Recently, Ernest Perce had Saccone on his show, “The Atheist’s Perspective on News and Events.” He also brought on FFRF’s Dan Barker
You *know* that debate was all sorts of heated… I haven’t had a chance to listen to the whole thing yet, so please leave timestamps of interesting parts in the comments! (Also, I know the audio is a little tough to listen to, but you get used to it pretty quickly.)
In Florida, Senate Bill 98 would give school boards permission to allow “an inspirational message to be delivered by students at a student assembly.”
In other words, instead of banning such practices outright, this bill would allow a school to let students vote on whether or not a prayer could be delivered at a graduation. And since Christians are in the majority, sounds like an easy way to push your views on everyone else.
Its approval came over the objections of senators who said the measure will lead to prayers at school events that students can’t get out of, including possibly in classes, and that some young students will have to listen to prayers or risk being ostracized because they come from a different religious tradition than most of their classmates.
“I implore you to protect minority students and not promote alienation,” said Sen. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood. “We want our public school students to get along.”
But backers of the bill said the measure is needed to protect the religious freedom of students, some of whom now feel they aren’t allowed to offer prayers that the student body, or a large part of it can listen to – that they’re only allowed to pray to themselves or in small groups.
Wait… WHAT?! They’re offended because they can only “pray to themselves or in small groups”? They’re offending because they’re not being given a captive audience to hear their prattling?!
Meanwhile, atheists have to worry about coming out publicly with that label…
At least Zach Stoler and his friends found a clever way to respond on their campus:
In case you can’t bear to watch that, here’s a rough transcript, courtesy of Hoyden About Town:
Pat Robertson: Atheists don’t believe in ANYTHING. I mean, a theo means “no God,” they have no Gods, so they don’t have anything, so they don’t believe in anything. But they can protest, somebody who believes in SOMETHING. I mean, isn’t this a strange thing, that we would allow somebody who doesn’t believe in anything to restrict the freedom of those who do? I mean, it makes no sense! Sooner or later we’re going to wake up, but I think maybe we are…but our hats are off to the forest service, this is just one minor little skirmish, but these atheists, they’re just enormously creative in figuring out things they can do that give us trouble. Kristi…
Kristi Watts [interrupting]: You know what I just thought of, Pat?
Pat Robertson: What’s that?
Kristi Watts: You know you’ve got different kinds of, well, let’s call them religions…there’s one called Wicca, and they’re all about the environment, right? So, their religion that believes in the environment, and they believe that trees are their god, why are these atheists not saying that we should cut down every tree? Because it’s offensive. [holds out hand towards PR} Do you know what I mean?
Pat Robertson: Yes...
Kristi Watts: It’s the same mentality!
Pat Robertson: Oh, absolutely.
Kristi Watts: Right?
Pat Robertson: Absolutely. OK.
Kristi Watts: [dramatic shrug] Just a thought.
Yes… Wiccans like trees… and Wiccans are a religion… so let’s CUT DOWN ALL THE TREES!
Never mind that Wiccans don’t actually “worship” trees… and they aren’t going against the Constitution and trying to codify their beliefs into the law, or denying women the right to have an abortion because of their beliefs, or preventing gay people in a loving relationship from getting married…
None of that matters to Watts, though. We’re atheists so, apparently, we must protest everything people of faith do without rhyme or reason. What’s stopping us, since we don’t believe in anything?
Atheists aren’t gunning to chop down all the trees us Pagan tree-huggers hug because they predominantly believe in environmental and climate science, and know that cutting down “every tree” would destroy our ecosystem, and life on earth itself…
Pat Robertson actually looks uncomfortable in that clip as Watts begins talking but he doesn’t do anything about it. A responsible person would’ve told her she’s speaking nonsense and set the record straight. But Robertson has a major problem with noticing nonsense even when it’s staring him in the face, so it’s not surprising that he would just let it slide.
Yesterday, I posted about a new ad campaign sponsored by African Americans for Humanism.
