NoGodBlog.com

We're all screwed. My IRA is lower now than it was in the Clinton Administration, and my house has been devalued by a stupid amount that makes my heart pound. The GOP just abandoned their president and their candidates McBush and FemQuayle.

So here's a thread for the financial crisis. How long before the politicians start praying for relief from a god (like the Alabama Governor prayed for rain)?

It's too bad we don't have huge numbers of large buildings that are exempt from taxation for no reason. Then we could tax these buildings in a fair way and lower the burden on citizens. If only there was a huge and powerful sector of the economy that wasn't paying its taxes AT ALL, that we could finally tax, and get immediate relief for the country. If only.

Today I watched the Jets beat the snot out of the Cardinals.

I don't like the Cardinals because their QB is Kurt Warner, who I met once at a TV studio. He was nice enough, but when I asked him for an autograph for my nephew, he wrote a bible verse on the autograph. This AFTER he learned who I was. I felt it crass, and my nephew thought it was a joke, but since then I'm not a Kurt Warner fan.

So today, a player (Anquan Boldin) got hurt, and Warner led a prayer for all the world to see on the football field for that player's health. Both teams participated -- but not all players. Some players actually chose not to pray along with their teammates or to take any part of their sheepish display. Wish I had a picture or a list, but I don't. But I saw it. Warner wanted it to be a church, but it was still a football stadium to some. I wonder how those other players felt.

Thanks to medicine, and not invisible men in the sky, the injured Boldin is healing in a hospital and hopefully will be fine.

Too bad Jesus didn't want to help the Cards win today.

In honor of all those wonderful clergy who tomorrow will break the law of the land because they want to be "treated like everyone else", I propose that we all call our congresspeople and demand that indeed, the churches be treated like everyone else, and the "religion tax" on American taxpayers be repealed.

The fact that a religion or cult believes in a deity should not, in and of itself, allow them tax exempt status. If they do something for the community, then let them prove it (like everyone else), and be tax exempt (without, of course, breaking the laws to which other nonprofit organizations must adhere). Mind you, what they call "outreach" is nothing more than marketing, and does not qualify as community service. They have to actually help other people, not just recruit.

If they pay their taxes like everyone else, they can endorse their candidates like everyone else, and every community will enjoy a lot more revenue, paving the way for tax cuts for --guess who -- everyone else. Simple stuff.

Happy Tax the Church Day!

Did you watch it?

My take (personal opinion): Obama won. I'm not saying this because I went in leaning his way (which I did), I'm saying this because McBush was rude, obtuse, and clearly looked like Grandpa or a weird uncle that occasionally gets invited to dinner. McCain was worse than I thought he'd be.

And... Where is Ms. Palin? Could she be stepping aside so McCain can attack Obama's experience without reprisal? Or is she out having non-marital unprotected sex and shooting animals from helicopters? Giuliani was very happy to spin the session in her absence.

Here's the good news: NO GOD! No religion in the whole debate? Did anyone else notice that? Nobody even tried to slip him in.

No god, no Palin... Hmm.....

AMERICAN ATHEISTS, INC.
http://www.atheists.org
http://www.americanatheist.org

For more information, please contact:
Ed Buckner, President (404) 423-2114
Dave Silverman, Communications Director (732) 648-9333

ATHEISTS WELCOME, OPPOSE ELECTIONEERING SERMONS

An Atheist civil rights group announced today that while it opposed a
"Pulpit Initiative" by churches to openly endorse political candidates,
the effort may encourage people to question the veracity of competing
religious faiths.

According to Ed Buckner, new President of American Atheists, "The U.S.
Constitution cannot be subverted by a few greedy preachers determined to
wantonly undermine it, as many have sworn to do this Sunday--28
September 2008 CE--during what they're calling a 'Pulpit Initiative.'
Their disdain for the rule of law and for the First Amendment is
disgusting. The principle of separation of church and state, set forth
in the First Amendment and consistently supported by every reasonable
interpretation since Jefferson first put it into words as 'a wall of
separation' in 1801, prohibits undue involvement of preachers in our
political arena."

David Silverman, National Spokesperson for American Atheists, questioned
the tax exempt status. "Why aren't they paying taxes in the first
place?", noted Silverman, "There are more churches in this country than
there are pizza parlors, and none of them pay property taxes, even if
they do nothing to help the community at large. In this era of economic
uncertainty, the public has the right to pay the lowest and fairest
taxes possible, and I think we should start by taxing the churches."

Both Atheist representatives, though, pointed out a "pleasant upside" to
Sunday's "Pulpit Initiative" that may prompt believers to question
religious authorities.

