KENTUCKY

KENTUCKY STATE DIRECTOR
Edwin Kagin

PO Box 48
Union, KY 41091
Phone: (859) 384-7000
Fax: (859) 384-7324
E-mail: ekagin@atheists.org

KAGIN TO DEBATE FIRST AMENDMENT, "FREEDOM OF/FREEDOM FROM" RELIGION TUESDAY, MARCH 27, HOWARD UNIVERSITY, WASHINGTON DC

EDWIN KAGIN, Constitutional attorney and National Legal Director for AMERICAN ATHEISTS will participate in a debate this Tuesday, March 27, 2007 at Howard University School of Law, Washington, DC.

The topic is: "FIRST AMENDMENT: FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR FREEDOM FROM RELIGION? What did the Framers intend & what does the Amendment mean today?"

In addition to serving as National Legal Director, Mr. Kagin is a author of the popular book "Baubles of Blasphemy," and has published numerous articles on religion, philosophy and politics. He and his wife, Helen, were founder of Camp Quest, a national summer camp for Atheist, Freethought, Humanist and other non-believer youngsters. He is a staunch advocate for the First Amendment and the separation of church and state.

Taking the other side in this debate will be MR. BRADLEY JACOB, Associate Professor with Regent University School of Law. Professor Jacob was Executive Director of the Justice Fellowship Policy Institute, and Director/CEO of the Christian Legal Society. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Evangelicals.

This event is sponsored by the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy. For further information, visit http://www.law.howard.edu/. Admission is free, and refreshments will be provided.

WHAT & WHO: Debate -- "FIRST AMENDMENT: FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR FREEDOM FROM RELIGION? What did the Framers intend & what does the Amendment mean today?" featuring EDWIN KAGIN and BRADLEY JACOB.

WHEN: Tuesday, March 27, 2007 beginning at 5:30 PM.

WHERE: Howard University School of Law, Houston Hall, Room 1, 2900 Van Ness St., NW - Washington, DC.

Newsletters:

• August 17, 2005
• June 29, 2005
• November 7, 2004
• November 4, 2004
• September 13, 2004
• August 10, 2004
• August 3, 2004
• June 12, 2004
• June 11, 2004
• June 5, 2004
• May 4, 2004
• April 20, 2004
• April 17, 2004
• April 14, 2004

August 17, 2005

Well, as expected, the lawsuit filed yesterday by the Kentucky State Director and American Atheists, challenging a Kentucky County Ordinance giving special rights to ordained clergy to be exempt from paying County licensing and occupational taxes, has generated some press, and will probably generate more.

It is fascinating to note that the Defendants may take the position that to require a minister to pay occupational (income) taxes would be a violation of that minister's freedom of religion. If so, then having to pay such violates my freedom of Atheism, doesn't it? Interestingly, all church employees, save their "ordained" minister have to pay, as do all ministers who are not "ordained."

We may have a U.S. Supreme Court case on our hands here. What if the Kentucky Supreme Court says the law is unconstitutional under the Kentucky Constitution, and the Defendants then ask the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that the Kentucky Constitution is unconstitutional. Of course SCOTUS never tells states how to interpret their state's constitution. Do they?

In thinking about this, and to help enliven dialogue when someone asks why this awful thing is being done to believers, consider the following from Matthew, Chapter 22, King James Bible:

"MT 22:15 Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. [16] And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men. [17] Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? [18] But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? [19] Show me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. [20] And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? [21] They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. [22] When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way."

This story is repeated, in substantially the same form, with its conclusion to pay your taxes, at both Mark 12: 17 and Luke 20:25.

Now on to the news.

Edwin.

kypost.com

The Kentucky Post

August 17, 2005

Suit targets clergy tax exemption
Plaintiff: Violates state constitution

By Kevin Eigelbach Post staff reporter

Exempting ordained ministers from paying Boone County's occupational tax violates the Kentucky Constitution.

That's the claim Union attorney Edwin Kagin makes in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Boone Circuit Court. Kagin, the Kentucky director of American Atheists Inc., wants the court to strike down the ordinance that grants the exemption.

"There are no special rights for clergy in Kentucky," Kagin said. "You cannot favor one group of people over another in setting taxation."

Boone County Judge-Executive Gary Moore said he hadn't seen the lawsuit and didn't want to comment on it until he heard a legal opinion.

Kagin's dispute with Boone Fiscal Court over the issue dates back to May 15, 2000, when the court passed the ordinance. The court did so in response to a Kenton County ruling that such an exemption didn't violate the state constitution, Boone County Administrator Jim Parsons said.

A pastor had filed suit against Lakeside Park after being cited for not paying county and city occupational license fees. Kenton Circuit Judge Patricia Summe said the tax infringed on the First Amendment right to freedom of religion.

"We felt it was better that they be exempted rather than get involved in litigation (from ministers)," Parsons said.

When he learned about the exemption, Kagin refused to pay any more Boone County occupational taxes and licensing fees. After getting several warning letters from the county, Kagin finally paid the back taxes in July, but under protest.

Kagin contends the Boone County ordinance violates the state constitution's requirement that no one be compelled to contribute to the salary or support of any minister. He says it also violates the Kentucky Constitution's bar of granting special privileges to "any man or set of men."

He wants a refund of the taxes he's paid since the exemption became law, as well as refunds for any other members of American Atheists Inc. similarly affected.

"This is about all of those laws throughout the country that provide tax breaks and other direct or indirect benefits and support for churches and other religious groups," Kagin said.

June 29, 2005
Edwin Kagin, Kentucky State Director, American Atheists, Inc.

Camp Quest, endorsed by American Atheists, and your Kentucky State Director, are in an article in the New York Times today, June 29th, 2005, both in the print version and on the web version. You can maybe still get a copy of this historic issue in that old fashioned 20th Century format--paper I think they called it--at Barnes & Noble or Kroger's, or some such, before they sell out. There is also a slideshow with the web version which can be found here:

New York Times

You have to register to read the article and view the slideshow, but registration is free and well worth the effort.

One small error should be noted. American Atheists does not have "chapters." The attribution should have read "Kentucky State Director for American Atheists."

But I am aproximately 98.634 % happy with this fine article.

The New York Times

June 29, 2005

Summer Camp That's a Piece of Heaven for the Children, but Please, No Worshiping By SUSAN HANSEN

HAMILTON, Ohio, June 25 - Fresh from a week at Camp Quest in southern Ohio, Alex Housemans can boast that his badminton game is a little better, his archery skills are a little sharper and he can now crank out tie-dye T-shirts on demand.

All that, and 12-year-old Alex got a rare chance to be around other children just like him - children whose parents do not go to church or any other place of worship, and who do not necessarily believe in God.

At the public school he attends in Boone County, Ky., he said, he has learned to keep quiet about the fact that his family left the fundamentalist Christian church it used to belong to, that his father now considers himself an atheist, and that his mother, if she believes in God at all, does not do so in a conventional way.

At Camp Quest, on the other hand, he was not worried that his fellow campers would judge him. "It's good to know there are other people out there who don't believe in God," he said.

Providing a haven for the children of nonbelievers is what Camp Quest is all about. As the camp's official T-shirt announces, it's a place that's "beyond belief." More precisely, it claims to be the first summer sleep-away camp in the country for atheist, agnostic and secular humanist children.

Nearly two million American adults openly identify themselves as atheist or agnostic, according to a 2001 survey by the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. As a group, they face more than their share of bigotry, said Edwin F. Kagin, Camp Quest's longtime director, and their children are often made to feel like outcasts.

Many of the two dozen campers who attended this year's session last week recounted experiences of being called names and otherwise harassed. For instance, Travis Leepers, 17, from Louisiana, reported that just about everyone he knows has expressed concern to him about his soul and has tried to convert him.

Sophia Riehemann, 14, from Bellevue, Ky., recalled how one of her schoolmates called her a devil-worshiper. "People get really confused sometimes," Sophia said. "They think that if we don't believe in God we believe in the devil."

At Camp Quest, children age 8 to 17 take part in all the usual summer camp activities. But in addition to horseback riding, organized water balloon fights and outdoor survival lessons, the camp's volunteer staff aims to promote a healthy respect for science and rational inquiry, while assuring campers that there is nothing wrong with not believing in the Bible and not putting stock in a supreme creator.

"We're serving as a night light in a dark and scary room," said Mr. Kagin, who started the nonprofit camp in 1996, along with other members of the Free Inquiry Group in the Cincinnati and northern Kentucky area, a secular humanist organization. The cost for the weeklong session is $650.

With his booming voice and his penchant for khaki-colored canvas hats and garb, Mr. Kagin, 64, looks like a summer camp director. Besides being director of the Kentucky chapter of American Atheists, he is also a certified Eagle Scout.

And in other ways - the unappetizing food, for example, or the 7:30 a.m. bullhorn calls badgering campers to wake up - Quest is much like any other summer camp. (It rents the cabins and other facilities from a Y.M.C.A.-owned camp.)

There are also obvious differences.

At the wooden barn that served as the main mess hall, the camp's program director, Fred Edwords, set up posters of famous atheists and free thinkers in world history like Bertrand Russell, Albert Einstein and Margaret Sanger, and after meals he presented talks on the contributions they had made.

At the opening campfire ceremony, Mr. Kagin issued a set of challenges for campers to respond to in skits on the final night of camp. One such challenge: Help residents of the faraway planet Questerion understand how life on earth came into being. Another challenge: Prove that the two invisible unicorns in residence do not exist.

As in years past, camp leaders also worked on presentations in science and other natural (as opposed to supernatural) phenomena. This year's subjects were raptors and meteorology, including a demonstration of a portable weather station. Also, Gene Kritsky, a biology professor at the nearby College of Mount St. Joseph, talked to campers about creationism, arguing that the theories used to try to disprove evolution fail to hold up.

Not all the programming is a hit. "Some of the presentations are really boring," said Caitlin Fox, 13, from Mansfield, N.J., who thought the session on swords and other medieval weaponry dragged on too long.

For his part, Tomás Aguilar, 16, a Chicago native, thought the presentations on famous free thinkers like Ted Turner, the founder of CNN, could have used more balance. "Fred paints them in only a positive light," he said of the program director.

Tomás said he liked the way Mr. Kagin and other camp leaders tried to inspire critical thinking. But for him, the best thing about Camp Quest was seeing friends from previous years and getting to go swimming every day and run around. "I'm here just to have fun," he said.

Staff members conceded that sometimes the programming had been too didactic. In recent years, they said, they have adjusted the balance to include more activities that are purely fun. Also, as a new generation of camp leaders has taken over, different sorts of lectures have been added, including talks this year and last on various religions, to broaden campers' perspectives and keep the programming fresh.

With Mr. Kagin and his wife, Helen, retiring this year as the camp's leaders, other changes may also be in store. Still, the camp's new director, August Brunsman, 28, promised that the primary mission - giving the children of nonbelievers a sense of community - would remain the same.

Parents like Lev Pinskiy, a computer programmer from Brooklyn, are not looking for any major overhaul. In fact, Mr. Pinskiy, a Russian immigrant, values the camp so much that he let his son, Eugene, 11, skip the last week of school to attend this year's session.

"There's no other place like it in the United States, for sure," said Mr. Pinskiy, adding that he had searched the American Camp Association catalog in vain to find a nonreligious summer program that still offered all the activities of a traditional summer camp.

"This is a complete experience," added Mr. Pinskiy, who finally found Camp Quest by doing a Google search.

