Author Archive for Hemant MehtaPage 5 of 123

The Alyona Show Covers the National Day of Reason

Published
by
Hemant Mehta
on May 7, 2012
.

In coverage you would never see on the major news networks, The Alyona Show offered a fantastic segment on the National Day of Reason and brought on Sean Faircloth (of the Richard Dawkins Foundation) to talk about why the nontheistic response to the National Day of Prayer is so important:

Also interesting: At the 8:18 mark, host Alyona Minkovski asks Sean about the selection of Edwina Rogers as his successor at the Secular Coalition for America. He has only positive things to say about the decision.

Last fall, Jason Torpy appeared on the show to talk about the need for Humanist chaplains in the military.

Did This Secret Catch Your Eye, Too?

Published
by
Hemant Mehta
on May 6, 2012
.

Whoever you are, you have to have good stories…

… and we all want to hear them. Contact me! Don’t worry — you’ll remain anonymous :)

Unless you’re responsible for that Heaven is for Real book… in which case I’m cursing you in my mind.

Interestingly enough, I know another atheist who works for a Christian publication… (and that person’s probably reading this right now.)

Here’s what I’m wondering: Did the person with the secret apply for a job at the publishing house despite being an atheist? Or did s/he become an atheist only after working there? After all, that happens with members of the clergy more often than we imagine…

(via Postsecret)

Should It Be Considered ‘Charity’ If You Give Money to Your Own Church?

Published
by
Hemant Mehta
on May 6, 2012
.

On last week’s Real Time with Bill Maher, Republican atheist S.E. Cupp — Oh my god, there are two of them now! — argued that Mitt Romney donated millions to charity (“poor people”) because he donated to the Mormon Church.

Maher quickly called her out on it:

His argument in a nutshell: It’s not “charity” because the Mormon church doesn’t need the money. (“Name one poor Mormon!”)

On his show Friday night, he elaborated on the distinction:

His argument is the same as before: Giving money to organizations that aren’t helping people who truly need it shouldn’t be considered charity, whether it’s the Mormon Church, large symphony orchestras, or colleges with already-huge endowments.

As far as I can tell, whenever there conclude polls that say Christians/Mormons/whomever give more money to charity, they don’t separate out giving to their own church. In 2010, 35% of charitable giving could be filed under “Religion”… compare that to the relatively paltry 8% given to “Public/Societal Benefit.” Meanwhile, check out this article about atheists giving to causes that don’t directly benefit themselves. That’s charity.

So what would the numbers look like if you removed Christian tithing (or at least whatever proportion of it directly benefitted their own church)? While we’re at it, go ahead and remove any money atheists give to atheist organizations. Then, who would be considered “more generous”? Not that it’s a contest, but I can’t find any studies that separate giving to one’s own group and giving to causes that help other people. I’d love to know if the percentages still hold up in that case.

(Thanks to @WCK604 for the link!)

Canadian School’s Solution to Daily Prayer: Just Put Non-Christians in a Separate Classroom

Published
by
Hemant Mehta
on May 6, 2012
.

Last year, Canadian Luke Fevin enrolled his children in Sturgeon Heights School in Alberta with the knowledge that it was a public school. It wasn’t long before he discovered they began each school day with a recitation of the Lord’s Prayer.

Luke Fevin, looking badass, in front of Sturgeon Heights School (Edmonton Journal)

Fevin fought to change that — and he did! In September, they suspended the prayer for the remainder of the school year… but school officials were really upset about it. Because, you know, saying the Lord’s Prayer was “tradition.” (Where have we heard that before…?)

Last week, the Sturgeon School board took up the issue again and came up with a brilliant solution for next year:

They will continue to recite the Lord’s Prayer… and just segregate all non-Christians into a different classroom.

No, really.

Starting this September, all students will arrive at school three minutes earlier. They will then be segregated into praying and non-praying groups. The Christian students will have regular morning prayers, and stay with their Christian cohort for the singing of the anthem and morning announcements. The non-praying students will be segregated in a non-Christian area. Then, when prayer time is over, the kids will file to their regular classrooms.

…

“We hope it will work,” Sturgeon School Division chairman Terry Jewell said.

“We hope that it will meet the needs of the parents that want it and those that don’t. I guess time will tell.”

Paula Simons of The Edmonton Journal thinks this is a “step in the right direction.”

*Deep breath*

ARE YOU SHITTING ME?!

