Science=Divine Revelation?

Pope Benedict XVI has declared that the bones under Rome's Basilica of St. Paul are in fact the remains of Saul of Tarsis. How does His Holiness know this? He claims to know by scientific proof. The "scientific proof" that His Big-Hattedness refers to is carbon dating, which can only tell us that the remains are as old as Paul, not if it was actually Paul. You can read more about that here.

But the point of this post is not whether those are the remains of Paul. Personally, I could care less. I just wanted to highlight an example in a growing trend, and ask an important question: when did the scientific method become an accepted medium of divine revelation? Of course, the reason for the gradual (yet obviously incomplete) transition to a reliance on secular knowledge and science rather than arbitrary doctrine is clear: the Pope, in his wisdom, realizes that science works. Galileo is a black mark on the Church's history, and His Opportunistic-ness has realized that as long as his proclamations go against reality, his divine country club's membership will suffer (it would be a shame to lose that money--I mean...those souls). We can only hope that someday soon the Pope will see the light, and have it divinely revealed to him that birth control is not a sin, and that condoms are necessary to stop the spread of AIDS in Africa.

Action Alert: Stop Promoting Religion at the Capitol Visitor Center

I just found this link on reddit, and I thought it was worth posting right away. Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA) is pushing for a bill that would engrave the words "In God We Trust" and the pledge of allegiance (with the words "under God" included) in the Capitol Visitor Center. You can read more about it (and take action by writing your representative) at the Secular Coalition for America site. They have a typed message, all you have to do is fill in your name, address and email. The prepared message reads:

Rep. Dan Lungren has introduced a resolution (H.Con.Res.131) that would force American taxpayers to pay for a large engraving of the Pledge of Allegiance and the words "In God We Trust" in the new Capitol Visitor Center. It was not until 1950s, the era of the blacklist and the Red scare, that "under God" was added to the Pledge and "In God We Trust" replaced "E Pluribus Unum" as the national motto. James Madison, prime author of the Constitution, specifically opposed religious references in government as violative of the First Amendment. Taxpayer money should not be spent to undermine the First Amendment. As both your constituent, and as a nontheistic American, I ask you to oppose this resolution.

Spending tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars on this engraving is unnecessary -- and undermines our Constitution. The Visitor Center already has references to religion and faith. The words "In God We Trust" are even present in one of the existing exhibits. Before spending more tax money, I ask that you take my viewpoints into account when deciding whether to approve this resolution.

Thank you.

It doesn't take more than a minute to contribute, so let's remind our representatives that we are not a Christian nation!

Irony: Top Score!

I have good news and bad news. The laughably ironic good news is that God has apparently set plague of grasshoppers on Utah. The bad news is that this reassures many evangelicals who firmly believe that Mormonism is the church of Satan. I think the good outweighs the bad, and I'm also going to pull a reverse-Jerry-Falwell and suggest that this plague is a punishment for the Mormons concerning the large role they played in the passing of Prop 8.

Links for the Sabbath

• Ron Paul Doesn't Believe in Evolution 

•  Richard Dawkins Announces a Summer Camp for Kids 

"The five-day camp, based in Somerset, promises to be 'beyond belief' - the event's motto - and will rival traditional faith-based breaks run by the Scouts and church groups."

•  Chat Bots Have Philosophical Discussion

Jabberwacky: Do you believe in God?
ALICE: Of course I believe in God.
J: Why do you believe in God?
A: The Bible tells us to believe in God.
J: That’s circular reasoning.
A: I’m glad we have that all cleared up.

•   The British Atheism Trend 

"Looking at the figures, according to the British Humanist Association between 30 to 40 percent of the British population have non-religious beliefs, with the figures for young people standing higher at between 60 to 65 percent."

• Expelled Redux

• Paleontologists Visit the Creation Museum  

"Faith is one thing," said Mark Terry, a high school science teacher from Seattle, "but when it comes to their science statements, they're completely off the wall."