Sarah Silverman, 17, from Camp Hill, Pa., agreed. She liked Camp Quest so much that she has attended for three summers and is planning to return next year as a volunteer counselor.

Sarah has also been doing her part to recruit new campers.

"I tell my Christian friends they'd love it here," she said.

[top]

November 7, 2004
Edwin Kagin, Kentucky State Director, American Atheists, Inc.

Shameless Self Promotion Department:

1) Here is how to obtain a copy of the interview with your Kentucky State Director on the Michael Medved show:

www.treefarmtapes.com.

2) Your Kentucky State Director is scheduled to speak at Michigan State University, in the Illinois room of the MSU Union, at 7:30 pm., Dec 1st., 2004. The topic will be on State / Church separation (if it is still lawful to speak on such things).

3) Your Kentucky State Director is a co-author of the book now available free on the Internet. The following is from the editor, Kim Blaker:

Thursday, November 04, 2004

The results of this week's election are incredibly disheartening--tragic, in fact. Our work is now cut out for the next four years as we struggle to maintain some semblance of a democracy and the civil liberties Americans have fought so long and hard to achieve.

In an effort to create greater awareness of the dangers we now face and an understanding of the dynamics of fundamentalism, the authors of The Fundamentals of Extremism: the Christian Right in America have decided at this time of crisis to make the book available to read online--free. We hope that this will encourage public discourse, and ultimately, lead to realistic solutions to protecting America from the so-called "true" Christians and their "family values".

As has been reported over and over, significant numbers of Americans voted for George W. Bush for the "sake of morality." Unfortunately, their ideas of morality are typically upheld by discriminating against Muslims, Jews, atheists, gays and lesbians, African-Americans, and women.

In addition, we are granting permission to reproduce, print, and/or publish portions from The Fundamentals of Extremism. For details or to read the book online, visit http://www.newbostonbooks.com/Look%20Inside.htm

Please share this opportunity with as many people as possible.

Wishing you a much brighter next week!

Kim Blaker
www.TheWall-OnChurchAndState.com
www.NewBostonBooks.com

http://www.rednova.com/news/display/?id=100842

Wisconsin School OKs Creationism Teaching

GRANTSBURG, Wis. - The city's school board has revised its science curriculum to allow the teaching of creationism, prompting an outcry from more than 300 educators who urged that the decision be reversed.

School board members believed that a state law governing the teaching of evolution was too restrictive. The science curriculum "should not be totally inclusive of just one scientific theory," said Joni Burgin, superintendent of the district of 1,000 students in northwest Wisconsin.

Last month, when the board examined its science curriculum, language was added calling for "various models/theories" of origin to be incorporated.

The decision provoked more than 300 biology and religious studies faculty members to write a letter last week urging the Grantsburg board to reverse the policy. It follows a letter sent previously by 43 deans at Wisconsin public universities.

"Insisting that teachers teach alternative theories of origin in biology classes takes time away from real learning, confuses some students and is a misuse of limited class time and public funds," said Don Waller, a botanist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Wisconsin law mandates that evolution be taught, but school districts are free to create their own curricular standards, said Joe Donovan, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Instruction.

There have been scattered efforts around the nation for other school boards to adopt similar measures. Last month the Dover Area School Board in Pennsylvania voted to require the teaching of alternative theories to evolution, including "intelligent design" - the idea that life is too complex to have developed without a creator.

The state education board in Kansas was heavily criticized in 1999 when it deleted most references to evolution. The decision was reversed in 2001.

In March, the Ohio Board of Education narrowly approved a lesson plan that some critics contended opens the door to teaching creationism.

Story from REDNOVA NEWS: http://www.rednova.com/news/display/?id=100842

Published: 2004/11/07 03:20:00 CST

© Rednova 2004

Joe Conservative's Beautiful World

Thanks to reader Caeli M. Good

(and let us not forget that trial lawyers helped make most of these things possible—Edwin)

Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards. With his first swallow of coffee, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to insure their safety and that they work as advertised.

All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance -- now Joe gets it, too. He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Joe's bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.

In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained. Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for laws to stop industries from polluting our air. He walks to the subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.

Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Joe' s employer pays these standards because Joe's employer doesn't want his employees to call the union. If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he'll get a worker compensation or unemployment check because some stupid liberal didn't think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.

It' s noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe's deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe's money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.

Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he were educated and earned more money over his lifetime.

Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards. He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers' Home Administration because bankers didn't want to make rural loans. The house didn't have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification.

He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn't have to.

Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn't mention that the beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day.

Joe agrees: "We don't need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I'm a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have."

Author Unknown (to me at least). Edwin.

AND THEN THEY VOTED.

While looking at a house, my brother asked the real estate agent which direction was north because, he explained, he didn't want the sun waking him up every morning. She asked, "Does the sun rise in the north?" When another person jumped in and explained that the sun rises in the east (and has for some time), she shook her head and said, "Oh, I don't keep up with that stuff."

And then she voted.

**********************************************

I used to work in technical support for a 24x7 call center. One day I got a call from an Individual who asked what hours the call center was open. I told him, "The number you dialed is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week." He responded, "Is that Eastern or Pacific time?" Wanting to end the call quickly, I said, "Pacific.."

And then he voted.

**********************************************

So my colleague and I were eating our lunch in our cafeteria when we overheard one of the administrative assistants talking about the sunburn she got on her weekend drive to the shore. She drove down in a convertible, but "didn't think she'd get sunburned because the car was moving."

And then she voted.

**********************************************

My sister has a lifesaving tool in her car. It's designed to cut through a seatbelt if she gets trapped. She keeps it in the trunk.

And then she voted.

**********************************************

My friends and I were on a beer run and noticed that the cases were discounted 10%. Since it was a big party, we bought two cases. The cashier multiplied two times 10% and gave us a 20% discount.

And then they all voted.

**********************************************

I was hanging out with a real liberal friend of mine when we saw a woman walk by us with a nose ring attached to an earring by a chain. My friend said, "Wouldn't the chain rip out every time she turned her head?" I had to explain to her that a person's nose and ear remain the same distance apart no matter which way the head is turned.

And then she voted.

**********************************************

I couldn't find my luggage at the airport baggage area. So I went to the lost luggage office and told the woman there that my bags never showed up. She smiled and told me not to worry because they were trained professionals and I was in good hands. "Now," she asked me, "has your plane arrived yet?"

And then she voted.

[top]

November 4, 2004
Edwin Kagin, Kentucky State Director, American Atheists, Inc.

“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.” Bertrand Russell

“The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.” William Butler Yeats

“Come, my friends, 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.” Alfred Lord Tennyson.

The only good thing that can be said of the past two horrible days is that they are over.

The American Religious Civil War has turned darkly against the forces of freedom. The battering rams of theocracy assail the wall that holds church from state. George Orwell is proved prophetic. The world of freedoms we have known may be doomed, for a time at least, to the graveyard of history. Those things our ancestors died to save could disappear as fear and faith again, narcotic like, cloud the human mind.

It is not time to surrender. It is time for patriots to defend the ramparts that keep barbarism at bay. The alternative is unthinkable.

Edwin.

Lest there be no comic relief in this sad time, you are invited to review an analysis of just what folks who are supporting the theocracy have in mind when they talk about the importance of “morals.” See: http://www.edwinkagin.com/columns/genital-morality.htm

Edwin

A Statement from Ellen Johnson

What Happened?

George W. Bush won the presidential election on November 2. How did he do it? How did he sway so many Americans to see him as a better candidate than all the others and particularly John Kerry?

Part of the answer that Atheists need to examine addresses the electorates concerns about the importance of “moral values.”

Religious conservatives are a strong political force in America because they are well organized and well funded. Because of this they have been able to define the sociopolitical agenda in America and a large part of that concerns “moral values.”

Even with a lagging economy, an unjustified war on Iraq, fifty million Americans without health insurance and more, the religious right has successfully made “traditional moral values” a pressing political issue. But when they talk about “moral values” they are not talking about “morals” per se. When we think about morals, we think about character. We think about things like not stealing and not killing; we think about helping others and being good people. That is not what they mean. When religious conservatives refer to “morality” they are talking about sociopolitical issues like abortion, gay marriage, euthanasia, stem-cell research and of course state-church separation issues and all that encompasses like organized prayers in the public schools, the Ten Commandments on public property, the teaching of evolution and creationism in the public schools, the removal of the words “under God” in the pledge of allegiance, etc.

Religious leaders use the term “morality” to advance their “political” agendas in America. They helped the Bush campaign to successfully paint their candidate as being stronger to the American people on those “moral values” than John Kerry. According to CBS News, “When voters were asked which of several issues mattered most in deciding their vote, roughly equal numbers picked the Bush campaign's main issues of moral values (22 percent) and terrorism (19 percent), as picked the Kerry campaign’s main issues of economy/jobs (20 percent) and Iraq (15 percent).”

Unfortunately, the leaders of the abortion, gay, feminist, scientific and other progressive movements have failed to address the root problem, which hinders their causes and that is religion. They will not challenge religion or the religious for fear of alienating their religious supporters. Eleven states in this election passed referendums outlawing gay marriage. How did the gays allow that to happen? It happened because the gays want to befriend the religious and work with the religious in the hope of being accepted and ultimately change minds that way. It is a good idea in theory but we have just seen how successful it is in reality.

We Atheists have always been there to support their causes when it is they who should have been supporting ours, for that support would redound to their benefit. All too often liberal cause groups are reluctant to accept our support for fear of appearing anti-religious.

One lesson from the November election, however, may be that until these groups more openly embrace the support of millions of Atheists and other "seculars' throughout the nation, they will be forever spinning their political wheels. Religion is the problem and not the solution.

Religion has been the driving force behind the anti-choice laws, the opposition to stem-cell research, the opposition to gay rights and state-church separation. As long as scientific, feminist, gay and other such organizations fail to address the root causes of their issues then they will not make much progress. Gays, women, and scientists want it both ways. They want to advance their progressive issues and not challenge the threat to them, which is religion. We Atheists need to tell these leaders that religion is the problem and it must be addressed. We need to step off the defense bus and get on the offensive.

Before I worked with American Atheists I was a big supporter and worked with an organization called Zero Population Growth.

Overpopulation is an important issue in America and conservative religious ideology is part of the cause of it. Unfortunately, ZPG like many other “liberal” organizations refused to, and still refuses to address this issue head-on. I don't think they have ever been successful because of it and so I left the organization and joined American Atheists.

Some people call Atheism a “radical” idea and it is. Radical means “root” and Atheism addresses the root cause of the issues we struggle over in America. Maybe the election would have turned out differently if we all had challenged the basic notions of theology, redefined the issues in America and took back control of the discussion.

Don't get me wrong; I think that Atheists and other “godless Americans” need to engage actively in the political process now more than ever, and address issues of public policy. We must do so smartly and intelligently, and demonstrate political savvy. Most important of all, we need to be focused on issues, not personalities (a principle often ignored in the heat of political campaigns). We need to come across as not only principled, but also articulate, well informed and, above all, well organized. The task facing us in the next two to four years is huge.

I say: “Bring it on!”

-- Ellen Johnson, President
American Atheists

Dear fellow unbelievers and atheists, "He is Risen" Happy Halloween!

