New research shows young Americans are dramatically less likely to go to church -- or to participate in any form of organized religion -- than their parents and grandparents. (abcnews)

A congressional resolution to recognize the religious foundation of America? (action)

Definition of Insane delusion under California law either does or doesn't include religious beliefs. (Reddit)

Survey: Support for terror suspect torture differs among the faithful (CNN)

Evidence is reviewed pointing to a negative relationship between intelligence and religious belief in the United States and Europe. (sciencedirect)

This is Joe's take on the American drug policy:
The standard hard line threat used against druggies is alienation because drug users are said to be socially non-functional and irretrievably broken. But people who explore (& survive) alternate realities tend to be more comfortable with alienation. So ultimately the reaction is more real to hard liners who fear alienation themselves. Not that social alienation isn't real, but shunning is easy, contrived, and inappropriate. So when shunning has no effect, lock'em up, & hurt 'em. Let 'em know they're dogs because dialog assumes something of value can be exchanged, & if we don't talk to 'em, we'll never have to consider that their perspectives might be valid. Drugs in Portugal: Did Decriminalization Work? Remember the hippies who became Jesus Freaks? They got inadvertently exploited because there was & is no practical structure for dealing with what's objectified as craziness, but is subjectively a distrust of social norms. It's not that the church couldn't do it under any circumstances, the problem was the churches perception that (1) the cause is/was the devil, (2) the solution is/was bureaucratic (just recite certain magical words and you'll be saved).

Dragon in My Garage, by Carl Sagan (godlessgeeks)

Should Churches be taxed? (reddit)