 

I Have a Personal Credo, Redux

After reading Cody's original post on this subject, I promised a retort. It has taken a while but here it is. In the original post, Cody asserts his personal credo is to never discuss politics or religion after 10:00 or following three alcoholic drinks. He gives an example from his time as a bartender:

About a month ago I witnessed a wife take her wedding ring off after she, her husband, a friend got into a conversation--->argument about the confluence of religion and science(more specifically evolution).

So what? Perhaps it's time someone with, frankly, idiotic views gets called out for them. I don't care if it's sober or not. Cody goes on to show an extreme example where a man is shot after arguing religion in a bar. This is certainly tragic, but following Cody's logic we should never discuss religion AT ALL for fear of it's consequences. Religious killings don't require alcohol.

Here's my personal credo: Discuss politics and religion at any point-in-time and never hold back.

After Cody's post, Derek Stewart posted this on UNIFI's Facebook account:

Wow. My credo is I cant HELP but talk about politics and religion after three.

This should not come as a surprise, I came across an article today about how atheists are notorious for discussing religion whenever observing an opportunity. This is incredibly important for our community. The latest Pew numbers show self-described atheists at an abysmally low 1.6% of the population. Look at what we face. We're denied custody of children due to our religious views. Our homes are vandalized. We're suspended from our jobs. We're harassed in public schools. We're demonized by those who are supposed to represent us.

Now, I realize a vast majority of non-religious UNI students will never go through anything that extreme, but that's not the point. We all have to remember these acts are still occurring and that we are still one of the most hated minorities in America. So how do we go about changing that?

In the Oscar-winning movie Milk, there's a scene where Harvey Milk receives a letter threatening his life. His partner wants to throw it away, but Milk defiantly posts it on their fridge. "No, if you put it away...it just gets bigger and scarier," proclaims Milk. "Here, it's right here. We see it everyday."

In a twisted sense, atheism needs to be like Harvey Milk's death threat. If we keep our views to ourselves, we foster fear and resentment. As a community we need to get ourselves out there at every opportunity and show we're just people too. I'll never accept that I need sunlight or a low BAC to do so.

WTF, Kirk Cameron?

Apparently Creationists are now too lazy or inept to write their own books. Kirk Cameron is releasing a 150th anniversary addition of Origin of Species complete with a 50 page forward written to slander Darwin's theory. The worst part is, he's trying to sell this book to schools!

You can read the full article here.

WTF, Kirk Cameron?

Apparently Creationists are now too lazy or inept to write their own books. Kirk Cameron is releasing a 150th anniversary addition of Origin of Species complete with a 50 page forward written to slander Darwin's theory. The worst part is, he's trying to sell this book to schools!

You can read the full article here.

Blasphemy Friday: "Suddenly [Last] Supper"

I found this cool page and thought it would be appropriate for Blasphemy Friday. There are a bunch of parodies of the Last Supper painting by Da Vinci, some of which are pretty blasphemous. These two are my personal favorites: The Last Zombie Supper, and (appropriately enough) The Michael Jackson Last Supper, which is said to have hung in Jackson's Neverland Ranch. The rest of these can be found here.

Jesus Christ The Musical: I Will Survive

"Fatwas: They're not just for Muslims anymore"

So read the first comment for a Reddit.com article concerning Imprecatory Prayer. Pastor Wiley Drake is the minister who recently announced on Alan Colmes' radio show that he is praying for President Obama to die. You can hear the exchange here. According to Drake, death prayers (also referred to as Imprecatory Prayers) have a legitimate basis in the Bible. If you go to this page, he will even tell you how to pray along at home for the death of our nation's President, and you can join a telephone prayer session that takes place daily from 5 to 6 a.m. Pacific Time. Maybe we should organize a mass prank call?

Quack Medicine

After hearing about Simon Singh's recent libel lawsuit, I decided to do some research on chiropractors myself. There's a disappointingly small amount of research on many chiropractic claims. The largest body of knowledge is on spinal manipulation to cure low back pain. The research shows it is more effective than a placebo, but no more effective than traditional care. However, when it comes to curing ear aches, sleeping problems, and other nervous system problems, I couldn't find anything outside of chriopractic journals.