I think I now have a clear idea what they mean when they say the term "a living Hell" because I have lived in it over the past 6 years and especially over the last 2 1/2 years since my guilty verdict by a Garfield County jury of Christians was read aloud in civil court. I'll never forget the 15 or 20 fellow citizens from my little town of Bigotville (pop 200), standing together, applauding and cheering the $160,000 verdict against me for supposedly abusing the legal system by filing a lawsuit against the Town clerk's husband who assaulted me in a Boulder Town Public meeting.

Criminal action should have been brought against Larry D. Davis by the local Prosecutor but the Garfield County Sheriff office pulled a cover-up and never really investigated the incident in 1996 so as to protect their fellow POST trained police officer and State Park manager. The two local District court judges followed suit as they joined in support to declare that the rules of law supporting dismissal of the Davis claims are good for all other cases but not for an atheist environmentalist living in their district because his case involved "unusual circumstances." The circumstances that were unusual is that an atheist environmentalist fought back against his attacker by daring to file civil charges in the Utah courts against a Mormon "Latter-day Saint."

The day after 9/11, the Utah Supreme Court refused to allow an Interlocutory Appeal to intervene on the clear errors in allowing the premature, wrongful, and malicious counterclaims of Malicious Prosecution, Abuse of Process, and Intentional Infliction of Severe Emotional Distress against the atheist who they claimed had "conducted a decades long campaign of hate and terror." This case should never have gone to trial but it did and it is clear everyone hoped Julian Hatch would be completely destroyed before he could ever win a later appeal to them.

And the District Court did their best to thwart an appeal by delaying a Final Judgment on the verdict but meanwhile ordering seizure of Hatch's assets and control of any expenditures over $500 dollars, although they purposely never legally served any such order on him. The Court Clerk in Panguitch, Utah testified last year that Hatch "was made aware of the order" because she told him about it over the telephone after he called to find out why she was delaying providing him with the tape recordings of the trial so he could work on the appeal. That same court clerk continued to thwart the appeal by failing to send the tapes to be transcribed by the court for nearly 6 months because she went on leave and no one was there to operate the court office while she was gone.

After seizing all of Hatch's assets they could get, the Davis gang then filed a lawsuit against him and his friend Lynne Mitchell for Fraudulent Transfer of property to attempt to extort money and property from her. At one point, Mitchell and Hatch gave in to the extortion to protect the remainder of her property by turning over some land and signing a settlement written by Davis that dismissed the case against them only to find that Davis a year later again filed the same lawsuit claiming the settlement itself was fraudulent. The court had dismissed the first case but Davis gangsters now wanted more. There are no deals that can be made with such an adversary especially with the corrupt court system aiding and abetting them at every turn. And all of these Mormons call themselves "Saints?" Oh Brother!

And then there were the repeated attempts to get the Utah Court of Appeals to "Stay" collection of the judgment against Hatch until the appeal was decided. While it was presented to them that there was a clear violation of the rules of law, they repeatedly refused over the 2 1/2 years and allowed Davis to attempt to sell Hatch's properties and home at two different Sheriff's Sales so he would lose his property forever even if he did eventually win on appeal.

Hatch was forced to file Chapter 13 (repay debt) Bankruptcy twice to stop the loss of his home and that court also did everything they could to remove him from their protection. They lifted automatic stays so Davis could proceed against Hatch and Mitchell on fraud, held hearings where they claimed Hatch lied to the courts by hiding assets while allowing Davis attorneys to miss court set Deadlines for filing motions. If you max out your credit cards and rip people off in business deals the bankruptcy court treats you quite well, but if you have a wrongful judgment against you because of your atheist non belief in religion, you will have to fight for your life!

I can't figure how many times I have had to answer "no" when given the oath for swearing in court "so help me god" but every time it happened, the shock and awe that hit the courtroom caused complete bias against me. And the repeated times when it happened before the same courts was eye opening. They just would not give up on trying to get me to say yes to their godly oath although I repeatedly asked for the alternative oath of "under pains of penalty of perjury." And then there is always the opening salvo of "May God save this honorable court" but we all know that is only meaningless drivel so no harm, no foul.

The Final briefs in the appeal case were submitted in March 2004 but the enemy demanded they have a Final Oral Argument so the court then took 5 months to set-up and hear the one hour proceeding. Add another 2 months to write the 26 page "published" decision and FINALLY: A decision issued from the great Oz! Believe me, the waiting through every week, not knowing if they would even issue a ruling was excruciating. The court clerks told me that the appeals court could take years to issue a ruling and take as long as they wanted to with no word of when a decision might be forthcoming.

The Final Appeal ruling in this case says that the lower courts were wrong since 1996 to not have dismissed the procedural claims by Davis against me. The Intentional Infliction of Severe Emotional Distress claim based on dealings with his wife Judith Davis, still the town clerk of Bigotville after more than 30 years (also the private Post Office operator) are all gone now because she never claimed any real abuse and her husband was not present so he could not have suffered any distress. But the good court continues to hold out the hope that there might be something else to get Julian Hatch on so they have remanded the case back to the District court.

Hatch may now again prosecute Davis for assault and the Davis team of attorneys can attempt to make a last ditch effort to find something to hang their cowboy hats on concerning his claims of his Intentional Infliction of Severe Emotional Distress consisting of "headaches, upset stomach, and loss of sleep." But since he never once went to a medical doctor with any such problems attributed to Hatch, Davis really has nothing. We will get this nonsense dismissed eventually and proceed to sue Davis for "wrongful use of civil procedure, abuse of the legal process, and the resultant emotional distress to me all caused because of Davis' wrongful and malicious claims that I did exactly that to him. Davis has cost me and my attorney more than $100,000 in attorney fees and related damages and this is exactly the burn and pillage result inherent in the mentality of our court system.

Anyone who tries to find justice will be sacked and ruined even if the courts eventually have to rule in the victims favor. This threat causes most people to never file a case or to settle or give in as the courts erode your ability to continue to fight. The Davis course of action, supported fully by the courts in Hatch vs. Davis has always been based on victimizing the victim. When a Mormon cop assaults a citizen in a public meeting, the best defense is to claim the cop was provoked by the political and philosophical positions that are against the beliefs of the majority in Utah. This is what the Civil Rights laws are all about---protecting the minority against the tyranny of the majority. So just file charges against the victim claiming that the victim is manipulative and caused the violence by his own actions and beliefs when he dares to find justice through the legal system

It is just starting to sink in that I am free again. I think I know how someone who has been convicted wrongly and just got out of jail after several years feels...it is going to take some time to adjust, to not live in constant fear, and with the damned gnawing anxiety but I am starting to like the feeling of being free again! I will never take such freedom for granted in the future. It reminds me of the guy repeatedly hitting himself with a hammer. Asked why he is doing it he replies: "because it feels so good when it stops!" It feels very good to not have their verdict and court judgment hanging over my head anymore. It is now all so simple, we all need to just be happy to be alive, especially when there are not any major problems pressing on us. I may actually take a day or two to just sit around doing nothing at all---and really enjoy the boredom of not being tortured.

There is still some fighting to continue in this long ordeal but this decision takes care of the big problems. My attorney and I want our money back and I do want to make them pay for the torture they've cause me and my friends--and I mean them with a capital "Mo." The religious bigotry in Utah continues daily and we must all continue to do what we can where we can to demonstrate our courage to not believe in lies or give in to fear of a supernatural afterlife. And we should never take lightly the problems running rampant throughout our legal system with it's complete domination by the religious believers.

I hope you all will celebrate with me my resurrection from a living Hell and take some solace in my vindication in this victory. It was with everyone's support for our cause that I was able to get through the pain, I sincerely appreciate it, and wish us all the very best in our efforts to obtain freedom and civil rights as unbelievers.

Julian Dean Hatch

PS. I hear a big sucking sound here in Bigotville as the prospect of stealing my properties and wiping out myself and Lynne Mitchell just disappeared. Screw them!

http://www.freep.com/news/cfp/3/vshoot28_20041028.htm
TAYLOR: Death is result of debate about God
October 28, 2004

BY JOEL THURTELL
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

A Taylor police dispatcher took the call at precisely 12:44 p.m. on Oct. 18.

A 49-year-old man said he'd just blasted a man with a revolver and a shotgun because the man said he didn't believe in God.

The dispatcher said the alleged shooter told him he'd just shot "the devil himself" and was still armed and standing over the body of the 62-year-old victim "in case he moved."

"I want to make sure he's gone," the alleged shooter told the dispatcher.

The dispatcher asked the suspect how many times he shot the victim.

"Hopefully enough," was the suspect's chilling reply, according to the dispatcher.

When police arrived in the 15600 block of McGuire, they could see the victim seated on a living room couch with major trauma to his head, officers said.

They said they were certain he was dead. He was.

Lying on a hallway floor was a black 12-gauge shotgun. Two spent shotgun shells lay on the floor nearby.

Later, police found a revolver with five spent cartridge casings.

On the way to the police station, the suspect told police "he did not want to deal with anyone that did not believe in God," according to the report.

The report also indicated that the suspect and the victim knew each other, although their relationship was unclear.

The suspect said he was an Eagle Scout, the report said.

The suspect said the victim had told him there was nothing he could say that would convince the 62-year-old to believe in God.

Following this discussion, the suspect said, he went into another room and removed his shirt. Then he shaved his face.

He tried once more to convince the victim to believe in God, but this time, he had the shotgun.

"How long would it take you to believe in God?" the suspect said he asked the victim.

"Not until I hear Gabriel blow his horn," the victim allegedly replied, while tipping his hat.

That's when the suspect shot him.

"I did it because he is evil; he was not a believer," the suspect told police.

The suspect said the victim "has been locked up most of his life."

Michigan Department of Corrections records indicate the victim was on probation for a drug conviction.

At the police station, the suspect commented that he believed there is a God.

Then, looking at the floor, he seemed to have second thoughts: "Maybe there's not," he said.

Contact JOEL THURTELL at 248-351-3296 or thurtell@freepress.com

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September 13, 2004
Edwin Kagin, Kentucky State Director, American Atheists, Inc.

Your Kentucky State Director was quoted in The Kentucky Post today, as reproduced below, together with the link to where the news article can be found on the Internet. The Federal regulations discussed can be found here.

On this disgusting issue, the Rev. Barry Lynn and your State Director are right, and the people going along with this abuse of power are wrong.

You can write to The Kentucky Post regarding this article (and you are encouraged to do so) by going here.

Edwin.

http://www.kypost.com/2004/09/13/pray091304.html

Schools must certify prayer is protected

By Crystal Harden
Post staff reporter

The federal government is trying to teach schools a lesson about freedom of religion.

And to make sure school officials are paying attention, the federal government has a stick -- the threat of loss of federal funds -- if schools don't comply.

In Kentucky, the state Department of Education has sent a form to school superintendents across the state asking them to certify that their districts are in compliance with federal guidelines assuring they have no policies that deny individuals the right to pray in public schools.

In Ohio, the compliance certification is part of an automated process that districts use when applying for federal funding, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Education said.

First published in 1995, the guidelines were updated as part of the No Child Left Behind law, the centerpiece of the Bush Administration's plan for public education.

While some debate the legal interpretations set out in the guidelines, school superintendents appear to be signing off on the document without complaining.

"I think we're in an age of accountability, and everybody wants to make sure you're following the guidelines," said Campbell County Superintendent Anthony Strong.

Lawyers with state school board groups in Kentucky and Ohio said school districts haven't raised concerns about the issue.

