- Vatican Unnerved; Fears More Priests Will be Outed with Grindr Data
https://www.atheistrepublic.com/news/vatican-unnerved-fears-more-priests-will-be-outed-grindr-data
Location: Vatican
This month, the Vatican has become increasingly apprehensive over easily accessible location-based signals from Grindr. The conservative Catholic newsletter publication, The Pillar, has once again released an analysis of mobile data signals. This time, in their third publication covering this evolving story, The Pillar claims that their new data contains evidence of individuals transmitting mobile signals within the Vatican itself. This data includes logs of mobile signals from 2018 up to 2020. The Pillar reported more than 30 mobile devices have been documented transmitting location-based signals for dating apps from inside the Vatican. These mobile devices regularly transmitted signals “from secured areas… ordinarily inaccessible to tourists and pilgrims.” Joseph Tobin, a cardinal from Newark, cries foul and calls the data collection and analysis by The Pillar “very questionable.” The Pillar has repeatedly announced that their method of data collection can be reproduced by anyone, claiming that the mobile data collected from Grindr is publicly accessible through commercial options.
- Moroccan Woman Freed After 3.5 Year Jail Sentence for Insulting Islam
Location: Morocco
On June 28th, Ikram Nazih, a Moroccan-Italian woman, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison and a hefty fine for allegedly insulting Islam via Facebook posts she made long before her trip to Morroco. In April 2019, she posted Arabic phrases about whisky that looked like verses from the Quran. She did this “without knowing the content,” explained her father, who also emphasized her lack of fluency in Arabic. Her arrest gained attention online, with her defenders criticizing the Morrocan government for attacking individuals who want to express their intellectual criticisms. Vincenzo Amendola, Italy's Minister of European Affairs, headed the team that handled the diplomatic mission for Nazih's release. Amendola visited her every week while in detention, and under his supervision Italian officials were in constant communication with their Morrocan counterparts negotiating for the release. Nazih was released, after being detained for more than two months, while waiting for her trial scheduled for August 30th.
- Christian Fundamentalist Ken Ham Claims Jesus Can't “Save” Aliens
https://www.atheistrepublic.com/news/christian-fundamentalist-ken-ham-claims-jesus-cant-save-aliens
Location: USA
In a tweet in August, noted Christian fundamentalist and Young Earth Creationist Ken Ham insisted that aliens do not exist. Ham was responding to a Washington Post article that claims highly religious people are less likely to subscribe to the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life. According to the Pew Research Center study, adult Americans who consistently maintain church attendance at least once per week are less likely to believe that intelligent life exists elsewhere. In contrast, those who rarely or never attend services are more likely to believe that intelligent life other than on Earth exists. Ken Ham’s Ark Encounter is a theme park with the "Biblical tale of Noah's Ark." It's also one of the few places where visitors can view inaccurate depictions of humans interacting with dinosaurs. In his statement via Twitter, Ham insisted that "Jesus came to save us, not another race of beings."
- Brazilian Bishop Resigns Over Leaked Graphic Video
https://www.atheistrepublic.com/news/brazilian-bishop-resigns-over-leaked-graphic-video
Location: Brazil
On August 18th, Bishop Tomé Ferreira da Silva, 60, of the Catholic diocese of São José do Rio Preto, resigned. The resignation happened days after a video leaked where he is seen playing with his genitals. He acknowledged that the man in the video is him. He also believes the video was leaked by someone “living with him.” This is not the first case the Brazilian bishop was involved in a sex-related scandal. In 2018, da Silva was alleged to have ignored increasing reports of sexual abuse in his diocese. A local Brazilian news outlet also claimed that the bishop was alleged to have “exchanged sexual messages with an adolescent in the same year.” In 2015, da Silva was investigated for financial fraud for directing funds to his driver, who is rumored to be his lover.
- Pakistani Province Bans Tiktokers From Park After Hundreds Assault Woman
Location: Pakistan
On August 22nd, the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) of the Punjab province in Pakistan announced that TikTokers are banned from entering public parks. The incident sparking the ban happened during Pakistan’s Independence Day on August 14th. According to the unnamed Tiktoker, close to 400 people attacked her and her six companions. She explained that they were shooting videos to share on TikTok when the crowd began gathering around them. In the First Information Report (FIR) filed at the police station in Lorry Adda, the TikToker claimed that she was passed around and was thrown into the air multiple times. The attack was so severe that she was almost stripped naked and even had jewelry stolen. The woman added that her companion’s phone was also stolen. Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Imran Khan, has not played an active role in protecting women’s rights. In an interview with Axios, Khan commented on accusations that he engages in victim-blaming, calling it “nonsense.” He also supported a social implementation of “purdah” (the segregation or covering of women) as the proper solution to sexual immorality. Khan added that “wearing very few clothes” will have an effect on men.
