Graduate Training, Religious Beliefs, and Sexual Orientation

A counseling psychology student has filed a lawsuit in response to being dismissed from the Eastern Michigan University graduate program. The student's religious beliefs about homosexuality apparently led her to respond to a client in a way apparently inconsistent with the university's nondiscrimination policy. The Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian legal group, is backing the student's suit. The Ann Arbor News offers details.

TED on Morality and War in an Age of Robots

The TED talks series is always interesting, and thought-provoking. One of the recent talks offered intriguing overtones concerning morality: PW Singer's presentation on the quickly changing world of war in an age of robots. Singer's brief talk addresses fascinating questions of psychology, motivation, and morality. If you are interested in psychology and religion, you will find the questions Singer raises to be provocative. And the implications, horrible.

After reading that, stop by The Lucifer Effect for a related discussion on morality, this one in the context of the Khmer Rouge tribunal.

Guilty, Until Victim is Resurrected

Here's an unusual news story: Cult Mother Not Insane Despite Odd Plea. The story is about a mother who starved her one-year-old child because he refused to say "amen" at the end of a prayer over the food. She pled guilty to the crime when the prosecuting attorneys agreed to her request that she be allowed to withdraw her plea if the boy is resurrected, which she expects to happen. Read the report for details.

De-Baptism a New Trend?

According to Breitbart.com, more than 100,000 Britons have downloaded certificates of "de-baptism" declaring their atheism, rejecting the baptism they had as a child. The National Secular Society of Britain sells certificates on its website for people who wish to have a more official-looking declaration rejecting their baptism.