Man, it’s late. I shouldn’t be blogging now. It’s way too late and I’ve had my Ambien. I probably won’t remember posting this in the morning.But today was an Atheist-heavy day for me.First, I said goodbye to my daughter as she went off to Camp Quest for a week. Man it’s hard to type well on ambien at 2AM. Anyway, she flew off by herself this time, as Hildy and I decided we needed a week to ourselves. IN past years, I’ve gone to CQ as a counselor, and I LOVED those kids, but this time I figured I needed some “wife time”, so we have a week to ourselves. My fingers keep hitting the wrong keys…So while Hildy was dropping off Rayanne at the airport (they only allow one parent to do this), I got together with Dennis Horvitz to film some Atheist Viewpoint episodes. Yup. First A/V episodes without Ellen. Weird. The good news is Dennis has experience with A/V, the bad news is he can’t be the main driver of the show due to time constraints, so the future of the viewpoint lay with me (or lies with me, I can’t tell, I’m sure Phreedm will have something to say there).We did 4 shows, and hey they sounded good. Tim will make them available on-line soon as we re-ramp-up the show website. Any suggestions for the Atheist Viewpoint TV show are welcomed. Tomorrow: Fangoria!

Tell me again why we don’t need a separation of church and state? This is a science teacher, and he’s doing what the parents want?

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The school board of a small central Ohio community voted unanimously Friday to fire a teacher accused of preaching his Christian beliefs despite staff complaints and using a device to burn the image of a cross on students’ arms.School board members voted 5-0 to fire Mount Vernon Middle School science teacher John Freshwater. Board attorney David Millstone said Freshwater is entitled to a hearing to challenge the dismissal.Freshwater denies wrongdoing and will request such a hearing, the teacher’s attorney, Kelly Hamilton, told the Mount Vernon News.School board members met a day after the consulting firm H.R. On Call Inc. released its report on the teacher’s case.The report came a week after a family filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Columbus against Freshwater and the school district, saying Freshwater burned a cross on a child’s arm that remained for three or four weeks….Other findings show that Freshwater taught that carbon dating was unreliable to argue against evolution.