I decided to check out some local chiropractic doctors to see what they were claiming. Most made the unsubstaniated claims of chiropractic being a cure all, but what caught me off-guard was their opposition to vaccinations. From Knutson Chiropractic in Cedar Falls, a list of articles talking about how unsafe vaccines are. From Wayson Family Chiropractic in Cedar Falls, a page implying a causation between vaccines and autism, among other things. Perhaps these chiropractors can help some people, but as long as they're encouraging scare tactics that endanger lives, I don't want to have anything to do with them.

Glenn Beck Name Checking Thomas Paine?

Anyone who has spent even a sliver of time listening to far right talk show host Glenn Beck knows that not only is he factually challenged but mentally unstable. Perhaps these two elements of this poor man's psyche have combined to produce a book that may go down as the biggest piece of industrial strength stupid that anyone on the right has ever come up with.

The title of the book is "Glenn Beck's Common Sense: The Case Against An Out-Of-Control Government. Inspired by Thomas Paine."

Yes, Beck, a far right wing devout Mormon is allegedly inspired by the writings of Paine, who wrote "The Age of Reason," which today remains one of the most venemous attacks on organized religion ever put to paper.

Read all about it on the Daily Kos.

Links for the Sabbath - 6/21/09

• The Worst Father Ever 

"... the father who put his children in a garden, and set them up to fail. Then, he punished them for falling into his trap, cursing them with death and hard work. After a time they turned away from their cruel father, so he drowned them all — except for one family. Then, in his great kindness, he promised to never do such a thing again. What a guy."

•The Truth Rundown : High-ranking defectors provide an unprecedented inside look at the Church of Scientology and its mercurial leader, David Miscavige.

•Texas Supreme Court Affirms Special Rights for Religion 

"According to Sasser, today’s decision “means that in zoning cases you have to give churches special treatment."

•Nebraska Catholic Group Pushes Rule Change Allowing Licensed Psychologists to Refuse Treatment for Gays 

•Charity in Gay Adoption Battle Hit With Legal Bills 

Terry Sanderson, the President of the National Secular Society, said: “This is the cost of bigotry. There could be absolutely no justification for the Equality Laws to be breached on the basis of religious dogma.” [ABSOLUTELY!]

•Zicam/Homeopathic Fail.


• Fork in the Road by Cory D


"Reason is the Devil's greatest whore; by nature and manner of being she is a noxious whore; she is a prostitute, the Devil's appointed whore; whore eaten by scab and leprosy who ought to be trodden under foot and destroyed, she and her wisdom ... Throw dung in her face to make her ugly. She is and she ought to be drowned in baptism... She would deserve, the wretch, to be banished to the filthiest place in the house, to the closets."
Martin Luther, Erlangen Edition v. 16, pp. 142-148

Islamic Veil Comes Under U.S. Court Scrutiny

Link

Perhaps I'll get some objections to this, but I'm excited for this ruling.Why should a woman be able to wear a veil in a courtroom when I can't wear a baseball cap in a driver's license picture...all in the name of a "religious belief?" What if my religious beliefs say I need a baseball cap for all driver's license pics? Less sarcastically, what if my religious beliefs say I can't face the person I accused? Our country prides itself in protecting religious beliefs in every aspect of life, as it should. But we also believe in equal protection for all citizens. Religion should be protected, but never get special treatment.

That said, what the hell is France doing!?

Indeed, in France, the government said yesterday it would not rule out banning Muslim women from wearing the full Islamic veil.
Five years after a law was passed forbidding children from wearing the head scarf or any other “conspicuous” religious symbol in schools, the French government indicated it was prepared to wade into another thorny row over the state’s right to tell individuals what not to wear.

When it comes to protecting freedom of thought, I'm always incredibly proud to be an American.

Blasphemy Friday: CFI's Campaign for Free Expression and their crappy video.

I received an email from the Center for Inquiry (one of UNIFI's international sponsors and a think tank promoting secular values, science, and reason) that announced the launch of their new Campaign for Free Expression to fight back against the forces that are willing to limit free speech and more specifically the "defamation of religion." What a great idea! Let's check out the video shall we...

