NoGodBlog.com

http://washingtontimes.com/national/20070525-124030-2881r.htm

The jobs don't pay a lot, and you take most of your pay in self-esteem, but somebody is always trying out for village idiot or village atheist. Often they're one and the same.

Lately we've seen fresh pursuit of these positions, fueled by a rash of books about atheism, or more accurately, irrational screeds mocking those who have the faith the authors clearly envy. Atheists are organizing. They have their registered lobbyist now on Capitol Hill, and they're planning a revival meeting in Arlington in September.

Please don't take this as hate. This is not hate -- it's fear. They lie, exaggerate, and deliberately misquote what they fear most: verbose Atheists and their evil mouths with their stupid science that answers so many of the questions they wish they could. Those poopy-heads!

Imagine a world without us. How ignorant the world would be without the logically-inclined.

Camp Quest was specifically designed for children of agnostics,atheists, brights, freethinkers, humanists, Unitarians, or whatever terms might be applied to those who maintain a naturalistic, not supernaturalistic, world view. Our campers are girls and boys ages 8-17.

Our 2007 camp will be July 8 - 15 at Camp Watanda (about 70
miles north of Sacramento, in the California Gold Country). See
campquestwest.org for details.

Please direct info requests to the Camp Director, Chris Lindstrom at:
(650) 949-3192 campdirector@campquestwest.org

I did it last year, and I'll be doing it again this year. It's a great experience and the bugs aren't that bad. Please consider this wonderful experience, alone or with your kid.

28 May 2007

OPREP: Speak Out and Rally for Reason in Kentucky

WHAT: Speak Out and Rally for Reason in demonstration against the new Creation “Museum”

WHERE: Speak Out at the Hilton in Florence, KY and the Rally for Reason in Petersburg, KY

WHEN: Speak Out on 27MAY07 and Rally for Reason on 28MAY07

WHO: Supporters of science

The Speak Out and Rally for Reason were put together to protest the opening of the new Creation “Museum” by Answers in Genesis.

I attended the Speak Out on May 27th at the Hilton in Florence, KY. The Speak Out was a sort of Pep Rally for those attending the next day’s Rally for Reason. A host of wonderful speakers talked to a crowd of over 100 people. Organizers had to open up the room’s partition to access the room next to the original room.

The speakers at the Speak Out included Frank Zinder (American Atheists), Chuck and Nicole Smalkowski, Dr. Gretchen Mann, Carly Nichols and Melissa Hartman (Rally for Reason), Dr. Gene Kritsky (Evolutionary biologist), Dr. Helen Kagin (Camp Quest), Rev. Mendle Adams, Hemant Mehta (I Sold My Soul On E-Bay), Arene-Marie (American Atheists, Michigan), Blair Scott (American Atheists, Alabama), and Edwin Kagin (American Atheists, Kentucky).

The next day we headed out to Petersburg to demonstrate outside the iron gates, roving creationism guards, and guard dogs of the Creation “Museum.” The head count during the peak period of the demonstration was over 200 participants there supporting science and speaking out against mythology and superstition.

The Smalkowski family band entertained the participants. Additional speeches as well as an open-mic period kept the participants excited about the event. We also had the pleasure of hearing from Dr. Lawrence Krauss, a professor of astronomy and physics at Case Western University and author of “The Physics of Star Trek.”

Press were everywhere at the event, including NPR (interviewing for Morning Edition), PBS (interviewing and filming for a documentary), Ohio and Kentucky newspapers and TV news channels. Video of the demonstration was also piped to CNN and was covered on Anderson Cooper during the 5 PM (EST) broadcast.

We had an excellent time at the Rally for Reason and speaking out in support of science and against mythology and superstition. It was an honor to stand alongside so many supporters of science and reason.

A gigantic kudos needs to go to the organizers of the Rally for Reason. Their professionalism showed through in one of the best-organized events I have ever attended. They arranged for a shuttle service between the designated parking area and the rally point, had visible vests to easily identify Reason for Rally staff members, and worked directly with the Boone County Sheriff’s office and with local land owners to secure our parking and staging area. The combination of the Speak Out and Rally for Reason was a powerful combination and served a great purpose for the scientific community.

Well done ladies and gentlemen, it was a pleasure meeting some of you for the first time and seeing others again.

As an added bonus, the Rally for Reason prompted the formation of a new atheist group in northern Kentucky, the Northern Kentucky Secular Society.

On the Net:
Rally for Reason: http://www.rallyforreason.com
Rally for Reason recap video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDPP2EtJ4W0
Blair Scott’s speech at Speak Out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPRLI5roUlE
Northern Kentucky Secular Society: http://atheists.meetup.com/570
Answers in Genesis: http://www.answersingenesis.org
Creation Museum: http://www.creationmuseum.org/

Memorial Day is a special holiday to me.

I liken it to Xmas, as it has lost some of its meaning. To most people, it's about Summer, beach openings, changes in clothing, car sales, etc. It's also my anniversary (16 years!)