"What happens when different churches and preachers end up quoting their
holy books and citing 'God' as the basis of endorsing a
religiously-correct political hopeful?" asked Mr. Silverman. "It seems
that when it comes to supporting candidates, 'God' is very confused --
or maybe His followers are!"

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.

American Atheists, Inc.
PO BOX 158
Cranford, NJ 07016
Tel.: (908) 276-7300
Fax: (908) 276-7402

Associated Press - September 24, 2008 12:43 AM ET

A federal judge in Alaska is siding with Private-First-Class Michael Barnes. He had told the Army that his religious experience two years ago left him opposed to war in any form.

Judge John Sedwich ruled that military investigators failed to prove that Barnes' religious objections to war were insincere. Barnes enlisted in the Army in March 2005 and arrived in Iraq in September 2006. Soldiers in his unit testified that he devoted much of his spare time to reading the Bible.

It's not clear if the Army will file an appeal. An Army spokesman declined to comment.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

What about MY sincere beliefs? Do they have to be religious to be moral? Can't an Atheist abhor war? And what does this say to Father Bush lying so we get into the war??

NEW YORK -Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said Wednesday that the United States could be headed for another Great Depression if Congress doesn't act on the financial crisis.
Palin made the comment in an interview with "CBS Evening News" anchor Katie Couric while visiting New York to meet foreign leaders for the first time in her political career. As Palin sought to establish her credentials in world affairs, first lady Laura Bush said Palin lacked sufficient foreign policy experience but was "a quick study."
Recent surveys have shown that Palin's popularity, while still strong, has begun to fade.
Earlier this month, an Associated Press-Yahoo News poll showed more people viewing Palin favorably than unfavorably, 47 percent to 28 percent. But an ABC News-Washington Post poll released Wednesday showed that in a two-week period, the number seeing Palin positively dropped 6 percentage points while 10 points more see her unfavorably. On Monday, a CNN-Opinion Research Corp. poll said her favorable rating dropped 4 points and her unfavorable rating rose 8 points over two weeks.
Palin has been in New York this week for a series of meetings with foreign leaders, part of an effort by Republican John McCain's presidential campaign to counter criticism that the former small-town mayor lacks the experience to be vice president, let alone president in an emergency.

Oh, and Senator McBush backed out of politics to do more politics. Funny how this other politics doesn't involve a debate.

PISCATAWAY —"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." "Of Mice and Men." And the entire "Harry Potter" series.

Those books are among the most popular — and arguably among the greatest — books ever written. But next week they will be celebrated for belonging on another list: the most-challenged books in the country.

"Banned Book Week," an annual event organized by the American Library Association's Office of Intellectual Freedom, kicks off Saturday, Sept. 27, and continues through Saturday, Oct. 4. This year's theme: "Closing Books Shuts Out Ideas."

Among the local libraries participating this year is the Piscataway Township Public Library. Lina Belkewitch, the library's public-relations specialist, says the week is more about freedom than it is about censorship.

"It's about your freedom to read and freedom not to read it, too," she said. "It's your freedom."

In fact, attempts to ban books at local libraries are rarely successful, according to the library association. The books celebrated during "Banned Books Week" are books that most frequently have been the subject of challenges by local residents. A "challenge" occurs when a resident or group of residents attempt to have a book removed from the library's shelves, generally due to concerns over graphic language, descriptions of violence or racism, or mature themes. When a resident challenges a book, the complaint can lead to a hearing before the library's board of trustees, or even a court case.

But Molly Newling, acting director of the Piscataway library, said she can't recall a challenge ever getting to the hearing stage at her library. She said generally an explanation of the library's decision by a librarian will abate complaints.

"I can't recall a time where we've had a major challenge," she said. "Some people have a problem, and we explain it, and we usually fix it."

Piscataway is celebrating the week with a display highlighting books in the library's collection that are frequently challenged at libraries across the nation.

Sharon Rawlins, youth-services consultant for the New Jersey State Library in Trenton, said participation is high among libraries in New Jersey. Some even use yellow caution tape to decorate banned-book displays.

http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=349

New Pew Forum on political leanings and religion. No surprises really, but I really hate the "this kind of christian, that kind of christian, and everyone else" mentality.

Happy Fall Equinox. Half day, half night. 12 and 12. Yin and Yang. Chi and Chow. Cheech and Chong. Moe, Larry, and Curly. Woo woo woo.