This video is blasphemy in movie form. It is an insult to my eyes and ears and all that is sacred about sensory perception. They want free expression, and I stand behind them firmly. So here is some free expression:

Dear CFI,

This video is made of complete fail. It's reminds me of a crappy public service announcement or those shitty 3rd grade video lessons that were played on projectors that had to be wheeled in from the library and worked approximately 45% of the time. Buck up CFI! Stand behind your convictions enough to spend a little time and effort on such an important cause... and get a new goddamn video recorder and video editor for that matter, Jesus Christ! The only thing that can save this video from sucking into oblivion is fart tracks, I plan on delivering. 

Very Sincerely,

Cody

Crappy video aside, the Campaign for Free Expression is something UNFI will strongly stand behind as well as Blasphemy Day International . CFI has also launched a new website:pleaseblock.us that will be pivotal in the campaign. I encourage you all to check these sites out.

You may have noticed that they are having some contests:

-An essay contest on the value of free expression, open to all students currently enrolled in accredited colleges and universities, with a grand prize of $2,000;

-A cartoon contest, judged by professional cartoonists, in which the theme will be the doctrines of humanity’s various religions (we aim to be as ecumenical as possible); 

If you choose to participate, please email UNIFreethought@gmail.com also with your submission and we will use it as our Blasphemy Friday for the week.

Keep in mind: Ideas don't need rights -- People do. Protect dissent. 

Iran: a cause to get behind.

The other day I was having a conversation about the Iran election and whether or not it was a cause that UNIFI should get behind. The conclusion was that the Iran election is about the free flow of information and the opposition to an overtly religious regime that is both dogmatic and dangerous. Over the past week, after the declaration that Mir-Hossein Mousavi the much more moderate, pro-women's rights, drastically more secular candidate was questionably declared the loser, protestors across the Iranian nation gathered in solidarity and green in opposition to tyranny. You can watch the following video for a brief overview of what is going on.

The main source of information is coming from bloggers and Twitter(search #iranelection). Please use the comments section to let us know how you have been following the Iran election coverage. At the very least, take it upon your own responsibility to stay informed about the Iranian election. 

Under Construction

As you can see, we've made some changes here at the UNIFI blog. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Be sure to change your bookmarks as well. From now on, our blog can be found at (the much simpler) www.UNIFreethought.com.

"We Have A Problem"

If you have an afternoon or any spare time I advise you to check out the TEDtalks. They are insightful, informative and most importantly pertinent. This one, released today, is from an Ex-Moonie who shares her experience with cult behavior and cult-thinking. What I find interesting is that the mechanisms of what she found to be destructive (such as circular logic) are basic, simple, prevalent and dangerous. 

Public Schooling

Sometimes, I really think parents have too much say...

I have a personal credo....

I never(read: I try really really hard to never) engage in discussion about religion or politics after 10:00pm in real life except for at GABSYV. I also never discuss religion or politics after having more than 3 alcoholic beverages. These conversations never get anyone anywhere and usually ends with hurt feelings and conversations that sound like two or more babbling idiots. I know this from personal experience(don't tell the d-bag clearly doing unChristian things with the cross tatoo that he is a hypocrite). I have found it to be tactless especially if you take the subject matter seriously, which I hope you do. I have developed this personal credo from making mistakes and working at bars for the past couple of years. About a month ago I witnessed a wife take her wedding ring off after she, her husband, a friend got into a conversation--->argument about the confluence of religion and science(more specifically evolution). NOTHING good comes from these conversations and more often than not something terrible will come from it.

More specifically you could get shot like Ernest McCullough who was shot last Monday(6/8) after he(a self proclaimed Christian) and his at-large shooter who is suspected to be of the Islamic faith.

The MSNBC article reads:

What started as an argument over religion at a bar escalated when one man shot another five times overnight, as the victim's sister watched in horror.

Toni Simpson says she was waiting for her brother, Ernest McCullough, 29, in the 3800 block of Van Dyke Avenue at about 4:30 a.m. after a night of drinking at Nancy's Pub. She was listening to the pair argue over religion but never thought it would lead to what happened next.

