A federal district court ruled today that a special Christian license plate mandated by the South Carolina legislature violates the constitutional separation of church and state.
U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie held that the plate, which was to feature a large yellow cross, a stained-glass window and the words “I Believe,” clearly gives favored government treatment to one faith. In a summary judgment ruling, she ordered state officials not to issue the plate.
It is with deepest regrets that I must pass on that my friend and fellow atheist David Miles died on November 4th after a brief illness.
David Miles was one of the most prolific letter-writers I have ever known. He helped me immensely with the Freethinker’s Letter-Writing Cooperative. His letter-writing skills were amazing and he always had a way of making his points to the readers of newspapers across the Southeast.
David was a Member of American Atheists and his contributions to the cause will be greatly missed. I will miss him at the American Atheist Convention this year and I will miss our email exchanges, but mostly I will miss his friendship. David’s afterlife will be living on in my memories and the memories of everyone that he knew in his life.
You can read many of his letters online:
http://richarddawkins.net/article,1709,n,n
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Bible+class.-a0147057294
http://psysim.www7.50megs.com/annstar031907.htm
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3944/is_200204/ai_n9058441/
http://blog.al.com/birmingham-news-commentary/2009/05/your_views_schools_hit_up_pare.html
http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071214/NEWS/712140305
Goodbye David! You will be missed by many.
-written by Blair Scott, Posted by Dave
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama dedicated his weekly radio address Saturday to the shooting that occurred at the Fort Hood military base this week.
Mr. Obama said he will be tracking the investigation into how suspect Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, allegedly shot and killed 13 people and wounded dozens of others on Thursday.
The president met Friday with the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to discuss the incident. While Mr. Obama deplored the violence at the military medical center, he also extolled the bravery of the soldiers who quickly came to the aid of victims.
“Thursday’s shooting was one of the most devastating ever committed on an American military base,” Mr. Obama said in prepared remarks. “And yet, even as we saw the worst of human nature on full display, we also saw the best of America.”
Mr. Obama was also quick to note the diversity of U.S. military personnel. “They are Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and nonbelievers,” he said. Mr. Hasan, a Muslim, was scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan.
It is our responsibility to push the press into reporting the truth; we need to know is how much of this relates to Islam. Is this some guy who ‘happens to be Muslim” going crazy, is it a Muslim-based terror attack, or is it somewhere in-between, where a Muslim who might have been taught that Jihads aren’t terrible might have been pushed over the edge when going to Afghanistan to possibly kill other Muslims?
We need to know if we can trust Muslims in the military to kill bad guys, not good guys. I will be the first to admit I have my doubts.
American Atheists is deeply saddened to hear of the tragic events involving our soldiers at Ft Hood. Our VP and Military Director Kathy Johnson is stationed there and is unharmed. At this point, we know very little, but we have confidence in our military to secure the base and ensure the safety of our troops.
UPDATE: According to Kathy, who is a crime scene investigator and on the scene in Ft. Hood, this does appear to be a religiously motivated event. The investigation continues.
Reporting from Washington – Backed by some of the most powerful members of the Senate, a little-noticed provision in the healthcare overhaul bill would require insurers to consider covering Christian Science prayer treatments as medical expenses.
The provision was inserted by Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) with the support of Democratic Sens. John F. Kerry and the late Edward M. Kennedy, both of Massachusetts, home to the headquarters of the Church of Christ, Scientist.
The measure would put Christian Science prayer treatments — which substitute for or supplement medical treatments — on the same footing as clinical medicine. While not mentioning the church by name, it would prohibit discrimination against “religious and spiritual healthcare.”
Read More
Here they go again. After losing the provision to force insurance companies to pay for Christians to kill their children by praying over them, Senators Orrin “Magic Underwear” Hatch and John “WTF” Kerry have re-started their efforts to have it included again.
Here is a prime example of policians who honestly don’t care. Children will die if this passes, and they don’t care. We will pay for the children who die, and they don’t care. This provision is clearly illegal, and they don’t care.
There is no mystery. There is no “other side” of this argument. Praying to deities is ridiculous, and forcing us to pay for witch-doctors is just another tax for the church.
In a Q&A with Details magazine, the openly gay ‘Lord of the Rings’ star admits to a habit of tearing out the Bible passage that condemns homosexuality — Leviticus 18:22 — every time he finds one in his hotel room. The passage: “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.”
“I’m not proudly defacing the book,” he asserts, “but it’s a choice between removing that page and throwing away the whole Bible.”
I frankly love this idea, except for the “not proudly defacing the book.” I say we SHOULD proudly deface the books. Take a magic marker and cross off the parts you don’t like. Tear out the pages. Jot notes in the side margins. These books are free to take and deface as you see fit — so do it!