In Service of the Cause of ReasonFrank R. ZindlerMadalyn Murray O?Hair would be quite astounded ? indeed, a bit dismayed ? to see me occupying the president?s chair of American Atheists, Inc., an office she herself first filled when she created the organization back in May of 1987. I say this because even though Madalyn was like a second mother to me and to my wife Ann, it was always clear that she expected the organization to be ruled by a dynasty of which she was the progenetrix. Indeed, the presidential mantle fell quickly upon the shoulders of her younger son Jon Garth Murray. There was ever the expectation that the third-generation president of American Atheists, Inc. would be an offspring either of the never-married Jon or of her granddaughter and adopted daughter Robin Murray-O?Hair. (Robin was the daughter of Madalyn?s estranged elder son William Murray, Jr.) Mind you, it is not that Madalyn would have felt me to be unqualified to hold this office. She would have known that I have been a member since 1977 and was elected to her board of directors in the early 1980s. She would have known that I was the author of several Atheist books, over fifty articles in American Atheist, and I had taken part in over 400 commercial radio and television talk-shows and debates against priests, creationists, theologians, religious apologists, enemies of the ?Wall of Separation between State and Church,? and Right-to-Single-Cell-Lifers. She would have known that for thirteen years after her death I had served faithfully as managing editor of her beloved American Atheist Press, publishing newsletters, magazines, books, and Atheist ephemera. No, she wouldn’t think I was unqualified (except perhaps because of my age) to be Acting President; but she probably would not be entirely pleased. I suspect that Madalyn would have been less disappointed when Ellen Johnson took the helm of her flagship, although I suspect that ?the most hated woman in America? would have been more than a trifle jealous of the glamorous and suave woman who captured media attention almost as much as she had ? certainly more effectively than had her son Jon Murray in his prematurely terminated tenure in office. Perhaps because my occupation of this office will be brief, there is something slightly surreal about my present status. Can I really ? in any significant sense ? be a successor to Madalyn Murray O?Hair? How could two people of such different temperaments and talents fill the same office, serve the same purpose, pursue the same goals? Are not the needs today of American Atheists different in many ways from those satisfied by the Murray-O?Hair family? Are not many needs the same as well? Would it be wise ? or prudent ? for me to imitate their practices in the face of changed circumstances? It is hard for me to grasp my successor status in large part because I never sought it and had little warning that it was imminent. I never seriously expected that Ellen Johnson would ever be removed from office. I always had hoped (and expected) that the increasing number of disagreements ? concerning policies, practices, and priorities ? between her and the boards of directors of the five affiliated American Atheists corporations would be resolved and that Ellen would be their president until the end of my life. Alas, that proved not to be the case. During the two weeks leading up to April 29, 2008, duly noticed special meetings that had been requested by majorities of all five boards of directors of the affiliated corporations were called by the Secretary for the purpose of ?ironing out? the differences. A decision had to be made, for example, whether or not the boards of directors were the controlling authorities of their respective corporations (as mandated by all five constitutions and bylaws) or not. A seemingly irreconcilable difference of opinion concerning who controlled American Atheists had to be resolved. But even more important was the question of who should be held most responsible for what American Atheists does ? or doesn?t do. The president or the board? Board members felt that under the constitu?tion and bylaws their fiduciary responsibilities were decisively greater than those of the president. For reasons of which I am unaware, Ellen did not participate in either meeting. Then, on the evening of April 29, 2008, a joint-session telephone conference was held by the boards of directors of American Atheists, Inc.; American Atheists General Headquarters, Inc.; Charles E. Stevens American Atheist Library & Archives, Inc. (CESAALA); Society of Separationists, Inc.; and United Secularists of America, Inc., with Ellen Johnson participating by cell-phone. Of the eleven men and three women comprising those directorships, constitutionally mandated majorities considered it their fiduciary duty to remove Ellen Johnson from the office she had held for thirteen years. I was among that majority. It was one of the most painful decisions I have ever had to make. Minutes later, I was nominated and unanimously elected Acting President of the five corporations. Thus began the surreal sensations that I still experience. It should be noted that the resolutions passed by the corporations effectively terminating Ellen?s presidency sought to respect her dignity by giving her 72 hours in which to submit a resignation ? failing which she would be removed from office. Public notices needing to be given before the deadline were deliberately nonspecific as to whether she had resigned or been fired. No resignation was forthcoming. Let me make it absolutely, bluntly clear: Ellen had done nothing illegal or even close to being illegal leading up to her termination from office. Nevertheless the many issues in dispute were substantial and of great importance if American Atheists is to remain secure, stable, and positioned for growth. As I have observed in reply to several letters I have received concerning the circumstances of the separation, it is like a divorce ?for irreconcilable differences.? Just as such divorces can nevertheless often be anguished and painful, so too is the present split. But it is also the case that even bitterly fought divorces can often lead to reconciliation after wounds have been healed by time. We earnestly hope that will be the case here as well. There is, however, a remaining area of dispute of which readers should be made aware. The Board of the Atheist library corporation CESAALA is asking Ellen to return diaries of Madalyn Murray O?Hair and other memorabilia salvaged from the Murray-O?Hair home back in 1996 after the murder of the ?First Family of Atheism.? According to the terms of their joint will, all such personal property was to become the possession of CESAALA ?with the stipulation that the library shall forever have the purpose of finding, preserving, and keeping Atheist and related books for research and enlightenment of Atheists.? The Board of Directors considers obtaining the diaries of its corporate founder a fundamental fiduciary duty. As this issue of American Atheist goes to press, no response from Ellen on this issue has been received. What, then, is the plan for my pro tempore presidency in succession to Madalyn Murray O?Hair? Perhaps because I am serving without salary and the job is extremely difficult, my plan is quite simple: to put myself out of office as soon as possible and to be succeeded by someone of whom Madalyn might be more proud. The boards of directors have asked me to publish an advertisement in this issue of American Atheist soliciting applications to fill the office of president. I am confident that we will receive applications from at least several men and women of whom not only Madalyn would be proud but ? more importantly by far ? you will be proud.

I’ve often wondered about the actual religious beliefs of some of our preacher friends like Pat Robertson and Benny Hinn. I think they are all Atheists — and scam artists. I’d love to hook them up to a lie detector and ask if they believe in god.But I wonder now about the general population of believers. How many of them only THINK they believe (or wish it to be true), but if you pin them down they really don’t.So this one is for those believers on the blog, and then for us all to trounce on them.Theists:1) Do you really believe in Adam and Eve, the talking snake, and the woman from man’s rib stuff? Really?2) Do you really believe an all-knowing God put the tree of knowledge in the G/E, then got so pissed off that Eve ate the apple that god put in front of her (knowing she would eat it, since God is omnicient)that he doomed all humanity with original sin, creating Hell for his beloved children? Really?3) Do you really believe that all-knowing and all-loving God then murdered the entire planet in the flood except Noah and his family (including the daughters who raped him), who had 1.5 billion animals on this hand-made boat for 40 days? Really? How did the penguins get there? how did they get back? Really?4) One last question — Is there anything in the Bible you DON’T believe?