"I haven't had any questions about that specifically," said Rick Dickinson, a lawyer for the Ohio School Boards Association.

"There are lots of questions about religious practices in schools and what is permissible, but there haven't really been questions about (the federal requirement.) They're aware of the obligation to do that, and they're doing it."

Steve Kirby, director of legal services for the Kentucky School Boards Association, said he believes some school districts in other states might raise concerns if they are working within the constraints of court decisions that might be contrary to what is cited in the federal guidelines.

Kentucky has a state law addressing religious practices in school, passed in 1998 to clear up confusion about what is allowed, Kirby said.

That statute "basically said school districts are to allow students the opportunity to pray and that a teacher could not lead a prayer as school activity. I don't think anyone disagrees with that. As long as the only thing anyone is saying is that the schools are going to follow the decisions of the courts, I don't think there's a problem."

The Bush administration is clearly trying to push the envelope on behalf of prayer in public schools, said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Administration lawyers have selectively read case law to come to the conclusions they wanted, he said.

"Those guidelines assert that students can lead prayers or give sermons at some school functions," Lynn said. "The Supreme Court has never allowed that. If the administration tries to cut off federal funding to any school on the basis of those guidelines, that action will surely be challenged in court."

The group also contends that some sections of the guidelines are deliberately vague or imply that certain types of religious activities in public schools must be permitted when courts instead have been unclear on those points.

In other cases, the guidelines cite lower court cases that aren't relevant, Americans United said.

A Boone County lawyer who is state director of American Atheists Inc. agrees with the alarms raised by Lynn's group.

"Any person can pray any time they want silently, but the idea that a certification is needed to show us how you have made it possible for students to pray is missing the point," said Edwin Kagin of Union. "You should show us what guarantees have been put in place to prevent the establishment of a religion at school."

Boone County School Superintendent Bryan Blavatt, who is also a lawyer, said he doesn't have a problem with the requirement that school districts certify they aren't preventing expressions of freedom of religion.

Schools are required to adhere to court rulings and to maintain an air of neutrality on religious issues -- not promoting religion or religious practices, but not preventing them, either, Blavatt said.

"In this case, what they're asking is for school districts to certify that they will not support any religion and will not take proactive action to prevent or exclude anything religiously," he said.

Publication Date: 09-13-2004

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August 10, 2004
Edwin Kagin, Kentucky State Director, American Atheists, Inc.

(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.)

"The Way to see by Faith is to shut the Eye of Reason." Benjamin Franklin

On August 7, 2004, the President of American Atheists, Ellen Johnson, and your Kentucky State Director each addressed the annual convention of the Secular Student Alliance (SSA). The convention was a great success, and hold out substantial hope that the world may yet be saved.

Edwin.

JOHNSON TO SPEAK ON ATHEIST ACTIVISM THIS SATURDAY, AUGUST 14, ORMOND BEACH, FLORIDA

Ellen Johnson, President of American Atheists and Director of the Godless Americans Political Action Committee (GAMPAC) will address the Humanists of Northeast Florida this Saturday, August 14, 2004.

Johnson will speak on "Atheist Activism and Political Power" on Saturday, August 14, 2004 at 1:00 PM. The venue is the Ormond Beach Public Library, 30 S. Beach St. in Ormond Beach, FL.

More information about the Humanists of Northeast Florida can be found on the web at http://northeastflorida.humanists.net.

For nearly a decade, Ellen Johnson has headed American Atheists, a nationwide movement that defends civil liberties for Atheists and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy. She was Chairwoman of the Godless Americans March on Washington (GAMOW) Task Force which in November, 2002 brought thousands of Atheists, Freethinkers, Humanists and other nonbelievers to Washington, DC in an unprecedented display of unity, cooperation and mutual respect. Since then, she has served as head of GAMPAC, a national initiative to support and elect Atheists to public office.

Johnson is a frequent guest on national media including C-SPAN's "Washington Journal," MSNBC's "Scarborough County," and FOX NEWS CHANNEL'S "Hannity & Colmes" and "Heartland" with John Kasich.

WHO & WHAT: Ellen Johnson, President of American Atheists speaking to the Humanists of Northeast Florida

WHEN: Saturday August 14, 2004.

WHERE: Ormond Beach Public Library, 30 S. Beach St., Ormond Beach, FL.

MORE INFO: http://northeastflorida.humanists.net, or contact Dennis Deshaies, President of HONEF at 904-794-2706, or Larry Mundinger, Vice President at 904-471-6148.

The following is a summary of remarks by Edwin and Helen Kagin (people think we would make a wonderful couple if it weren't for me) at the Secular Student Alliance (SAA) convention, Washington, D.C., August 7, 2004.

Edwin.

WHERE ARE WE GOING or WHICH LINE ARE YOU IN?

Camp Quest has been a nightlight in a dark and scary room for the children of freethought

As we look to our tenth year, we would like to remind you why what we are doing is important.

Where are we going? Camp Quest is a microcosm of what the world can become. Those forcing upon us the American Religious Civil War would return our civilization to a pre-scientific age of faith. There are two great divisions among humans: those who view the world as operating by discoverable rules, and those who believe in a supernatural world that creates things from nothing and from which humans receive sets of rules to guide behavior.

This division is reflected in Aristotelian vs. Platonist analyses, in science vs. faith, in a heliocentric world view vs. The Great Chain of Being, in critical inquiry vs. Catechism, in Camp Quest vs. Vacation Bible School.

The two great perceived divisions in one human condition can be understood as two divergent lines headed to one of two different doors. Those in one line generally agree that science, logic, and critical thinking correctly explain our past, interpret our world, and hold the best promise for our future.

Those in the other line believe everything that exists was magically created by an entity inhabiting a supernatural world, apart from the world of nature, and that this entity rewards or punishes obedience or disobedience to rules interpreted by those in that line.

The human race has witnessed continuing warfare between the two lines. The much longer faith based line has usually prevailed, and has brought about much suffering in our history.

Our nation, forged by those informed by reason, was revolutionary indeed. Too quickly a society can forget where it has come from and retreat again into barbarism.

This threat, perhaps more so than at any previous time in our history, now confronts us. For many, the other line appears the line of least resistance.

The conflict between the two lines will crescendo as we approach the Presidential election this year. What we as a society, and as individuals, do between now and that election will determine the kind of world we leave our children. The idea is not to elect the best person or idea. We must support the least undesirable options which can win this election. We must. If this election goes to the wrong line, the consequences are unthinkable.

The future depends on what we do to protect our children and to prepare them for a future where people will try to push them out of the line they want to be in and to control their destinies?

We have stood on the Moon and we have held the lightning. Shall we continue to the stars or shall we again become peasants fearing the night?

Help make our future better than our past. Keep the night light lit. Keep Camp Quest alive.

Edwin Kagin & Helen Kagin

The first year of Camp Quest of Minnesota went beautifully. It generated the following article in the Pioneer Press of St. Paul, Minnesota. This, in my opinion, is excellent press and does much good. It you like this coverage, or wish to comment on it, please email the author, whose email address appears at the end of this writing, and tell him so. News reporters should be as praised when they say good things as they are criticized when they do not.

Thanks to our readers who talked to the author of this article when it was in preparation. I suspect, from what he told me about all of you with whom he had spoken, that the article may have been longer when written and edited for reasons of space.

And many congratulations to the staff and campers of Camp Quest of Minnesota.

Edwin.

Posted on Mon, Aug. 09, 2004

Ungodly fun

At this summer camp for kids, there are meals without grace, campfires without blessings, lights-out without prayers.

BY RICHARD CHIN
Pioneer Press

There's horse camp and piano camp and chess camp and church camp. Now, there's godless camp.

Minnesota atheists, humanists and free thinkers just finished holding the state's first summer camp for kids who don't believe in God. At Camp Quest Minnesota, "The Secular Summer Camp," the program was modeled after an Ohio camp for atheist children also called Camp Quest that has been in operation for nine years.

In most ways, the Minnesota program was like a typical summer camp. The kids lived in cabins at the Voyageur Environmental Center near Mound. There was canoeing and campfires, archery and arts and crafts, skits and s'mores. Just no God, please.

Local atheists and humanists created the camp because they wanted to give their kids a sense of belonging in a free-thought community. They thought bringing unbelieving kids together for a week of fresh air and impiousness would counteract feelings of loneliness and isolation in a world many atheists feel is awash in religious and superstitious beliefs.

"I think this camp, unlike all the other camps, will focus on critical thinking and skepticism to fantastic claims and supernatural claims," said August Berkshire, one of the co-founders of the Minnesota camp.

"A vacation from Judeo-Christian culture," said camp director Rick Rohrer. Edwin Kagin, who founded the original Camp Quest, said the Ohio program has attracted kids from as far away as Canada, Japan, England and the Netherlands because they couldn't find a God-free camp experience anywhere else.

"Kids come there and they cry," Kagin said. "They say it's the first time in their life that they're able to express that they don't believe in God."

YOUNG ATHEISTS

The Minnesota Camp Quest had 11 campers ranging in age from 8 to 16, watched over by six volunteer counselors. Most of the participants were from the Twin Cities area, but one camper came from Georgia, and one counselor came from California.

They looked like typical kids. No horns or cloven feet, despite being infidels. They didn't seem particularly bothered that there isn't any higher power to answer prayers, bestow eternal life and make sure the wheels don't fall off the universe.

Unlike lots of atheists who left the fold when they were young adults, many of these kids have been raised by atheist parents. They don't miss God because they've never believed in God.

Brothers Joseph, 12, and Michael, 10, of Shorewood described themselves as nonbelievers as they spent some of their free time at camp playing with a unicycle.

"Half for me," Joseph said.

"How can you be half?" Michael said.

"I can be half. Like a Unitarian," Joseph said.

"We celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah. My mom's Jewish," Michael said. "We don't, like, say prayers. We just give out presents."

"Most of the time, I'm an atheist, but sometimes, I'm an agnostic," said Chad, an 11-year-old camper from the Atlanta area. "Instead of Christmas, we celebrate winter solstice. We get gifts."

Many of the kids asked that only their first names or just their middle names be used in this article. They're not eager to be identified as the only atheist kid in class, they said.

"It's sort of hard. You can't tell anyone," Michael said. "They'd treat me different."

"They would be friends. But they wouldn't play with us as much," said his brother.

We like being in this camp. There are other people who don't believe in God, so you don't feel so alone," Michael said.

"It's better than Boy Scout camp," said Andrew, 16, Robbinsdale. "Whenever we ate, we had to do a prayer. It got rather annoying."

"It was really hard in elementary school, pretty much," said Collin of being a child atheist.

As he surfed the Internet in the camp's computer room, the 15-year-old Apple Valley resident described how his mother has been an atheist activist, vigilant about keeping religion from creeping into public schools.

"After 9/11, there were some signs like 'God bless the U.S.A.,' and she got those taken down immediately," he said. "She got the religious holidays taken off the school calendar."

He said he sometimes wished she would give it a rest. "But there are times when I see that she sees it's important, and I realize that."

"I look at it now and I'm glad I'm atheist," he said. "I just don't think (religion) makes a whole lot of sense." "There's no hell you're going to," said another camper, Paul, of being religion-free.

"And I'm not scared of dying," Collin said. "Hey, why would I want to give up pop for Lent?"

FREEDOM FROM RELIGION

Being atheist means dodging Bible study and prayer meetings, but that doesn't mean the born-just-once campers didn't get their own dose of spinach. At Camp Quest, they had to attend lectures on topics like critical thinking, game theory, overpopulation and ethics.