Have a great weekend everyone. Just take a moment to remember our veterans who died so we could have our freedom. Also take a moment to remember the 10K Atheists who serve our armed forces right now.

THANK YOU!

Another in a line of great Onion stories. See what we are missing? The Jesus Universal Health Insurance Plan described in the link to the title of this post.

Pretty much says it all.
Peter Nuhn

The RALLY FOR REASON
http://www.rallyforreason.com

Media: Edwin Kagin
859-384-7000 or
edwin@edwinkagin.com

COALITION SUPPORTING GOOD SCIENCE, SOUND TEACHING
TO SPEAK OUT AT OPENING OF CREATIONIST MUSEUM
Sun-Mon. May 27-28, 2007

A broad coalition of secularist, religious, and educational groups and other advocates of "good science" will be protesting this Memorial Day weekend at the opening of a Creationist Museum in Kentucky.

The Answer in Genesis Creationist Museum is a 60,000-square-foot facility that will feature state of the art exhibits and other presentations arguing on behalf of an Old Testament view of how human beings and the universe came into existence. It is meant as a statement against Darwinian evolution, and scientific findings that the cosmos is billions of years old, and that human beings evolved, along with other present-day creatures, from earlier life forms. Instead, "young Earth" creationist groups like AIG preach that the Earth is only about 6,000 years old. The museum will reportedly have exhibits reflecting the dubious claim that dinosaurs and human beings co-existed, contrary to scientific evidence.

The RALLY FOR REASON includes groups and individuals who support objective science and high standards for science instruction in public schools. It includes religious and non-religious groups ranging from the Clergy Letter Project to the Institute for Humanist Studies and American Atheists.

Edwin Kagin, organizer of the Rally stated that the protest does not challenge the right of AIG to present its views. "They can teach that things fall up if they wish," said Mr. Kagin. "We're simply trying to show that their views are based on a particular and narrow religious doctrine, not on good scientific evidence."

The RALLY FOR REASON will take place on Monday, May 28 2007 beginning at 9:00 AM in front of the Creation Museum, Petersburg Rd., Boone County, KY. More information can be found at http://www.rallyforreason.com.

There will be a RALLY FOR REASON SPEAK-OUT hosted by the Free Inquiry Group of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky on Sunday, May 27, 200 at the Hilton Cincinnati Airport Hotel, 7373 Turfway Rd., Florence, KY beginning at 7:00 PM. Speakers will include Rev. Mendle Adams; Frank Zindler (biologist, geologist); Dr. Gene Kritsky (evolutionary biologist); Helen Kagin, physician and others. For info on that event, visit http://www.gofigger.org .

Media: For commentary and further information on the RALLY FOR REASON, contact Edwin Kagin (edwin@edwinkagin.com) -- phone: 859-384-7000 or visit http://www.rallyforreason.com

Read Frida Berrigan's piece called We're Number One! America Leads the World in War Profits Frida is with the War Resisters League.

Hear we live in this so-called Christian Nation, at least that is what the conservative religious minority would try to make us believe, and we are the first in the entire world in oil consumption - 20.7 million barrels per day; first in the world in external debt - 10,040 trillion; 5.8 billion metric tons of CO2 pollution into the atmosphere or more than China, Russian and India combined; first in military expenditures; first in weapon sales; first in sales of surface to air missiles; first in sales of military ships; first in military training; and first in private military personnel or what we used to call mercenaries.

With this as our legacy, how do we call ourselves a Christian nation? Or is this what being Christian really means? I have never been a Christian. Neither of my parents participated or even mentioned religion once in all the time they were raising me. So as far as I am concerned, being a nation of first in WAR and first in Selling WAR to the rest of the world could just be what the conservative religious minority mean by America is a Christian nation.

Anyone care to comment?
Peter Nuhn

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- A traveling minister who served two years in prison on bigamy charges has been jailed again after at least four women said he proposed to them.

Officials also say there is no evidence that Bishop Anthony Owens, 35, divorced the eight wives he had married before going to prison.

A judge will decide whether Owens should go back to prison. Owens, who turned himself into the Gwinnett County jail April 30, declined to be interviewed.

But his new fiancees aren't keeping quiet.

Betty Dixon, 38, met him last March in a casino near Memphis.

"He was a slick talker," the nurse said. "He told me God had sent him to me and I needed help."

Nurse Cheryl Selmon, 48, says Owens proposed to her last October. A month later, he proposed to Darlene Keeler, 42, a manager of a gospel group.

Then he met 43-year-old Karen Ward, a mother of two young children, and proposed to her.

"He said God gave him a message that he was going to move my family to California for a better life," Ward said. "I gave up my apartment. I took my children out of school. He said he is a real man of the Lord. But he is just a mess. I hate the day that I met him."

According to police reports, Owens' first marriage was in 1990 in Memphis, Tennessee, Owens' birthplace. At the age of 18, he married 43-year-old Joanna Hill.

