http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7700710.stm

Pope Benedict XVI has approved the new guidanceThe Roman Catholic Church has issued guidance for future priests to have psychological tests to weed out those unable to control their sexual urges.A senior churchman said a series of sex scandals had contributed to the rewriting of the guidelines.The authors said screening would help avoid “tragic situations” caused by what they termed psychological defects.The guidance says the voluntary tests should also aim to vet for those with “deep-seated homosexual tendencies”.Among other traits that might make a candidate unsuitable for the priesthood, the advice lists “uncertain sexual identity,” “excessive rigidity of character” and “strong affective dependencies”.The document also makes reference to heterosexual urges.Seminarians should be barred if testing makes it “evident the candidate has difficulty living in celibacy: That is, if celibacy for him is lived as a burden so heavy that it compromises his affective and relational equilibrium”, it says.

I am loving this from several angles:1) How stupid is it to make these tests, and have them be voluntary? Is some wanna-be priest going to elect to take a test that may force him out of the priesthood, in front of his family and friends? Is he going to WANT to take a test if he ALREADY has thoughts about raping kids? “Gee Mom, I know I’ve been training for years to be a priest, but I elected to take a test and it said I have questionable sexual tendencies”. Yeah. They’ll be lining up to take it.2) How much does this show that the Holy See has absolutely no intention of solving the problem, allowing priests to skip the tests, and STILL not allowing them to marry? This is why there aren’t enough priests! Priesthood sucks — and people know it. Not brain surgery.3) What the hell does “excessive rigidity of character” and “strong affective dependencies” mean, anyway? Aren’t priests SUPPOSED to be rigid and affect many lives? What kind of people are they looking for here?

I just got off the phone with D. Paul Monteiro, the Deputy Director of Religious Affairs for Obama for America, who expressed concern over Carl Silverman?s report and wanted to set the record straight. Mr. Montiero denied the statement saying it was someone else’s, but recordings were made and are being reviewed. We also have some statements from the Obama Camp coming our way, so please stay tuned.

The following is from Carl Silverman (No relation, but a well-known atheist activist and friend). The viewes expressed herein are not the views of American Atheists — we don’t directly support political candidates, but we do urge people to make calls and complain when assholes run off at the mouth.

Friends,First let me say that, despite what you are about to read, I still encourage everyone to vote for Obama. As we all know, we must focus on the Supreme Court.Nevertheless…..My wife and I went to the “Presidential Forum” http://www.christian-life.com/calendar/forum.htmllast night (Wednesday 10/29/08) at the Christian Life Academy, a megachurch here in Camp Hill, PA, expecting to be offended by the McCain-Palin surrogates. The event was being recorded/televised, probably for podcasting on the Christian Life website, but I’m not sure. I have listed the participants at bottom of this page.I submitted a question, specifically for the McCain-Palin people. Here’s the question, as asked by the moderator, who only slightly rephrased it from the original:”With at least 8% of Pennsylvanians being atheists, agnostics, and humanists, what are the McCain-Palin campaign going to say tonight to attract any undecided voters from that group of Pennsylvanians?”McCain’s National Evangelical Director, Marlys Pompa, said that McCain was going to be a president of all the people, people “of all faiths and no faiths.” She mentioned the “wonderful melting pot” of America, and generally emphasized the inclusiveness and unity of a McCain presidency. She, of course, did not mention Palin.The moderator then proceeded to ask another question, this time directed to the Obama campaign, but the Obama representatives insisted on responding to my question first.Don Miller, an author and social conservative who delivered a prayer at the Democratic convention, said, “Senator Obama has a policy director and an advisor for many different faiths. He has nothing on atheists or agnostics. There’s not this grand effort for the Democrats to reach out to a group of pagans to try to get them to vote for Senator Obama.”D. Paul Monteiro, Obama’s National Deputy Director for Religious Affairs, then said, “Senator Obama has a twenty-year history, a twenty-year testimony” and described Obama’s support for Bush’s “faith-based partnership program” and how Obama said “no” to those who distributed flyers at the Democratic National Convention urging him, on the basis of church-state separation, to oppose public funding of faith-based initiatives.Then, referring to Sen. Obama, Monteiro proclaimed, “This is not some crazy wacko atheist trying to make sure that your children grow up to marry trees.”Yes, Obama’s aides not only gloated that they were not actively seeking the votes of atheists, agnostics, and pagans, but delivered a slur of such an egregious nature that, if targeted against Christians or Jews, would have likely been fatal to Obama’s campaign. I can’t imagine Barack himself making such a grossly insulting statement.In addition, there was a dispute over whether Obama supported or opposed discriminatory hiring by publicly funded faith-based programs. David Barton, founder of the WallBuilders organization, claimed that Obama opposed discriminatory hiring, but Obama’s National Evangelical Coordinator Shaun Casey claimed that was untrue. To my recollection, based on Obama’s past statements, Barton was correct and Casey was wrong.In the future, I think atheists and other rationalists should create their own political party, not in the hopes of winning in this “Christian nation,” but at least to act as a spoiler against any candidate who does not treat us with the same respect to which believers feel they are entitled.Again, please vote for Barack, if only because Palin must be stopped.Feel free to forward or publish this message, but only IN ITS ENTIRETY.Carl H. SilvermanCamp Hill, PA[apologies if this email is poorly formatted]Copyright 2008, Carl H. Silverman. All rights reserved, except permission is granted to forward (or publish) this message in its entirety.