This is the worst idea ever! How are Christian parents in the area ok with this?! Why are they not speaking out against this loudly and publicly?! How could any school board member think this is an acceptable “solution”?!

(***Edit***: Luke Fevin tells me I’m misinterpreting Simons’ comment and that she’s a strong supporter of keeping the prayer out of the schools. So please keep that in mind. My apologies for taking it the wrong way.)

At least Simons clarifies her idiotic comment by highlighting the problems with the adopted solution:

If a group of Christian students wants to come to school early to pray, by all means, let them do so. That would be a reasonable accommodation for secular public school. Or, the school could allow a few moments each morning for personal reflection, prayer and meditation, allowing each student to begin the day according to their own faith or personal philosophy. Or the school could offer up a different public prayer or meditation each day, as Edmonton City Council or the Alberta Legislature do, respecting Alberta’s multicultural diversity.

But the board’s “solution” simply validates the message that Sturgeon Heights is a Christian school, first and foremost. Official school prayer, in a Christian idiom, has now been formally endorsed by the school board as the norm, with those who don’t go along are physically and publicly excluded from general school practice.

…

The archaic provisions of the Alberta Act, which fly in the face of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, do indeed give the school board the legal power to authorize official Christian prayer in all its schools. But the world and the province have changed so much since 1905. Just because the board has the legal right to violate the Charter doesn’t mean it should.

That last paragraph point out the biggest problem with all of this: It’s perfectly legal.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t raise hell about it.

Here’s the contact list for the Board of Trustees of the Sturgeon School Board. Let them know this is unacceptable. If you’re Canadian, if you live in the school district, and especially if you’re Christian, let them know you will not stand for this. (Be firm, but respectful. Don’t be a dick. Feel free to post the content of your emails in the comment thread below.)

Terry Jewell (Chair)
780-973-5228
tjewell@sturgeon.ab.ca

Shelley Porter
780-939-3730
sporter@sturgeon.ab.ca

Liz Kohle
780-921-3304
ekohle@sturgeon.ab.ca

Daryl Krieger
780-923-2038
dkrieger@sturgeon.ab.ca

Wendy Miller
780-973-3164
wmiller@sturgeon.ab.ca

Tracy Nowak (Vice Chair)
780-973-3113
tnowak@sturgeon.ab.ca

Brent Gray
780-942-2222
bgray@sturgeon.ab.ca

(***Edit***: A commenters points out that Nowak and Gray both voted against this measure. Good for them.)

(***Edit***: Fevin says you can support the cause by signing this petition and keeping up with the goings-on of the controversy on this Facebook page.)

It’s the Role Tim Minchin Was Born to Play

Published
by
Hemant Mehta
on May 6, 2012
.

Looks like atheist comedian/singer Tim Minchin will be playing Judas in an upcoming production of the rock opera “Jesus Christ Superstar”:

He will join the pop singer Nicole Scherzinger, playing Mary Magdalene, in an arena tour of the musical by Lord Lloyd Webber and Sir Tim Rice which will open at London’s O2 arena this summer.

The character of Jesus will be cast via a television talent competition next month, where contestants will compete for the lead role in the musical telling the story of Christ’s final week.

The man’s on a roll — he was also cast to play a “coked-up rock star” next season in Californication.

The Mayor of State College, Pennsylvania Also Issued a Day of Reason Proclamation!

Published
by
Hemant Mehta
on May 6, 2012
.

I’m a day late to this, but after pointing out that leaders of three cities and one state had issued proclamations about the Day of Reason, I heard that another mayor did the same thing (but didn’t get any publicity for it).

Elizabeth Goreham, the mayor of State College, Pennsylvania, issued a proclamation, too!

A portion of the text reads:

WHEREAS, the application of reason, more than any other means, has proven to offer hope for human survival upon Earth, improving the conditions of our planet, and cultivating intelligent, moral and ethical interactions among people and their environments, and

…

WHEREAS, most citizens of State College purport to value reason and its application, and

WHEREAS, it is the duty and responsibility of every citizen to promote the development and application of reason,

I love that one bit — “Whereas, most citizens… purport to value reason and its application…” It’d be funnier if it wasn’t so depressing. (How is it not “all citizens”?)

Anyway, still an awesome gesture. Credit for making that happen goes to the Penn State Atheist/Agnostic Association, Nittany Freethought, and local Unitarian Universalist HUUmanists groups.