He said the marriage was troubled from the start and that a misunderstanding of Mormon teachings led him to marry 41-year-old Earleen Mabien in 1992, even though he was still married to his first wife.

After Earleen, Owens married six other women from 1995 to 2002 in South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia. The last of those wives learned about the others and called police.

Owens has said he did divorce some of the wives, but he can't remember which ones.

And, while we're talking about people misusing religion...

A woman blames the devil and not her husband for severely burning their infant daughter after the two-month-old was put in a microwave, a Texas TV station has reported.

Eva Marie Mauldin said Satan compelled her 19-year-old husband, Joshua Royce Mauldin, to microwave their daughter on May 10 because the devil disapproved of Joshua's efforts to become a preacher.

"Satan saw my husband as a threat. Satan attacked him because he saw (Joshua) as a threat," Eva Mauldin told Houston television station KHOU-TV.

You call it religion, I call it attempted infanticide.
Same diff.

Thanks to those who sent me this

http://www.nj.com/ap/stories/index.ssf?/base/national-85/117962215436220.xml&storylist=topstories

LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told Liberty University's graduating class Saturday to honor the spirit of school founder Jerry Falwell by confronting "the growing culture of radical secularism" with Christian ideals.

Gingrich, who is considering a 2008 presidential run, quoted Bible passages to a mournful crowd of about 17,000 packed into the university's football stadium four days after Falwell's death.

Despite the somber tone of the day, graduates who covered the football field chanted "Jerry! Jerry!" in tribute to Falwell.

Gee Newt, Maybe these Christian Ideals are wrong. Maybe your constant stream of hate, bigotry, and thoughtlessness isn't sticking in the real world anymore, eh?

Oh yeah... Did anyone at Liberty University mention the extramarital sex you had when you were in office? Or the divorce against your sick wife?

What frustrates you the most about the religious in America?

There are an estimated 130 million Muslims in India, a country of 1.1 billion people.

India's worst religious violence in recent years was in 2002, in the western Gujarat state. More than 1,000 people, most of them Muslim, were killed by Hindu mobs in revenge attacks after a train fire killed 60 Hindus returning from a religious pilgrimage. Muslims were blamed for the train fire.

A series of terrorist bombings have hit India in the past year, including the July bombings of seven Mumbai commuter trains that killed more than 200 people. Most of the bombings have been blamed on Muslim militants based in neighboring Pakistan, India's longtime rival.

Isn't religion wonderful for the great job it does in bringing people together in loving admiration of their creator? I just cannot imagine why we atheists do not want to be a part of this loving activity.

Peter Nuhn

From: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/4810551.html

May 16, 2007, 5:05PM
Odessa school district sued over Bible elective

By MATT CURRY Associated Press Writer © 2007 The Associated Press

DALLAS — Two advocacy groups filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against a
West Texas school district on behalf of eight parents who say a Bible course
violates their religious liberty.

The American Civil Liberties Union and People for the American Way
Foundation sued the Ector County Independent School District, asking the
Odessa school system stop teaching the course.

More info at the url above. I believe that even with the new "restrictions"
that have been added to the Bible class bill currently in the Texas Senate,
these types of lawsuits will be filed, and with good cause. The classes are
not about teaching, but preaching, and most politicians seem to be oblivious
to that fact. Texas members, PLEASE call your state senator now and let
him/her know of your opinion of the Bible class bill. That's HB 3678. I'm
working on getting the senate bill number for it now.

Joe Zamecki
Texas State Director
American Atheists
Austin, TX
www.atheists.org/tx
jzamecki@atheists.org

UPDATE: RALLY FOR REASON
WEEKEND (Sun. 5/27 Speak-Out,
Tues. 5/28 Demo at Creationist Museum...
http://www.rallyforreason.com

THOUSANDS OF Atheists, Freethinkers, and Humanists will be joining other advocates of secular education and good science to protest at the opening of the "Answers in Genesis" Creationist Museum in Boone County, KY. on Memorial Day -- Monday, May 28, 2006. We do not oppose the right of AIG or other religious groups to express their opinions, no matter how inaccurate or fanciful. We do support the scientific enterprise, and the teaching of good science.

THE EVENING BEFORE this historic event, the Free Inquiry Group of Cincinnati will host a "Rally for Reason Speak-Out"at the nearby Hilton Cincinnati Airport Hotel. Speakers will include Arlene-Marie (Michigan Atheists); Rev. Mendle Adams, opponent of Creationist fantasy and misinformation; Frank Zindler (American Atheists Science Policy Advisor); Dr. Gene Kritsky, evolutionary biologist; Dr. Helen Kagin, physician and many others. There will be an open microphone for comments and Q&A.

No loss.

Er... I mean "We are saddened by the fact that Mr. Fallwell, who was talented in so many ways, did not live long enough to fully embrace reason"

I would like to express my personal sympathies to members of Mr. Fallwell's family. Not his friends, but his family.