"He pulled up his shirt and it looked like a knife and it was a gun. He pulled it out and shot him,” she said.

Simpson says she was so shocked that she blacked out after the first two rounds were fired. When she came around she saw her brother covered in blood.

"I said ‘he shot you?’ And he said ‘yeah, he shot me’ and then he fell to the ground," Simpson said.

The victim, who is Christian, was taken to Scripps Mercy Hospital in serious condition but is expected to be okay.

The suspect, who Simpson says was of Muslim faith, remains at large.

So don't do it! I'll sign out with the image that I gathered when googling "bible gun beer"

Links for the Sabbath - 6/14/09

Welcome to Links for the Sabbath (LftS) hopefully a new staple here at UNI Freethought. LftS will feature news stories, articles, Op-Eds, pictures, quotes, etc. from the past week that we would like to share with you. The premise of LftS: Read these and stay at home so you won't get stoned for doing heathen things like working. Like always if you would like to post something on UNI Freethought email unifreethought@gmail.com with anything ranging from personal essays, rants, conundrums, pictures, comics, etc.... and now links for LftS!

With no further ado I present LftS 6/14/09:

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Religious Freedome vs. Sanitation Rules. - NY Times

"But for many of the area’s non-Amish residents, the impasse represents a test case over whether laws will be bent in the face of religious principles."

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Mr. Deity is back!

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Why I Support the Freethought Books Project - Chalmer Wren

"The predominant religious influence perpetuated in our prisons and the lack of non-religious resources – while useful in controlling inmates – are a disservice to the incarcerated. The Freethought Books Project addresses this issue by providing literature that is not only critical of religion, but that also educates individuals about critical thinking, philosophy, and science."

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Understanding atheism, the atheist strawman arguments and what atheism isn't - Daily Kos

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Gay Rights are Popular in Many Dimensions - FiverThirtyEight (click for an interesting graph)

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Point of Iniquiry (with DJ Grothe) featuring David Koepsell - Who Owns You?

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"Science can teach us, and I think out own hearts can teach us, no longer to look around for imaginary supports, no longer to invent allies in the sky, but rather to look to out own efforts here below to make this world a fit place to live in, instead of the sort of place that the churches in all these centuries have made it." - Bertrand Russell from 'Why I am Not a Christian'

A Proud Moment for Iran

One of the tough parts of handling this blog is deciding what belongs on it. What should UNIFI concern itself with? An issue I believe is incredibly important is protecting the freedom of thought. Nothing in recent memory has captured that ideology quite like the events surrounding the Iranian Presidential election.

Yesterday, Iran had its Presidential elections. Current Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reportedly captured 62% of the vote while popular reformist Mir Hossein Mousavi got 34% of the vote. A much tighter race had been expected and immediately abnormalities began to be reported. Polls had closed early, millions of paper ballots flooded in at closing time instead of the slow trickle of past elections, and Mousavi reportedly lost his home town. After the results were announced, Mousavi was arrested, Facebook was blocked, the internet was slowed signifgantly, and all phone lines were shut down.

Already the election monitoring body and a group of powerful Ayatollahs have called for the elections to be invalidated. I hope it works. Riots have started in the streets and young educated Iranians are leading it. This story is still unfolding, but there's an Orange Revolution feeling to this that has me excited. Revolutions are a beautful thing.

There's a number of blogs committed to the aftermath, be sure to check some of them out.
New York Times
Daily Kos
BBC

Blasphemy Friday: Baby Be Bop

We despise all reverences and all the objects of reverence which are outside the pale of our own list of sacred things. And yet, with strange inconsistency, we are shocked when other people despise and defile the things which are holy to us.

- Mark Twain, Following the Equator

$120,000. That is how much damage a book can do or at least that is what the Christian Civil Liberties Union is going to be suing the City of West Bend, Wisconsin  for. I understand that this is a repost but when blasphemy arises (or more specifically ridiculous reactions to perceived blasphemy)  I feel obligated to reported it as our Blasphemy Friday piece for the week. 

As Trevor noted they don't want to stop at monetary settlements, they also want to publicly destroy the book. It is days like this that I worry about the structural integrity of my desk.... and my forehead for that matter. 