There is the post to the unedited Oreilly show. He was OK. Never knew Hagan, never helped her. but they took this old footage and used it against her.Unethical bigoted liars.http://www.vimeo.com/2105815

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_10/015426.phphttp://beltwayblips.com/video/dole_s_promise_ad_on_hagan/I used to like Liz Dole, until she turned into “HateZilla”

October 29, 2008WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE WEAK GET RIDICULOUS…. Recent polling shows Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R) trailing in her re-election fight in North Carolina against Democrat Kay Hagan, so it stands to reason that she’s getting a little desperate.I didn’t think she’d get this desperate.Sen. Elizabeth Dole’s latest advertisement suggests her Democratic opponent,Kay Hagan, is a godless heathen.”A leader of the Godless Americans PAC recently held a secret fundraiser for Kay Hagan,” the 30-second spot says, showing footage of the group’s members talking about their atheist beliefs on cable news.”Godless Americans and Kay Hagan. She hid from cameras. Took godless money,” the ad concludes. “What did Kay Hagan promise in return?”At the very end of the ad, a voice sounding like Hagan’s says: “There is no God.”Seriously, Dole used a Hagan impersonator to make voters think she’s an atheist.It’s hard to know where to start with an ad this deplorable. First, Hagan is actually a Sunday school teacher and an elder in her church. Second, the fundraiser in question was co-hosted by 40 people, one of whom is on the board of an atheist political action committee. Third, there’s nothing scandalous about non-believers.And fourth, what the hell is “godless money”?Hagan held a press conference this morning with her family and pastor to denounce the ad, and announced that if Dole didn’t pull the ad, she would seek a cease-and-desist order.Even in a campaign cycle filled with sleazy, deplorable attacks, Dole has disgraced herself in a way few thought possible.

American Atheists has no official comment right now. But you can have your own.

Back in June, I completely fisked an article by this guy, Yomin Postelnik, where he claimed to have “logical proof” of God’s existence, and boasted that he’d show atheism to be illogical. The article was beyond a joke, so I butchered it (and him) mercilessly. YP didn’t take too kindly to that, and started calling the ACA (who have nothing to do with the blog), making vague legal threats if my post wasn’t taken down, that kind of thing. Over the next few days, he underwent a highly entertaining online meltdown, posting hysterical rants on Richard Dawkins Forum and other locations. Oh yes… he also thought the best way to get revenge for my article would be to vandalize my Wikipedia page with accusations of drug addiction and pedophilia. I let this lie for a while, since the guy had pretty much self-destructed online. But after THREE months, here he was, still obsessing over me and having his attorney send me cease and desist letters, which was patently bizarre. All this time, he’d been accusing ME of stalking and harassment — basically, everything he was doing to me — and I finally decided enough was enough. So I’m suing him for libel and defamation. In other words, after three months of him crying wolf I’m calling his bluff. Thank to donation help from many folks in the atheist blogosphere, the suit was filed last week and YP is getting served this week. I’ve set up a separate blog explaining everything here. You can see some of the over-the-top behavior this guy has engaged in, including starting up four blogs solely to smear me with. (You can scroll down to read the first post.) http://thisisjustinsane.blogspot.com/ Pharyngula linked to it last month, helping get the ball rolling. http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/09/help_an_atheist_out.php In addition to all the money of mine I’ve been pumping into this, the kind donations of the atheist blogosphere, and all the fine folks who have agreed that this guy’s actions are simply inexcusable, have been a huge help. I’ve been told a suit like this (on which I’ve already paid about $2300) can run anywhere from $5000 to $10,000, especially if YP decides to be an idiot and try to defend it in trial. (The evidence I have linking his IP address to the Wikipedia vandalism is solid, and to date, the ONLY excuse YP has for why his IP is on the libelous edits is — get this — that *I* “spoofed” his IP address and basically libeled myself in order to defame him by accusing him of it!) As I’m now in the second round of donation soliciting, I thought I’d try some different online atheist outlets than before (I didn’t come to you the first time because I wanted to test how willing people might be to help out in the first place, considering how fucked up the economy is, and also because PZ and I have met). If you get the chance, would you be willing to read over the links I provided you? And then, if you agree with what I’m doing and that YP’s behavior is disgraceful, maybe you’d be willing to write a post for NoGodBlog letting people know that they can pitch in if they see fit? I have a deal where a $15 donation will get you a T-shirt, but if people can’t afford that, hell, even $3 and $5 donations make a huge difference. There are about 150 people on my current donor list, and it would be nice to add 200-300 people to that, just so the same folks aren’t the ones I’m always going back to. Anyway, I appreciate your time and consideration. If you decide this isn’t appropriate for NoGodBlog, I certainly understand. But I thought your readers might enjoy contributing to a little creationist pwnage! Take to you soon,Martin

