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I'll be in NY for the protest on Saturday (as will my 11-year-old daughter). Please come to one of the protests below!

There are TWO pastes in this post. One is an update on the protests, and one is sent in by Joe Z of AA-TX on why the protest needs to happen.

POPE BENEDICT, a/k/a Joseph Ratzinger – formerly head of the Holy Inquisition and now Pope of the Roman Catholic Church – is coming to visit the United States/ Leading clerical and political figures – including President George W. Bush – will be meeting in him during papal visits to Washington, DC and New York City.

AMERICAN ATHEISTS will be hosting peaceful demonstrations in both cities to protest the papal agenda for cultural, social and political hegemony. We invite all Atheist, Freethought, Secular Humanists and other nonbelievers to join us in speaking out. Whatever label you use to describe your nonbelief and opposition to clerical authoritarianism of all denominations – whether you’re a Rational, a Bright, a Humanist, Agnostic, Atheist, or a strict Separationist – we welcome you!

WASHINGTON, DC. ~ SLIGHT CHANGE OF VENUE FOR LAFAYETTE PARK PROTEST
April 16, 2008

The Pope will join Bush for a reception on the south lawn of the White House. Join us beginning at 10:00 AM across the street from the White House in Lafayette Park. Gather at the Northwest corner of the park. Bring signs and banners conveying a polite but firm message in opposition to the Vatican/Ratzinger agenda. There will be a brief program of speakers including:

ELLEN JOHNSON, President of American Atheists
ARLENE-MARIE, President of Michigan Atheists and State Director, AA
MARGARET DOWNEY, President of Atheist Alliance
FRED EDWORDS, Director of Communications, American Humanist Association
CHRISTOPHER ARNTZEN, President, Gay and Lesbian Atheists and Humanists
RICK WINGROVE, Capitol Hill Representative, Virginia Director, American Atheists
Lafayette Park is convenient to the McPherson Square station of the METRO.

For further information, contact RICK WINGROVE at rwingrove@atheists.org.

NEW YORK CITY, NY.
On Saturday, April 19, 2008 the Pope will celebrate Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Gather at 5th Avenue and 47th St. with appropriate signs and banners beginning promptly at 8:30 AM. Ken Bronstein of NYC Atheists is the demonstration coordinator; he reports that we will be on the west side sidewalk of 5th Ave. between 46th and 47th streets. Police will likely shut down both people and street traffic on 5th Avenue in the vicinity of the church.

Contact KEN BRONSTEIN of NYC Atheists. Reach Ken through NYCATHEISTS@aol.com.

TEXAS DEMO TO SUPPORT PAPAL VISIT
PROTEST SLATED FOR SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2008

Pope Benedict XVI isn't coming to the Lone Star State as part of his U.S. tour, but American Atheists Texas State Director Joe Zamecki will be hosting a demonstration to speak out against the Vatican agenda. He's posted a great video about this at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W5BIMsWm4w . Here's the skinny from Joe on what's slated for Austin, Texas:

The Pope is coming to America for five days! We've got to take this rare opportunity to demonstrate against him and his church while he's in America. As picket-worthy groups go, this is the big one, the most deserving one. We're going to have a peaceful picket of a popular and very visible Catholic church here in Austin. The sidewalk is wide and unobstructed, the parking is free, this is in a very high visibility area that's already been the site of a lot of picketing and other demonstrations over the years. I've already checked into the demonstration legalities of that location, and it's simple. We don't need a permit to picket peacefully on the sidewalk next to Guadalupe Street. That's more than enough room. I will make sure that we give plenty of notice to the police, and get their blessing for the whole thing. They're very demonstration-friendly police here.

WHO: Joe Zamecki and other Texas Atheists

WHAT: Pope Picket 2008, Austin

WHERE: St. Austin's Catholic Church, 2026 Guadalupe St., Austin TX 78705, on the Drag across the street from UT Austin

WHY: To protest the huge number of harmful acts the Catholic Church is currently engaged in, in addition to the state/church violations

WHEN: Sunday, April 20, 2008 starting around 8:30am, and lasting as long as we can handle the bells which ring throughout the day. The objective is to be seen and heard by their congregants as they enter and leave that church.

VIDEO: I made a Youtube video about The Drag and this picket: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W5BIMsWm4w

MORE INFO: We can meet up there, since it's so easy to find, and parking meters in Austin are all free on Sundays.
For more information about this Austin picket: jzamecki@atheists.org And: (512)927-6863, or visit http://www.atheists.org/tx .

We'll have two new picket signs specific to this event that I've just had made. Please feel free to make and bring your own signs without sticks or poles. I'll have fliers about the picket and the church and the Pope, and at least one press release from American Atheists about it.
After the picket, there are a number of good restaurants and bars in the area for us to have lunch at, or whatever. Also I will be videotaping the entire demonstration, so let's look nice and wear big smiles. )

Joe Zamecki

ENDORSING ORGANIZATIONS
Atheists of Silicon Valley
Michigan Atheists
American Humanist Association
Free Inquiry Group of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky
If your Atheist, Freethought, Humanist or Secularist group would like to endorse the pope protests, let us know and we will list your group on our web site at http://www.atheists.org/temp/popeVisit2008.html . Contact cg@atheists.org with the name of the endorsing organization and the appropriate URL.