This is part of the long time goal of many in the West Bend area to remove "sexually explicit" [read: the main character is gay] material from the shelves reports the Guardian. Why? Well because the plaintiffs argue that such material and specifically this book damaged their "mental and emotional well-being" and added that it could "put one's life in possible jeopardy, adults and children alike."

The book portrays the trials and tribulations of a teenager struggling with life all while being gay in a anti-gay social climate. At one point the main character is beat up by a homophobic gang. As always Francesca Lia Block will see a swell in book sales of her Dangerous Angels series that Baby Be Bop is a part of. It also looks like MTV is going to be bringing the main character, Weetzie Bat, to the big screen after Block finishes her work on writing the screen play for the series.

A side note, if there is a public burning of the books I herby announce that I will be burning a Bible, a Qur'an, a dirty magazine, the Book of Mormon, Trevor's Gospel of the FSM(if he will let me), and my copy of the God Delusion and post it on this blog. 

Censorship Continues

Eeny, meeny, miny, terrorist

On June 1st, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad pulled up to a shopping mall and opened fire on two Army recruiters. Army Pvt. William Long was pronounced dead soon after and Army Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula is listed in good condition. After converting to Islam, Muhammad took it upon himself to retaliate for the perceived mistreatment of Muslims. Muhammad unlawfully used violence against persons to intimidate or coerce a government in furtherance of social objectives. He's being charged with murder and 15 counts of terrorism.

On May 31st, Scott Roeder showed up at the Reformation Lutheran Church in Witchita, Kansas and shot Dr. George Tiller point-blank in the head, killing him. In the 90's, Roeder became active with fringe anti-abortion advocates. He believed murdering abortion doctors was justifiable as they were "baby killers." Roeder unlawfully used violence against a person to intimidate or coerce a government in furtherance of social objectives. He's being charged with murder.

How are these stories any different? Religious thought leads to the killing of innocent people and the Muslim is the terrorist while the Christian is not. I came across this story on the website altmuslim (mirrored) and it presents any interesting perspective. Terrorism needs to be be called for what it is, regardless of the religious background.

Atlmuslim's portrayal of the story (predictably) ignores the heart of the problem though. The story calls for increasing public understanding of Islam and teaching these killings are against religious dogma. Unfortunately, holy books disagree. Sam Harris has written some scathing reviews of Islam and I'm inclined to agree with him. TheReligionofPeace.com counts 109 calls in the Quran to war with nonbelievers and lists many of them. Similarly, TheWaronFaith.com cites countless Bible verses calling for violence. Is it a coincidence these religious followers are committing horrible acts in the name of their religion? I'd submit it only makes sense.

Burn the books!

The Drudge Report recently broke a story that the Christian Civil Liberties Union is suing West Bend, Wisconsin over a controversial book in the town library which centers around a gay character. What are they asking for? $120,000 in damages for the emotional and mental well-being of the elderly plaintiffs and "the right to publicly burn or destroy by another means."

...what?

Being exposed to this book in a public library "put one's life in possible jeopardy, adults and children alike" claims the CCLU. I particularly enjoyed the first comment left on the story.

Dear God:
Please hold your Rapture soon-we really NEED to get rid of these fundie creeps.

Thank You In Advance
America

Dilemma of an atheist in a religious household

I had a good conversation about this last night, and I wanted to see what you guys think. Family is the most important thing in my life, and I'm sure most of you could relate to that. So what is a freethinking activist to do when his parents make a reference to the "End Times" in passing and then move on in conversation? If religion is such a large part of what makes a parent tick, and there is no hope of disillusioning him/her, what am I to do? Am I justified in letting it go because family is number one, or am I justified in challenging this person because they know that I think the "End Times" are bullshit and that skepticism is part of what makes me who I am? It's a bit of a Catch-22, because either way it damages the relationship. Either it strains the relationship in the event of a confrontation, or we don't talk about it and we miss out on a huge part of our respective lives. If a family member is very religious, how close can you be with that family member if you never talk about religion? I was kind of hoping to get a comment conversation started with this post, because I don't have a conclusion to this dilemma. What do you think?