NEW: ELLEN JOHNSON Quoted on CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/interactive/us/0705/gallery.falwell.reaction/frameset.exclude.html

Ellen Johnson, president of American Atheists
"Jerry Falwell was instrumental in galvanizing millions of American evangelicals into an intolerant, sectarian and authoritarian political movement. Gays, women, secularists, civil libertarians and other groups who did not fit into his plan to construct 'One Nation under God' were stigmatized and attacked

Other Ellen Quotes:

"Perhaps the most ignominious moment in Falwell's career was his appearance with Rev. Pat Robertson on a television program which blamed the terrorist attacks of September 11 not on Islamic fundamentalist fanatics, but on a wide swath of the American people -- women (because
of their support for abortion), gay and lesbian Americans, and individuals and organizations like American Atheists which labor for the separation of church and state."

"We cannot and must not lionize Rev. Jerry Falwell because he is now dead. We expect that some politicians beholden to the religious right,who perhaps owe their political careers in part to Falwell, will praise
him for his religiosity or avuncular style. The truth is, however, that the Rev. Jerry Falwell was a dangerous man who opposed and worked against many of the key values underpinning our secular American democracy.:

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55668

Go ahead. Read the article.

I dare you to say he's sane and intelligent. Go ahead. I dare ya.

Hmm That was Robert Wagner (right?). Let me try again.

You know to tell you the truth I can't remember if Chuck Norris' IQ is 65 or 66. The question is, do you feel lucky. Well do ya, Punk?

No... That's Clint

I'm gonna take this lie and hit you on this side of your face.
Hmm... Laughlin I think.

In fact, although he looks tough and cool on camera, I can't think of anything good that Chuck Norris has ever actually said. This article hasn't changed anything.

(thx Amanda's Boyfriend)

Utah County Republicans ended their convention on Saturday by debating Satan's influence on illegal immigrants. Is Don Larsen an embarrassment to the Republican Party when he tried to propose a resolution "warning that Satan's minions want to eliminate national borders and do away with sovereignty."

Now the Crazy Religious Conservatives (CRC)have found a brand new bogey man, the illegal alien. And guess what? They also control the media. Our poor media. I thought the Jews controlled the media. I thought the godless secularist controlled the media. I thought the Hollywood liberals controlled the media. Now I find out it is the guy who mows my lawn. Shit. I wish they (the CRCs) would get their act straight and tell us once and for all who is behind the New World Order.

Peter Nuhn

Forwarded from the Military Director for American Atheists, Kathleen Johnson:
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=45826

Religious stories one-sided
I feel compelled to write about some of the content in your paper.

Lately, there have been many articles about religions and their
goings-on around the world. With Operation Iraqi Freedom, Israel, Turkey
and such, this is no surprise. But many of these articles are centered
on Christianity in the United States. For example: Bible classes in
Georgia public schools, prayers for mountain tops, Anne Coulter and her
right-wing blabber, "miracles," etc.

I was unaware that Stars and Stripes was a reporting agency for
Christian fundamentalism. Granted, most of the readers of Stars and
Stripes are Christian, but where are the articles about military
Wiccans? Pagans? Atheists? Oh yes, there are atheists downrange, and I
am an example.

As an atheist, I find the one-sided reporting from Stars and Stripes
callous and insensitive. There are enough stories on atheists,
free-thinkers, agnostics, pagans and Wiccans to fill entire reams of
newspaper. So, either Stars and Stripes is just picking stories to
please the fundamentalist Christians, or you are unconcerned with all of
your readers.

Harold McLamb
Logistics Support Area Anaconda, Iraq

Nicole Smalkowski is getting thousands of comments (mostly favorable) from
all over the world as a result of her appearance on ABC’s 20-20.

See:

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=3164811&page=1

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/comments?type=story&id=3164811

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Nicole+Smalkowski&search=Search

http://sads.myspace.com//Modules/Search/Pages/Search.aspx?fuseaction=advancedFind.results&searchtarget=tms&searchtype=myspace&t=tms&get=1&websearch=1&searchBoxID=HeaderWebResults&searchString=Nicole+Smalkowski&q=Nicole+Smalkowski

The Smalkowski band will be at the Rally for Reason at the gates of Answers
in Genesis in Northern Kentucky. See: www.rallyforreason.com

Nicole Smalkowski and Chuck Smalkowski will both speak at the Rally.

"PET PROJECT" EARMARKS, LOBBYING SOAR AS RELIGIOUS GROUPS BENEFIT

Government grants to faith-based organizations have "increased
sharply" in recent years thanks to lobbying by religious groups and
"earmarks" from politicians, according to a study released Saturday by
the New York Times.

The findings reveal that more than half of the
constitutionally-suspect grants took place beginning with the
Congressional session that included the 2004 presidential election,
with legislators approving nearly 900 earmarks for religious groups
totaling in excess of $318 million.