- Last Jew in Afghanistan Refuses to Grant Wife a Jewish Divorce
https://www.atheistrepublic.com/news/last-jew-afghanistan-refuses-grant-wife-jewish-divorce
Location: Afghanistan
Zabulon Simantov, at 61, is considered the last Jew in Afghanistan. From the taxing compliance to the Jewish diet, to the scarcity of financial income, his life has become a source of novelty coverage for some media outlets in the area. But the most striking oddity that has become synonymous with Kabul’s last remaining Jew is his persistent refusal to grant his wife a Jewish divorce. In Simantov’s case, his wife and children immigrated to Israel in 1998 and have lived there since. Simantov accompanied his family during the immigration, but returned to Afghanistan shortly thereafter. He is unwilling to leave Afghanistan as he claims there would not be anyone left to take care of the last remaining synagogue in Afghanistan. Numerous attempts were made in the past to facilitate the divorce, with Simantov constantly changing his mind. Until today, Simantov’s wife remains a chained woman, an “agunot.” She remains locked in a religious and legal contract.
- Rwandan Refugee Turns Himself In, Admits to Killing French Priest
https://www.atheistrepublic.com/news/rwandan-refugee-turns-himself-admits-killing-french-priest
Location: France
On August 9th, Emmanuel Abayisenga, a Rwandan refugee in France, walked into a military police station in Vendee, and turned himself in, after confessing that he had just murdered a priest. Police officers were dispatched to the location to conduct an investigation. The police found the body of Father Olivier Maire in Abayisenga’s room at the location. Emmanuel traveled to France as a refugee in 2012 and began working on his asylum application. His application was denied and he was subjected to expulsion. This murder incident by an asylum seeker has sparked political debates over immigration policies. Marine Le Pen, a right-wing political figure and a member of the National Rally, criticized the government for allowing a denied asylum-seeker to stay in France after being issued an expulsion order.
- New Study Shows That Most Americans Now Believe in Theory of Evolution
https://www.atheistrepublic.com/news/new-study-shows-most-americans-now-believe-theory-evolution
Location: USA
A new study published online by Sage Publishing, backed with a substantially generous amount of data, showed that more than half of adult Americans accept evolution. After collecting data from a series of national surveys for the past 35 years, the study claims that the first two decades of the 21st century have seen a notable increase in the public's level of acceptance of the theory of evolution. Another notable trend the authors identified with their data analysis is the narrowing of the difference in the level of evolution acceptance between sexes. According to the authors, this change directly corresponds to the increase in women earning college degrees, jumping from 17% to 35% over the last 30 years.
- Girls Robotics Team Safely Flees Afghanistan, Receives Scholarship Offers
Location: Afghanistan
Amidst the chaos unfolding in Afghanistan the all-women robotics team, known as the Afghan Dreamers, was flown safely to Qatar over the weekend. This news was confirmed by Digital Citizen Fund (DCF), a US-based nonprofit organization and the main sponsors of the Robotics Team. Allyson Reneau, a 60-year old mother of eleven from Oklahoma who met the team back in 2019 during a Humans to Mars summit in Washington DC, helped Afghan Dreamers leave Afghanistan. After an unsuccessful attempt to help the girls from the US, she flew to Qatar with an acquaintance and began working on the girls’ paperwork with the Qatari Embassy. According to Reneau, even while the girls were still in Qatar, they started receiving scholarship offers, including grants from “incredible universities.” On August 24th, the girls landed in Mexico. Marcelo Ebrard, the Foreign Minister of Mexico, met them at the Benito Juarez International Airport, and he has accepted their passports to process their applications for refugee status.
- New Lesbian Kabbah Blasphemous Art
https://www.patreon.com/posts/lesbians-at-55431520
This week the Atheist Republic team discussed one of the most recent editions to the Blasphemous Art Project: “Lesbians at the Kabbah.” The team discussed the inspirations and origins of this art, including Atheist Republic’s founder Armin Navabi’s prediction that one day there will be a Pride Parade at the holiest site in Islam.