At one point, a group of atheist adolescents gathered around Jerry Rauser, a board member of the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union. He came to talk about the separation of church and state.

On a wooden deck surrounded by rustling birch trees, Rauser set up a flip chart. On one page, he had drawn stick figures representing people living in a society where conflict between the state-sponsored church and competing religions led to "wars, bloodshed, persecution and prison." The stick figures had frowns on their faces.

The next page showed the situation when there is a wall of separation between government and religion.

"Here's the free thinker," Rauser said, pointing to one of the stick figures. "He has a nice smile on his face, because he can ignore the church if he wants to. So there is freedom of religion and freedom from religion." More pages got flipped over as Rauser went on to ask the campers whether posting the Ten Commandments in a public school or having prayers at graduation violates the separation of church and state.

"Here's a sticky one: the pledge of allegiance," he said. "This is a big problem, because this is wrapped up in an expression of patriotism." Some fidgety campers weren't exactly riveted.

"It's like school," Michael said afterward.

"I lost it after a few pages," his brother Joseph said. "There was, like, a hundred there."

But he does believe in the separation of church and state.

"I don't like it when kids come to school with a cross necklace," he said. "I think you have enough time in church to celebrate Jesus. I don't think you need to bring it into the classroom."

During the lecture on evolution, Berkshire argued against the theory of intelligent design by noting that humans have a blind spot in their eyes.

"If we were going to design our eye, we wouldn't have that." "The squid eye is developed better than ours," said Rich Sinda, another counselor. "Either the real God is a squid god or they like them better than us."

During a lecture designed to debunk astrology, the campers still were interested in how many stars the newspaper horoscope gave them that day. "We've just discovered that these things are no more accurate than throwing a dart, and you still want to know how many stars you have?" said Berkshire, whose Minnesota license plates say "ATHEIST."

The campers also were told that an invisible dragon lived at the camp. If any camper could prove the dragon didn't exist, he or she would win a godless $20 bill. That's a piece of currency printed before Congress ordered that money say "In God We Trust" - "religious graffiti" in the words of one atheist.

Berkshire said the kids quickly made a connection between belief in God and belief in invisible dragons. "You can't disprove a dragon, and you can't disprove God's existence," he said. "But that doesn't mean that the dragon or God exists." Camp organizers decorated the dining room with posters of famous free thinkers - Lincoln, Washington, Einstein, Edison, Goethe, Freud - along with their thoughts on religion.

"Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion that has ever infected the world," read the quote under Voltaire's picture. "It's just like normal camp," said Laura, a 12-year-old from Apple Valley. They sang the same corny camp songs around the campfire, she said. Although, "there was one atheist song."

Atheists have songs?

"The one that goes, 'Imagine there's no heaven or hell,' " she said. "By John Lennon," said Rita, a 12-year-old from Tonka Bay.

IDENTITY CRISIS

Near the end of the week, Edwin Kagin, creator of the Camp Quest concept, paid a visit to the Minnesota program after driving up from his home in Kentucky.

"I wanted to come see and have an appreciation of it," he said. He declared the site "absolutely one of the prettiest camp facilities I've seen." "I wish there were more campers, but Christianity started with less people than we have here," he added.

A lawyer, Eagle Scout and atheist, Kagin said he started thinking about setting up a camp for atheist kids after incidents in which the Boy Scouts barred nonbelievers.

"I was outraged when the Boy Scouts announced they would not take those dirty little atheist boys and they were kicking people out," said Kagin, who is also Kentucky state director of the American Atheists organization. The Minnesota project was started with a $5,000 grant from the Institute for Humanist Studies, a secular humanist think tank based in Albany, N.Y. The camp cost $550 per child.

Shoreview resident Shirley Moll sent her grandson to the camp. She grew up in the only atheist family in a small coal-mining town in Pennsylvania. "My childhood years were very, very difficult because I was an atheist," she said.

"There's a general negativity associated with the word atheism," said Sinda, who sent two sons to the camp. "People automatically think you're immoral, communist, you're a Nazi."

"I think that's one of the misconceptions, that we're devil worshipers," said Paul, a 13-year-old from Hopkins.

"It's good for kids to understand that there are other families that are free thinkers," Sinda said. "We want our beliefs to have a basis." Bernie Schatz sent his grandson to the camp. He also showed up to give a lecture on beekeeping wearing a T-shirt that said "Discover Humanism," which also included a quote from himself: "When individuals fully understand religion, they will no longer support a belief system."

Schatz said he considered becoming a preacher before deciding there isn't a God. "Religion is not needed," he said. "I prayed like hell, and it just didn't help."

Counselor Norm Barrett said he had a road-away-from-Damascus experience when he was 16, the same age as some of the older campers. But it took several years before he worked up the nerve to tell his parents he no longer believed in God.

"I probably could have benefited from a place like this," he said. "I admire some of these kids. In a way, some of them are a bit more courageous than I was," he said. "It kind of gives me hope for the future. We are kind of succeeding in passing our values on to the next generation." Next year's Minnesota Camp Quest is scheduled for July 24-31 at the Voyageur Environmental Center. For information about the Minnesota Camp Quest, go to www.campquest.org.

Richard Chin can be reached at rchin@pioneerpress.com or 651- 228-5560.

[top]

August 3, 2004
Edwin Kagin, Kentucky State Director, American Atheists, Inc.

To: Unidentified Recipients:

Your Kentucky State Director has been out of town visiting, among other things, Camp Quest of Minnesota, a new Camp Quest which opened for its first year last week. It was, in my view, highly successful. And they gave me a T-Shirt. You can learn more about it here: http://www.campquest.org/.

This coming Saturday, August 7, 2004 Ellen Johnson, President of American Atheists, and your state director will each separately address the national convention of the Secular Student Alliance (SAA) in Washington, D.C.

Lots of things are about to get real interesting. Stay tuned. Welcome to all of our new readers. You are not alone.

Edwin.

Ellen Johnson, president of American Atheists and Director of the Godless Americans Political Action Committee (GAMPAC) will be among the plenary session speakers during this weekend's Secular Student Alliance Conference in Washington, DC.

Johnson will speak on "Atheist Activist and Political Power" on Saturday, August 7, 2004 at 1:30 PM. The venue is the Holiday Inn National Airport, 2650 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA. The conference is sponsored by the Secular Student Alliance, a national organization working on campuses throughout the country to stimulate a "New Enlightenment" and give nonbelievers a more active presence in colleges and universities.

More information about the Conference, along with online registration, can be found at http://www.secularstudents.org.

For nearly a decade, Ellen Johnson has headed American Atheists, a nationwide movement that defends civil liberties for Atheists and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy. She served as Chairwoman of the Godless Americans March on Washington (GAMOW) Task Force which in November, 2002 brought thousands of Atheists, Freethinkers, Humanists and other nonbelievers to Washington, DC in an unprecedented display of unity, cooperation and mutual respect.

Since then, she has served as head of GAMPAC, a national initiative to support and elect Atheists to public office.

Johnson is a frequent guest on national media including C-SPAN's "Washington Journal," MSNBC's "Scarborough County," and FOX NEWS CHANNEL'S "Hannity & Colmes" and "Heartland" with John Kasich.

WHO & WHAT: Ellen Johnson, president of American Atheists speaking at the SSA Conference

WHEN: This weekend, Saturday August 7, 2004 -- program of speakers, panels and other activities throughout Friday and Saturday!

MORE INFO: Secular Student Alliance (http://www.secularstudents.org)

American Atheists (http://www.atheists.org)

Godless Americans PAC (http://www.gampac.org)

(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.)

http://www.alternet.org/election04/19263/

By Roberto Lovato
http://www.alternet.org/authors/4715/
AlterNet

Posted July 19, 2004

Liberals and progressives don't know what they're up against with the militant evangelical movement.

It would be fair to expect that my recent weekend visit to my parents' pink house on a quiet street in San Francisco was going to be rather tranquil. It wasn't. During my stay, I watched as my 80-year-old mother and father sat forlorn while their wooden house shook to the sounds of the youthful Christian soldiers singing and praying in the storefront church next door. It is a scenario that plays out for my parents several times a week, and their efforts - pounding on the walls, screaming "Quiet!" at the churchgoers, pleading gently, and then not so gently, with the mustachioed pastor - always end in despondency.

The walls dividing my parents and the Baptist battalion next door shake loudly to a born-again beat from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday - and every Tuesday and Thursday night too. Despite the fact that this church is wrecking the serenity of my parents' remaining golden years, I can relate to the motivation this faithful flock has to meet so often and pray at such heavenly volumes.

A former born-again believer myself, I have seen the capabilities of a religious militancy that believes it can move mountains. I've also witnessed how this same militancy in the thousands of evangelical churches across the United States has swayed the results of presidential elections, silently aligning the cold strategy and tactics of electoral politics with a vision that extends beyond election day and into the next life.

When I looked in on the Sunday sermon next door I felt no surprise that the calls on the faithful to embrace Jesus and the apocalypse were paired with a push for a Bush second coming and the pastor's scintillating defense of the White House-sponsored Federal Marriage Amendment, which the mustachioed shepherd called "muy urgente" - very urgent. The church service brought me back to my experiences of mixing of politics and faith during the Reagan era. At that time, I was unaware of how the exceptionalism embodied by Reagan's vision of the United States as a "shining city on a hill" blended seamlessly with the ancient ideas I was taught about Christianity and the salvation of the earth. Reagan just made sense to me, and I left it at that. My experiences with the evangelical church started in the early '80s. I was supremely grateful to the leadership of the Open Door Alliance church for helping me escape the unhealthy - even deadly - lifestyle of a 20-year-old living in recession-ridden barrios in Reagan's "shining city." The rocket-fuel combustion of gratitude for being taken in and the apocalyptic faith I grew to adopt - many of us were convinced that the end was nigh - fired me up during bi-weekly bible study sessions, which made clear that I stood on the side of the good, true Christians, and not among the fallen faithful.

Shortly after my conversion experience (I grew up Catholic), I spent all my time participating in discussions, sermons, and mentoring by deacons and pastors. I was introduced to "practical" examples of how to interpret reality - including political reality. At that time, abortion was the filter through which we understood our place in the "worldly" process of elections.

Following training ostensibly designed to bring me closer to the rapture, I found myself transported to new - and radically political - heights in advanced study groups. We spent our time praying for the presidential candidate who was "right" on abortion, the presidential candidate who we heard about in services and on Christian radio, the presidential candidate we saw praying with Christian pastors on the covers of mainstream magazines. Convinced that I needed to take up spiritual arms in a world slouching towards Satan, I attended mass events where members of various regional churches "volunteered" to register new voters for the 1984 presidential race. Before long, many of us were writing checks to televangelists like our spiritual hero and Reagan supporter, Jimmy Swaggart, one of the pioneers of televangelism whose inspired, working-class message delivered thousands of souls - and more than $500,000 in daily commitments from televised sermons. Worked into an evangelical frenzy, I believed, truly believed, that the anti-Christ worked through abortion rights advocates and the politicians that supported them. I saw it as a holy battle fought through the ballot box. Though I wasn't told which party to register with at religious events or at sermons, our biblical training made it clear which levers Jesus would pull at the ballot box.