The figure does not include the over $1.2 billion that some observers
say is the total amount given to churches and other religious
organizations thanks to President Bush's federal faith-based
initiative and similar programs operating in two-dozen states.

Earmarks are federal awards that circumvent the
constitutionally-required process of review and competitive bidding.

"They have been blamed for feeding the budget deficit and have figured
in several Capitol Hill bribery scandals," noted the Times, "prompting
recent calls for reform from White House and Congressional leaders."

Critics charge that the earmark process weakens financial
accountability on how taxpayer money is spent, and amounts to a system
of political bribery for the benefit of politicians.

The report also noted that as earmarks for faith-based projects have
grown, so has the number of religious organizations hiring Washington,
DC-based lobbying firms. One earmark grant paid for a fitness center
at Malone College in Canton, Ohio, a "small evangelical Christian
liberal arts" institution. The $1 million facility was gratis Rep.
Ralph S. Regula. The college hired a lobbying firm "to help us with a
'boots on the ground' program of meeting with various Congressional
and Senate leaders," a college spokesperson told the Times.

"I never heard religious lobbyists talk about earmarks," said Dr.
Allen Hertzke, professor at the University of Oklahoma who monitors
religious advocacy work. Daniel Hofrenning, professor at St. Olaf
College in Minnesota agreed, saying "Getting heavily into the
pork-barrel politics of earmarks, that is a distinctive change."

A review of the grants listed in the Congressional Record reflected
that 39 states and the District of Columbia received earmarked
benefits directed to religious groups. They cover a staggering array
of projects, everything from the construction of "green" retirement
facilities (Michigan) to subsidies for unspecified "teen programs" in
Connecticut and a "technology grant" at a Christian home for boys in
Kentucky.

Aww crap I was on 20/20 and i missed it! Did anyone see it?

Here's a link on-line http://abcnews.go.com/2020/. You need to click "the unbelievers" on the right in the video section.

They seemed to do a pretty good job of interviewing us. What'd ya think?

WASHINGTON (May 11) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who made his fortune as a management consultant, is expected to report financial assets between $190 million and $250 million, an adviser said Friday.

Wow. Even I'm surprised at this. maybe there's something to this magic underwear stuff. Maybe it's magic-money-underwear!

Sooo... just how do you make a quarter-Billion as a "Management Consultant"
http://news.aol.com/elections/president/story/_a/mitt-romney-to-report-sizeable-fortune/20070511170609990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

From Burton Wolfe...

Luigi Cascioli, the Italian atheist who has been suing the Roman Catholic Church for defrauding the public by claiming that Yeshua mashia/Joshua the messiah/Jesus Christ actually existed, has announced over the internet that on May 16, 2007, in Venice, there will be a "public demonstration" of proof that the purported "son of God" and "messiah" of "Christianity" is a fictitious character. "Jesus never existed" is the watchword for the "demonstration," also billed as a "conference." It will take place on the square of Scoletta dei Calegheri (Confraternity of the Cobbler). It is sponsored by the Italian Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics (UAAR).
The demonstration or conference is an adjunct to Cascioli's persistent attempts, in defiance of obstacles he has faced, to obtain a court trial in which the Roman Catholic Church, in order to evade a claim of fraud, would be obligated to prove that "Jesus" actually existed. His litigations in Rome were dismissed without such a trial. He now has an action entitled Cascioli vs. Italy before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasburg. [In English translations of the name as it appears in Italian in Cascioli's announcement, that tribunal emerges as the "Court of the Rights of Man" - but unless I am mistaken, and I do not think that I am, the different names refer to one and the same international court which is recognized by 41 nations.]

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070528/lazare

Lazare in the Nation wants to know what atheists would replace religion with if we actually succeeded in "relegating religion to the proverbial scrapheap of history".

Gee, and I thought the answer was obvious. Schools would be free to teach science without interference from flat-earthers.

Women would be more equal and should be treated a lot less like chattel.

You and I could marry anyone we felt like marrying without someone else butting in where they are not wanted.

Everyone would finally get up of their knees and go to work.

My Virginia personal and real property taxes would drop like a lead balloon once individuals, non-profit organizations, and corporations started taking over all the church property in my state and start paying their share of the taxes.

We could start having rational discussions on how to reduce and hopefully eliminate the need for abortions in the world.

Suicide bombing would cease. Buddhists would stop pouring gas over themselves and setting themselves on fire.

Hindus and Muslims could stop fighting in India and Pakistan. Catholics and Protestants could stop fighting in Ireland. The Turks and Greeks could stop fighting in Cyprus.

Hundreds of thousands of women each year would stop dying from lack of medical care during childbirth as a result of the end of the Mexico City Protocols (the Global Gag Rule on childbirth).

Children would no longer be sacrificed on the alter of religion once we repealed all the US state laws allowing parents to deny health care to their children on moral grounds.