They even sent Mayor Goreham a thank you card signed by many of the groups’ members:

Moral of the story: It’s not hard to get your mayor to do this! Just ask them well in advance, copy the text from some of the other proclamations, and raise hell if they say no :)

(Thanks to Brian and Chuck for the link!)

Jesus H. Christ Explains Salvation

Published
by
Hemant Mehta
on May 5, 2012
.

When Jesus explains salvation… well… it makes as much sense as when you read about it in the Bible:

(via DerekJohnson5)

Is Christianity Good for American Politics? A Debate Between Susan Jacoby and Dinesh D’Souza

Published
by
Hemant Mehta
on May 5, 2012
.

This is a long debate — with Q & A — but it’s definitely a worthwhile question:

Leave the timestamp(s) in the comments if you notice any part we ought to take a close look at!

Why Don’t We Hear About Atheistic Graduation Speeches?

Published
by
Hemant Mehta
on May 5, 2012
.

Edwin Kagin offers a graduation speech for atheists:

We have tried to teach you the principals of reason, critical thinking, logical fallacy, ethical behavior, and the methods of science and evidence. We want you to know that there is a big difference between Righteousness and Self-Righteousness.

We want you to know and understand the difference between belief and proof; between faith and fact. We want you to know that you are part of a great historic tradition of bringing light unto darkness; that there is a difference between that which is ethical and that which is expedient; a difference between being truly moral and being a follower of religious rules. We want you to know that science is based on facts, not on fairy tales. That evolution is a fact and that “Creationism” is a fairy tale. That there is a difference between coincidence and causation. A difference between potential and actual…

…

For your own safety’s sake, we have tried to help you learn to distinguish between logic and fallacy; between science and superstition; between real and pretend; between the wonder of discovery and magical thinking. We want you to know the difference between doing and dogma; between imagination and mythology. And we want you to understand that learning never ends. We want you to know, as many do not, that life does not stop with High School graduation. None of us know the limits of what you may yet learn and what you may yet become. There will also be some pain and some disappointments. It is all part of the deal. We did not make the rules.

You know, with all the talk of Christians being urged to push their faith at graduation ceremonies, there’s no reason we couldn’t do the same thing…

I know we groan at the thought of students using their time on stage to talk about their faith — even if it’s legal for them to do so — but why not take advantage of the opportunity? It would be pretty awesome to hear a valedictorian or elected class speaker using the time to promote science over religion, or how we must be self-reliant instead of asking a god for help, or how coming out as an atheist was a turning point in your personal development…

In fact, if you’re a high school student and you get me proof (Video? Newspaper article?) that you spoke about your atheism at a graduation ceremony, I’ll send you a package full of atheist swag — signed books, wristbands, babies, etc. — as well as give you a proper shout-out on the site. (High stakes, I know.)

Good luck!

Nova Scotia Teen in Trouble for Wearing ‘Life is Wasted Without Jesus’ Shirt

Published
by
Hemant Mehta
on May 5, 2012
.

In Nova Scotia, Canada, Forest Heights Community School senior William Swinimer has been in hot water for a shirt he wore to school. The Vice Principal at the school told him it was offensive and he had to remove it because it was “hate talk.”

Then, in true rebel fashion, Swinimer not only left it on, he wore it during his in-school suspensions… and his five days of out-of-school suspension.

This is the shirt that had the administration all riled up:

William Swinimer (Ryan Taplin - National Post)

Swinimer is surprised his “Life is Wasted without Jesus” shirt has been at the center of so much controversy:

“I believe this is worth standing up for — it’s not just standing up for religious rights, it’s standing up for my rights as a Canadian citizen; for freedom of speech, freedom of religion. I don’t think this is right.”

I’m all for students having freedom to express their beliefs. But that doesn’t mean I approve of this shirt. There’s a pretty clear reason why:

It insults people who don’t believe in Jesus. It says very directly that they’re wasting their lives and that they’re worthless. It’s a form of bullying. (It’s also completely false — How many brilliant people have made contributions to our world without believing in Christian nonsense? It’s a shirt anyone can refute with about 2 seconds of thought.)

If Swinimer wore a shirt that said, “Life is great with Jesus,” I don’t think I would care much at all. That’s a personal message with positive tones (at least in theory). It’s no different than students expressing themselves by wearing a cross. Or atheists saying we can be good without god. It doesn’t say anything negative about people who don’t agree with your beliefs.

