BODY,.aolmailheader {font-size:10pt; color:black; font-family:Arial;} a.aolmailheader:link {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; font-weight:normal;} a.aolmailheader:visited {color:magenta; text-decoration:underline; font-weight:normal;} a.aolmailheader:active {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; font-weight:normal;} a.aolmailheader:hover {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; font-weight:normal;} A M E R I C A N A T H E I S T S A A N E W S #1275 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 09/10/09 http://www.atheists.org http://www.americanatheist.org http://www.atheistviewpoint.tv
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Service of AMERICAN ATHEISTS, a nationwide movement that defends civil rights for non-believers; works for the total separation of Church and State; and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "ATHEIST is really a thoroughly honest, unambiguous term, it admits of no paltering and no evasion, and the need of the world, now as ever, is for clear-cut issues and unambiguous speech." -- Chapman Cohen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In This Issue... * Buckner speaks to Charleston, SC Humanist group Sunday, September 20, 2009 * AA Press: Atheists to defend against Homeland Security case appeal -- Kagin: "State wasting taxpayer money." * Worth Noting: New Darwin flick, Wild Girls v. religious probity, more * Dave's blog * Resources * About this list...
BUCKNER SPEAKS TO SECULAR HUMANISTS OF THE LOW COUNTRY (Charleston, SC) SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2009
Dr. Ed Buckner, President of American Atheists will speak to the Secular Humanists of the Low Country on Sunday, September 20, 2009 This will be the first Fall meeting of the group.
The event will begin promptly at 4:00 PM. Following Dr. Buckner's talk, there will be a social gathering at Vickery's.
The venue is Gage Hall, 4 Archdale St. in downtown Charleston, next to the Unitarian Church. Supervised child care will be provided during the meeting in the Annex directly behind Gage Hall.
(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.)
For more information, please contact: Ed Buckner, President 908-499-9200 (cell) or 770-803-5353 (office/fax) Edwin Kagin, National Legal Director (859) 384-7000
ATHEISTS: KENTUCKY APPEAL OF HOMELAND SECURITY CASE IS WASTE OF MONEY, DEFENDS FIRST AMENDMENT VIOLATION "We're ready to take this to the Supreme Court" says attorney Edwin Kagin
An Atheist civil rights group today criticized the Kentucky Attorney General's office for appealing a case challenging laws that it says allowed the Commonwealth to establish religion.
Statutes passed after the September 11, 2001 faith-based attacks ordered the state Office of Homeland Security office to display a plaque citing dependence on God as an essential tool in fighting terrorism, and to incorporate that theme in its training materials. American Atheists and 10 other plaintiffs filed suit; two weeks ago, a Circuit Court Judge rejected a state request to dismiss the case, and ruled in favor of the Atheists.
On Friday, the Kentucky Attorney General's Office announced that it would appeal.
Edwin Kagin, National Legal Director for American Atheists, accused state officials of wasting money. "We're in an economic crisis, and the Commonwealth of Kentucky continues to squander taxpayer revenue to defend a bad and unconstitutional practice."
Mr. Kagin challenged a claim by one state attorney that the plaque was "about God, not religion."
"If this isn't a violation of state-church separation, what is?"
Kagin added, "This case is all about whether the state has the right and duty to promote religion. I look forward to fighting this case all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States if necessary."
Ed Buckner, President of American Atheists, said that the suit is being watched closely across the country.
"The outcome could determine if, and how far, states can go in promoting belief in a deity and sectarian religion," said Buckner. "Saying that 'God is on our side' in the war on terror sends the message that millions of non-religious people -- Atheists, Freethinkers, Humanists and anyone else who does not believe in a god or attend church (roughly half of all Americans) -- is a slacker when it comes to being patriotic."
"As a military veteran, I resent that, and so do other non-believers who have worn the uniform and fought for this country."
AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends civil rights for Atheists; works for the total separation of church and state; and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy.