Well, I can keep this up forever. Of course, who am I kidding. We will all just find something else to fight over. Our military preemptive war in Iraq is not about religion -- it is about OIL. Anti-abortion is not about religion, it is about male chauvinism and power of one sex to relegate the other to sub-equal status. But I can dream can't I?

What would you replace Religion with? I mean besides rational decisional making?

Peter Nuhn

Follow the link to the title of this post to view the interactive "A to Z Guide" pictured above. The Union of Concerned Scientists has produced a wonderful interactive chart that documents all the ways the current Administration has interfered with Science. I ask any scientist out there reading this who has not already signed up, please sign the Union of Concerned Scientists' -- Scientists Call to Action: Restoring Scientific Integrity in Policymaking.

Peter Nuhn

The Vatican had one of its increasingly hysterical rants last week saying that criticism of the Pope amounts to terrorism.

The accusations came after an Italian rock concert hosted by comedian Andrea Rivera. Mr Rivera spoke out strongly against a decision by the Italian Catholic Church to deny a religious funeral to Piergiorgio Welby, a muscular dystrophy sufferer who ended his life in December by having a doctor remove him from his artificial respirator.

Rivera told a throng of about 400 000 people at Tuesday’s concert (broadcast live on TV): “The pope said that he doesn't believe in the theory of evolution. I agree, the Church has not evolved. I cannot accept that the Vatican refused a funeral for Welby when they had no problems with the dictators Franco and Pinochet,” he said.

The Vatican’s propaganda rag, L’Osservatore Romano then went into complete overdrive, and in a ludicrous editorial wrote: “Attacking the Church is terrorism. Fuelling blind and irrational fury against he who always speaks in the name of love is terrorism. It is vile and terrorist to throw stones at the pope, this time directly, while feeling protected by shouts of approval from an easily excitable crowd,” the daily said.

Labour unions that organised the concert regrettably distanced themselves from Rivera's comments and right-wing groups offered outright condemntation. Some on the left, though, have dismissed L'Osservatore Romano’s comments as exaggerated.

From our colleagues across the pond at the National Secular Society of UK.

Peter Nuhn

American Atheists Media Alert
http://www.atheists.org

"OKLAHOMA OUTRAGE," DISCRIMINATION
AGAINST ATHEISTS TOPIC OF ABC PROGRAM
This Friday, May 11, 2007 ~ Kagin, Smalkowski Family

WHAT: A special two-hour ABC Network program scheduled to air this Friday, May 11 will discuss prejudice against Atheists in America, particularly in the city of Hardesty, Oklahoma, where Nicole Smalkowski was expelled from public school on false charges when she refused to stand in a circle on the auditorium floor with the girls’ basketball team and recite the “Lord’s Prayer."

Her father Chuck Smalkowski was falsely indicted on criminal charges, all because of prejudice against their assertion of their rights as Atheists. American Atheists participated in Chuck’s criminal trial that resulted in three “Not Guilty” verdicts by a jury. Edwin Kagin, National Legal Director for American Atheists, persuaded the jury to swear to believe an Atheist under oath over a Christian if the facts so warranted. Following the verdict, American Atheists and the Smalkowski family filed a lawsuit for civil rights violations by state actors, under color of state law, in the Federal Court of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Smalkowskis, Edwin Kagin, and Richard Dawkins share a nine minute segment of this program that was recorded in ABC’s studios in New York City, and on location in Hardesty and Guymon, Oklahoma. Richard Rice, a Christian, who has agreed to serve as Oklahoma local counsel in the lawsuit, was interviewed on camera in Oklahoma. The four days of filming, condensed to nine minutes, will of necessity omit many things and one or more of the persons filmed may be cut.

WHO: American Atheists members Nichole Smalkowski and Chuck Smalkowski and Edwin Kagin, National Legal Director for American Atheists.

WHEN: Friday, May 11, 2007 for two hours, starting at 9:00 pm (EDT).

WHERE: 20-20 show on ABC television, thought to be titled “Religion in America.”

MORE INFO:

www.atheists.org/flash.line/smalko1.htm

www.atheists.org/flash.line/smalko3.htm

www.atheists.org/legal/Smalkowski/Entry%20of%20Appearance%20Kagin%20filed%2024%20Aug%202006.pdf

(AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends civil rights for Atheists; works for the total separation of church and state; and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy.)

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/05/08/fortdix.plot/index.html

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The federal government charged five alleged Islamic radicals with plotting to kill U.S. soldiers at Fort Dix in New Jersey.

A sixth was charged with aiding and abetting the illegal possession of firearms by three of the others.

"The philosophy that supports and encourages jihad around the world against Americans came to live here in New Jersey and threaten the lives of our citizens through these defendants," New Jersey U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie said at a news conference Tuesday.

How bad does a religion have to be before we declare it "bad"? Sure, one (I) can make the argument that all religions are bad, but I mean worse than all the others.

I mean, think of a fictional religion that's "the worst". Call it "BADISM". What would the worst religion in the world look like?

