From Saturday’s Washington Post:

Each of these assertions turns up in federally funded abstinence-only sex education programs: Condoms fail to prevent HIV infection 31 percent of the time during heterosexual sex. The chances of getting pregnant while using a condom are 1 in 6. And condoms break or slip off nearly 15 percent of the time.
And […]

New Hampshire set to give gay and lesbians equal rights, religious right incensed.

Nor, apparently, do they own a dictionary. From Monday’s “Creation Museum Update,” emphasis is mine.

The much anticipated, long awaited Creation Museum is scheduled to open May 28, 2007 and the Fabrication Team is working at break-neck pace to meet the goal. We have 50 temporary staff from local agencies assisting the regular Museum staff to […]

Yesterday, DefCon advisory board member Mikey Weinstein — the leading advocate in the fight against religious indoctrination in the armed forces — participated in a debate at the Air Force Academy, his alma mater. His adversary? ACLJ head and no lover of DefCon, Mr. Jay Sekulow.
From the local Fox affiliate:

Tuesday, the Air Force Academy hosted […]

Those of you who saw Good Morning America this morning may have caught a story about Christine Bakke, a homosexual Christian who sought for years to be “cured” of what she felt was undoubtedly going to send her to hell.
Ultimately Bakke came to terms with the ridiculous “therapy” attempts. Now she is leading the charge […]

The religious right is celebrating the supreme court’s dangerous decision this week. From the Family Research Council:
Those who cherish life rejoice in the news that the Supreme Court no longer endorses the senseless killing of innocent, partially-born babies.
What else is going on out there?

DefCon friend Rob Boston — of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State — has a piece up at Alternet.org, responding to a recent piece in TIME magazine written by Jim Wallis where he declared “we have now entered the post-Religious Right era.”
Sounds good to all of us Jim, unfortunately it seems a […]

Over the weekend a number of the nation’s leading publication published their support for expanded funding for embryonic stem cell research.

Boston Globe:

IRAQ WASN’T the only factor that decided congressional races last fall; embryonic stem cell research was a major issue, too. Polls consistently show public support of greater than 60 percent for broadening federal funding […]

Paul Krugman has written one of the most astute op-eds I’ve seen on the increasing influence of the religious right during the current administration.
Krugman goes deep, quoting Christian Reconstructionist Gary North in his first paragraph (Krugman refers to it as “Deconstructionist”), and more importantly addresses the religious right’s theocratic goals with the seriousness they deserve […]

From the AP:
Pope Says Evolution Can’t Be Proven
BERLIN — Benedict XVI, in his first extended reflections on evolution published as pope, says that Darwin’s theory cannot be finally proven and that science has unnecessarily narrowed humanity’s view of creation.
In a new book, Creation and Evolution, published Wednesday in German, the pope praised progress gained by […]

The Family Research Council recently launched a website attacking “Hate Crimes” legislation; legislation that would extend federal hate crime protection to gay and lesbian Americans.
The religious right apparently has a problem with prosecuting people who engage in violent or aggressive behavior against homosexuals. In fact the FRC has re-named the legislation “Thought Crime legislation.” […]

With VETO PROOF MARGIN. Without the veto proof margin. Sorry, I was writing and reading too fast.
This is still a big step. From Reuters:

The Democratic-led U.S. Senate voted on Wednesday to lift a key restriction by President George W. Bush on the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.
But Congress is not expected to […]

More on the incredible influence Pat Robertson’s Regent University has in the current administration. This is from DefCon friend Ed Brayton over at ScienceBlogs.com:
The scandal over the firing of 8 US attorneys, and particularly the resignation of Monica Goodling, has turned up a very curious and interesting fact. Goodling, a senior aide to Attorney General […]

The Senate begins debate on stem cell research today. Click here to urge your Senator to support life-saving research.
The religious right is out in full force on the issue. From Focus on the Family:
“Supporters of this bill are targeting frozen embryos,” [Carrie Gordon Earll, senior analyst for bioethics at Focus on the Family Action] said. […]

DefCon advisory board member Max Blumenthal has a new post up at Huffington Post discussing the influence of Pat Robertson, and the media’s recent acquaintance with the aging religious right leader’s power, thanks to the resignation of Regent University grad Monica Goodling.
From the piece:
When Monica Goodling’s name erupted into the news last week, the […]