School officials should have the right to stop students the moment they bring themselves up by putting others down. It’s just not the climate you want to foster in a high school. It also opens the door to an unwanted religious debate (in the guise of “freedom”) that doesn’t seem very conducive to learning.

(By the same reasoning, I would oppose an atheist student wearing a shirt that says, “Life is wasted with Jesus.”)

Side note only because it seems relevant: I teach at a high school that was sued on behalf of students eager to wear shirts reading, “Be Happy, Not Gay” on the Day of Silence a few years ago. An Appeals court ruled in the students’ favor and the ACLU supported them, too. I think the school was right to ask the students to change their clothes back then. And perhaps I’m contradicting myself here, but I don’t think a shirt reading, “Be Happy, Be Straight,” even with the “positive language,” would have been any more acceptable…

Should Swinimer have been suspended for his shirt? I would need more information to answer that. Was he trying to provoke people? Why choose that shirt to wear and not one with a more positive message? Those things should be taken into account.

For what it’s worth, the Centre For Inquiry in Canada put out a statement in support of Swinimer:

“While CFI sponsored the Atheist Bus Campaign, we are a strong champion of freedom of speech and freedom of religion,” said National Communications Director Justin Trottier. “This shirt causes no harm and is a perfectly acceptable contribution to the marketplace of ideas.”

CFI condemns religious indoctrination at taxpayer expense via publicly funded religious schools or teacher-led prayers, but believes every student has a constitutional right to self-expression.

“We have consistently defended free speech rights for groups regardless of our agreement on message, including Muslim and Christian ads in public space and censored pro-life debates on campus,” said Trottier.

Instead of suspension or censorship, CFI would prefer the pro-Jesus T-shirt be used as an opportunity for dialogue and reasoned debate on religion and ethics.

Some commenters on other websites as well as emails sent to me point out that Swinimer wore this shirt in an effort to get suspended — it’s not just something that “happened” to him. I can’t confirm that, but if it’s true, that would push me toward agreeing with the suspensions.

(Thanks to everyone for the links)

They Can’t Look Away…

Published
by
Hemant Mehta
on May 4, 2012
.

I have to believe Jessica Hagy went through several alternative captions before finally settling on this one…:

I mean, since when do priests look at cleavage?

Some Christians Mad because a Pastor Had an Opportunity to Bash Gay People and Didn’t Take It

Published
by
Hemant Mehta
on May 4, 2012
.

I had to read this story a couple of times to make sure I had it right, but then I realized I wasn’t wrong the first time. I couldn’t believe Christians were upset about this.

Here’s the backstory: A husband and wife attended a place called North Point Church in Atlanta. They had a daughter together. At some point, the husband started having an affair with another married man. (Scandalous!) It was serious, too, and the men wanted to be together. Not only that, but they also wanted to attend the same church as the wife. That understandably made her upset. So the gay couple attended another North Point church in a different location. They even began volunteering there. During all this, the husband and wife got divorced. However, his partner’s divorce was not finalized.

When North Point’s head pastor Andy Stanley found out about all this, he asked the men to step down from their posts. He could not condone the in-your-face adultery that was going on within his own church. The partner and his wife were still technically together, after all!

Some time passed. The wife began a new relationship. The gay couple was still together. All of them were very civil (even friendly) with each other. They now all attend the same church together. Isn’t that special…?

So why is any of this news?

Because Stanley told this story at his church a couple of weeks ago. And at no point in Stanley’s story did he mention that he ever told the couple, “YOU’RE GAY AND THAT’S A SIN!” How *dare* a pastor not use a perfectly good opportunity to bash gay people?!

Here’s president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Albert Mohler:

The most puzzling and shocking part of the message was the illustration and the account of the homosexual couple, however. The inescapable impression left by the account was that the sin of concern was adultery, but not homosexuality. Stanley clearly and repeatedly stressed the sin of adultery, but then left the reality of the homosexual relationship between the two men unaddressed as sin. To the contrary, he seemed to normalize their relationship. They would be allowed to serve on the host team if both were divorced. The moral status of their relationship seemed to be questioned only in terms of adultery, with no moral judgment on their homosexuality.

We can only hope that Andy Stanley and the church will clarify and affirm the biblical declaration of the sinfulness of homosexual behavior…

And here’s Biblical Studies professor Dennis Burk:

“His message was troubling,” said Dennis Burk, professor of biblical studies at Boyce College. “It was ambiguous at best. It was a total capitulation to the spirit of the age at worst.”