Now, some of the extended interviews with prominent black atheists have been posted online. Check them out — not just because they’re black, but because it’s sincerely heartwarming to listen to people talk so openly and comfortably about leaving their childhood faith and becoming a freethinker despite the cultural and social difficulties.
They’re all compelling, but I think Mark Hatcher‘s really hit home since I also started an atheist group at college for similar reasons.
The Darwin on the Palouse events herald not only Charles Darwin’s 203rd birthday on February 12 but the 153rd anniversary of the first publication of “Origin of Species” on November 24.
…
“We have teamed up with the new Palouse Coalition of Reason to bring four of the nation’s preeminent speakers on science and philosophy to middle America,” said Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association. “We also wish to mark the 203rd birthday of Charles Darwin in a big way, celebrating his continuing contribution to humanity, science and rational thought.”
The events are free to the public!
In case you’re wondering, these aren’t the first atheistic billboards in Idaho. Previous signs can be seen here and here.
Remember when the Harry Potter books were still in their prime and you’d hear about those Christian parents trying to ban the series from local and school libraries? What do you do if those are your parents? Or your best friend’s parents? And how do you go about changing their minds?
That’s the crux of the conflict in a fantastic graphic novel called Americus (First Second Books, 2011) by MK Reed with illustrations by Jonathan David Hill:
The story centers around 14-year-old Neil Barton, a shy kid living in Americus, Oklahoma. He loves the fictional fantasy series “The Chronicles of Apathea Ravenchilde.” It’s really popular, but, you know, it features witches and magical spells and talking dogs so it must be anti-everything-good-and-right-with-the-world. His best friend Danny loves the books, too, but Danny’s mom is leading the charge to get them banned:
During an argument, Danny tells his mom a secret that gets him sent off to military school and she channels her frustration into getting the city council to ban the books from a local library.
The non-essential characters don’t have a lot of depth to them and neither do most of the side-stories, but there’s enough material to flesh out these ideas in future books if the author ever wanted to do so.
There’s some criticism that the Christian mother is a “Bible-thumping caricature,” too stereotypical, too one-sided, too bats hit crazy, but I don’t buy that. Let’s face it: These people really exist. And Reed makes it clear that the mother loves her kids and wants what’s best for them… she is just completely misguided in how she goes about it. You wish her husband would get the courage to stand up to her, but he never quite gets there in the book.
The other characters include Neil’s single mother, a boy who helps Neil discover new music, girls in Shop class who have to put up with sexist shit from their male classmates (but who take a liking to Neil), and a wonderful librarian who has to deal with the book banners and tries to fight back against them:
The book is aimed at younger kids, but I still liked it. It was a quick read and a nice story focusing on a topic we (unfortunately) still have to deal with today. If enough people had the strength and courage to fight against censorship — and Neil is learning how to do just that throughout the book — maybe events like Banned Books Week would become superfluous.
(Images reprinted with permission from First Second Books)
The assumption, of course, is that I’m done. I can’t tell you how often I get this. People find out I’m expecting, find out it’s a boy and that I already have a girl in preschool, and they assume I’m done. Two kids, one of each, the perfect American family. It’s not that I’m necessarily not done, it’s just that having been raised in a family influenced by the ideals of the Quiverfull movement, it’s hard to imagine actually thinking that way.
In a Quiverfull family, the second child is simply the second of many. The idea that it might be the last is laughable. That second child will be the second in a stair step line of children lined up to show off, the second in command when you leave the kids to run an errand, the second helper when new children arrive, and the second to use each homeschool textbook.
*Shudder*
At least Libby Anne is now out of the lifestyle. After the child is born, she can take all the maternity clothes and give them away, knowing this child will likely be her last. She’s broken the chain. It’s a happy ending.
For decades now, Horace Turner (a.k.a. “Bible Man”) has been making appearances in Jackson County elementary schools in Alabama. When the Freedom From Religion Foundation received a complaint from a local parent, they sent the school district a letter informing them of the problem and asking that they put a stop to the in-school proselytizing.