Here is an exerpt from a letter written by long-time atheist activist Margaret Downey to American Airlines, which apparently played Christian music to the cabin on a plane in which she was flying.
I really agree with Margaret. They have the right to play whatever they want, but this is not a situation where you can just change the channel, and it’s not subtle. It is, in my opinion, a blatant disregard for non-Christians. Remember, we’re not talking about the Doobie Brothers, we are talking about intentionally deciding “let’s play Christian music” to a diverse audience.
In total we had to listen to three songs about a religious doctrine we find disturbing. I’m sure that a Jewish family, a Hindi family and nontheist people such as my husband and I were equally offended that American Airlines was promoting the Christian doctrine in a space that could not be escaped from. We were a captive audience!
I expect my airlines to remain neutral in matters of religion. This is why I will not fly Alaska Airlines. They promote and proselytize Christianity at ever opportunity.
Please confirm that this type of religious incident will not happen again when I use American Airlines. Please also explain who was responsible for the religious promotion on this flight — the pilot and/or the staff.
Friends,
Howdy again, Joe Zamecki here in Austin to tell you about our giveaway to the homeless this Sunday. Atheists Helping the Homeless is coming together as a bona fide group very nicely now.
We’ve got our new website with improved url: www.atheistvolunteers.org/Austin
It’s got Paypal capabilities for donations, and a ChipIn button to get you there.
It’s got a video playlist player so you can watch us do giveaways while you learn more about the group.
We’ve gotten some more boxes of donated items to give out, plus we’ll have items we’ve bought with donated money as well. Thank you to all our donors and volunteers and other supporters! 
)
Also I’m told there is supposed to be a reporter from the Austin Chronicle there this Sunday, specifically about us and our giveaway. www.auschron.com
Finally, on the next live airing of Answers in Atheism, I’m scheduled to be the phone-in guest, to talk about the AHH. www.answersinatheism.net The date for that show is to be announced soon.
Please consider coming out to our giveaway under I-35 at 7th Street in Austin this Sunday. We’ll be there starting at 8am sharp. If we all wear t-shirts that say that we’re Atheists, that would look really great for the video. We have a sign now too, thanks to more good volunteer work done, so that’ll get into the video too.
No preaching Atheism though. It’s really fun to just help out, and occasionally get questions about who we are. It’s fun to talk about it without pressure from either side, and every time, we come out winners. There’s really no conflict. It’s all positive activism. )
Joe Zamecki
Co-Founder, Atheists Helping the Homeless
www.atheistvolunteers.org/Austin
Texas State Director, American Atheists
www.atheists.org/Texas_State_Page
www.youtube.com/aajoeyjo
http://www.facebook.com/joe.zamecki
(512)758-0060
Or did you already vote? Well, if you didn’t, don’t forget!
I am a single issue voter, said issue being Separation of Church and State. You should be too, in my opinion, but this is not enough. We must be OUT AND LOUD single-issue voters. Politicians need to know that above and beyond all the crap they are spewing, the vote goes to the person who supports our Constitution with the most vigor.
It should be noted that C/S Separation is a very broad issue that encompasses other issues like gay rights, stem cell research, and in most cases the right to choose (exceptions noted). So it’s one issue, but it’s a very big issue.
Vote well, vote early, and if anyone asks you, tell them you voted single-issue. This is how we establish a voting bloc!
“[M]ost of the candy sold during this season has been dedicated and prayed over by witches,” Daniels wrote. “I do not buy candy during the Halloween season. Curses are sent through the tricks and treats of the innocent whether they get it by going door to door or by purchasing it from the local grocery store. The demons cannot tell the difference.”
Yes it’s that time again. Time for everyone to have fun except for the Christians, who must try their best to get in the way, preach to your children, and protest anyone having fun without their god involved.
After all, Halloween is the only celebrated holiday in America that has non-christian roots AND has not been successfully co-opted by Christianity, so that’s right out if you’re so insecure about your mythology that you can’t even stomach giving candy to kids.
Oh, and talk about crazy? The above article, you may noticed, is cached, because the original has been removed from the CBN web site. Apparently they didn’t want their true craziness to be shown. THANKS GOOGLE!
Christians need to realize that Halloween is just as Pagan as Christmas and Easter. The only problem is that “All Saints Day” didn’t stick, so now they are trying to make Halloween a “currently religious” holiday (as opposed to a holiday with religious roots that is now secular) so they can protest it.
But this day is not about religion or dogma. It’s about fun and candy. So have a little more fun, and give a little extra candy this year to make up for those party-pooping fear-mongors who will have and give neither.