ATLANTA, March 28 ? Georgia is about to become the first state to approve the use of the Bible as a textbook in public schools.On Monday, the State Senate passed a bill providing money to high schools that offer elective classes in the Bible, and setting specific guidelines for those classes. The bill was approved by Georgia’s House of Representatives last week.Gov. Sonny Perdue is expected to sign the law.The bill creates two courses, the History and Literature of the Old Testament Era and the History and Literature of the New Testament Era, that can be offered as electives. It gives the state’s Department of Education a year to approve the curriculum, but it requires that the Bible itself, not a textbook, be the core material used. Supplementary materials can also be used. Other state school systems offer classes in the Bible, but Georgia’s law would be the first to require that the Bible be the core text. Legislators in Alabama and Missouri are considering similar measures.With the enactment of the law, public schools in Georgia will be pushed, once again, into grappling with whether or how ideas tied to religion can be introduced into classrooms without violating the separation of church and state.

… forced Bible reading without violating the separation of church and state? Is there anyone out there who thinks this WASN’T a direct attempt to do just that?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060330/ap_on_he_me/prayer_study

In the largest scientific test of its kind, heart surgery patients showed no benefit when strangers prayed for their recovery.And patients who knew they were being prayed for had a slightly higher rate of complications. The researchers could only guess why.Several scientists questioned the concept of the study. Science “is not designed to study the supernatural,” said Dr. Harold G. Koenig, director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health at the Duke University Medical Center.

In Kestrien’s words: “A Big DUH Comes to Mind”! How many times will they study this quackery before they realize it’s bull? Talking to air does not cure people — MEDICINE cures people, and that’s why these moronic studies should be scrapped to fund scientific research instead of mythology.Not that I’m opinionated…

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2006-03-26-religion_x.htmEditor,I read with great interest the Forum article ?A War on Christians? No? (3/27/06) because I have been personally accused of helping to lead that fictitious war. As the National Spokesperson of American Atheists, I have been charged many times with trying to ?de-religionize America? or ?Make Christianity illegal.?The accusations make me angry, because its not true. None of it. Really. These exaggerations or lies are intended to foster the fear that some kind of organized attack against Christians is underway. Again, wrong.What is true is that times have changed, and America is becoming a more religiously diverse society. What was once an apparently single-religion society has evolved, and the old king-of-the-hill doesn?t like sharing. Despite the fact that this country supports millions of churches (none of them paying taxes), Christianity has panicked and launched legal efforts to keep control.Control is the key cause of the religious right ? not of their own lives, but everyone else?s. Abortion, Gay rights, and Death with Dignity are all opposed by the Christian right, yet the issues do not effect them. Forced school prayer and unmonitored Faith-Based initiatives legitimize, endorse, and fund these religions at the expense of true religious freedom.Secular people see these movements as attacks on our individual rights, and we fight against them. We want nothing beyond achieving that which is ours by law ? equality. We think that?s reasonable, and worth fighting for.The Christians’ response to our defense is usually an attack on our moral character coupled with cries of discrimination. Rarely does a Religious Right proponent speak plainly about the merits of the issues they support, instead opting for redirection and reckless exaggerations. They use words like ?war? and ?enemy? because they have lost their perspective. It?s as simple as that, and I applaud Mr. Krattenmaker for bringing this to light. The Left and the Right are not enemies, but adversaries — with a common enemy somewhere in the Middle East. Let us all hope that both sides can work together in the spirit of peace and progress. It won?t be easy, but it can start with the recognition that although we are left-wing and right-wing, we?re on the same darn bird.David P. SilvermanNational Communications DirectorAmerican Atheists, Inc.

Today I recieved an angry email from an Atheist who said she believed in ghosts, yet is still an Atheist. This writer was adamant that I should stop making blanket statements that Atheists don’t believe in ANYthing paranormal (like this one: we don’t). My first take was that the writer must be a bit whacky, but hey, sounds like a good blog topic. Please take a moment to look around. See any spooks?

Congrats to the FSM crowd for a great write-up in today’s USA Today. Nice article! Here’s the link, (thanks Flav)Then I saw the news article in the same paper blasting the Christians for calling our relationship a “war”. I’m beginning to like this paper.