American Atheists, Inc. PO BOX 158 Cranford, NJ 07016 Tel.: (908) 276-7300 Fax: (908) 276-7402
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WORTH NOTING
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/09/04/did-bob-mcdonnell-read-the-handmaids-tale/ Did Bob McDonnell Read 'The Handmaid's Tale'? Three years before Virginia gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell submitted his now-famous thesis at Regent University, (in which he described working women as detrimental to the family, called for a "covenant view" of marriage, and said government should favor married couples over "cohabitators, homosexuals, and fornicators"), the Canadian writer Margaret Atwood published her novel "The Handmaid's Tale." The same principles that McDonnell puts forth in his thesis are imagined into action in the extreme.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-creation6-2009sep06,0,1320146.story 'Creation' tells of Charles Darwin's war between science and love Reporting from Hertfordshire, England - Almost 50 years after the Scopes "Monkey" trial received the Hollywood treatment in the original "Inherit the Wind," the eternal friction between science and religion is back on the big-screen with "Creation," which opens the Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday. The British period drama tells the story of how 19th century naturalist Charles Darwin wrote his revolutionary book "The Origin Of Species" while facing opposition from his devout Christian wife and struggling with grief over the death of his eldest daughter.
http://www.sj-r.com/features/x2025179320/Atheists-reversing-their-baptisms Atheists reversing their baptisms Until last summer, Jennifer Gray of Columbus, Ohio, considered herself "a weak Christian" whose baptism at age 11 in a Kentucky church came to mean less and less to her as she gradually lost faith in God. Then the 32-year-old medical transcriptionist took a decisive step, one that previously hadn't been available. She got "de-baptized." In a type of mock ceremony that's been performed in at least four states, a robed "priest" used a hairdryer marked "reason" in an apparent bid to blow away the waters of baptism once and for all. Several dozen participants then fed on a "de-sacrament" (crackers with peanut butter) and received certificates assuring they had "freely renounced a previous mistake, and accepted Reason over Superstition."
http://www.alternet.org/sex/142412/girls_gone_wild_vs._virgins_till_marriage%3A_why_is_sexual_life_in_america_so_schizoid/ Girls Gone Wild vs. Virgins Till Marriage: Why Is Sexual Life in America So Schizoid? America, "Land of the Free", continues to swing between smut and sanctimony. "You would watch the girls give each other oral sex, do themselves with dildos, place cigars in their vaginas and rectums, suck on each others' breasts, and lick freshly poured beer off of one another's vulvas while their legs were tucked behind their necks." Often one fellow would get to have sex with one of the three performers directly before leering and cheering men. No, this is not another spring break outrage making the latest round on cable news, but business as usual back in the good ol' days when live sex shows were easier to find than now. And I don't mean the 50s glory days of traditional values when "Ozzie and Harriet" reigned and the U.S. teen pregnancy rate hit an historic high, but in the prostitution heyday of the 1800s when feminists and medical experts warned against women riding bicycles lest the seat stir "libidinousness and immorality."
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090907/NEWS01/909070318/Mother+mad+coach+took+players+to+church++School+district+says+trip+was+voluntary Mother mad coach took players to church; School district says trip was voluntary The head football coach at Breckinridge County High School took about 20 players on a school bus late last month to his church, where nearly half of them were baptized, school officials say. The mother of one player said her 16-year-old son was baptized without her knowledge and consent, and she is upset that a public school bus was used to take players to a church service - and that the school district's superintendent was there and did not object.