I think the worst religion would preach hate, violence, and war. What else? Extreme intolerance to criticism, of course. It would guide by fear and violence.

Certainly, every adherent need not be evil. Some may be very good, right? Since we all know morality and religion are not connected, some Badists may have just been born to a Badist family and dismiss the worst elements of Badism, chosing to observe only the most benign qualities.

Granted, all of the Abrahamic faiths could qualify for this, but the true worst would have to reach the next level. It would threaten the world-wide populations with destruction, and cause far more fear and hatred than the others.

Now, how close is Badism to Islam?

The problem with Islam is that it is so intolerant to interpretation that more Moslems take the violent, intolerant, warlike (in other words, Barbaric) passages seriously, and commit acts of what I like to call 'Super-immorality'. This, combined with it's fungus-like spread across the world, makes Islam the worst religion in the world, in my opinion.

I think we should refer to it as such.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TagemN7kkw

I figured that since the theists all think Atheism is a religion, we should start a religious war a la Sunni/Shia or Catholic/Protestant.

Check out this great link (thanks Mark), pick a side, and then declare war on those heathens who disagree.

AMERICAN ATHEISTS today announced its full support for the "Rally for Reason" protest slated for Monday, May 28, 2007 (Memorial Day) at the grand opening of a creationist "museum" operated by an evangelical religious group in Boone County, KY.

The $27 million facility is a project of the Answers in Genesis group which promotes a literal, biblical view of how life and universe ostensibly began, and challenges mainstream scientific findings about evolution. The museum will reportedly include exhibits reflecting the inaccurate claim that dinosaurs and human beings co-existed in a "Garden of Eden" style Earth, and that our planet was fashioned by the Judeo-Christian deity approximately 6,000 years ago.

The "Rally for Reason" is calling on all groups -- including Atheists, Freethinkers, Humanists and other non-believers -- as well as religious, civic and educational organizations that support good science to join in the peaceful protest outside the gates of the "Answers in Genesis." According to Edwin Kagin of the RfR, the rally is not challenging the right of AIG to present their world view. "They can teach that things fall up if they wish," said Mr. Kagin. "We are simply trying to show that the views they are promoted are not accepted by those who do not share their fundamentalist religious views, and their effort to sneak those teachings into the public schools."

"Our organization endorses this important action to speak out against creationist pseudo-science," said Ellen Johnson, President of American Atheists. "The scientific enterprise must be kept free from meddling by religious or other groups. Good science is a foundation for any enlightened civilization, and we want to support that as a cultural and political value."

WHAT: Peaceful protest outsides the gates, opening for the Answers in Genesis creationist museum

WHERE: Bullittsburg Church Road, Exit 11 off Rt. 275, Boone County, KY.

WHEN: Monday, May 28, 2007 (Memorial Day) beginning at 9:00 AM

MORE INFO: "Rally for Reason" web site at http://rallyforreason.arkonuts.com/ or contact:
Ellen Johnson, President of American Atheists (908-276-7300); Dave Silverman, Communications Director for American Atheists (_______); or Edwin Kagin (859-384-7000)

(AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends civil rights for Atheists; works for the total separation of church and state; and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy.)

Another natural disaster. They really do seem to be coming more often (although I'm told this is not actually true).

American Atheists reminds you to give blood, food, and money to the rescue effort.

SPRINGBORO — – Michelle Incanno was an admitted Starbucks addict.

She'd buy the company's coffee beans every week. Whenever she'd get the chance to drop by a Starbucks, she would, placing the same order every time: a large, house brewed coffee with nonfat milk and two Splenda. When the Seattle-based chain opened a drive-through near her Springboro home, she was in java heaven.

That was until she got an unexpected jolt last week from her coffee cup.

Printed on the cup was: "Why in moments of crisis do we ask God for strength and help? As cognitive beings, why would we ask something that may well be a figment of our imaginations for guidance? Why not search inside ourselves for the power to overcome? After all, we are strong enough to cause most of the catastrophes we need to endure."

It is attributed to Bill Schell, a Starbucks customer from London, Ontario, and was included on the cup as part of an effort by the company to collect different viewpoints and spur discussion.

"As someone who loves God, I was so offended by that. I don't think there needs to be religious dialogue on it. I just want coffee," said Incanno, a married mother of three who is Catholic.

I gotta say I agree with the complaint on this one. Even though I LOVE the quote, Starbucks shouldn't be taking sides in the religious issue. Certainly I'd be pissed if I got a pro-religion cup. I think the "I just want coffee" quote is on the money.

Why are Kirk Cameron, a preacher, and two self-proclaimed atheists coming together in a church this weekend? Because Cameron and preacher Ray Comfort claim that they "can prove the existence of God."

They'll take on the atheists in the first "Nightline Face Off," a debate to be moderated by "Nightline" anchor Martin Bashir.

