Yesterday, we reported on an incident that occurred in Florida between an atheist, Michael Middlebrooks, and Governor Charlie Crist, who is also a Senatorial candidate. (You can read that post here.)

Where is the media coverage beyond the atheist Web Pages? Some atheists have stated a skeptical view of this incident without proof. As Hemant Mehta says in his Friendly Atheist Blog, “But you mean to tell me Crist — a Republican candidate for Senate — attacked someone he was talking to while on the campaign trail and there were no cameras around?”

Proof would be great. I certainly appreciate the skepticism. According to Atheists of Florida there are at least two witnesses to the event other the Crist and his wife. I am willing to take Mr. Middlebrooks and the second witness at their word for now.

In the meantime, John A. Kieffer, the President of Atheists of Florida, emailed the following letter (along with a snail mail copy) to Governor Crist:

March 8, 2010

Office of Governor Charlie Crist
State of Florida
PL­05 The Capitol
Tallahassee, FL 32399­0001

Dear Governor Crist:

I am writing on behalf of Michael Middlebrooks, an Atheists of Florida member and doctoral candidate at the University of South Florida. He personally informed me of the details below, and a witness to this event is available for verification.

On Friday, March 5, 2010, during an informal evening gathering in St. Petersburg, Florida, Mr. Middlebrooks approached you to ask a question. Following a cordial handshake, he asked about the letter you placed in Jerusalem to prevent hurricanes from hitting Florida, to which you replied, ”Who’s more powerful than God?”

Upon asking again and getting a similar reply, he informed you that he does not hold a belief in God. According to him, you then reached out and “ripped” a campaign sticker off his chest, which read ”Charlie Crist for US Senate 2010,” placed there moments earlier by your campaign worker. Mr. Middlebrooks noted that you quickly turned your back to him while simultaneously shouting to him over your shoulder that you “felt sorry” for him.

Governor Crist, your reaction to Mr. Middlebrooks, an atheist whose views on religion are constitutionally protected, is sadly symbolic of the intolerance and bigotry that atheists across the state have endlessly endured.  Imagine instead if you had ripped a campaign sticker off some other religious minority, say a Jew or a Muslim, shouting, as you did here, that you felt sorry for them. The outrage in such a case would create newspaper headlines around the world.

Let there be no mistake. Atheists of Florida members are outraged by your bigoted and humiliating reaction to Mr. Middlebrooks. Attacking his minority worldview is an affront not only to him, but to me and all non­believers who expect you, as Florida’s chief executive, to protect and defend our constitutional
rights, including our right to freedom of religion.

Therefore, I urge you to promptly offer a letter of apology to Mr. Middlebrooks for your demeaning assault upon his character and person. What you did could be
considered a hate crime because you committed this battery while denigrating his personal religious worldview. I would refer you to F.S. § 877.19.

Your letter may be forwarded to me for personal delivery to Mr. Middlebrooks.

Sincerely,
John A. Kieffer
President, Atheists of Florida

Posted by Blair Scott

A member of the Atheists of Florida, Michael Middlebrooks, reported on the AoF Forums that he was assaulted by Governor and Senatorial Candidate Charlie Crist of Florida.

Michael reports, “Then when I told Charlie that I did not believe in God he turned beat red and ripped the sticker off of my chest. He did a 180 to start shaking other peoples hands, and turned to scream over his shoulder that he feels sorry for me.”

You can view the original thread here.

AAI’s entry on it is here.

Rob Curry of the Atheists of Florida plans on demanding an apology from Crist.

Posted by Blair Scott

This is an article that is relevant to the Secular Coalition of America’s position that the federal government must set a national standard so that parents will not be allowed to force their children to suffer, be injured, or die as a result of religious-based medical neglect. As it is now, states are allowed to exempt certain religious people from having to seek real medical care for their seriously sick or injured children. This particular article is about a case in Oregon, and in that state at least, it appears the authorities are prepared to take legal action on these cases.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,588393,00.html

Kathleen

I am not one to judge an entire faith by the actions of a few. All faith (and secular) groups are comprised of human beings, any of whom can commit disturbing acts for reasons unrelated to their faith.  I firmly believe, however, that it is much more informative and accurate to evaluate a group by how they react to the disturbing acts in their midsts.  To they respond with honesty and honor or do they enact coverups and offer excuses?  It will be interesting to see what happens in this case, assuming the allegations prove to be true (just because it’s reported in the media doesn’t make it true).