Sacred time and election time were synchronized. Our lives moved to the beat of the Beatitudes - and, increasingly, so did the political process. Twenty years later, the synchronization has been digitally remastered using new technologies, and distributed by Christian media conglomerates like the Trinity Broadcasting Network. Combined with the overwhelming numbers of politically-driven tax free evangelical organizations found in neighborhoods across the country, the exponential growth of the Message has had a multiplier effect on the spiritual economy of the country. While Protestant politics stretch across the spectrum from the radical right to progressive, the most prominent broadcast pulpits are dominated by fanatical conservatives. The so-called "spiritual revolution" is on a parallel track with the revolution in digital media.

Aided by the consolidation of the Christian media conglomerates, the prolific growth of Christian web sites, and the mainstreaming of the Message through movies like Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ," and multimedia ministries like that of Tim Lahaye, author of the apocalyptic blockbuster Left Behind Series, the evangelical message has gone way beyond bringing the issue of abortion to the ballot box. Internet pornography, school prayer, judicial appointments, and gay rights, to name a few, are now the subjects of Sunday service, church-sponsored letter-writing drives to legislators, and the strings to which fundraising are attached. As a result, religious fanatics in America have managed to get their views on culture and society written as law.

The militancy and timing of the evangelical message has spilled into America's military conflicts. The perpetual wars that began with operation "Infinite Justice" (later changed to "Operation Enduring Freedom") fit perfectly with the millennial pursuit of "everlasting life" that informs sermons, pamphlets, and religious media. The daily newscasts about Iraq and the Middle East have, for millions of God-fearing Americans, become visual reminders of their role as a voting bloc in the war of the apocalypse. They believe themselves to be supporters of providentially sanctioned war - and warrior Presidents.

To their - and progressives' - detriment, and despite good intentions, neither media genius Michael Moore nor the flaccid fighters of the Democratic Party have articulated a competitive historically-rooted vision of the future that can negate this religious militancy. The urgency of the evangelist message behind and beyond the pulpit is anchored by a scorched earth approach to changing the world. It has no equivalent or competing force among those opposing the Bush agenda. At a time when global and local politics are again being defined by powerful extremists of various faiths - including a fervent Christianity - bent on rapturous redemption through war, the lack of a long-term vision uniting those in opposition to the evangelical Bush supporters leaves them, and the country, extremely vulnerable.

A powerful long-term unifying alternative vision or, God forbid, an ideology, which influences and interprets struggles of daily life as much as it aligns electorates in the short-term and policy in the long term, is absent. Meanwhile, the forces leading opposition to the Right's religious wing are leading the well-meaning, peace-loving of this country toward the steep cliffs of short-term electoral thinking. While this may be seductive in the face of the current political climate, propping up the Kerry campaign as "the lesser of two evils," the alpha and the omega of the "anybody but Bush" solution, it condemns liberals and progressives to a perpetual post-electoral defense against those feeding the hearts and minds of fearful yet faithful legions who are rewarded with the mirage of a clear, if apocalyptic future.

The inability of the anti-Bush forces to understand the depth of evangelical militancy may result in a fate similar to that of my parents who are thinking of moving away from their church next door. Similarly, on those days when polls spike in Bush's favor, more than a few people respond with "I'm leaving the country if he wins" when they're asked for their "plan B." Lacking another realistic alternative and being reservedly committed to the Kerry campaign, many liberals and progressives are trapped between a muddy rock of mainstream Democratic Party politics and the millenarian hard place of a Bush second coming.

Conservatives' evangelical foot soldiers, powered by their "Plan A" (as in "apocalyptic"), are a dangerous force. Those who aren't in support of the fanatic Christian agenda will have to address their lack of a "vision thing," or else my parents' wall will become only a small section of the long wall separating the evangelical elect from the damned majority. Roberto Lovato is a Los Angeles-based writer with Pacific News Service. This article was produced under the auspices of the George Washington Williams Fellowship of the Independent Press Association.

When it comes to a strong economy, study gives the devil his due Thursday,

The engines of economic growth are fueled by many factors: labor productivity, savings rates and solid corporate governance.

Here's one more log to add to the fire.

Economists have locked onto a potential correlation between how much a country's population believes in hell and its levels of economic growth and corruption. The idea is that the more people fear a ride in an elevator with just one button -- down -- the less they will do bad things. Fewer people doing bad things mean higher per capita income.

The latest on the issue comes from none other than the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Researchers there published a paper in this month's issue of a quarterly business review with the headline, "Fear of Hell Can Pay Off."

"In countries where large percentages of the population believe in hell, there seems to be less corruption and a higher standard of living," economists Kevin Kliesen and Frank Schmid wrote.

So it should hardly come as a surprise that in the United States, where 71 percent of the population believes in hell, per capita income is the highest among the 35 countries listed. Some, of course, may quarrel with the less-corruption part of it, considering the cases of Enron, WorldCom and Tyco, to name a few.

Turkey had the highest percentage of people who believe in hell, at 85 percent, even though its residents' per capita income was almost six times less than those in the United States. Ireland, the country with the second-highest per capita income, ranked fourth, with 53 percent of its populace believing in hell.

The results are based on a 1990-1993 World Values Survey of the countries. The corruption statistics come from the Corruption Perceptions Index, an annual survey done by Transparency International.

The Rev. Msgr. Thomas Hartman, half of the God Squad, a Long Island-based religious advice-offering team, said the findings are similar to drivers slowing down their speed if they see a police officer.

"Interestingly, what we're emphasizing in religion today is a relationship where a person would embrace God ... to try to live the way they live," he said. "In the process of that, some people can come to that negatively."

Much of the reserve bank's information comes from a 2003 study conducted by two Harvard economists, Robert Barrow and Rachel McCleary. They concluded there is "some indication that the stick represented by the fear of hell is more potent for growth than the carrot from the prospect of heaven."

Not everyone is ready to embrace the Lucifer connection.

"I cannot imagine what the belief in mythological beings or things that don't exist can do for business," said Ellen Johnson, president of Cranford-based American Atheists. "What about the pornographic industry? That is probably very good for growth."

And what about Nigeria? While 51 percent of its residents believe in hell, giving it the sixth-highest ranking of 35 countries, the corruption survey put the African nation second from last out of 133 countries.

Greg Saitz can be reached at gsaitz@starledger.com or (973) 392-7946. Reuters contributed to this report.

Starkville, Mississippi August 3, 2004

School prayer issue arises in Webster County

By JOE C. EVANS
Starkville Daily News

The issue of prayer in school has come up once again in North Mississippi, this time in Webster county.

On Monday morning, Starkville Daily News staff members received of a copy of a letter dated July 28 that had been sent to the Webster County School Board.

The letter, written by a local parent who is new to the Eupora area, expresses concern over alleged incidents of teacher- and principal led prayer and classroom time being devoted to Bible study.

The parent's letter goes on to cite the 1963 United Stated Supreme Court case of Murray v. Currlett.

The existence of this decision could not be confirmed by the Mississippi Attorney General's Office on Monday. The complainant stated that it was not acceptable for the school to simply remove an offended student to another location while school sponsored prayer is going on.

"My [child] was being directed daily in matters of a fundamentally religious nature by individuals possessing unquestioned authority, and made a captive audience to prayers offered to a god [sic] [they do] not recognize, all in violation of federal law," the parent's letter states.

The parent's name is being withheld due to unsuccessful attempts to contact him on Monday.

This is not the first time that the question of prayer in school has come up in north Mississippi.

In 1996, Lisa Herdahl sued the Pontotoc County School District over the issue of prayers being lead over the school intercom, before school devotionals, organized lunchtime prayers, religious Bible instruction and proselytizing in classrooms.

A U.S. District Court struck down all of these practices except before school devotionals, ruling that as long as there was no teacher involvement and the meetings were voluntary, there was no legal problem with non-classtime religious activities.

The 1947 Supreme Court Decision of Everson v. Board of Education of Ewing Township set forth an official ruling of the constitutional clause prohibiting the "Establishment of Religion."

This has since been called "The Establishment Clause" by the legal community.

The Court in Lemon v. Kurtzman laid out a three part test called "The Lemon Test" that any law, statute or governmental practice must first, have a wholly secular legislative aim, second, have a primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion, and finally, must not promote an "Excessive government entanglement with religion."

The Webster County School Board will address the issue at its meeting at 7 p.m. today. The meeting will concern both Eupora and East Webster schools.

Webster County School District Supt. Jimmy Pittman would not comment on the issue Monday afternoon, and Webster school board members could not be reached for comment.

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June 12, 2004
Edwin Kagin, Kentucky State Director, American Atheists, Inc.

The decision of SCOTUS in the Newdow (Pledge of Allegiance) case might be rendered this coming Monday (Flag Day, June 14th) or the next Monday (June 21st when all of the campers and staff of Camp Quest 2004 can be reached for reactions). The Ninth Circuit opinion came out during the last Camp Quest and was cheered by the campers and staff.

Your Kentucky State Director has been named a national spokesperson for American Atheists on the issue of the Pledge decision. So when it hits, feel free to have your local media contact me for comments, whichever way it goes. I can be reached at my office at (859) 384-7000, or at Camp Quest (hopefully) by wireless phone at (859) 380-3427.

I have also recently been added to the /visitors.center/speakers.html. So, if you know of any group wanting a speaker, or a nice lively debate with a Fundangelical, give a call.

The outrageous attempt by religious fanatics, reported below, to further control our free land should be met with vigorous calls for these ministers and priests to register as legislative lobbyists. And the Vatican, recognized as a country by the United States, should be required to register as a foreign interest lobby. Further, anyone trying to intimidate any member of Congress, by threatening to withhold that member's perceived right to get to heaven unless the member votes the way the church orders, should be criminally charged with threatening a member of Congress. Perhaps that could be tacked onto our previously proposed law requiring that there be Atheist flight crews, hospital staffs, bus drivers, etc. on duty at all times to keep things going safely in the event the predicted Rapture takes the primary actors away.

Additional important news follows.

Told you things were getting ready to pick up.

Edwin.

American Atheists Legislative Action Alert

"SNEAK' PROVISION IN JOBS BILL ALLOWS FREE PASS FROM IRS REGS, PULPIT POLITICKING BY CLERGY

Letters, Faxes, E-Mail, Calls Needed NOW To Stop "Safe Harbor For Churches"

A measure added to a jobs funding fill presently in the U.S. House of Representatives would encourage churches to support political candidates and while establishing penalties for up to three "unintentional" endorsements made by clerics. This would allow religious leaders and houses of worship to engage in partisan electioneering with no danger of loosing this tax exempt status.

Known as the "Safe Harbor for Churches" provision, the proposal was smuggled into a 379-page appropriations bill known as the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (HR 4520). This comes after repeated failures to pass legislation that would allow houses of worship to become actively involved in partisan political campaigns and even raise money for candidates while maintaining their privileged nonprofit tax exemption.

The measure was introduced following revelations that the Bush-Cheney campaign has been reaching out to 1,600 "friendly congregations" in Pennsylvania to mobilize conservative Christians. Critics say that the plan is part of a larger nationwide strategy encouraging religious groups and leaders to become even more involved in supporting the Bush White House social and political agenda.

CONGRESS NEEDS TO HEAR FROM US NOW!

HR 4520 could come to the House floor as early as next week. We need to flood Capitol Hill with letters, faxes, e-mails and phone calls urging Representatives to vote "No" on this bill unless the "Safe Harbor for Churches" provision is removed. Check out our TIPS ON CONTACTING CONGRESS and locate your Representative. Visit the action alert

* Contact your elected Representative as soon as possible!