…

“He mentions adultery as a sin,” Burk said. “But he never calls homosexuality a sin. When he issues the sanction from leadership, it’s only about adultery. That just sends a message.”

Yes, a message that you might be a little too tolerant…

Pastor Rick Warren was upset that Mohler questioned megachurches as a result of Stanley’s omission:

Christians talk all the time about hating the sin, but loving the sinners. Here’s we have some Christians getting upset because someone didn’t hate the sinners enough.

For what it’s worth, I’m sure Stanley’s still on the side of bigotry. The fact that he didn’t bring it up in this portion of his sermon is hardly tacit approval of homosexuality.

But how awful of a human being do you have to be to get upset at a pastor for not condemning others hard enough?

You can hear the relevant story from Stanley’s sermon starting at the 24:30 mark here.

Congratulations, Greta!

Published
by
Hemant Mehta
on May 4, 2012
.

This is something that I’ve seen happen in the Christian world a few times but never in the atheist world:

Greta Christina is leaving her day job so she can become a full-time writer/speaker :)

I will no longer have to stop in the middle of a productive writing day and go do the day job. I’ll be free to schedule my speaking gigs based on whatever works for me and Ingrid. I’ll have more time for reading, for networking, for keeping up with news, for promotion and publicity, for returning emails, for hustling up more writing gigs.

And very importantly, more importantly than anything, I will have more time for writing. And writing, and writing, and writing.

I have been working towards this for decades. For most of my adult life, really. I have been working hard at this, and making it close to my top priority, for a decade. I almost can’t believe that it’s really here.

I think it’s great that the blogosphere has given her the opportunity to pursue something so dear to her and there’s something in it for all of us — more books by Greta!

For her next project, I suggest some sort of vampire/Fifty Shades of Grey mashup that discusses logic and reason a la “Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality.”

The ‘Fox Mole’ Should Change the Title of His Forthcoming Book

Published
by
Hemant Mehta
on May 4, 2012
.

Joe Muto, an “an NPR-listening, Obama-loving liberal,” worked at FOX News Channel for years. Last month, he took on a role as the “Fox Mole,” reporting from the “inside” for Gawker. Not long after, he was caught, got fired, etc.

Now, Muto has sold a book proposal about his time there.

The tentative title: An Atheist in the Foxhole.

Which carries the unwelcome implication that atheists aren’t normally in foxholes…

(Unless he means there are actually *lots* of moles at FOX News just like there are lots of atheists in the military… but you know that’s not what he means.)

It’s not lost on me that the title is a bit of wordplay (Foxhole/FOX News), but still.

The suggestion that he’s an anomaly at FOX News may be true. The suggestion that atheists are anomalies in foxholes isn’t.

It’s not too late for his publishers (Dutton) to change the title. I hope they do.

Or maybe Muto is just trying to rile up atheist groups in the hopes that they’ll give his book additional exposure by complaining about it… thus starting a debate on FOX News over whether atheists are *really* in foxholes… which could ironically lead to Muto appearing on a segment where they talk about his book… Yep. I figured it out. Genius.

After working at FOX News, you figure one thing he *must* be good at is creating his own controversy.

***Update***: Just about all the commenters have said I’m misinterpreting the title and it’s not offensive. I’m still having a hard time understanding how this isn’t implying that there are usually no atheists in foxholes, but I’ll step away from it for a bit and look at it again soon. Maybe that’ll help. Right now, I feel like Kanye West and fishsticks…

After ‘It’s OK To Be Gay’ Article Appears in High School Yearbook, One Christian Administrator Wants the Faculty Sponsor Fired or Arrested

Published
by
Hemant Mehta
on May 4, 2012
.

Remember Krystal Myers? She’s the teenager who wrote an article for her school newspaper entitled “No Rights: The Life of an Atheist,” about how her school actively promoted religion and discriminated against atheists… only to have her administration tell her the article would not be allowed to run because… well… you know.

Her school, Lenior City High School, is back in the news. Once again, it’s not for a good reason…

When the yearbooks were distributed last Friday, they included an article called “It’s OK to be Gay” featuring gay student Zac Mitchell talking about how his family has known all his life that he was gay and how, even though he has been bullied, his friends have been pretty accepting of him:

So, naturally, everyone in the community is horrified:

According to students, petitions were being circulated urging others to tear the page from their yearbook as a sign of protest during graduation or to deny Mitchell the right to attend the ceremony.

