americanatheists

John Arthur Henderson, M.D., a retired Air Force Flight Surgeon and General Surgeon from Asheville, North Carolina, just died (on 31 August 2008). He was 85. Henderson graduated with honors from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in 1945. He interned at the Research and Educational Hospital, Chicago, Illinois; and was surgical resident at Scott and White Clinic, Temple, Texas. During his Air Force career, he served in England, Spain, and Japan. Within the United States, he was stationed in various states from New York to California. Dr. Henderson, well respected in the medical community, gained national respect and affection for his powerful freethought words, heard and read by many people across the nation. He had improved steadily as an effective speaker, charming audiences even as he inspired them to think. His wit and easy manner as a speaker, along with his popular constant traveling companion, his wife Ruth, made him increasingly in demand as a speaker, with repeat performances at venues where he had spoken earlier increasingly the norm. He had addressed both local freethought groups, like Atlanta Freethought Society and the Secular Humanists of the Low Country (in Charleston), or at Furman University, and national events like the Freethought Advance in Alabama or other atheist conferences. He served on the speaker’s bureau for Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers His talks, his books, and his letters to the editor forced many to think and to laugh, often simultaneously. Henderson’s philosophical reputation grew steadily as well in recent years, with each of his books presenting a deepening complexity without sacrificing his sharp wit. He touched the lives of countless people, first as a doctor, then as a writer and speaker. He will be much missed.His books included god.com: a deity for the new millennium (2005), Fear Faith, Fact, Fantasy (2004), and Judging God: It Is Time to Judge Religions and Their Gods (2007; with Craig Gurgew).Condolences can be sent to his wife Ruth at jrh828@webtv.net.Ed BucknerSmyrna GA USA

Maybe you?ve heard from others, read in the newspaper, or been told during a worship service this election is an important one in Florida. Not just because of the upcoming Presidential, Congressional, or Statewide elections but because Florida is home to the biggest attack on the Constitutional separation of church and state in any state in recent memory. As an AU activist, we need you to help us stop Amendments 7 and 9 on the Florida ballot! As you may know, Amendments 7 and 9 would eviscerate the religious liberty safeguards that currently exist in the Florida Constitution and allow money to flow directly to religious organizations and houses of worship. The stripping of these important guarantees of freedom, combined with an undermining of the language that protects public schools in the Constitution, would allow a massive school voucher scheme to slip by Floridians and harm the educational opportunities for our children. Moreover, if Amendments 7 and 9 pass, the weakened Florida Constitution simply won?t be able to protect Floridians against harmful violations to their religious freedom. On behalf of our tenacious chapters and outspoken activists in Florida, AU will not stand for this. That?s why we?ve launched Floridians United to Defend Our Constitution, and created the comprehensive web resource www.NOon7and9.org. Now, we need you to take the lead and urge others to vote NO on 7 and 9. NOon7and9.org contains information on the amendments and how to become an advocate for their defeat. It?s not hard we?ve made it easy with talking points, printable hand-outs, answers to Frequently Asked Questions, and more!