Watch the Face Off Wednesday May 9 at 2 p.m. on ABC News Now, and on Nightline at 11:35 p.m.

Why do I love this soooo much?

1) Because it's ABC News
2) Because it's Martin Bashir
3) Because Kirk Cameron and Roy Comfort are TERRIBLE debaters. Sapient is WAY out of their league. It's going to be fun.

How do I know? Because it's gotten absolutely no press. The USA today had 3 sentences on the whole event, and I never saw anything at the local level at all. Has anyone heard anything about this? Perhaps a national day of solidarity would be a better idea?

Anyway, Governor Mcgreevey wants ot be a preacher. At least he's not saying he was cured of being gay.

From the moment he stood at a podium in 2004 and announced he was a "gay American" who was resigning because of an affair with a male staffer, people wondered what McGreevey's next act would be.

Now we know: He wants to become a preacher and a teacher.

Embroiled in a bitter divorce battle, McGreevey has become an Episcopalian and enrolled in a "discernment" program to help prospective candidates for the priesthood decide if it is their true calling.

And he already has started teaching courses at a New Jersey university on ethics and leadership, which the head of the state's Republican party likened to "Doctor Kevorkian teaching health maintenance."

No one showed up for the "Bible Reading Marathon" on the West Front of the Capitol on the National Day of Prayer. The part I like is this event was sponsored by a group that had that stout hearted Christian leader, Jeff Gannon, as their spokesperson. You remember, the hot military stud $200-an-hour gay escort that got press credentials in the Bush White House.

The article then goes on to talk about my good buddy Rick Wingrove.

Today is a real puzzle. I go for weeks without that much to post and then a day like today comes along and the list seems endless.

We have the Christians who object to passage of H.R. 1592, `Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007' because it adds GENDER, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY, OR DISABILITY- to the list of offenses. I don't know that much about Christianity since I have never been a Christian, but really, Jesus preached about the need to spread hate filled speech in the Sermon on the Mount? Gee, what was Congress thinking when it passed this secular law and outlawed religious hate crimes?

And there is even more... but I'll share that later.

Peter Nuhn

MR. VANDEHEI: Senator McCain, this comes from a Politico.com reader and was among the top vote-getters in our early rounds. They want a yes or on. Do you believe in evolution?

SEN. MCCAIN: Yes.

MR. VANDEHEI: I’m curious, is there anybody on the stage that does not agree -- believe in evolution?

(Senator Brownback, Mr. Huckabee, Representative Tancredo raise their hands.)

SEN. MCCAIN: May I -- may I just add to that?

MR. VANDEHEI: Sure.

SEN. MCCAIN: I believe in evolution. But I also believe, when I hike the Grand Canyon and see it at sunset, that the hand of God is there also.

Anyone else agree?

Peter Nuhn

Mikey Weinstien tells us about the anti-Semitism at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Bush tells us that he is fighting in Iraq because God told him to go and kill Muslims. Gen. Boykin says that God put Bush in the White House. So read this piece by Robert Koehler linked to in the title to this posting.

Our Department of War is being run by the U.S. Evangelical Taliban who is in control of the most technologically advanced deadly war machine in the history of the world and our decider in chief says we are on a holy crusade. We know there are atheists in foxholes, but the Nuts are running the asylum.

See my past posting on Blackwater Evangelical mercenaries.
Peter Nuhn

The National Day of Prayer (NDP) takes place tomorrow. By federal law, the commemoration occurs on the first Thursday of every May.

Most events around the country are coordinated by the National Day of Prayer Task Force, a private group run by Shirley Dobson, wife of Religious Right leader James C. Dobson of Focus on the Family. The task force instructs its volunteers to allow only conservative Christians to speak, and its events are often laden with “Christian nation” rhetoric.

“A government-sponsored day of religious activity was never a good idea,” says the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “Now, the event has been taken over by the Religious Right and turned into an exercise in political posturing and theological one-upmanship.”

Well it's official: My friend's kid died of a drug overdose (huffing).

I used cocaine once. I had one line and had a life-changing epiphany I'd like to share.

I remember that there had been a basketball player that had apparently died having tried cocaine for the first time (turns out he had a heart defect and the cocaine pushed him over the line, if I remember correctly). At any rate the news of the day was that one could die from Cocaine on a single use.

As I raised my head from the mirror, having snorted my one line, I realized that I had just risked death -- the cessation of my existance (as an Atheist, there is no afterlife, so death is pretty bad). No matter how small, it was a stupid risk. Stupid is the word -- I felt really stupid for having taken such an unneccary risk.

And that's why I don't use cocaine. That's how Atheism stopped me from using hard drugs.

I wonder if this is unique, or if there is a pattern here (admitted sample size of 1). How many Atheists keep clean because life is finite and therefore more precious than those who think there is more after death?

And then we can relate this back to Pat Tillman and other Atheists in the armed forces. Does Atheism make those who risk their lives for family and country more brave/heroic than their theistic counterparts?