The FFRF complaint said that during the month of December an assembly held by “Bible Man” included a display with baby Jesus on it and that a talk was given regarding “Jesus’s birthday,” and that “Jesus died on the the cross for our sins.”
On Monday night, the Jackson County Board of Education discussed the FFRF letter. In the audience were over 100 churchgoers — and one state senator! — who didn’t even pretend to buy into church/state separation:
Pastor Brad Bridges [said], “We’re here today to make a show, say ‘hey Christianity is in and we love it. And our nation was founded on it.’”
…
While the complaint before the board cited violations of the constitution, State Senator Shadrack McGill says he doesn’t believe in separation of church and state.
“I don’t believe you keep God out of state. Church represents the body of Christ, Christ being the head of that body. No, I don’t believe in that separation,” said Sen. McGill.
Even the Superintendent joined in, admitting that Bible Man activities took place during the school day:
“The ‘Bible Man’ was part of my school time and my children’s school time,” said [Superintendent Ken] Harding.
So what did the school board do?
They look like a fair-minded, Constitution-savvy group...
Once the board returned from executive session and announced that “Bible Man” would not be taken out of the schools, crowd members stood up and cheered.
Members of the church and school board say the assemblies are a choice, but when an assembly takes place during the school day — at an elementary schools, no less — kids are hardly aware of any other options they have. The school board made the wrong decision and they fully deserve any lawsuit coming their way.
That’s the amount of money the Rhode Island ACLU has billed the Cranston School District for their court costs. And they’re being generous:
In a release, Steve Brown, executive director of the RIACLU, said the amount includes major discounts for hours of work by volunteer attorneys Lynette Labinger and Thomas Bender. He also said the amount is mindful of the school district’s budget woes in recent years.
“In terms of its complexity, the ACLU noted that the school district initially raised ten affirmative defenses when it filed its answer to the lawsuit. The amount sought by the ACLU attorneys pales in comparison to the attorneys’ fees that lawyers working with the Becket Fund, the national group that assisted the school district in defending the case, obtained in a church-state lawsuit two years ago. In that case from Colorado, dealing with a church zoning dispute, attorneys working with the Becket Fund were awarded over $1.25 million in attorneys’ fees for their work handling the case in the district court.”
…
“The Cranston School Committee was fully informed from the beginning that a decision to move forward with this case would likely result in the payment of attorney’s fees if they were not successful,” Brown said. “In fact, in an attempt to avoid the costs of litigation and spare the taxpayers, we waited eight months before filing suit in the hope that this matter could be informally resolved. Despite those efforts, the school committee voted to mount a vigorous defense of the prayer in court, leading to today’s filing.”
As a teacher, part of me feels bad that this money is being taken away from the students… but the school district brought this upon themselves. They wanted to fight to keep an illegal Christian banner in their auditorium. They wanted to push religion onto all students. They could’ve just taken down the banner right up front and put that money toward more teachers and more resources, but they chose not to.
The adminstrators in that district cared more about their public display of religion than the education of the children. They deserve to pay a penalty for that. Too bad the taxpayers have to foot the bill.
The anger and hatred directed at Ms. Ahlquist — she was called “an evil little thing” on talk radio by a Cranston state representative — helps explain why the judge, responding to her brave lawsuit, did his duty under the Constitution and ordered immediate removal of the prayer, which begins “Our Heavenly Father” and concludes “Amen” and was visible throughout the auditorium.
…
… Recent meetings in Cranston about the prayer involved the kind of “excessive entanglement with religion” the court has warned against, with prayer backers reading from the Bible. The meetings showed why what believers consider a harmless request to respect a prayer can feel like coercion to nonbelievers.
… The kindness, friendship and other values the prayer champions are universal, but a statement of religious belief has no place in a public high school auditorium.