OK so here's what was published:

BLAINE, Minn. - Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin told supporters Friday that "Democrat partisans" had pressured organizers of an anti-Iran rally in New York next week to withdraw an invitation for her to appear. "This should be an issue that unites all Americans. Iran should not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons, period," Palin said at a rally here. "Unfortunately, some Democrat partisans put politics first and now no elected official can appear. This should not be a matter of partisan politics."

Palin had been set to attend the rally protesting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad organized by major Jewish organizations and sponsored by the National Coalition to Stop Iran Now. New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton also had been scheduled to appear at the rally, but canceled after learning Palin would be there, too.

The former first lady, who suspended her own presidential bid in June, has sought to avoid any appearance with Palin, who has emerged as the new female star of the 2008 campaign.

On Thursday, organizers announced that they had withdrawn their invitation for Palin to attend, saying they did not want the event to be overtly political. GOP hopeful John McCain criticized the move in a statement to reporters Thursday, suggesting Obama backers pressed for Palin to be disinvited.

But guess what --it wasn't the dems at all -- it was the Jews! Yes, we can really, truly blame the Jews on this one -- in particular the Zionists. http://www.jstreet.org

We collected over 20,000 signatures in 24 hours asking Iran Unity rally organizer Malcolm Hoenlein to take Sarah Palin off the schedule for Monday's rally, and he caved to our pressure on Thursday afternoon citing the fact that the rally had become too partisan.

This is the right decision. A unity rally to express communal solidarity is no place for partisan politics. And to give such prominence to Sarah Palin alone would have spoken neither to, nor for, the American Jewish community.

This is a victory not just for the 20,188 others who signed J Street's petition. It's a victory for the broader community. And we're pleased the rally's organizers came to their senses so quickly.

Victories like these don't come easily - or often. But when they do, we should savor them, at least briefly.

We'll be back at it tomorrow, because our next task is making sure that the messages at the rally reflect the view of a majority of Americans - Jewish and otherwise - that the best way to deal with Iran is through tough, smart diplomacy - not saber rattling and threats of force.

I guess it's more politically correct to blame the blameless than it is to blame the Jews, even if they really DID do it!

It's not too early -- make plans now to

join us for a seasonal tradition!

The 2008 AMERICAN ATHEISTS Winter Solstice Gala & CESAALA Dedication
Friday, December 12,
Saturday, December 13, 2008
http://www.atheists.org/wintersolstice.html

Mark your calendar now for a weekend of exciting events hosted by American Atheists and the Charles E. Stevens American Atheist Library & Archives (CESAALA)

Join us Friday afternoon, December 12, 2008 for an Open House and Dedication ceremony at the American Atheists Center in Cranford, NJ, and a tour of the largest private archive of Atheist, Freethough and related materials in the United States. This welcoming event runs from 1:00 PM to 7:00 PM, with a special ribbon-cutting at 1:30 to dedicate the remodeled Center and CESAALA facility, along with the new Eddie Tabash Conference Room. Special guided tours will be conducted. Included in the CESAALA facility are over 25,000 bound volumes, plus over 500,000 related items – pamphlets, signed letters, historical ephemera and other items that tell the story and preserve the legacy of Atheism and Freethought in America!

On Saturday, December 13, 2008, join us (11:30 AM – 4:00 PM) at the luxurious Crown Plaza Hotel n nearby Clark, NJ for the American Atheists 2008 Winter Solstice Gala featuring entertainment, speakers, great food and company and much, much more! Following the Solstice bash, make the short drive to the American Atheist Center for a live taping of the The Atheist Viewpoint television show in our new Conference Center, and more tours of our facility including CESAALA.

AND MAKE A FULL WEEKEND OF IT! We’ve arranged for a special rate at the Crowne Plaza Hotel that includes “shoulder dates” to allow you to visit the area, including nearby New York City! Rail transportation to Manhattan and other points is available at Cranford and Iselin-Metro Park. To qualify for the special rate of $109.00 (plus tax) per night – effective Thursday 12/11 through Wednesday 12/17) – you must make your arrangements directly with the Crown Plaza Hotel. Call them at 732-574-0100, or visit their web site.

Registration for the American Atheists 2008 Winter Solstice Gala is $34.00 per person ($17 for children ten and under) and includes all taxes and gratuities. There will be a cash bar. Register on-line using our secure transaction server below. Hurray, and reserve your seat now!

