americanatheists

Terrorist acts in Scotland and England…I’m sure we’ll get the “if only all religion were banned” comments…If only the masses were as intelligent like we are…if only the “stupid” masses didn’t believe in their God, all would be ok in the world…

Well, I’m not going that far, and I never do. It’s not the theists that’s the problem, its the strict followers of the violent religions (particularly Islam and Christianity) — those who honestly think their preacher is 100% right and will do whatever he says — they are the problem. Power corrupts.People can believe whatever they want, but yes, the world would be better off without certain sects of certain religions. I recently made a post about Scientology, and how Germany has banned it (and certain totally-straight-but-somewhat-letigious individuals). How do you relate the two? Do we as a world community have the right (duty?) to regulate dangerous religions and cults, or do we allow total religious freedom and deal with terrorists, fanatics, and scams? How do we decide what is dangerous, and how do we deal with the fact that these same fanatice view us as the dangerous ones?

Paris Hilton finds God in Prison.She’s out of prison and ready to party. Use your god-given psychic powers to predict how long this religion sticks, now that it’s not political anymore.My bet: she NEVER MENTIONS GOD AGAIN (until the next time she gets arrested)

Well folks, it was bound to happen some day, and after two full years it has happened today.I got nothing to say.There. I said it. I got nothing. It’s Friday, It’s hot, and I got nothing.So use this space to vent a bit about what you think. OPEN SUBJECT!I remember when I was in high school, and the teachers would occasionally come in hung over, and we’d have a BS day. Now I know how they feel. Please pass the beer.

ATLANTA, Georgia: Pro wrestler Chris Benoit allegedly suffocated his 7-year-old son and placed a Bible next to the body before using an exercise machine to hang himself, authorities said on Tuesday. Law enforcement officials believe Daniel Benoit was killed on Saturday, one day after Benoit also allegedly strangled his 43-year-old wife, Nancy, in the upstairs family room of their luxury rural home. Another Bible was placed next to her lifeless body which was wrapped in a towel, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on Tuesday. The three bodies were found in separate rooms of the house on Green Meadow Lane in Peachtree City in what police are calling a double-murder suicide that stretched through the weekend. “Bizarre. That’s the only way I can describe this,” Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard told the Fayette Daily News. “What’s most bizarre to me is the timing and the circumstances. Not just that a man could kill his own 7-year-old son but that he could have stayed in the same house with the bodies. “And then there’s the placement of the Bibles. I can’t understand this.”

Folks, this is not brain surgery. Religion makes one think there is life after death, and so killing is not as bad! Benoit put the Bibles there in some insane attempt to help his family in the afterlife! This is a very clear place where religion’s false promises hurt people. So many times I’ve been asked “So what if people believe what is false? It doesn’t hurt anyone!”But the fact is it DOES hurt, because it makes life LESS valuable if one thinks there is more life after death. Benoit obviously didn’t think he extinguished his family’s existance, merely pushed them into the afterlife.Remember — Religion hurts! If Benoit had been an Atheist, there’s a good possibility his family may still be alive.

Germany has banned Tom Cruise from shooting scenes at military sites for his film about a plot to kill Adolf Hitler because the Hollywood actor is a member of the Church of Scientology. Cruise was to play the part of Claus von Stauffenberg, a member of the German nobility who attempted to assassinate Hitler in July 1944. The film, entitled Valkyrie, is due to go on release next year and its makers planned to start shooting in Berlin next month.However, Germany’s Defence Ministry formally banned the actor, who is also one of the movie’s producers, from filming at authentic military sites in the German capital which are central to the movie’s plot.”The film-makers will not be allowed to film at German military sites if Count Stauffenberg is played by Tom Cruise, who has publicly professed to being a member of the Scientology cult,” Harald Kammerbauer, a Defence Ministry spokesman, said yesterday.

Usually I am a big proponent of freedom of religion, and frankly if this were any other religion I’d be upset. But Scientology is NOT a religion — it’s a money-making scheme that CLAIMS to be a religion. It is criminal in nature, ruining lives, and families as it takes their money. I immediately lose respect for any member of this organization — including Cruise, Travolta, and Ally. There is no reason to respect such an organization.Bravo, Germany!

