Kellie Kotraba

About 40 protestors gathered today in response to MU's possible hire of Larry James, a former psychologist at Guantanamo Bay, for a high-ranking position in the College of Education.

Note:  KBIA's faith and values desk is trying something new. Each week, we'll bring you a quick look at the religion news happening all over the state. Here's our first Midweek Missouri faith fix. 

On the Columbia faith front, there's quite a conversation going about faith in the workplace -- and a lot of "out" atheists have jumped right in.

It's one thing to say you'll go on a big volunteer trip. But doing it? That seems much harder. Just ask Jimi and Cristi Cook. 

The Cooks are the co-founders and directors of Be the Change Volunteers, an organization that coordinates trips to impoverished countries around the world to build schools. It's the kind of volunteer effort the Cooks refer to as "the big one" – the kind that takes people out of their comfort zones. 

The Pentagon announced Thursday that women can serve in combat positions. But take a look through history -- and religious traditions -- and you'll see that female fighters are nothing new. 

Atheism is not usually considered a faith -- so why has our faith and values desk covered it? In this week's update, we bring you an answer.

Greg Lammers, the atheist writer for Columbia Faith & Values and the organizer for Columbia Atheists, sat down with Kellie Kotraba to talk about atheism, values and the relationship between the two. 

You can also listen to the full 10-minute interview below:

In this week's faith and values update, we hear from Kelsey Gillespy, the Catholic writer for Columbia Faith and values. She just finished a made-at-home documentary called "This Little Light," which aims to dispel misconceptions about Christianity – some of which she used to have herself, even though she grew up Christian. 

Regional news coverage from the KBIA newsroom, including:

• Shippers on the Mississippi River fear a halt to barge traffic
• MU students spend Thanksgiving on the Pacific Ocean
• Columbia Public School libraries increase use of mobile technology

The role of religious affiliation in the United States is changing.

According to a recent survey from the Pew Forum, one in five Americans is not affiliated with any religion. 

A small part of this growing group is made up of atheists.

Last weekend, hundreds of atheists gathered in the Bible Belt – Springfield, to be exact – for Skepticon, a national skeptics convention. Not all skeptics are atheists, but many of them are.