* Spread this Action Alert!

* If you are in an Atheist, Freethought, Secular Humanist or other nonbeliever group, urge your fellow members to take action to stop the "Safe Harbor" provision!

* Write letters to the editor of your local paper speaking out on this unconstitutional and discriminatory legislation!

* Clergy and individuals in religious congregations already have the right to endorse political candidates. This is guaranteed under the First Amendment. What cannot and should not be permitted, though, is to allow clerical leaders and houses of worship to engage in blatant politicking while still retaining their privileged tax-exempt status!

* This proposed measure is a "wink and nod" signal to encourage religious leaders to violate the law. It encourages congregations to become involved in political campaigns as religious entities.

* The "Safe Harbor" provision claims to address a problem that does not exist. In doing so, it further blurs the line separating church and state.

* Blatant politicking by religious leaders and groups is already a major problem. Houses of worship often violate election laws by inviting select candidates to appear, or when clergy use the pulpit as a political podium to endorse those running for public office.

* If religious leaders or organizations wish to become politically active, they may do so; but they must adhere to election regulations, and not use a tax-exempt entity -- a church, mosque, or temple -- to engage in partisan campaigning. The "Safe Harbor for Churches" provision is a "free pass" from the enforcement of laws that all other political groups must obey when endorsing and supporting candidates.

Share your letters, faxes and e-mails * Send a copy to us and we will share your communiqué.

AMERICAN ATHEISTS, INC.
http://www.atheists.org
http://www.americanatheist.org

For more information, please contact:
Ellen Johnson, President
Dave Silverman, Communications Director

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - June 10, 2004

Bill Lowering Electioneering Penalties For Churches Partisan, Endangers Separation Says Atheist Group

Proposed changes buried in an 397-page Jobs Creation Act would permit clergy to engage in overt, partisan electioneering and permit them to commit three "unintentional violations" pertaining to political activity without risking scrutiny or penalties from the IRS.

Known as the "Safe Harbor Churches" amendment, the plan comes after the Bush-Cheney campaign was exposed for trying to solicit support from 1,600 "friendly congregations" in the State of Pennsylvania.

Ellen Johnson, president of American Atheists, charged that the measure introduced by House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) "is tailor made to encourage clerics to endorse partisan candidates, and get religious groups even more deeply involved in campaigns, without the fear of losing their privileged IRS tax exemption."

"It's a 'get out of jail' card for churches, mosques, temples and other sectarian groups," said Johnson.

"What's remarkable about this legislation is that it lowers and even eliminates the penalties for violating the law," Johnson added. "We don't even tolerate that for Enron executives or drug dealers. But the Bush campaign is once again trying to create special rights when religious groups are involved."

Dave Silverman, Communications Director for American Atheists, said that the group is launching a letter-writing campaign to stop the amendment to the original bill.

"They buried this deep in the Jobs Creation Act hoping that they could 'sneak one over' on the American people."

"That suggests to me that Bush and Mr. Hastert know that this measure is discriminatory and unconstitutional."

On June 26th, the President of American Atheists, Inc., Ellen Johnson, will be coming to Boise to join Idaho Atheists, Inc. at their Summer Solstice Picnic in Julia Davis Park. Idaho Atheists, Inc. is affiliated with American Atheists, Inc. and shares their mission to defend civil rights for nonbelievers, to work for the total separation of church and state, and to address issues of First Amendment public policy.

The members of Idaho Atheists are very excited to have such a distinguished person as Ms. Johnson as the honored guest speaker at this year's Solstice Picnic. She will be speaking about "Political Lessons From Dear Abby" at about 12:15 PM. Please mark your calendars, hold the date, and plan to attend!

Specifics:

What: Idaho Atheists Summer Solstice Picnic
When: June 26, 2004, from noon until 4 PM
Where: Julia Davis Park, Shelter #2 (between the bandshell and the zoo)

From the Connecticut State Director, Dennis Paul Himes:

This is an update on the plans for a rally on the day of the Pledge of Allegiance Supreme Court decision.

The rally will be at the federal courthouse in New Haven at 141 Church Street, across the street from the green. If the decision is made before 2:00 the rally will probably be at 6:00, and if it's made later the rally will probably be 9:00 the next morning (I'll let you know if the times change).

I've been in touch with several other groups in Conn. and have gotten good responses. Several of them will probably end up being cosponsors of the rally.

So far I've gotten positive responses from four of you (i.e. Conn. AA members). If anyone else is thinking of going let me know and I'll put you on the list of phone numbers I'll call when I find out exactly when it's going to be.

Dennis Paul Himes <> dphimes@atheists.org

Connecticut State Director, American Atheists, Inc.

(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.)

American Atheists' site: http://www.atheists.org/ct/
personal site: http://home.cshore.com/himes/dennis.htm

Disclaimer: "True, I talk of dreams; which are the children of an idle brain, begot of nothing but vain fantasy; which is as thin of substance as the air." - Romeo & Juliet, Act I Scene iv Verse 96-99

From "Kentucky Atheists News & Notes" reader Roy Crawford: Here is a message a fundie sent me:

Subject: 16 million considering Separation of SCHOOL & State?
Importance: High

Dear Liberator Online reader,

Imagine *16 million people* seriously considering getting children out of government schools!

I seldom send you stand-alone messages like this one, but I received this too late to include it in the most recent issue of the Liberator Online, and I wanted you to know about it.

This is a major breaking story that gives you and me an opportunity to make a real difference for liberty.

Please take a few moments to read the message below from Advocates Founder Marshall Fritz, and see the action steps YOU can take to help make this happen. Thank you!

Sharon Harris, President Advocates for Self-Government

Over 7 million children are in non-government schooling--- about 5.25 million conventional private and religious schools, and 2 million in home schools.

Every parent who refuses to allow the state to school his/her children wins a victory for quality education and the cause of freedom from government school indoctrination.

If you're glad these parents have separated **their** families from state schooling, you might get as excited as I am about this development:

The largest Protestant denomination in America---Southern Baptists, with 16 million members---will be voting next week on a resolution calling on their members to remove their children from government schools!

It's very consideration is already causing the beginning of a stir: Favorable articles have shown up in the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, WorldNetDaily, the Washington Times. And the O'Reilly Factor is trying to schedule one of the Baptists who submitted the resolution.

And vastly more attention would undoubtedly result if the Southern Baptists actually pass a "get the kids out" resolution. This will be so appalling to the mainstream news that "Mr. Dan" Rather will be whining on the 6:00 news and "60 Minutes" is sure to do a hit piece.

Pray for a slow news week and Time and Newsweek might make it a cover story, full of dire predictions of the demise of America if the Baptists pull their 4 million children from the schools.

If you're not a Southern Baptist, or a Protestant, or even a Christian, you may think this has nothing to do with you, but it does.

1) You probably know people who are Southern Baptists, or 2) For sure, you know people who belong to other denominations that might be interested in passing a similar resolution in the future in their group.

This could be an important new front in the fight for educational choice. Religious and denominational differences should not divide us in our common desire to expand school choice ... ending federal interference in local schools and taking a major step toward making all schooling private.

I am setting up a new organization---initially as part of the Alliance for Separation of School & State---to promote this concept in other groups.

We call it GetTheKidsOut.org.

What can you do TODAY to help move the Baptists in the freedom-in-schooling direction?

1) send this email to everybody on your personal email list who is religious, or likes the freedom philosophy, or both. Ask them to send it to their friends.

2) post this email to any online newsgroups or discussion forums you frequent.

3) CALL any Southern Baptists you know and urge them to advise any "Messengers" (SOBAPT lingo for delegates to their convention in Indianapolis next week) of this resolution.

4) visit www.GetTheKidsOut.org and sign up for the monthly online update on Get The Kids Out.

Thank you for reading this. I get too much email, too. :-) But this is important and URGENT.

Yours,

Marshall Fritz
Interim Director, GetTheKidsOut.org
President, HonestEd.com
(Alliance for the Separation of School & State)
1071 N Fulton St, Fresno CA 93728
(559) 499-1776 fax 499-1703

[top]

June 11, 2004
Edwin Kagin, Kentucky State Director, American Atheists, Inc.

Lest we forget. Here are some quotations from Ronald Reagan, who is finally being buried today.

Edwin.

Quotations:

"Prayer has sustained our people in crisis, strengthened us in times of challenge, and guided us through our daily lives since the first settlers came to this continent. Our forbearers came not for gold, but mainly in search of God and the freedom to worship in their own way. "We've been a free people living under the law, with faith in our Maker and in our future. I've said before that the most sublime picture in American history is of George Washington on his knees in the snow at Valley Forge. That image personifies a people who know that it's not enough to depend on our own courage and goodness; we must also seek help from God, our Father and Preserver." -- Remarks at a White House Ceremony in Observance of National Day of Prayer, 6 May 1982

"Yet today we're told that to protect that first amendment, we must suppress prayer and expel God from our children's classrooms. In one case, a court has ruled against the right of children to say grace in their own school cafeteria before they had lunch. A group of children who sought, on their own initiative and with their parents' approval, to begin the schoolday with a 1-minute prayer meditation have been forbidden to do so. And some students who wanted to join in prayer or religious study on school property, even outside of regular class hours, have been banned from doing so. "A few people have even objected to prayers being said in the Congress. That's just plain wrong. The Constitution was never meant to prevent people from praying; its declared purpose was to protect their freedom to pray. "The time has come for this Congress to give a majority of American families what they want for their children -- the firm assurance that children can hold voluntary prayers in their schools just as the Congress, itself, begins each of its daily sessions with an opening prayer. "With this in mind, last May I proposed to the Congress a measure that declares once and for all that nothing in the Constitution prohibits prayer in public schools or institutions. It also states that no person shall be required by government to participate in prayer who does not want to. So, everyone's rights -- believers and nonbelievers alike -- are protected by our voluntary prayer measure." -- Radio Address to the Nation on Prayer, 18 September 1982

"I know that we share a belief that all people, no matter where they live, have the right to freedom of religion. This is not a right that is any government's to give or to take away. It's our right from birth, because we're all children of God." -- Remarks at the Annual Convention of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, 10 June 1983

"We are a nation under God. I've always believed that this blessed land was set apart in a special way, that some divine plan placed this great continent here between the oceans to be found by people from every corner of the Earth who had a special love for freedom and the courage to uproot themselves, leave homeland and friends, to come to a strange land. And coming here they created something new in all the history of mankind -- a land where man is not beholden to government, government is beholden to man.

"George Washington believed that religion, morality, and brotherhood were the pillars of society. He said you couldn't have morality without religion. And yet today we're told that to protect the first amendment, we must expel God, the source of all knowledge, from our children's classrooms. Well, pardon me, but the first amendment was not written to protect the American people from religion; the first amendment was written to protect the American people from government tyranny. "Indeed, there is nothing in the Constitution at all about public education and prayer. There is, however, something very pertinent in the act that gave birth to our public school system -- a national act, if you will. It called for public education to see that our children -- and quoting from that act -- ``learned about religion and morality.'' "Well, the time has come for Congress to give a majority of American families what they want for their children -- a constitutional amendment making it unequivocally clear that children can hold voluntary prayer in their schools." -- Remarks at a Spirit of America Rally in Atlanta, Georgia, 26 January 1984

"More and more Americans believe that loving God in their hearts is the ultimate value. Last year, not only were Year of the Bible activities held in every State of the Union, but more than 25 States and 500 cities issued their own Year of the Bible proclamations. One schoolteacher, Mary Gibson, in New York raised $4,000 to buy Bibles for working people in downtown Manhattan.