Helpful Links

Register Online at http://www.atheists.org/wintersolstice.html

The Southern Baptists are continuing their centuries long silliness--see

http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living/stories/2008/09/18/gospel_magazine_pulled.html

Here's my take: The current fight among the Southern Baptists--who are bickering, bizarrely enough, over where or whether to display a Christian publication featuring five women pastors on the cover--demonstrates just how absurd religion gets. The angry female pastors involved are of course right to be offended at anyone objecting. But the leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention are right that anyone who takes the Bible seriously should not allow women to be teaching men in churches--that's actually what Paul commands in the New Testament. This is not a church/state issue, and the Southern Baptists will have to resolve this dilemma without any help from Atheists. But this is yet another piece of evidence that we'd all be better off without religion.

Ed Buckner

OK we did a thread on secular churches. Now, let's talk Humanists.

Of course, American Atheists shares lots of members -- and goals -- with Humanist groups. Thanks for your support.

CALLING ALL NON-BELIEVERS: Express yourself in a HumanLight Design Contest

HumanLight is a holiday celebrated around December 23rd specifically to acknowledge reason, family, friendship, and other shared, secular values of humankind. To learn more, visit the website: http://www.humanlight.org

The HumanLight Committee is hosting a HumanLight Holiday card and ornament design contest for secularists of all ages. Contestants should design an artistic expression to positively address these questions or some aspect of the HumanLight holiday.

What do we have to celebrate during the winter holiday season? What do you hope for in the future? What's the Humanist view/perspective?

ELIGIBILITY: All are welcome to enter!

Category 1: Ages 11 and under.
Category 2: Ages 12-17.
Category 3: Ages 18 and up.

One entry per artist. All media, (painting, printmaking, collage, digital art, photography, or perhaps something even more creative?) is accepted.

TO APPLY: Email the image as a high resolution (at least 300 dpi) JPEG
to humanlightcontest@gmail.com. In the body of the email, include the artist's name, age, what country and state (if it applies) he or she is from, and what method he or she used to create the image.
DEADLINE for entries is November 1, 2008.

Judge: Martha Knox is a fine artist, Humanist celebrant, art teacher, and Director of the Humanist Association of Greater Philadelphia.

Prizes: Three images will be selected, 1 from each age category. Cards and ornaments displaying all three winners will be available for purchase at the HumanLight merchandise webpage. Each prize winner will receive an ornament and set of cards with their image, as well as some HumanLight candy! The winners and their designs will also be featured on the main HumanLight website www.humanlight.org.

All images in this contest are owned by the artist. By submitting images to this contest, the artist agrees to grant the HumanLight Committee the right to print or otherwise re-publish the submitted images in marketing or web materials for the purpose of promoting HumanLight so long as credit is given to the artist as the original creator of the image(s). All proceeds from HumanLight merchandise sales will go toward further promotion of HumanLight.

Spread the word!

There aren't many issues for which I sit on the fence, but this is one great big fat one. Do we call ourselves a religion in an effort to gain equality and membership in the movement?

If you take the absolute broadest definition of the term "religion" and squint really hard, you can force Atheism to fit (the same goes for baseball fans). Theists love to do that, and from a debating perspective I'd love to take that card away from them. This is certainly not the correct usage of the term, but we're arguing semantics, and isn't that irrelevant anyway (semantics change over time)?

Is that copping out? Is copping out a bad thing? One side of me says "don't you DARE group me in with the sheep following invisible men in the sky", and the other side says "call me anything you like if it gets me equality and fair treatment (easy tax deductions, faith-based money, etc)".

There is no easy answer, in my opinion. At American Atheists we are a "big umbrella" organization, so we gladly welcome Atheists who support the idea of a freethought church, as well as those who are utterly repulsed by the idea. I'm not repulsed, but I find it difficult to decide on which side of the fence to fall.

(thanks Zac)
http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=1877
The Atheon Temple of Science is an art project conceived by Jonathan Keats. Using a grant from UC Berkeley's Chancellor's Community Partnership fund, he created the Atheon in downtown Berkeley office building.

Four millennia after Abraham fathered Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and 150,000 years after hominids introduced burial rituals to the Mediterranean, religion has finally been rendered wholly compatible with science. Beginning on September 27, 2008, a two-story downtown Berkeley building dubbed "the Atheon" will provide a spiritual home for rational people in California, and guidance to acolytes worldwide.

Establishment of an Atheon has been a high priority in the scientific community for the past several years, rivaling even enthusiasm for the new Large Hadron Collider. "When you listen to people like Nobel-laureate cosmologist Steven Weinberg, or Oxford biologist Richard Dawkins, you hear a lot of talk about how god-based religion is out-of-date," says conceptual artist Jonathon Keats. "The leading minds believe that science can and should provide a spiritually satisfying replacement. But until recently no one bothered to consider what form that alternative might take."

