoto Protocol, of which it - alone among developed countries - is not a part.

Read the article

Donohue vs. Hawking

It's like Bambi vs. Godzilla, except no one would consider Donohue cute and innocent. In an interview, Hawking talked about gods:

"What could define God [is thinking of God] as the embodiment of the laws of nature. However, this is not what most people would think of that God," Hawking told Sawyer. "They made a human-like being with whom one can have a personal relationship. When you look at the vast size of the universe and how insignificant an accidental human life is in it, that seems most impossible."

When Sawyer asked if there was a way to reconcile religion and science, Hawking said, "There is a fundamental difference between religion, which is based on authority, [and] science, which is based on observation and reason. Science will win because it works."

Straightforward and sensible, that's a scientist talking. Bill Donohue, who is anything but sensible, took exception to all that.

How any rational person could belittle the pivotal role that human life plays in the universe is a wonder, but it is just as silly to say that all religions are marked by the absence of reason. While there are some religions which are devoid of reason, there are others, such as Roman Catholicism, which have long assigned it a special place.

Human life plays a pivotal role in the universe? How? Is the orbit of Mars influenced by human activities, does the Andromeda galaxy, 2.5 million light years away, care in the slightest about a species so remote that they're still waiting for the glimmerings of light from the fires they used to roast a mammoth? We could wink out of existence right now and the universe would go on, fundamentally unchanged.

Read the Article

Mormon Church to be fined by state political commission over Proposition 8

The state Fair Political Practices Commission is expected to fine the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for not properly reporting about $37,000 worth of contributions to pass California's ban on same-sex marriages.

The commission will fine the Salt Lake City-based church $5,538 for failing to report the numerous contributions. The fine comes in response to a complaint filed in November 2008 by Fred Karger, a gay-rights activist and co-founder of Californians Against Hate, who accused the Mormon Church of failing to report the value of the work it did to support Proposition 8.

"The investigation revealed that the church unintentionally failed to file daily reports detailing approximately $37,000 in non-monetary contributions," a statement on the church's website read. "The amount of contributions not reported represented the cost of staff time spent by church employees on activities to help the Yes on 8 committee during the final two weeks of the election."

Read the Article