New Hampshire becomes the newest state to allow gay marriage

I know we're a couple of days behind on this, and I'm sorry about that. With all the hype over the murder of Dr. Tiller, I had forgotten that there was a legislative battle going on in New Hampshire. Well on the 3rd of June, the legislature passed a bill that legalized gay marriage in New Hampshire. The bill passed 198-176.

New Hampshire is the fourth state to legalize gay marriage, and the ninth state to give equal rights to homosexual couples. Here is the breakdown:

Gay marriage is now legal in Vermont, Connecticut, Iowa, and New Hampshire. In New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington, a civil union or domestic partnership is given the same rights and status as a marriage, only without being called "marriage." Washington and Oregon have given equal status to civil unions despite having passed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1998 and 2005, respectively.

Vermont and Connecticut both legalized gay marriage after enacting the civil union legislation, indicating that there may indeed be a difference between a civil union and a marriage (if not in the eyes of the law, at least from the public perspective). Perhaps too many people in those states still remember the last time we tried the "separate but equal" approach...

You can see a full state-by-state breakdown with a cool interactive map here.

Justin Trottier: Atheist teens lead the way

Article supporting what we already knew: that fear of Hell is not necessary to be a moral person.

"Can we be good without god?

This may become a defining question for our time. University of Lethbridge sociologist Reginald Bibby's has written a new book, The Emerging Millennials, which, while clear on the unprecedented rise of atheism, seems to suggest two irreconcilable answers to this fundamental question...."

Full article here.

UNIFI - Freshmen Orientation 2011

Blasphemy Friday: Jesus Opens Fire on Clinic!

From "The Onion":

"HUNTSVILLE, AL–Jesus Christ, son of God and noted pro-life activist, killed two and critically wounded seven others when He opened fire in the waiting room of a Huntsville abortion clinic Tuesday..."

Full story here.

Obama Appeasing Muslims?

President Obama said in a speech in Cairo today, "I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world...[founded upon] the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition."

I'm not sure how I feel about this. It is obviously a good thing if it leads to a more secular Middle East that acknowledges modernity in ethics and human rights. I only hope it does not come at the expense of being overly tolerant of Muslim extremism.

Full article here.

Cheney: Same-sex marriage is OK

You read that correctly. Conservative Christians are accusing former Vice President Dick Cheney of allowing his love for his lesbian daughter to cloud his judgment on this issue. Cheney said on Monday at a National Press Club appearance: "I think, you know, freedom means freedom for everyone. I think people ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish, any kind of arrangement they wish...Different states will make different decisions. But I don't have any problem with that. I think people ought to get a shot at that." You can read the full article here.

Although he still views this as a states issue, this is undoubtedly a step in the right direction.

Undisguised hypocrisy

There can be no doubt that the mainstream Pro-Life organizations do not endorse terrorism, and it does not help their cause when people use extreme measures to achieve their idea of political justice.

This kind of disclaimer seems to be standard in many news pieces concerning the murder of George Tiller. I wanted to do a blog post about this, and about the element of deception here on the part of the Pro-Life movement. Here you can read the FOX News spin piece about how the Pro-Life movement does not condone this kind of action.

Now let's think about this for a minute. If (as Trevor pointed out) these people really do have the courage of their convictions, if they really think abortion is murder, and that Tiller was a mass murderer, why don't they condone this kind of action? If someone is holding up a bank, and it turns into a hostage situation, and the robbers start killing hostages, then incapacitating those robbers (now murderers) is a moral imperative and taking their lives is forgivable as a means of incapacitation.

Why does this not apply to "Tiller the baby killer"? I see two possible reasons: Either A) They don't really regard a fetus on the same level as a human being, or B) If the Pro-Life movement was intellectually honest, they would scare the shit out of moderates. They have to have some level of cognitive dissonance whenever they use the "abortion is murder" rhetoric, or else this kind of terrorism (and I agree, it is terrorism) would be commonplace. They want to throw around their rhetoric without being honest about its implications.

This is the kind of hypocrisy we should be grateful for.