The temporary facility features stained glass windows showing the cosmic microwave background radiation using NASA's new WMAP satellite data.

Here's another version -- The Church of Reality, headed up by my friend Marc.
http://www.churchofreality.org/wisdom/welcome_home/

The Church of Reality is not just a religion of science, it is a religion of people. We explore reality from the human perspective. In order to explore reality, we need a strong, healthy society where people can live freely and peacefully, and the human race can evolve toward a better future. The pursuit of reality is something that is a shared process. It's something we do together as a church, as a community, and as the human race.

We are about Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Reality!
The Church of Reality provides a religious identity for people who have made a personal commitment to pursue reality the way it really is. When we are asked, "What religion are you?," we answer that we are Realists; we practice Reality because we believe in Reality. We also provide a sense of community, a social structure, and a moral compass to define right and wrong. We provide a sense of purpose about who we are, why we exist, and how we live our lives, in the context of science and logic.

The Church of England owes Charles Darwin an apology for misunderstanding his theory of evolution and making errors over its reaction to it, a senior clergyman said today.

In a bid to recognize its faults in the run up to next year's 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth, the church has launched a series of articles on its website.

An essay by the Rev Dr Malcolm Brown, the church's head of public affairs, called Good Religion Needs Good Science directly addresses Darwin. It concludes: "We try to practice the old virtues of 'faith seeking understanding' and hope that makes some amends. But the struggle for your reputation is not over yet, and the problem is not just your religious opponents but those who falsely claim you in support of their own interests.

"Good religion needs to work constructively with good science – and I dare to suggest that the opposite may be true as well."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/15/anglicanism.evolution

He had me until that last part -- good science needs to ignore religion completely.

Just to let y'all know the blog and the web site will be changing in the next couple of months. Even if you only browse by every now and then, you will shortly see vast improvements in the NGB, the Atheists.org and magazine web sites. More functionality, better user interface, more information. It's all coming. Please stand by...

In April I was named the South Florida Regional Director for AA and I am President of a rather new, but rapidly growing local group called FLorida Atheists and Secular Humanists (FLASH) with 4 locations around South Fla.
We are trying a fund raising raffle to fund our public science education events (Darwin Day and Carl Sagan Day). It would be a great help if it could be mentioned on the "what's new" section of AA's website and even in the magazine. We are only selling 250 tickets at $50 each. The trip include RT air to Ecuador, hotel, transfers, Galapagos park fees and 5 days on a large yacht. details and tickets are available at http://www.freethoughtflorida.com/cruise.html

Thank you for your time,
Ken Loukinen,

South Florida Regional Director, American Atheists
President, FLorida Atheists and Secular Humanists

URBANA, Ill. (AP) — A Catholic priest on the University of Illinois campus has been charged with selling cocaine from his church office and rectory.

The Reverend Christopher Layden pleaded not guilty Thursday to two counts of delivery of less than 1 gram of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a church and one count of possession with intent to deliver 1 to 15 grams of cocaine near a church.

The 33-year-old was arrested Wednesday at St. John's Catholic Newman Center after investigators found 3 grams of cocaine and drug paraphernalia while searching his home and office. His bond was set at $50,000.

The Catholic Diocese of Peoria says it has suspended Layden.

His attorney, Mark D. Lipton, did not immediately respond to an after hours message seeking comment.

What happens when you bend over to toot your coke from your priest? It's just too easy.

Those silly Catholics, with their rape and drugs and deviant sexual behavior. If only they had a moral compass like us Atheists. If only they knew that saying "I'm sorry" to an invisible man in the sky was NOT the same as actually refraining from doing it again. And again. And again.

BUT those crimes (selling in/near a church) are bogus to begin with. Why is selling near a church considered worse than selling in an office building -- like selling near a school? A crime is a crime, church or no church.

But now, Father snorts-a-lot will pay for the crime anyway. At least his god forgives him.

Ladies and gentlemen,

As the National Spokesperson for American Atheists, I am proud to introduce our new President, Dr. Ed Buckner.

Many of you who are active in the movement will know of Dr. Buckner's accomplishments, originating in the Atlanta Chapter of the Society of Separationists (then an American Atheists affiliated corporation), helping to grow the Atlanta Freethought Society through its formative years, and then most recently serving as the Executive Director of the Counsel for Secular Humanism.