TAKE ACTION!

We urge all Atheist, Humanist, Freethought and other secularist groups to organize peaceful protests in their communities during the time of the papal visit. Send details to cg@atheists.org and we will work to publicize your event.
(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.)

Now here are Joe's top ten reasons to protest, but here are my top ones
1) The Catholic Church is a country with a seat in the UN. They are the only religion allowed to do this. It allows them to influence the world and foist their archaic opinions on every member country.
2) The Catholic Church sponsored the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, helped the Nazis in the Holocaust (here's where they admit it), and still meddles in world affairs regularly.
3) The Catholic Church demands tithing worldwide, forces all its employees to take vows of Poverty, pays no taxes, and still claims not to have money. They whine constantly about their loss of revenue, while the Pope sits behind golden doors. The Church has never revealed how much its worth, but they could probably cure world hunger.
4) The Pope himself helped Hitler, and advised JPII to hide pedophiles instead of throwing them in jail. In this way, Pope Benedict directly placed US children in harm's way, to avoid scandal in the Church. The sex scandals in Africa and other countries have gotten little to no resolution because there is no media coverage, and therefore no scandal. This makes him an international criminal.
5) He really doesn't like Atheists, and warns the world about us. He has chosen to make us his adversary, in an attempt to make people think WE'RE the bad guys.
6) Priests are required to have first allegiance to the Vatican, and second to their home country. Sound like a recipe for treason? It is!

That's right. The Vatican says WE are the bad guys.

A quote from Sean Connory's character in Insdiana Jones and the Last Crusade comes to mind: "Goose-stepping morons like yourself should try reading books instead of burning them"

Here's Joes' Post:

10 The Pope, the Vatican, and the Roman Catholic Church are right now receiving a special US Government issued tax incentive, essentially a financial assistance grant, courtesy of the American taxpayers. Whenever a Pope visits America, tens of millions of American tax dollars are spent on public church services he celebrates, which obviously the extremely wealthy Vatican doesn't need, but receives anyway. This violates state/church separation in a huge and unmistakable fashion.

9. The Pope, the Vatican, and the Roman Catholic Church are still running a huge system of private schools which indoctrinate millions of young people into that religion, with the efficiency of an assembly line. That indoctrination often involves corporal punishment, as a great many Catholic schools have yet to switch over to non-violent solutions to disciplinary problems. (For more information about that, please read my book, "Leaving the Quiet Room," or watch it in video form at: www.youtube.com/aajoeyjo)

8. The Pope, the Vatican, and the Roman Catholic Church continue to promote the irrational belief in Virgin Mary apparitions, resulting in waves of copycat apparitions, their individual fraudulent marketing operations, and the harmful forced worship of icons among millions of its unwilling congregants.

7. The Passion of the Christ. Even though it wasn't their movie, they soaked up the growth energy that resulted from it, and to this day, they promote it, and the "Stations of the Cross" which STILL strike fear and paranoia in the hearts of millions of young people around the world. It also fuels hatred of Jewish people everywhere, and that's just wrong.

6. The Pope, the Vatican, and the Roman Catholic Church continue to encourage Catholics everywhere to avoid rational parental planning with the traditional "be fruitful and multiply" attitude and a general opposition to all birth control. This negatively affects the entire human race by increasing human over-population, creating and prolonging problems related to over-population, which affect us ALL.

5. The Pope, the Vatican, and the Roman Catholic Church are still viciously attacking gays and lesbians around the world with their hate-filled sermons against civil rights for homosexuals and in support of a violent end for groups like that. Like the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, KS, (godhatesfags.com) their message of hate and anger against gays and lesbians inspires violence against those people, which still sometimes results in the murder of innocent people.

4. The Pope, the Vatican, and the Roman Catholic Church continue to spread misinformation about condoms and other forms of birth control around the world, especially to the third world, where accurate sex education information is needed most.

3. The Pope, the Vatican, and the Roman Catholic Church continue to promote the false belief system of demon possession and the false solution of exorcisms, which maim and kill people even today. They go so far as to run a college for exorcists, and are currently training priests from around the world to commit this dangerous and harmful act. Recently they have also announced that this is also part of a new response to the growth of Satanism in the world, and that they're launching a global war on Satanism, and Satanists as well, essentially. They believe Satan is real and they're promoting attacks on Satanists because of that belief.

2. The Pope, the Vatican, and the Roman Catholic Church are still spreading misinformation about abortion to the world, and are still engaged in a cultural and political battle against all humans who enjoy personal individual reproductive liberty. This has not only caused a harmful and unnecessary limitation on personal liberty, it has provoked millions of anti-choice Catholics to oppress women around the world, and has helped inspire the formation of terrorist groups like the Army of God and Operation Rescue.

1. And the number 1 reason to picket the Pope and his church anywhere...because no matter WHICH cities the Pope visits, the Roman Catholic Church is STILL the world's largest and most successful PEDOPHILIA NETWORK! This one shouldn't need any further explanation whatsoever, and if there were no other reasons, this reason would suffice all by itself.

See you on the Picket line!