Well, I certainly think it’s appropriate. This is a form of religious terrorism. Lies to protect lies. Please check this out.

I had always thought of the Girl Scouts as an all-inclusive group, as opposed to their male bigoted counterparts. I remember at the Atheists in Foxholes Event, a local chapter of the GS passed out candy bars to Atheist veterans, just to be nice.Then I got this link from a person whose daughter has been “offered the opportunity to opt out” of saying the GS pledge. The GS does specifically mention God in their pledge, although it seems to be a small g. Still, it’s very unsettling and I wonder, if they are going to be so open to let people interpret God as they see fit, why they put such a divisive statement in in the first place.http://www.girlscouts.org/program/gs_central/promise_law/

The Girl Scout Promise and Law are shared by every member of Girl Scouting. The Girl Scout Promise is the way Girl Scouts agree to act every day toward one another and other people, and the Law outlines a way to act towards one another and the world.The Girl Scout PromiseOn my honor, I will try: To serve God* and my country, To help people at all times, And to live by the Girl Scout Law.The Girl Scout LawI will do my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible for what I say and do,and to respect myself and others, respect authority, use resources wisely, make the world a better place, and be a sister to every Girl Scout.* The word “God” can be interpreted in a number of ways, depending on one’s spiritual beliefs. When reciting the Girl Scout Promise, it is okay to replace the word “God” with whatever word your spiritual beliefs dictate.

For almost a decade The Infidel Guy show has been a voice of reason right to your PC. Now, IG.com is under threat of disappearing. Obama talked about the small businesses that are losing customers and can’t get loans. Well.. IG.com was one of those. Over the past 3 years we have lost over 75% of our subscriber base. Over 95% of the cancellations were the result of gold members losing their jobs. This isn’t enough to keep the site going as well as my children fed and healthy. After fighting and losing to keep staff and volunteers, I just may have to throw in the towel. After struggling for years to make IG.com a success, I am now heavily considering re-enlisting into the Army again. This is no joke! Infidelguy.com is now currently in it’s most dire state since it’s inception in 1999.

Infidel Guy is a part of our movement and your support is needed. www.infidelguy.com

Wow. Pretty amazing how gas prices tend to plummet right before the election. It’s almost as if certain government officials have a hand in the price of gas and want to make us think the economy is improving, even though it’s not, just to support their candidate in the election.Nah…

AMERICAN ATHEISTS http://www.atheists.org BUCKNER SPEAKS MONDAY, OCT. 27 AT U. OF WEST GA. FORUM – POLITICS & RELIGION ED BUCKNER, President of American Atheists will be a panelist this Monday, Oct. 27, 2008 at the University of West Georgia focusing on “THINGS YOU DON’T TALK ABOUT AT PARTIES: A FORUM ON POLITICS AND RELIGION.” Dr. Buckner will be joined by author Rick Halpern and Rev. Steve Davis of the Carrollton First Baptist Church. Panelists will discuss a wide range of topics suggested by the students, including religion, state-church separation, electoral and moral issues as well. “I’ve spoken here before at the invitation of Dr. Lori Lipoma and students at West Georgia, so I know it will be a stimulating and interesting evening,” said Dr. Buckner. “I look forward to talking about American Atheists and American politics and religion.” The event is free and open to the public. It will be held at the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, Georgia in TLC 1305, 7:00 PM. For directions and further information, visit http://www.westga.edu/ or contact Dr. Lipoma of the UWG Free Thought Society, llipoma@westga.edu or Ed Buckner, ebuckner@atheists.org, or call 908-499-9200. WHO & WHAT: Dr. Ed Buckner, President of American Atheists at a panel on “Politics and Religion.” WHERE: University of West Georgia, Carrollton, TLC 1305 WHEN: Monday, October 27, 2008 at 7:00 PM MORE INFO: http://www.westga.edu/ or contact Dr. Lipoma of the UWG Free Thought Society, llipoma@westga.edu or Ed Buckner, ebuckner@atheists.org, or call 908-499-9200. (AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends civil rights for nonbelievers; works for the total separation of church and state; and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy.)