“The Vatican has been thrown into chaos by reports that one of the Pope’s ceremonial ushers, as well as a member of the elite Vatican choir, were involved in a homosexual prostitution ring.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/05/vatican-hit-by-gay-sex-sc_n_486218.html

Kathleen

Reprint from the Secular Coalition for America:

Last night Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) filed a D.C. voucher amendment to the second jobs bill under consideration by the Senate. The D.C. voucher program uses taxpayer funds to pay for parents to send their children to private religious schools. The program is called the “D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program,” but a 2007 government report found that these vouchers do not give D.C. students seeking a private school education sufficient secular choices, forcing them to attend religious schools or remain in the failing public school system.

By design, voucher programs aid struggling Christian schools. A July 2009 report by Rutgers University on the D.C. voucher program concluded that the way the voucher program is structured “essentially push[es] students into Christian Association and Catholic schools, pricing out independent (non-religious) schools and Hebrew schools.”

By continuing this program, those of us who do not wish to subsidize someone else’s church will continue to be forced to do so through our federal tax dollars.

The vote will occur sometime today. Please take five minutes and email your Senators and tell them to vote against this amendment that would re-authorize this program.

The Secular Coalition for America opposes the use of government funds for religious purposes, including vouchers for religious schools. We agree with the founders of the United States that no individual taxpayer should be required to pay for someone else’s religion. We agree with James Madison. Senator Lieberman wants us to go in a different direction.

The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship, with your tax money, funds and enables proselytizing and religious discrimination. Recipients of the vouchers who attend religious schools are not even allowed to opt out of religious activities at their school–a direct affront to religious freedom.

It is critical that you write your Senators today and ask them to oppose Sen. Lieberman’s amendment that would re-authorize this program and spend your taxes to fund the religious education of children in D.C.

What color is the sky in Christianland?

The cafeteria Christians have surprised me again by their total ignorance and callousness. Check this out from the Huffington Post

The American Family Association, a religious right group, is urging that Tillikum (Tilly), the killer whale that killed a trainer at SeaWorld Orlando, be put down, preferably by stoning. Citing Tilly’s history of violent altercations, the group is slamming SeaWorld for not listening to Scripture in how to deal with the animal:

Says the ancient civil code of Israel, “When an ox gores a man or woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner shall not be liable.” (Exodus 21:28)

However, the group is going further and laying the blame for the trainer’s death directly at the feet of Chuck Thompson, the curator in charge of animal behavior, because, according to Scripture,

But, the Scripture soberly warns, if one of your animals kills a second time because you didn’t kill it after it claimed its first human victim, this time you die right along with your animal. To use the example from Exodus, if your ox kills a second time, “the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death.” (Exodus 21:29)

When I first read this, I thought it was an Onion Article, and totally tongue-in-cheek. Nope. Here’s the source.

The ignorant fool, who ignores all the other wonderful places in the Bible that talk about murder (like gays, atheists, witches, etc), chooses the phrase that mandates we kill an animal in the case of an attack. He asks, again in complete ignorance, “What about the term “killer whale” do SeaWorld officials not understand?”

It means they kill seals, idjit.

Imagine a religious movement that makes geographic maps of where demons reside and claims among its adherents the Republican Party’s most recent vice presidential nominee and whose leaders have presided over prayer sessions (one aimed at putting the kibosh on health-care reform) with a host of leading GOP figures.

Read a LOT more
This is not surprising in substance, but it is very scary in scope. This is why we fight, and this is what we are up against.

To my experience, a solid 90%+ of atheists I’ve met are solidly pro-choice. American Atheists takes no position on abortion, but if you do, here is a little inspiration.

And here’s a little more!

Just weeks after entertaining a plan to save money by making 12th grade optional, lawmakers in the Beehive State are again provoking national controversy. Under a bill that has passed the legislature and awaits signature by the governor, miscarriages that result from an “intentional, knowing, or reckless act” would be treated as illegal abortions, punishable by life in prison. As a response to a single incident in which a woman allegedly paid a man to beat her and induce a miscarriage, has Utah gone too far?

Due to the increase of activity from the DC visit, we have extended early registration to March 15.

Register today!

I am finally home after my trip to DC and I just thought I’d take some time to post some random thoughts.

There is no doubt that there is much work to be done, but there is evidence that we are making serious progress. While I am not at liberty to discuss what the Obama Administration said, I can tell you we’ve been heard. While I can’t predict what will end up happening, I can tell you that the first steps toward our goals have been taken (those steps including the meeting itself).

I can’t tell you how serious they are about us, but I can tell you we are no longer being ignored. Real people in the white house are taking the secular movement seriously.

I can also say this: among the many groups that were represented at the event, there was a comradeship that I’d not experienced. Everyone was talking about our common goals, and what the future would bring for the movement, not the organizations that comprise it. It was, quite frankly, wonderful.

One thing was very clear: the end of the meeting was a hello, not a goodbye.