This past weekend I had the pleasure of getting together with Ellen Johnson.Ellen has always held that people should come out of the closet wherever possible, but that “we’d rather have employed closeted Atheists than unemployed outed Atheists”, and that Atheists in potentially uncomfortable situations should keep quiet until things get better. Y’know what? I disagree.Fear of reprisal has been exaggerated, and has kept us silent long enough. I’ve never been silent, and yes there have been some repercussions but nothing major. Living in NJ, I know I am among the more tolerant sector of society, but I’d be just as “out” in Alabama or Mississippi.Given that we have soldiers giving their lives in a war, I find it hard to stomach that Atheists here in America are often unwilling to take even the slightest risk to defend their right to think and live free of religion. Sure, there are extreme cases, but most Atheists are not in such situations, and they need to do what I see as their duty to themselves and their country.Things will not get better unless and until we make them better. I think it’s time to become less tolerant of closeted Atheists. I think it’s time for them to step up. En masse. Now.

No link today, just discussion. Halloween is here and with it is a bunch of Christians boycotting it, and others still with fake haunted houses that push Christian dogma.So here’s a question for Atheists. I know some Atheists don’t get married because of its religious roots. I know some Christians dislike Halloween for similar reasons. Are there any Atheists out there that boycott Halloween? I see no religion here… just making sure I’m not alone.

OK I defended the Catholics in the last post (priest: “We only fondled each other”), so now I’m going to make up for it.Limbo has returned.Yes, the perfect and infallible Catholic Church has stated that unbaptized babies are NOT in Hell after all, that they are in a state of perpetual happiness in Limbo. Previously, the church had stated that Limbo does not exist, and that unbaptized babies were in hell. However, while perfect and correct, it is more perfecter and correcter to have a happy image, so now Limbo exists again. I guess the babies that had gone to Hell are now in Limbo — supposedly a much better place, and a much better image for the Catholic sheep to picture. And we won’t talk about original sin.OK I lied. We will talk about original sin, the sin that sits over us from the instant of our conception thanks to the (Fall of Man). I guess the unbaptized babies are not victims of this unearthly grudge that God holds against us all. What about unbaptized 2-year-olds? 5-year-olds? Do 10-year-olds go to hell (eternal torment) or Limbo (eternal contentment)?

Okay, I have heard it all now. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said: “He (Rumsfield) leads in a way that the good Lord tells him is best for our country,” said Marine General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.So I guess that means that the “good Lord” is the one who motivates Rumsfailed to go after the oil under Iraq’s sand for all us SUV lovers.I sure wish the “good Lord” would hate us a little more, cause I really do not think we are going to have any canon-fodder children left, if the “good Lord” continues his “good loving” of us.Peter Nuhn

Priest Denies Having Sex With FoleyBy FRANCES D’EMILIO, APROME (Oct. 19) – An elderly priest acknowledged Thursday that he was naked in saunas with Mark Foley decades ago when the former congressman was a boy in Florida, but denied that the two had sex

Lame excuse: “Yes it’s true I have sex with underage boys, but it’s not my fault. 40 years ago I was molested, so now I need to go into rehab for my alcoholism (which also caused me to be a pedophile). Please note that I am NOT responsible for my own actions”Sure, it’s possible the priest raped the congressman. Lots of kids were raped by priests (thanks Benedict), but only a select few a-holes become pedophiles. As much as I would love to pin this on the church, this is Foley’s problem. And it’s not alcoholism, it’s perversion!