What a year it’s been! No matter how you slice it, these last twelve months have been very eventful (UNDERSTATEMENT)!But before I retire with my family for the evening, I’d like to thank you all for reading, publicizing, and commenting on the blog, and even more so for your continued support of our activism. Your donations and volunteer work have helped us make real progress this year.Thank you all, and Happy New Year.

The Secular Coalition For America has released some suggested resolutions on which I cannot improve. Check them out, watch the video, and do as you see fit!

Two-thirds of Americans think religion is losing its influence on U.S. life, a sharp jump from just three years ago when Americans were nearly evenly split on the question, according to a new Gallup Poll.Sixty-seven percent of Americans think religious influence is waning while just 27% say it is increasing. That perspective demonstrates a continuing downward trend, Gallup said.

The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday that its aircraft had bombed more than 40 tunnels linking the blockaded Gaza Strip with Egypt’s Sinai desert on Sunday, one day after the launch of the largest Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip since it captured the territory in 1967.”The air force just attacked over 40 tunnels found on the Gaza side of the border. Those tunnels, we believe, were used for smuggling weapons, explosives and sometimes people,” an IDF spokeswoman told reporters, after two days of intensive air strikes that killed nearly 300Palestinians and wounded close to 800.Palestinian sources reported that two people had been killed in the strike. Witnesses said that fires raged in the area and that dozens of explosions were heard.

Separately… http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1050626.html

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a religious decree to Muslims around the world on Sunday, ordering them to defend Palestinians against Israel’s attacks on Gaza, state television said.”All Palestinian combatants and all the Islamic world’s pious people are obliged to defend the defenceless women, children and people in Gaza in any way possible. Whoever is killed in this legitimate defense is considered a martyr,” state television quoted Khamenei as saying in a statement.

More fighting over land, money, and of course gods. My theistic Jewish relatives seem disappointed when I tell them I have no intention of traveling to Israel, but traveling to the “Region of Unlimited Unstoppable Religious War” is simply unappealing to me — especially when The Bahamas is closer.

Today I needed an MRI done on my knee, which under normal circumstances is hardly blogworthy, but this time was a little different. I needed an MRI with CONTRAST, which means they had to inject a dye in my arm.Now, about 30 years ago, I cut my hand on a piece of glass and it actually cut my artery in my palm. So, I went to the hospital to get the sliced repaired, and they injected me with dye.And then I woke up, and a nice nurse was standing over me smiling me saying “we almost lost you”. Apparently, the dye had caused my heart to stop, and they had to use the paddles they use on TV to get me living again.For the record, no, I didn’t hear anything, see anything, or have any kind of experience at all. All I got from the experience was a better appreciation for my own mortality.I must admit swallowing hard when they injected the dye today, despite their assurances that it was a totally different type of dye, and I was very very unlikely to have that kind of reaction, and even if I did they could help me because I was already in a hospital. In the end, they were right, and I had no reaction at all. Science rocks. Let’s just hope they can fix my knee.

I am using this space to remind everyone about another new feature on the website — the DONATION SECTION (under “Join and Support” on the main page). These times are tough for everyone, and American Atheists needs your support. FYI, almost everyone you hear about at American Atheists is a volunteer, including myself and Jared (who programmed the new page), as well as most Board Members and all State Directors. Only office people, the magazine editor, and the President get paid (poorly). We do this for our cause and country. If we are to move forward and fully utilize this wave of support, we need your help to make it happen.Please make your tax-deductible contributions today, so you can get a tax write-off for 2008.Give until it feels good.

Growing up, my father had a small car stereo business, and of course, Xmas was the busy season. We’d stay open late and work Sundays every day between Thanksgiving and Xmas.And then, every Xmas Eve, the same story: crowded in the morning, and then DEAD in the afternoon. I mean DEAD. NO customers, NO passers-by. Nothing. As I got older, I realized that Xmas Eve Afternoon was the BEST time to go shopping, because all the stores were open and all the shoppers were gone.Flash forward a decade or two. Yesterday, I went shopping at a large local mall. We waited until about 2pm to make sure all the Christians had done all their last-minute shopping and headed out to our empty-but-still-open mall.Here’s the punchline — the mall was PACKED. I’m talking driving around, looking for parking PACKED. And the mall itself– crowded to capacity, all with non-Christians. Atheists, Jews, Moslems, Hindus, and everyone else was there — and this time, it was a LOT of people.Has the non-Christian population grown? Yup. They are more vocal and more obvious too. This is what the non-Christians do on Xmas — whatever they can. I”ll probably see the same crowd today at the movie theater or the Chinese restaurant.