A hardcore Atheist, Dr. Buckner has written, spoken, debated, and appeared often in the media, both locally and nationally. He has been on MSNBC, Good Morning America, CBS Evening News, Fox News, the Michael Medved Show, CNN, the national CBS Radio News, NPR, and on nearly every local media outlet (radio or television) in the Atlanta and Buffalo areas, most repeatedly. He's been quoted, sometimes at length, in newspapers all over the nation and, occasionally, elsewhere in the world, been a featured guest on many Internet broadcast shows, and given the keynote address for Atheists Alliance International.

Dr Buckner has debated or spoken in Alabama, California, Connecticut, DC, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and a few times outside the U.S. He earned a doctorate (1983) and M.Ed. (1975) from Georgia State University; B.A., English, Rice University, 1967.

We had a FANTASTIC response from world-class atheist leaders for this position, and on behalf of the Board of Directors I thank every applicant.

Please help me welcome Dr. Ed Buckner, President of American Atheists!

Ed's first official statement follows:

Dear American Atheists Members, Volunteers, and Supporters,

I’m deeply honored to have been named as President of American Atheists by the Board. I’m determined to show all of you, in due course, that the Board, which had an important but difficult decision, was wise to choose me. I don’t know all the details of who else applied, but I know enough to know that the list of applicants included many Atheists of the first order, men and women of great promise, intelligence, creativity, and accomplishment, including leaders from within American Atheists and from beyond. While this makes me even prouder of being chosen, it also puts great pressure on me to work hard.

I promise—

1. I will put American Atheists and her members first.

2. The many other leaders and supporters of the group who make themselves available to help, with advice or work or financial contributions, will be welcomed and encouraged.

3. Communication will be a top priority, especially with Atheists wise and strong enough to be card-carrying members. The excellent blog that David Silverman edits will be a major part of that—I will read and take seriously what all of you choose to say there. I will at least occasionally contribute to the comments, always openly and under my own name. The American Atheist web-site will, with the help of many, be kept up to date.

4. American Atheists will remain true to its proud heritage as the vanguard of American atheism and religious liberty; we have always been the most forthright, unabashed, unapologetic, confident people in this nation who have no religion, and that will continue.

5. American Atheists will openly cooperate with and support other groups, local, national, or international, to the extent that doing so will serve the interests of our philosophy and our members. The only exceptions to this promise will come where there are conflicts with # 4, above.

6. If a local group of American Atheists anywhere in this nation wants me or some other official representative of the organization to visit, to speak or to debate against some bombastic preacher or condescending media personality, we will do everything we can to fulfill that want.

7. If a newspaper, radio program, TV program, or Internet show anywhere in this nation invites me or some other official representative of the organization to speak or to debate against some religious leader, we will do everything we can to fulfill that invitation.

8. The Center in Cranford New Jersey, including our fine library, will be protected and enhanced to improve its usefulness to members and to future Atheists.

I’m not Frank Zindler or Ellen Johnson or Jon Murray or Madalyn Murray O’Hair, and I won’t pretend to be—but I hope to demonstrate that the best days of American Atheists are ahead, not historical. I’m grateful, and I think all of us should be profoundly grateful, to our previous leaders, who have stood strongly and proudly for us, helping us protect our rights, our reputations, and our freedom. All of them have demonstrated wonderful creativity, wit and humor, extraordinary intelligence, and profound courage on our behalf.

Anyone who wants to know more about me can send me an e-mail message and I’ll send you a copy of what I submitted to the board when I applied.

I invite you to hold me accountable.

Sincerely,
Ed Buckner
President,
American Atheists, Inc.
ebuckner@atheists.org

Ed on the tube last fall:
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/water-battle-of-biblical-proportions/808360178

Yes, I know I'm late and I'm sorry.

9/11 is the anniversary of the worst faith-based crime on American soil in this generation (ever?). We need to continuously reinforce that point -- and make sure religionists remember what religions can do.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7468966.stm

There are actually numerous stories about the Large Hadron Collider,

the world's most-powerful atom smasher, is an engineering marvel constructed hundreds of feet underground.

Composed of millions of individual pieces, the collider uses more than 9,000 magnets to accelerate two beams of protons to almost the speed of light. When the beams collide, they shatter into their constituent parts, allowing scientists to glimpse particles that don't exist in standard environments.

The hard part, actually, becomes finding the rare and important particles among all the normal ones created in smashing atoms. Toward that end, physicists designed cathedral-size experimental chambers that feature some of the most-precise measurement tools ever created by man. One scientist described them as 150-megapixel digital cameras taking snapshots 600 million times a second.