The fact that her story is getting such coverage on a national scale shows that this isn’t just about some local banner. It’s symbolic of how Christians love to force their views on everyone else, sometimes in illegal ways, and then cry foul when someone calls them out on it.
Jessica’s scholarship fund, by the way, has raised over $36,000 on her behalf. Some college atheist groups have told me they’re raising funds for her, some donations have been made directly to the American Humanist Association, and t-shirt sales still need to be included in the total amount. What you’re all doing for her is truly amazing.
Hats off to Debbie Goddard at the Center For Inquiry for rebooting African Americans for Humanism — just in time for Black History Month — with a new, welcoming website and an introductory video that just makes you want to hear more from the people speaking:
The press release (PDF) explains the need for the campaign:
African Americans may be the most religious minority in the United States, but many feel that the churches don’t speak for them. AAH hopes that the campaign will bring attention to the presence of and increase in religious skepticism within the black community, encourage those who have doubts about religion to share their concerns and join other freethinkers in their local communities, and educate many about the history of black freethought.
…
“African Americans who question religion often feel rejected by religious family and friends, and by the greater black community,” said Debbie Goddard, director of AAH. “But there is a rich heritage of religious skepticism and humanism in black history. By featuring the historical faces as well as the modern in our ad campaign, we show people that questioning religion is not new and that there are many of us here.”
How often have we talked about the special need for outreach to minorities so that they feel welcome in our movement? This is a wonderful step toward fulfilling that promise. In the process, it may even help educate people about the abundant secularism possessed by the leaders of the Harlem Renaissance.
There will also be billboards and bus ads promoting “religious skepticism in the African American community” across the country beginning this week. Check out the ads below:
In Atlanta, Georgia:
In Chicago, Illinois:
In Dallas, Texas:
In Washington, D.C.:
In Durham, North Carolina:
In Los Angeles, California:
In New York City, New York:
AAH owes a debt of gratitude to the Stiefel Freethought Foundation, which provided “substantial creative and financial support for the campaign.”
By now, you’ve probably seen this hilarious attempt to preach abstinence… by way of a bear:
That video, intended to promote the Day of Purity, was all over the blogosphere a couple of weeks ago. Everyone was mocking it. Even the Tosh.0 bloggers got in on the action:
Taking stuffed animals on a date is a great way to stay a virgin whether you want to or not.
But it’s especially effective if your stuffed animals sound like they drive a windowless van.
So, if you’re the über-conservative Liberty Counsel, and you support the Day of Purity, what do you do about all the attention?
Day of Purity Gains International Attention with Video Clip
A short video promoting sexual purity hit a quarter of a million views today. People from more than 175 different countries and regions have watched the student-produced video that was designed to spark interest and start conversations promoting sexual purity. The number of views reached over a quarter of a million in just the past 10 days. It is the goal of the Day of Purity to equip teens, youth, parents, friends, and individuals with the facts to encourage sexual purity until, and loyalty within, marriage.
…
We are thrilled that the message of waiting for marriage is reaching so many people! We are excited to spark a conversation about the physical, emotional, physiological and even financial benefits of waiting for marriage.
Umm… do they really not get it?! (I know, I know… they totally get it. They’re just trying to manipulate their gullible members.)
Here’s the truth: We’re laughing at you. We don’t support you. We’re not watching the video because we approve of your message. Abstinence is a personal decision, not an Order From Above.
I know these people deny reality on a regular basis, but c’mon, this is pushing it… don’t believe me? Just read the comments underneath the video. And if they know people are watching the video because it’s just that bad, then admit it or ignore it. Don’t spin it to suggest otherwise. Didn’t the Bible say something about liars…?
I feel like such a fair-weather Survivor fan for saying this, but I had no idea popular contestant Rupert Boneham was running to become the Governor of Indiana (as a Libertarian):
He recently released this video promising to fight against House Joint Resolution No. 6, which would limit marriage to that between a man and woman only:
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