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20090907/texas-schools-should-teach-religion-as-u-s-history-say-evangelicals/index.html Schools Should Teach Christianity's Role in U.S. History, Say Evangelicals Teaching the importance of Christianity in U.S. history is common sense, asserted several evangelical leaders in defending a new Texas law that requires public schools to incorporate Bible literacy into the curriculum. Americans can disagree on a personal level with what Christianity claims to be true, wrote Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family, but they "cannot question" the "central importance" of those Christian truths to the men who help founded the nation.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/08/AR2009090801086.html Sudan trouser ruling violates international law: U.N. Sudan's conviction of a woman for indecency for wearing trousers violates international law and is emblematic of wider gender discrimination in the Islamic country, the United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-09-08-school-baptisms_N.htm Ky. school trip to church that included baptisms raises questions A mother is angry about a trip led by the head football coach at Breckinridge County High School took about 20 players on a school bus late last month to his church, where nearly half of them - including her son - were baptized. Michelle Ammons said her 16-year-old son was baptized without her knowledge and consent, and she is upset that a public school bus was used to take players to a church service - and that the school district's superintendent was there and did not object.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/sep/05/richard-dawkins-greatest-show-evolution The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins If Thomas Henry Huxley was famously "Darwin's bulldog", then Richard Dawkins is probably best described as "Darwin's pit bull". He gets his teeth into an argument, locks on and shakes it until submission is the only option. There's a certain glee when he admits to being "the devil's disciple" or the high priest of "ultradarwinism", and his admission has an undeniably macho swagger about it.
http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/max-blumenthal-how-fanatical-religio Max Blumenthal on how the fanatical religious right has destroyed movement conservatism Our friend Max Blumenthal has a great new book out titled Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement that Shattered the Party that explores the toxic effects that the religious right has had not just on the national discourse, but on movement conservatism itself.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/10/preacher-says-god-wanted_n_281830.html Bolivian Preacher Says God Wanted Him To Hijack Aeromexico Jet Mexican investigators are evaluating a Bolivian pastor who hijacked a jetliner for possible mental illness, and trying to figure out how he managed to slip through Cancun Airport security with a fake bomb in his luggage. Jose Flores, 44, pulled out the device, which he later described as a "a juice can ... with some little lights I attached," as the airplane was approaching Mexico City Wednesday afternoon
http://www.examiner.com/x-23009-Alameda-Atheism-Examiner~y2009m9d9-Fox-News-paints-atheist-groups-as-counterreligious Fox News paints atheist groups as counter-religious On August 3, Fox News aired a spot on "Non-Believer Communities," looking at groups united around a common disbelief in a higher power. The segment begins simply enough, presenting atheists as they typically are: a loose affiliation of ideologically similar individuals from varying walks of life. One man characterizes his role in the community as largely social. His focus as an atheist lay not with the agenda of any overarching secular organization, but with the friendships he forms among his non-believing peers. Fox suggests that atheists, much like people of faith, gather to satisfy a human need for community.
http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2009/09/customers_going_ape_over_banned_band_t-shirts_depicting_evolution.php Customers Going Ape Over Banned Band T-Shirts Depicting Evolution A Daily RFT post last week about a Sedalia, Missouri, high school that prohibited its band members from wearing T-shirts of apes and Neanderthals carrying musical instruments, generated dozens of comments from readers. Now comes word that the T-shirt that offended some of the students' creationist-believing parents is one of the best things to ever happen to Main Street Logo, the Sedalia business that made the shirts.
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SILVERMAN BLOG SHAKING UP CYBERSPACE!
It is one of the fastest growing blogs in the Atheist/Freethought/Secular Humanist community, and you can get in on the discussion!
Dave Silverman, Communications Director for American Atheists is in the Blogosphere at http://nogodblog.com. It's filled with insight, wit, hot news, controversial opinion -- and polite, thoughtful commentary. So join the conversation! Sign up (it's free) by visiting http://www.atheists.org and click on the blog navigation button, or go directly to http://nogodblog.com .
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RESOURCES FROM AMERICAN ATHEISTS
* For membership information about American Atheists, send mail to info@atheists.org. Kindly include your name and postal mailing address. Ask for a free membership info packet. You may also visit http://www.atheists.org and click on the "Membership" navigation button.
* For a free catalogue of American Atheist Press books, videos and other products, send mail to catalogue@atheists.org. Kindly include your name and postal mailing address, and request a copy of the AAP catalogue. You may also shop directly at http://www.atheists.org --click on the "Shopping" navigation button.
* Current members in good standing of American Atheists may sign up for our free E-mail Discussion Group list, aachat. We have over 150 participants who discuss topics such as Atheism, religion, First Amendment issues, creationism and much, much more. Contact the Moderator, Ed Gauci through egauci@atheists.org .
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