They are looking for God. Actually, they are looking for the "God particle", which will (in reality) further shrink the god-sized hole in our knowledge of the universe. Pretty intense stuff, and of course the religionists hate it, because they don't want their god shrunken. Again.

We will not die today, my religious friends, but soon, we will know more from pursuit of the Scientific Method than all religions put together have ever taught us (actually that passed when we invented the wheel).

Gov. Sarah Palin's tenure as the GOP nominee has seen its share of scandal and another potential scandal has cropped up, courtesy of the Alaska governor's church. The Wasilla Bible Church, where Palin has prayed for about six years, is promoting a conference that promises to convert gays into heterosexuals through the power of prayer.

I remember once, a long time ago, a maverick senator called people like Palin "Agents of intolerance" because they spent so much time trying to change other people to follow their own rules of behavior, instead of working for acceptance, tolerance, and unity. I can't remember the senator's name though. He seems to have vanished.

THEISTS -- Think your god can beat up on our logic? Let NEOWOLF and our other bloggers hear and attack your assertions. No holds barred, but be civil and have fun.

Ren, here. I have an idea for a new topic. There are a number of us, and a few trolls to boot, that believe the free market will cure anything. Here is a story from the International Herald Tribune that blows that out of the water. Re: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Mortgage crisis has Washington putting aside free-market ideology

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/09/07/business/07bailout.php

I spent yesterday with my eclectic group of friends at an annual end-of-the-summer party. Atheists, Wiccans, and Christians (oh my) were all in attendance.

As it turns out, one of my conservative Republican friends is an Atheist (or close) who is a supporter of church and state separation, but he is also a fanatic one-issue 2nd Amendment guy. He always votes Republican. Gun Rights is his hot issue, and he does not see the GOP as a threat to religious freedom.

This guy was locked on to gun rights and would not budge. So I asked him to be more vocal about the need for C/S separation to his GOP friends, just as I ask all other GOPs to do.

Just goes to show you how fragmented the GOP is. Hopefully the RR will continue to lose power over the party -- unless they win this time.

Thanks to JE.

Palin's Churches and the Third Wave

Part 1: http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/5/0244/84583

Part 2: http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/5/03830/11602

Scary video in the second part:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K_1Eit0pxM&eurl=http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/5/03830/11602

With links to other scary videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ4WOOceGis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVIPF_PmHuQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpKR0REYrnY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7n3h0fCAYk

http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=964

'Arming' for Armageddon
Militant Joel's Army Followers Seek Theocracy By Casey Sanchez Photography by Lowell Handler Intelligence Report Fall 2008

I will be on the Dave Glover show on Monday at 6pm EST for a 1-hour
debate on whether the USA was founded on Judeo-Christian values (whatever that means). Dave
Glover is the #1 show in the St Louis Market and the web site is www.971talk.com

Lori Lipman Brown (and more) on The Colbert Report
http://www.comedycentral.com/colbertreport/videos.jhtml?videoId=180127

OK OK I know too much politics. But last night I watched McBush give his speech, and I counted him saying "god" or "faith" about 5000 times in an hour.

Obama hit the G-word a few times too, but McBush just went overtime in a desperate plea to motivate the ignorant to vote for him, playing on the stereotype that god = good.

I really hate that.

http://articles.latimes.com/2008/sep/03/opinion/oe-harris3

Americans have an unhealthy desire to see average people promoted to positions of great authority. No one wants an average neurosurgeon or even an average carpenter, but when it comes time to vest a man or woman with more power and responsibility than any person has held in human history, Americans say they want a regular guy, someone just like themselves. President Bush kept his edge on the "Who would you like to have a beer with?" poll question in 2004, and won reelection.

This is one of the many points at which narcissism becomes indistinguishable from masochism. Let me put it plainly: If you want someone just like you to be president of the United States, or even vice president, you deserve whatever dysfunctional society you get. You deserve to be poor, to see the environment despoiled, to watch your children receive a fourth-rate education and to suffer as this country wages -- and loses -- both necessary and unnecessary wars.

McCain has so little respect for the presidency of the United States that he is willing to put the girl next door (soon, too, to be a grandma) into office beside him. He has so little respect for the average American voter that he thinks this reckless and cynical ploy will work.

And it might. Palin's nomination has clearly excited Christian conservatives, and it may entice a few million gender-obsessed fans of Hillary Clinton to vote entirely on the basis of chromosomes. Throw in a few million more average Americans who will just love how the nice lady smiles, and 2009 could be a very interesting year.