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The Supreme Court Monday upheld the legality of an internal White House office that forcefully pushes federal aid for religious charities, a case with an unusual nexus of constitutional, financial and political implications.By a 5-4 vote, a conservative majority concluded taxpayers did not have “standing” to challenge in court the discretionary spending authority of the executive branch for its Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI).An atheist and agnostic group from Wisconsin claimed the Bush administration had given churches and religious groups an unfair advantage in access to federal grant programs.The justices on both sides of the debate treaded boldly over broader constitutional questions, including the limits of government endorsement of religion. The Constitution forbids any law “respecting the establishment of religion,” but judges and politicians have been at odds for decades over a permissible degree of separation between church and state.The White House hailed the decision”This ruling is a win for the thousands of community and faith-based nonprofits all across the country that have partnered with government at all levels to serve their neighbors,” White House spokesperson Emily Lawrimore said. “Most importantly, it is a win for the many whose lives have been lifted by the caring touch and compassionate hearts of these organizations.”

Folks, this is very bad news. It gives immunity to the President to break the law (it’s not breaking the law anymore) by simply choosing to give money to religious institutions, but not secular ones. This case may change everything. We can’t stop the huge gush of tax money going to churches, we don’t even have the right to sue.Bad day. All Bush.http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/06pdf/06-157.pdf

Pagans to Rally for Religious Rights in Front of the White House on July 4th WASHINGTON, June 21 /PRNewswire/ — A group of Pagan religious leaders from diverse denominations will gather in Lafayette Square Park on the Fourth of July to advocate for a Pagan military chaplain, request more approved Pagan religious symbols from the Department of Veterans Affairs and call for universal freedom of religious expression. Rev. Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State will also address the crowd. “Until Pagans have the same rights as Presbyterians and Pentecostals, religious liberty is not safe in America. The Framers of our Constitution mandated no preference for any one religion over another or for all religion over secularist beliefs.” Earlier this spring, attorneys from Americans United facilitated a settlement with DOJ lawyers representing the Department of Veterans Affairs to end a ten-year struggle over displaying the Wiccan Pentacle on veterans’ memorial markers and plaques. Rev. Selena Fox of Circle Sanctuary, plaintiff of the federal religious discrimination lawsuit which settled the case, says “The Veteran Pentacle Quest victory has demonstrated the power Pagans can have when we work together, and with those of other paths, to uphold religious freedom. United we stand. United we win!”

Yes, I know. They are theists, and yes, they’re a bit of an odd bunch. But we MUST support them wholeheartedly for two reasons: 1) It helps keep Christianity in its place, with other religious beliefs, and 2) because the Pagans are 100% right, and helping them is the right thing to do.If you’re in the area, there is nothing more patriotic than protesting for a good cause in Washington DC on July 4!

http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/father-kills-300-pound-bear-with-log/20070622182209990001

HELEN, Ga. (June 22) – A 300-pound black bear raided a family’s campsite, and the father saved his sons from harm by throwing a log at the beast, killing it with a single blow. Chris Everhart and his three sons were camping in the Chattahoochee National Forest in northern Georgia when the encounter happened Saturday. The bear took the family’s cooler and was heading back to the woods when the youngest son, 6-year-old Logan, hurled a shovel at it. The bear then dropped the cooler and started coming at the boy, said his father. Fearing what might happen next, Everhart, an ex-Marine , grabbed the closest thing he could find – a log from their stash of firewood. “(I) threw it at it and it happened to hit the bear in the head,” Everhart said. “I thought it just knocked it out but it actually ended up killing the bear.”

Wow. There’s macho and then there’s macho. I don’t know what this guy’s philosophical/religious beliefs are, but he wins the “Quien es mas macho” contest.The Villiage People and Billy Chrystal should be proud.

http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2007/s1952996.htmEVOLUTION V. CREATIONISM DEBATE RAGES ON

“MARK COLVIN: If the philosophy of science was ever an ivory towerpursuit, it’s hardly that now, especially in the world of biology.The long-running battle between evolution scientists and creationistshas seen to that. Michael Ruse is a British-born philosopher ofscience who’s taught for most of the last four decades in Canada, butis now Professor of Philosophy at Florida State University. He’s aveteran of the evolution science versus creation wars, and he’s beenin Australia for a big conference of evolutionary scientists. I askedProfessor Ruse first about the successive opinion polls showing that amajority of Americans were creationists who believed that every wordin the Bible was strictly accurate.”

Today is the longest day of the year: a celestial event celebrated through the ages. Take a few moments if you can, and take a nice sunset walk with someone important to you — at about 9pm.