The 17-year-old student who wrote the article said she was afraid to have her name published.

“There have been threats made starting with, ‘If I found out who wrote the story,’ ” she said.

Not only that, Loudon County school board member Van Shaver is calling for criminal investigations into journalism teacher James Yoakley, the faculty sponsor of the yearbook:

If in fact it was Mr. Yoakley or any other teacher who allowed this article to be published in the year book, they should be dismissed from the school immediately. If it is found or known that Mr. Yoakley or any other teacher at any time has had any conversations or discussions with this student or any other student about their sexual orientation, sexual activities or anything about their private lives prior to those students being of legal age, those teachers should be charged with child sex abuse by an authority figure and arrested.

… I know many other parents and members of our community expect a full and open investigation by school administrators and law enforcement into this issue and to hold accountable any and all those who had a hand in this despicable act.

First of all, Shaver is a member of a school board! THAT IS HORRIFYING! (Just to be clear, the Loudon County school board Shaver sits on doesn’t control neighboring Lenoir City High School. So he doesn’t actually have any authority in this case. Still, the fact that an elected school board member could be this full of animus against gay-friendly teachers should set off alarms for everybody in the community.)

Second, Yoakley had nothing to do with the article. A high school student (the editor-in-chief) assigned it, another high school student wrote it, and Yoakley simply looked it over, like any faculty sponsor would.

The forced-to-remain-anonymous student said as much:

“My journalism professor never once pressured us to have certain beliefs,” she said.

Courtney Price, the editor of the yearbook, sent a message to Shaver — and he was so appalled by it, he posted it on his website:

Dear Sir,

My name is Courtney Price. I am editor of the yearbook. Sir, excuse my rudeness, but you do not have your facts straight. I decided to publish Zach’s story. I did not do this to cause any kind of uproar, or religion target. I am an 18 year old Southern Baptist student who is in a four year relationship with a man. I am in no way trying to plead a case for homosexuals, and taking from your stupidity, I can tell you did not read the yearbook. There are multiple stories about kids who have been bullied because of their lives (disabled kids, adopted kids, kids with tattoos, etc.) along with stories about hanging out at church. I would enjoy if you would stop your slander. Thank you.

Holy crap, I may have to take back any negative thoughts I’ve ever had about Southern Baptists… way to go, Courtney!

Meanwhile, the principal at Lenoir City High School, Steve Millsaps, is just distancing himself from the issue as much as possible:

“I have received an unbelievable number of emails from parents and concerned citizens,” said Lenoir City High School Principal Steve Millsaps.

…

Millsaps said he did not personally approve the content for the yearbook. Faculty advisers are responsible for reviewing the content, he said.

…

Millsaps said he also thinks it’s possible that the intersection of the two issues may have added to the controversy.

“It’s kind of like the perfect storm,” he said.

Way to stand up for your students and staff, principal. A better administrator would have defended their right to free speech, even if some people in the community didn’t like it. A better administrator would have said there’s nothing wrong with the article; it highlights the life of a student and it was deemed worthy enough to include in the yearbook by the students in charge, not to mention there’s nothing inappropriate in the piece.

Here’s the upside to this story: Somehow, all these intelligent, upstanding students are coming out of a school led by some intolerant, ignorant adults.

Credit the worthy teachers at that school for inspiring these students in spite of their administrators’ worst intentions. After reading about this incident and Krystal’s story, I’m especially grateful to know my own administrators would defend me if anyone tried to go after me for supporting equal rights and open minds.

I’m sure Krystal Myers has enough material now to write a follow-up article to her last one… can’t wait to read it.

(Thanks to Cheryl for the link)

Nebraska’s Governor and Omaha’s Mayor Also Issued ‘Day of Reason’ Proclamations

Published
by
Hemant Mehta
on May 4, 2012
.

I didn’t realize until after I put up the previous post that another city (and state!) also issued proclamations for the National Day of Reason.

Governor Dave Heineman gave them the state seal in honor of the occasion:

… I do hereby encourage all citizens, residents and visitors to join in observing this day and focusing upon the employment of reason, critical thought, the scientific method and free inquiry to the resolution of human problems and for the welfare of human kind.

Omaha’s Mayor Jim Suttle did the same thing for his city:

The Omaha Coalition of Reason deserves the credit for making both these things happen.

Hey, they got two gold seals in one day! #Winners.

(Thanks to Brian for the link!)