John Arthur Henderson, M.D., a retired Air Force Flight Surgeon and General Surgeon from Asheville, North Carolina, just died (on 31 August 2008). He was 85. Henderson graduated with honors from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in 1945. He interned at the Research and Educational Hospital, Chicago, Illinois; and was surgical resident at Scott and White Clinic, Temple, Texas. During his Air Force career, he served in England, Spain, and Japan. Within the United States, he was stationed in various states from New York to California.

Dr. Henderson, well respected in the medical community, gained national respect and affection for his powerful freethought words, heard and read by many people across the nation. He had improved steadily as an effective speaker, charming audiences even as he inspired them to think. His wit and easy manner as a speaker, along with his popular constant traveling companion, his wife Ruth, made him increasingly in demand as a speaker, with repeat performances at venues where he had spoken earlier increasingly the norm. He had addressed both local freethought groups, like Atlanta Freethought Society and the Secular Humanists of the Low Country (in Charleston), or at Furman University, and national events like the Freethought Advance in Alabama or other atheist conferences. He served on the speaker's bureau for Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers His talks, his books, and his letters to the editor forced many to think and to laugh, often simultaneously. Henderson's philosophical reputation grew steadily as well in recent years, with each of his books presenting a deepening complexity without sacrificing his sharp wit. He touched the lives of countless people, first as a doctor, then as a writer and speaker. He will be much missed.

His books included god.com: a deity for the new millennium (2005), Fear Faith, Fact, Fantasy (2004), and Judging God: It Is Time to Judge Religions and Their Gods (2007; with Craig Gurgew).

Condolences can be sent to his wife Ruth at jrh828@webtv.net.
Ed Buckner
Smyrna GA USA

Maybe you’ve heard from others, read in the newspaper, or been told during a worship service this election is an important one in Florida. Not just because of the upcoming Presidential, Congressional, or Statewide elections but because Florida is home to the biggest attack on the Constitutional separation of church and state in any state in recent memory.

As an AU activist, we need you to help us stop Amendments 7 and 9 on the Florida ballot! As you may know, Amendments 7 and 9 would eviscerate the religious liberty safeguards that currently exist in the Florida Constitution and allow money to flow directly to religious organizations and houses of worship. The stripping of these important guarantees of freedom, combined with an undermining of the language that protects public schools in the Constitution, would allow a massive school voucher scheme to slip by Floridians and harm the educational opportunities for our children. Moreover, if Amendments 7 and 9 pass, the weakened Florida Constitution simply won’t be able to protect Floridians against harmful violations to their religious freedom.

On behalf of our tenacious chapters and outspoken activists in Florida, AU will not stand for this. That’s why we’ve launched Floridians United to Defend Our Constitution, and created the comprehensive web resource www.NOon7and9.org. Now, we need you to take the lead and urge others to vote NO on 7 and 9.

NOon7and9.org contains information on the amendments and how to become an advocate for their defeat. It’s not hard we’ve made it easy with talking points, printable hand-outs, answers to Frequently Asked Questions, and more!

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/tls_selections/religion/article2400899.ece

Haven't read this. Looks interesting.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/163234/559/495/579213

A look at the home website of Palin's church tends to be revealing. Among other things, a particular Assemblies buzzword associated frequently with Hillsong A/G and New Zealand Assemblies churches shows up ("Destiny", here, is a buzzword for "Joel's Army", and is being preferred even as the phrase "Joel's Army" is getting enough negative spin that even the Assemblies is now having to do some rather massive spin control); cell churches are promoted (of the same sort that are linked to short-term and longterm psychological damage and are among the most coercive tactics ever documented in spiritually abusive groups). The church, like a number of other large Assemblies churches, is the center of a dominionist broadcast TV center whose programming is carried across multiple channels in Alaska.

In a trend that has been recently documented by no less than Southern Poverty Law Center (in its recent report on the Joel's Army movement), the church operates a Seven Project-esque targeted recruitment campaign aiming at teens (this is common across the Assemblies and across "Joel's Army" groups in general; fully a third of the documented national-level front groups operated by the Assemblies target teens).

And...believe you me, Palin's church is definitely "Joel's Army".

More interesting stuff
1. "Sarah Palin," Wikipedia, Accessed August 29, 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin

2. "McCain Selects Anti-Choice Sarah Palin as Running Mate," NARAL Pro-Choice America, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17515&id=13661-8071182-33W079x&t=1

3. "Sarah Palin, Buchananite," The Nation, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17736&id=13661-8071182-33W079x&t=2

4. "'Creation science' enters the race," Anchorage Daily News, October 27, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17737&id=13661-8071182-33W079x&t=3