americanatheists

How the heck am I supposed to feel on Labor Day? It’s the end of the summer, yet the weather is perfect. Good or bad? Happy or bummed? I can’t decide how to feel!Happy Labor day. Here’s a politics-free thread to talk about the last long-weekend until Thanksgiving (Columbus Day for some).

American Atheists supports the separation of church and state and does not endorse candidates or parties.This is the official thread for the Republican National Convention of Christian Conservatives.Dave’s opinion (again)

Anyone who thinks “god did it” is science is either too ignorant to be President, or too dishonest (and is lying to get votes). We’ve had 8 years with a stupid President. When Bush was elected, he was a good-looking, Christian Conservative with far too little experience, and everyone knew he wasn’t too bright. See how well it worked out? Ms. Palin seems to be a female Bush.

‘Creation science’ enters the race’GOVERNOR: Palin is only candidate to suggest it should be discussed in schools.By TOM KIZZIAAnchorage Daily News(Published: October 27, 2006)The volatile issue of teaching creation science in public schools popped up in the Alaska governor’s race this week when Republican Sarah Palin said she thinks creationism should be taught alongside evolution in the state’s public classrooms.Palin was answering a question from the moderator near the conclusion of Wednesday night’s televised debate on KAKM Channel 7 when she said, “Teach both. You know, don’t be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important, and it’s so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both.”… The Republican Party of Alaska platform says, in its section on education: “

We support giving Creation Science equal representation with other theories of the origin of life. If evolution is taught, it should be presented as only a theory.

“

(CNN) — Sen. John McCain has picked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, a senior McCain campaign official told CNN on Friday.Palin, 44,who’s in her first term as governor, is a pioneering figure in Alaska, the first woman and the youngest person to hold the state’s top political job.She catapulted to the post with a strong reputation as a political outsider, forged during her stint in local politics. She was mayor and a council member of the small town of Wasilla and was chairman of the state Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which regulates Alaska’s oil and gas resources, in 2003 and 2004.The conservative Palin defeated two so-called political insiders to win the governor’s job — incumbent Gov. Frank Murkowski in the GOP primary and former two-term Democratic Gov. Tony Knowles in the 2006 general election. Palin made her name in part by backing tough ethical standards for politicians. During the first legislative session after her election, her administration passed a state ethics law overhaul.Palin’s term has not been without controversy. A legislative investigation is looking into allegations that Palin fired Alaska’s public safety commissioner because he refused to fire the governor’s former brother-in-law, a state trooper.Palin acknowledged that a member of her staff made a call to a trooper in which the staffer suggested he was speaking for the governor.Palin has admitted that the call could be interpreted as pressure to fire state trooper Mike Wooten, who was locked in a child-custody battle with Palin’s sister.”I am truly disappointed and disturbed to learn that a member of this administration contacted the Department of Public Safety regarding Trooper Wooten,” Palin said. “At no time did I authorize any member of my staff to do so.”Palin suspended the staffer who made the call.

McBush has just thrown the election — a VP in her first-term as governor of Alaska, one heartbeat away from the presidency. No real experience, no clout, no knowledge, and no fame.OH, and she’s ALREADY INVOLVED IN A CORRUPTION SCANDALAlso, McBush can no longer challenge Obama’s qualifications to be president, and indeed Obama can rip apart his judgement (as he began to do last night) for placing someone so woefully inexperienced in such a position of potential power. Palin is conservative, but unlikely to woo the Christian conservatives because she is a woman, and social liberals will still never vote for this ticket over the Obama camp.I look forward to the VP debate.

American Atheists does not endorse political candidates or parties. This post is Dave’s opinion.But that speech was very very good. The Senator spoke several times about education and science, and if I recall only mentioned religion in his closing sentence and the obligatory GBA (can we really fault him for that?)What I DID notice is that he mentioned several issues, including abortion, gay marriage, guns, etc, speaking about finding common ground, but never religion. I guess since that issue has dogged him, he figured there was no place to go with it.Anyway, good speech. I personally feel better about him.

Lori Lipman Brown, director of the Secular Coalition for America, will be featured in The Colbert Report’s “Better Know a Lobby” series during the broadcast tomorrow night, Thursday, August 28 at 11:30pm EST, 10:30 central on the Comedy Central cable channel.Of course, even in the fake news business, events can overtake programming schedules, but barring breaking news, the segment will run on Thursday.Lori spent two hours being grilled by Stephen Colbert in his New York City Studio on Wednesday, August 13th for the fifth in Colbert’s 35,000 part series, “Better Know a Lobby”.Representing “The Fightin’ Heathens,” Brown gamely explained secular values, endured Mr. Colbert’s withering (and hilarious) interrogation and played along with some outrageous antics, all the while sporting her prized WRISTSTRONG bracelet.The Secular Coalition expects the final product, a roughly 5-minute segment, to be entertaining – perhaps even enlightening – and is eager to see how big a “Colbert Bump” the segment produces for the organization.Previously, the series has profiled the Brady Campaign (Fightin’ Pacifists), Sierra Club (Fightin’ Treehuggers), Human Rights Campaign (Fightin’ Gays) and the Drug Policy Alliance (Fightin’ Stoners).We will post a link to the interview on our home page as soon as it is available. In the meantime, please feel free to post and share this exciting news.Thanks very much!AnneAnne Singer, Communications DirectorSecular Coalition for Americae-mail: anne@secular.orgwww.secular.org