Members of a church in Kansas City, Ks., are protesting the secularization of Christmas by dressing like Jesus at their jobs, malls and restaurants.Pastor Kelly Lohrke advised parishioners of the Praise Chapel Christian Fellowship to wear at minimum a crown of thorns and a sash or robe during the week leading up to Christmas.”A lot of businesses and people are saying that they have to say, ‘Happy Holidays’ and ‘SeasonÂ’s Greetings,’” church receptionist Chelsea Johnston told FOXNews.com. “TheyÂ’re not allowed to say ‘Merry Christmas.’ It makes us upset because that is the holiday and it goes against our freedom of speech.”The 600-member church posted videos on YouTube of congregants wearing Christ-like garb in public — which they say has led other churches across the country to consider similar demonstrations.

OK Folks one more time: Christmas is secularizing BECAUSE it was made a national holiday. This is ONLY happening to Christmas because it is the ONLY religious holiday that has been nationalized — e.g, made mandatory for all Americans. I cannot get my mail, or do my business on Christmas, but I certainly can on Passover or Ramadan. When you make unbelievers comply by force, they will comply the way they can without changing their views, and that’s why Santa is more important than Jesus this time of year. The only solution is to deal with it. It’s too late to change.It’s not rocket science.But it’s OK, because it’s not JUST Christmas anyway. Check out our new Christmas page, and don’t forget to read about other gods whose birthday was December 25. AND — check out that new quote generator!AND — Stay tuned for a new guest announcement for the convention (just trust me — book your tickets now).

I wrote that new poll because I was reminded of a discussion I’ve heard/overheard many times: attending a religious event being thrown by friends or relatives.I’m not only talking about “services” (weddings, confirmations, etc.), but also Christmas parties – where they really get into the religion. Do you go?I do. I figure it’s OK to go to someone else’s house from time to time. I won’t participate in any prayer or hide my atheism (of course), but I would have missed many important moments with my friends and family if I had skipped out on all those Bar Mitzvas, weddings, and yes, funerals. Some atheists refuse to go. They say that going, in and of itself, implies acceptance or inclusion. In fact, when I tell them I disagree, they look at me with a sense of disappointment or betrayal. But that’s bunk. Friends and family are important, and as long as you are not breaking any of your own personal rules or closeting yourself, I say go and try to have a good time. After all, sometimes, people come to your house too.

Recently, I went to a friend’s house for a drink, and another of his friends came over. As we spoke, she talked on and on about her Judaism, rather incessantly. She was one of those “cafeteria” Orthodox Jews. She turned on light-switches on Saturday, but didn’t drive. As most of you know, I was raised Jewish, and I know my way around religious Judaism. This girl was wrong — very wrong — about a few things about which she really should have been right. But when I mentioned I was an atheist, I got a very unexpected reaction. She said I hurt her feelings. Again, I said I was an atheist, and the said that I had hurt her, because I don’t believe in god. Talk about Jewish Guilt — I hurt her by simply stating that I disagreed!I don’t usually get that kind of glazed-eyes reaction from Jews. I usually get a much more measured response, because atheists are more common in Jewish families, and critical thought is more tolerated than Christians….or so I thought. Now, here was a perfect contradiction. A self-righteous, in-your-face, cafeteria-style, self-contradictory, and clearly brainwashed Orthodox Jew. She sounded as if she had just graduated from Liberty University, as opposed to a Yeshiva. A very predictable (with a Christian!) discussion ensued — she wanted to talk about god, I wanted to talk about her bigotry. We talked about her bigotry. I made my point very clear: bigotry is bigotry, no matter what side you’re on. Nobody gets to be offended because I say what I am. That’s step one. You want to debate? Argue? Sure, but first get over yourself. You are not offended, hurt, or owed an apology, just because I don’t believe in your god. Neither am I hurt because you believe in an invisible man in the sky (actually, she thinks God’s a woman — Like I said, cafeteria).Happy Chanukah