Can you tell I’m having a bad day? I won’t bore you with the details, but the last 24 hours have brought two pieces of really lousy news for me (personally). Plans have been laid to waste and everything just generally sucks.Right about now I understand the appeal of mythology a little bit more. How wonderful would it be if everything was part of some divine grand plan? How great would it be if the tough times were irrelevant, considering the eternal bliss that awaits me in Heaven. Man, that’s attractive!But alas, I am condemned to take life seriously, look on the bright sides, and try to make lemonade out of lemons. I guess that’s reality for ya.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain held a town hall meeting in New York City that was carried live on Fox News tonight that was billed as town hall with Democrats and Independents. The problem is that this wasn?t really true. The McCain campaign pre-screened the audience, and invited only supporters to attend. DNC Chairman Howard Dean said, “Once again John McCain’s campaign is trying to mislead the American people. Senator McCain should understand that after seven years of a President who has divided Americans and pursued a scorched earth policy full of misleading propaganda campaigns, we need a leader who understands he is the President for all Americans not just his supporters. Copying the Bush campaign model of stacking events with his prescreened supporters is not the transparency Americans are looking for. If that is Senator McCain’s idea of straight talk, the American people are in for a long and disappointing campaign season.”The world found out about the McCain campaign?s deception from Fox News anchor Sheppard Smith who said, ?I reported at the top of this hour that the campaign had told us at Fox News that the audience would be made up of Republicans, Democrats, and independents. We have now received a clarification from the campaign and I feel I should pass it along to you. The McCain campaign distributed tickets to supporters, Mayor Bloomberg, who of course is a registered Republican, and other independent groups.”You know, I could have sworn that I heard the McCain campaign touting this town hall meeting as featuring Democrats and Independents. I know that they are desperate to cast John McCain as a maverick with across the board appeal, but lying about the composition of his audience for town hall meetings is not the way to do it.

This reminds me of that time a year or so ago when Bush answered questions from our “troops”. These troops had pre-scripted questions provided by BushCo and they each had orders to grab the mike from anyone who went off-script. They weren’t allowed to ask about the lack of body-armor, instead they asked why so much of the country was so unpatriotic as to question the war.Now, McBush is stacking his own deck in the same “protect me from real questions” vein. Billed as a wide audience,attendes are actually supporters only. Perhaps McBush can’t stand questions about real issues like the Separation of Church and State or the make-up of the Supreme Court.

As most of you know, I’m a pretty patriotic guy. I love this country and all it *really* stands for (as opposed to the greed, theocracy, and intolerance that fills our courtrooms and political offices nowadays).But sometimes I feel like a tool for waving the flag. So many do it blindly and ignorantly, that it makes those of us who KNOW what the Constitution says look bad — even foolish.Then there’s the whole patriotism/religion link. Am I pro-America JUST because I was born here? Would I love America had I been born in Canada? Probably not, because I never would have studied that theocratic greedy nation to the south. But having been here for 41 years, I definitely have a sense of attachment to the Constitution and the flag that represents it.At any rate, the American thing to do is discuss it. Patriotism. Happy Flag Day.

Disclaimer: This entire post comes third hand. I did not see the incident I am about to describe, but the details come from very reliable sources.Some of you may remember Greydon Square as the talented rapper who performed at the AAI convention last year. Most of you know Brian Sapient from his many debates, including his total trouncing of Roy Comfort and Kirk Cameron on ABC.Apparently, a disagreement between Greydon and Brian ended in Greydon beating the crap out of Brian. Here is Brian’s response. http://www.rationalresponders.com/forum/14187FOR THE RECORD, this country needs a lot more Brian Sapients, and in a world where Atheists are the most hated group in the country I think infighting (especially when it’s ACTUAL fighting) is impermissible. We are not lower animals.If this story is true, I’m going to do everything I can as a Board Member and as a member of our Convention Committee to make sure Greydon doesn’t come perform at our conventions. I don’t think I’m going to get any resistance on that either.If Greydon chooses to respond, he is welcomed to do so here.

This thread spontaneously became a thread on the Israeli settlements and the lifting of the “thou shalt keep the Sabbath Holy” commandment for political gain. Enjoy.

It is apparent that some of you would like to discuss this topic even if it is not germane to this blog. That recognized, let’s discuss.I talked to Rep. Conyers about impeachment several months ago when GAMPAC attended a fund raiser for the congressman.Personally, I have a lot of respect for this congressman. Please remember that the Congress has recent history of the destructiveness an impeachment process can have on the nation when the Republicans took us through the process without any expectation of success. They knew from the very first vote in the House’s Judiciary Committee was a straight party vote; Reps yes, Dems no.Rep. Conyers would face the exact same results now. So with the current Democrat majority, the House could ram some or all of these articles of impeachment through to impeachment. But then Rep. Conyers would face the exact same roadblock with the Senate that Rep. Hyde ran up against in the Clinton Impeachment. Because of all the Larry Craigs in the Senate, Rep. Conyers would never succeed in getting a super majority to vote for the impeachment. Fortunately for Dems, Rep. Conyers refuses to go down in history as big a loser as Rep. Hyde.A good prosecutor knows not to take a case to court when she knows she would never succeed in getting the right verdict. Sorry to rain on your parades, but as an Atheist, it is incumbent we face reality.Let’s hope the Idiot in Chief is dumb enough to go overseas after he leaves office and is arrested for massive war crimes and made to stand trial.Peter Nuhn