We support the separation of church and state, but do not endorse candidates or parties.The DNC Convention. Discuss

Denmark Intends to Publish MEDINA Danish publishers association Trykkeselskabet has approved the publication of Shery Jones’s novel THE JEWEL OF MEDINA in Denmark. A spokesperson told a Danish newspaper, “Fear or threats should not keep a book from being published. It would be principally and entirely a renewal of all that Denmark has already been through with the Mohammed cartoon affair.”To that point, Jones’s agent Natasha Kern wrote to the society, “When you consider what’s happened in your country, I admire your readiness to ensure that freedom of expression is not obstructed.”

http://jp.dk/uknews/article1417184.ece

The novel was brought into the spotlight in the US after Denise Spellman, a professor of Islamic history at the University of Texas, was quoted in the Wall Street Journal as saying the book was ‘much more controversial than the Mohammed drawings from Denmark’. She called any decision to publish the book a ‘declaration of war’ against Muslims.But Trykkeselskabet indicated that it felt the book needed to be published.’Fear or threats should not keep a book from being published,’ association spokeswoman Helle Merete Brix told Nyhedsavisen newspaper. ‘It would be principally and entirely a renewal of all that Denmark has already been through with the Mohammed cartoon affair.’

Nuff Said

August 22, 2008 Fundamentalist Group Drops Public Funding Windfall After Americans United Protest Kentucky Arm Of ‘Teen Challenge’ Gives Up $50,000 Federal Grant A fundamentalist Christian group that claims to help young people overcome drug and alcohol addiction through Bible study and prayer has given up a federal grant after Americans United for Separation of Church and State protested the funding.Attorneys with Americans United wrote a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in June, noting that a $50,000 grant to Teen Challenge of Kentucky raised serious constitutional issues. The money was allocated through the Compassion Capital Fund, a special program created as part of President George W. Bush?s ?faith-based? initiative.Teen Challenge, Americans United pointed out, requires participants to take part in prayer, worship, Bible study and other religious activities. Program participants must sign a ?Civil Rights Waiver? in which each surrenders the right to ?exercis[e] the religion of my choice.?Applicants for the program are required to describe their Christian faith and agree to conduct themselves in a ?Christ-like manner.? The organization vows to offer ?deliverance from addiction through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and practical application of Biblical principles.?Public funding of such sectarian activities, Americans United asserted, would clearly violate the First Amendment.In response to Americans United?s letter, an official with HHS wrote to say that Teen Challenge ?voluntarily terminated? its participation in the program.The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, said he was pleased with the outcome but noted that Teen Challenge should never have received public funds in the first place.?Teen Challenge boasts about its program being saturated with fundamentalist Christianity and makes it clear that required participation in religious activities is key to its approach,? Lynn said. ?I cannot imagine a worse candidate for tax funding. ?Bush administration officials have claimed that they do not fund religious activities, but this grant suggests otherwise,? he continued. ?Apparently their policy is to do it until they get caught.?Lynn noted that while Teen Challenge and other fundamentalist ?faith-based? groups often claim high rates of success, no empirical data backs up the claim.?Tax funds were being funneled to this organization even though it openly boasts about its religious content, and there?s no evidence its approach even works,? Lynn said. ?This incident is a perfect example of what?s so wrong with faith-based initiatives.?AU Senior Litigation Counsel Alex Luchenitser, who handled the AU complaint about the funding, said, ?This was a clear example of unconstitutional support of religious coercion and discrimination. I?m glad we were able to bring the matter to an appropriate conclusion.?

American Atheists extends our congratulations and compliments to Americans United for your outstanding activism and bloodless victory in exposing and blocking an unconstitutional expenditure of federal funds unlawfully going to a religious organization in Kentucky.

WASHINGTON ? Senator Barack Obama has chosen Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware to be his running-mate, turning to a leading authority on foreign policy and a longtime Washington hand to fill out the Democratic ticket, people told of the decision said.Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, questioning Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a committee hearing in January 2007.Mr. Obama?s selection ended a two-month search that was conducted almost entirely in secret. It reflected a critical strategic choice by Mr. Obama: To go with a running-mate who could reassure voters about gaps in his resume, rather than to pick someone who could deliver a state or reinforce Mr. Obama?s message of change.

Biden’s a good choice, except for the name. How long will it be before certain older-than-dirt Bushies “slip up” and instead of saying “Obama/Biden” they say “Osama Bin Laden”? It rhymes, so they must be terrorists.

LANCASTER, Pa. (Aug. 20) – The Amish are expanding their presence in states far beyond Pennsylvania Dutch country as they search for affordable farmland to accommodate a population that has nearly doubled in the past 16 years, a new study found.States such as Missouri, Kentucky and Minnesota have seen increases in their Amish populations of more than 130 percent. The Amish now number an estimated 227,000 nationwide, up from 123,000 in 1992, according to researchers from Elizabethtown College’s Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies.Over the same period, Amish settlements have been established in seven new states, putting them in at least 28 states from coast to coast. The new states are: Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Mississippi, Nebraska, Washington and West Virginia.

Well, at 230K, it’s not really an “ambush”, and Amish don’t really do anything bad on a sect-wide level (unless you count how they treat each other, and their annoying habit of driving their buggies in the street). And they do make nice quilts.But guess what they don’t do — READ THIS BLOG. BAD AMISH!