"Nineteen eighty-three was the year more of us read the Good Book. Can we make a resolution here today? -- that 1984 will be the year we put its great truths into action?

"My experience in this office I hold has only deepened a belief I've held for many years: Within the covers of that single Book are all the answers to all the problems that face us today if we'd only read and believe.

"Let's begin at the beginning. God is the center of our lives; the human family stands at the center of society; and our greatest hope for the future is in the faces of our children. Seven thousand Poles recently came to the christening of Maria Victoria Walesa, daughter of Danuta and Lech Walesa, to express their belief that solidarity of the family remains the foundation of freedom.

"God's most blessed gift to His family is the gift of life. He sent us the Prince of Peace as a babe in a manger. I've said that we must be cautious in claiming God is on our side. I think the real question we must answer is, are we on His side?" -- Remarks at the Annual Convention of the National Religious Broadcasters, 30 January 1984

"I know one thing I'm sure most of us agree on: God, source of all knowledge, should never have been expelled from our children's classrooms. The great majority of our people support voluntary prayer in schools." -- Remarks at the Annual Convention of the National Religious Broadcasters, 30 January 1984

"Let us pledge to conduct ourselves with generosity, tolerance, and openness toward all. We must respect the rights and views of every American, because we're unshakably committed to democratic values. Our Maker would have it no less.

"So, please use your pulpits to denounce racism, anti-Semitism, and all ethnic or religious intolerance as evils, and let us make it clear that our values must not restrict, but liberate the human spirit in thought and in deed." -- Remarks at the Annual Convention of the National Association of Evangelicals in Columbus, Ohio, 6 March 1984

"I believe that faith and religion play a critical role in the political life of our nation -- and always has -- and that the church -- and by that I mean all churches, all denominations -- has had a strong influence on the state. And this has worked to our benefit as a nation. "Those who created our country -- the Founding Fathers and Mothers -- understood that there is a divine order which transcends the human order. They saw the state, in fact, as a form of moral order and felt that the bedrock of moral order is religion.

" . . .

"I believe that George Washington knew the City of Man cannot survive without the City of God, that the Visible City will perish without the Invisible City.

"Religion played not only a strong role in our national life; it played a positive role. The abolitionist movement was at heart a moral and religious movement; so was the modern civil rights struggle. And throughout this time, the state was tolerant of religious belief, expression, and practice. Society, too, was tolerant.

"But in the 1960's this began to change. We began to make great steps toward secularizing our nation and removing religion from its honored place. "In 1962 the Supreme Court in the New York prayer case banned the compulsory saying of prayers. In 1963 the Court banned the reading of the Bible in our public schools. From that point on, the courts pushed the meaning of the ruling ever outward, so that now our children are not allowed voluntary prayer. We even had to pass a law -- we passed a special law in the Congress just a few weeks ago to allow student prayer groups the same access to schoolrooms after classes that a young Marxist society, for example, would already enjoy with no opposition.

"The 1962 decision opened the way to a flood of similar suits. Once religion had been made vulnerable, a series of assaults were made in one court after another, on one issue after another. Cases were started to argue against tax-exempt status for churches. Suits were brought to abolish the words 'under God' from the Pledge of Allegiance and to remove 'In God We Trust' from public documents and from our currency.

"Today there are those who are fighting to make sure voluntary prayer is not returned to the classrooms. And the frustrating thing for the great majority of Americans who support and understand the special importance of religion in the national life -- the frustrating thing is that those who are attacking religion claim they are doing it in the name of tolerance, freedom, and openmindedness. Question: Isn't the real truth that they are intolerant of religion? They refuse to tolerate its importance in our lives.

"If all the children of our country studied together all of the many religions in our country, wouldn't they learn greater tolerance of each other's beliefs? If children prayed together, would they not understand what they have in common, and would this not, indeed, bring them closer, and is this not to be desired? So, I submit to you that those who claim to be fighting for tolerance on this issue may not be tolerant at all.

"When John Kennedy was running for President in 1960, he said that his church would not dictate his Presidency any more than he would speak for his church. Just so, and proper. But John Kennedy was speaking in an America in which the role of religion -- and by that I mean the role of all churches -- was secure. Abortion was not a political issue. Prayer was not a political issue. The right of church schools to operate was not a political issue. And it was broadly acknowledged that religious leaders had a right and a duty to speak out on the issues of the day. They held a place of respect, and a politician who spoke to or of them with a lack of respect would not long survive in the political arena.

"It was acknowledged then that religion held a special place, occupied a special territory in the hearts of the citizenry. The climate has changed greatly since then. And since it has, it logically follows that religion needs defenders against those who care only for the interests of the state. "There are, these days, many questions on which religious leaders are obliged to offer their moral and theological guidance, and such guidance is a good and necessary thing. To know how a church and its members feel on a public issue expands the parameters of debate. It does not narrow the debate; it expands it.

"The truth is, politics and morality are inseparable. And as morality's foundation is religion, religion and politics are necessarily related. We need religion as a guide. We need it because we are imperfect, and our government needs the church, because only those humble enough to admit they're sinners can bring to democracy the tolerance it requires in order to survive.

"A state is nothing more than a reflection of its citizens; the more decent the citizens, the more decent the state. If you practice a religion, whether you're Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, or guided by some other faith, then your private life will be influenced by a sense of moral obligation, and so, too, will your public life. One affects the other. The churches of America do not exist by the grace of the state; the churches of America are not mere citizens of the state. The churches of America exist apart; they have their own vantage point, their own authority. Religion is its own realm; it makes its own claims.

"We establish no religion in this country, nor will we ever. We command no worship. We mandate no belief. But we poison our society when we remove its theological underpinnings. We court corruption when we leave it bereft of belief. All are free to believe or not believe; all are free to practice a faith or not. But those who believe must be free to speak of and act on their belief, to apply moral teaching to public questions.

"I submit to you that the tolerant society is open to and encouraging of all religions. And this does not weaken us; it strengthens us, it makes us strong. You know, if we look back through history to all those great civilizations, those great nations that rose up to even world dominance and then deteriorated, declined, and fell, we find they all had one thing in common. One of the significant forerunners of their fall was their turning away from their God or gods.

"Without God, there is no virtue, because there's no prompting of the conscience. Without God, we're mired in the material, that flat world that tells us only what the senses perceive. Without God, there is a coarsening of the society. And without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure. If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under." -- Remarks at an Ecumenical Prayer Breakfast in Dallas, Texas, 23 August 1984

"As Americans of different religions find new meaningfulness in their beliefs, we do so together, returning together to the bedrock values of family, hard work, and faith in the same loving and almighty God. And as we welcome this rebirth of faith, we must even more fervently attack ugly intolerance. We have no place for haters in America. "Well, let me speak plainly: The United States of America is and must remain a nation of openness to people of all beliefs. Our very unity has been strengthened by this pluralism. That's how we began; this is how we must always be. The ideals of our country leave no room whatsoever for intolerance, anti-Semitism, or bigotry of any kind -- none. The unique thing about America is a wall in our Constitution separating church and state. It guarantees there will never be a state religion in this land, but at the same time it makes sure that every single American is free to choose and practice his or her religious beliefs or to choose no religion at all. Their rights shall not be questioned or violated by the state." -- Remarks at the International Convention of B'nai B'rith, 6 September 1984

"We in the United States, above all, must remember that lesson, for we were founded as a nation of openness to people of all beliefs. And so we must remain. Our very unity has been strengthened by our pluralism. We establish no religion in this country, we command no worship, we mandate no belief, nor will we ever. Church and state are, and must remain, separate. All are free to believe or not believe, all are free to practice a faith or not, and those who believe are free, and should be free, to speak of and act on their belief.

"At the same time that our Constitution prohibits state establishment of religion, it protects the free exercise of all religions. And walking this fine line requires government to be strictly neutral. And government should not make it more difficult for Christians, Jews, Muslims, or other believing people to practice their faith. And that's why, when the Connecticut Supreme Court struck down a statute -- and you may not have heard about this; it was a statute protecting employees who observed the Sabbath. Well, our administration is now urging the United States Supreme Court to overturn the Connecticut Court decision. This is what I mean by freedom of religion, and that's what we feel the Constitution intends." -- Remarks to Members of the Congregation of Temple Hillel and Jewish Community Leaders in Valley Stream, New York, 26 October 1984

"I believe that the most essential element of our defense of freedom is our insistence on speaking out for the cause of religious liberty. I would like to see this country rededicate itself wholeheartedly to this cause. I join you in your desire that the Protestant Churches of America, the Catholic Church, and the Jewish organizations remember the members of their flock who are in prison or in jeopardy in other countries. We are our brothers' keepers, all of us. And I hope the message will go forth from this conference: To prisoners of conscience throughout the world, take heart; you have not been forgotten. We, your brothers and sisters in God, have made your cause our cause, and we vow never to relent until you have regained the freedom that is your birthright as a child of God." -- Remarks at a Conference on Religious Liberty, 16 April 1985

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June 5, 2004
Edwin Kagin, Kentucky State Director, American Atheists, Inc.

Things have been relatively quite recently in news of pressing interest to Kentucky Atheists. This is about to change in a hurry. The relevant cliché is "This is the calm before the storm."

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is about to issue their ruling in the Michael Newdow case. That is the case wherein the constitutionality of the words "under god" is challenged. I was there when Michael Newdow did what is generally being called a brilliant job of argument in his own case. Indeed, I spoke on the steps of the Supreme Court during the argument, as did many others. We had about 200 there protesting the phrase. One Washington, D.C. radio station thereafter said there were about a dozen protestors. Thus is the rational side of the American Religious Civil War (ARCW) reported.

The way a SCOTUS decision will go, and indeed just when the decision in a given case will be rendered, still remains one of the few carefully kept secrets in Washington. It is known that SCOTUS announces its opinions on Mondays. And that they will go on break soon. It is thought by many, including myself, that the ruling will come one Monday in June, 2004. It may come during Camp Quest, which will meet for its 9th year June 19 to June 26. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit made its ruling in the Newdow case, holding the phrase to be unconstitutional, during Camp Quest.

Whichever way the ruling goes, it is predicted that the Fundangelicals are going to go quite nuts. If the ruling goes their way, there will be rejoicing among their numbers and the purge of non-believers will be on. If the ruling goes our way, the reaction will be even worse. There will almost certainly be a call for a constitutional amendment to make the unconstitutional religious yearnings of Fundangelicals the law of our land. Such fuss! Maybe the phrase is a violation of the Third Commandment, in the Protestant Edition of the Ten Commandments. Maybe god doesn't like the divine name placed on the mammon and in the pledge. Maybe that's why a few days ago there were over 100 tornadoes in the Louisville, Kentucky area. But there was no general outcry to clean the money and to purge the pledge. Believers went to whatever churches were left standing to thank their god for not killing them too.

I believe that the SCOTUS ruling will affirm the Ninth Circuit and hold the phrase "under god" to be unconstitutional. It simply has to. There is no way the phrase is not religious, and is not the unconstitutional establishment of a religion, as its supporters argue. If this phase is not religious, how would it look if it was religious? Similar language has b