I’m taking a few days off to celebrate Memorial Day with the Family. Happy unofficial beginning of summer, and please take a moment to reflect on our fallen soldiers.

Two Florida teachers have been put on desk duty after a fellow teacher accused them of sprinkling “holy water” on her because she’s an atheist.
Two Florida teachers are removed from class over alleged use of holy water.

Leslie Rainer and Djuna Robinson, 20-year veterans of the Broward County School District, said a complaint from teacher Schandra Rodriguez led to their being escorted out of the Blanche Ely High School in Pompano Beach, Fla., in front of their students.

Rodriguez claimed in the complaint that Rainer and Robinson had poured “holy water” over her in front of students who were discussing religion, according to Marsy Smith, a school district spokeswoman.

Their defense? This was all a joke, they waved a perfume bottle at her, and then the atheist teacher filed a complaint. OR, the self-proclaimed “Christian Teachers” are lying, and tried to force their bigoted beliefs on someone in public school. Hmmm.. which story is more believable?

We will be hearing more about this one.

Here’s where geniuses helped to improve the human lifespan:
Heralding a potential new era in biology, scientists for the first time have created a synthetic cell, completely controlled by man-made genetic instructions, researchers at the private J. Craig Venter Institute announced Thursday.

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Tom Deerinck and Mark Ellisman, National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research, University of
“We call it the first synthetic cell,” said genomics pioneer Craig Venter, who oversaw the project. “These are very much real cells.”

Created at a cost of $40 million, this experimental one-cell organism, which can reproduce, opens the way to the manipulation of life on a previously unattainable scale, several researchers and ethics experts said. Scientists have been altering DNA piecemeal for a generation, producing a menagerie of genetically engineered plants and animals. But the ability to craft an entire organism offers a new power over life, they said.
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ROME – Catholic Church officials said Friday that the recently created first synthetic cell could be a positive development if correctly used, but warned scientists that only God can create life.
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Another official with the Italian bishops’ conference, Bishop Domenico Mogavero, expressed concern that scientists might be tempted to play God.
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“Pretending to be God and parroting his power of creation is an enormous risk that can plunge men into a barbarity,” Mogavero told newspaper La Stampa in an interview. Scientists “should never forget that there is only one creator: God.”…

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Let me be clear. There is no ethical concern with creating or preserving life. The only danger is that the god of our ancestors will get smaller and smaller until the power of those who make their livings from religion can no longer do so.

Playing god is a misnomer. If I were to play god, I would not heal or create. I’d curl up in a corner somewhere, ignore the world, and make sure nobody ever found a hint of proof that I existed.

The Religious Right cried about Pennicillin (some still do), In-Vitro Fertilization, and Stem Cell research. Now they complain about synthetic cells. Wrong every time, without fail.

Did you notice this time how they hedged their bets? They want to be involved in how this is managed and governed.

Umm. no. Religion is the antithesis of science, and it will be its eventual downfall (and they know it). Religion must never govern science for that very reason.

Exercise your constitutional right to Freedom of Expression today by saying NO to post-9/11 political correctness. Draw whatever you like without fear of repercussions.

Also, take a few moments today to learn about Islam, the religion so fragile it cannot take even the slightest bit of criticism without resorting to terrorism.

Thank you, and remember, Allah, like Zeus and Yahweh, is a myth, and Muhammed raped a 9-year-old girl (yet they still call him “objectively moral”)

Mohammed “the prophet”

UPDATE: Pakistan has blocked Youtube and Facebook because of pictures of Muhammed! Now if only they would also block the terrorists from bombing NYC

JOIN SAN FRANCISCO ATHEISTS & EAST BAY ATHEISTS IN A

RALLY TO PROTEST THE POPE’S
ROLE IN PERPETUATING PRIESTLY
ABUSE OF CHILDREN!
THIS SUNDAY, MAY 23, 2010 ~ 11 AM

Pope Benedict, aka Cardinal Ratzinger, is more than complicit in perpetuating the ongoing abuse of children by priests. This abuse became widely known approximately ten years ago. Since then the scandals have continued to emerge. We read about the sexual abuse of children, usually boys, that is upheld by threats from the abusers that disclosure will send the victim to hell for an eternity. And when that does not work, there are always beatings.

The beloved Pope has quite the credentials. For many years he was head of what the Church euphemistically refers to as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the modern day name for the esteemed institution that brought us the Inquisition. As such he was intimately involved in Church policy on abuse.

In Europe and the United States, many Catholics are calling for a transparent investigation into the Church’s policies, such as merely transferring an abuser to another parish, that perpetuated this incredibly harmful abuse of children. And they are calling for the Pope to resign.

We feel that Atheists and other Freethinkers should likewise show their support for these noble goals. At the same time, we can point out how the very nature of Christianity promotes blind obedience to established authority and how the sexual repression demanded of priests can result in abusive relationships with those lacking the power to resist.

Please join San Francisco and East Bay Atheists in this rally.

Where: St. Mary’s of the Assumption Catholic Church, 1111 Gough St., San Francisco

When: Sunday, May 23, 9:30 to 11:00 AM

How To Get There: BART Access: Take the 38 Geary Muni bus from the Montgomery BART station. From the Civic Center BART: Walk north up Hyde Street to Geary, then left about 5 blocks. (Warning: Funky Neighborhood)

More Info: San Francisco Atheists (http://www.sfatheists.com); East Bay Atheists (http://www.eastbayatheists.org); Don Havis (650-375-1745)

(AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends civil rights for Atheists, Freethinkers and other nonbelievers; works for the total separation of church and state; and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy.)