NoGodBlog.com

Jesus comes down with a cost -- it must have been one of those "mysterious ways" things.

A federal judge has awarded the American Civil Liberties Union more than $42,000 to cover attorneys fees and court costs associated with the organization's fight to remove a portrait of Jesus from Slidell City Court.

U.S. District Court Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle ruled ruled in April that Slidell officials broke the law by hanging the Jesus portrait on the wall at the courthouse.
The decision provided the ACLU with $1 in damages and allowed the organization to request reimbursement for the debt the ACLU incurred when it sued the court, Judge Jim Lamz, the city of Slidell and St. Tammany Parish in July 2007.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected a First Amendment challenge to a Florida law that says students must get a parent's permission to get out of a daily classroom recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

But the court ruled that a part of the law requiring all "civilians" to stand during the pledge in schools is unconstitutional.

Christine Frazier had brought suit on behalf of her son, Cameron, in 2005, when her son was in the 11th grade. A federal district judge agreed that the rule "robs the student of the right to make an independent decision whether to say the pledge."

On appeal, 11th Circuit Chief Judge J.L. Edmondson, Senior Judge James C. Hill and visiting 9th Circuit Senior Judge Arthur L. Alarcón noted that the U.S. Supreme Court held over a half a century ago that local government authorities can't compel a salute to the flag.

But the panel said the Florida law protects parents' constitutional rights to bring up their children as they see fit. "The State, in restricting the student's freedom of speech, advances the protection of the constitutional rights of parents: an interest which the State may lawfully protect," the panel said Wednesday.

The panel warned that it considered only Frazier's challenge to the law on its face and not whether it might be applied constitutionally to any particular student.

On the question of standing during the pledge, the state acknowledged that students have a right to remain seated but had urged the court to read the requirement as applicable only to those students who don't get a parent's permission to not say the pledge. The 11th Circuit panel said that interpretation was too "improbable."

I don't quite get the latter, I guess it means the kids have to pledge allegiance unless they get parents permission to stop, but they can sit down in protest while they do it. I guess parents have rights over what a child says, but not his posture while he says it.

It irks me.

It doesn't hurt me, and it doesn't cost me anything. It just irks me when hotels assume their patrons are Christian (or Mormon) and leave their god texts in the hotel rooms. It makes me feel -- solidly second-class.

The Borgata is equal-opportunity, and provides all sorts of religious reference materials on request, at the front desk, but nobody is assumed to be anything. I stay there when I can for that reason alone.

Now this, from American Family Ass.

Parent company Accor Hotels decided to replace the Gideon Bibles with "intimacy kits." For Accor, providing travelers with sexual paraphernalia is more important than the Bible. Accor Hotels owns several chains including: Motel 6, Sofitel, Pullman, Novotel, Mercure, Suitehotel, Ibis, All Seasons, Etap, Formule 1. While these chains are mostly located in Europe, Accor is expanding to many U.S. markets.

http://www.afa.net/emails/transform.asp?x=hotels_111407&m=11&y=2007&s=browser

Talk it up. What do you think of Bibles in hotels. Should we try to help the trend? But how?

ATHEIST COMING OUT PARTY
SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 2008 TO FEATURE KAGIN,
MEHTA, PARAMORE & MORE!
"It's OK to not believe..."

THE NATION'S first Atheist Coming Out Party will take place on Saturday, August 2, 2008. The event brings together a roster of national, regional and local groups including Students for Freethought (Ohio State University); American Atheists; Secular Student Alliance; Michigan Atheists; The Free Inquiry Group of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky; Central Ohioians for Rational Inquiry and others.

Organizer Ashley Paramore says, "The goal is to be a networking opportunity for Atheists, Agnostics, Freethinkers, Humanists, Skeptics and everyone in-between!" The event invites "closeted" nonbelievers to meet other like-minded, non-religious people in a welcoming environment, and urge them to "come out."

"It's OK not be believe in a god," said Paramore.

The speaker roster includes Edwin Kagin, National Legal Director for American Atheists and Freethought activist/blogger Hemant Mehta.

There will be talks, literature tables and other activities. Visitors can bring popup information tents and literature. There will be a camping trip to Alum Creek following the Coming Out event. The venue is the Everal Barn, 60 N. Cleveland Avenue, Westerville Ohio 43081. (http://www.westerville.org/Default.aspx?tabid=113 ). More information can be found at http://healthyaddict.googlepages.com/home, or by E-mailing Ashley Paramore at ashley@secularstudents.org .

WHAT: First Atheist "Coming Out Party."

WHEN: Saturday, August 2, 2008, 12:00 noon - 5:00 PM

WHERE: Everal Barn, 60 N. Cleveland Avenue, Westerville Ohio 43081. (http://www.westerville.org/Default.aspx?tabid=113 ).

WHO: Edwin Kagin, Hemant Mehta, Ashley Paramore & more!

MORE INFO: http://healthyaddict.googlepages.com/home, or by E-mailing Ashley Paramore at ashley@secularstudents.org .

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

Have you come out? Still in? Never in? What's your story?

from the acting president

American Atheists in the Future

Frank R. Zindler

Just several weeks after I became Acting President of American Atheists, I discovered that the roof on the American Atheists Center in Cranford, New Jersey had been leaking for some time and water had already done considerable damage to books and other materials in our stock room. Worse yet, there were indications that the part of the roof covering the Charles E. Stevens American Atheist Library & Archives (C.E.S.A.A.L.A.) was also failing and that the special climate-controlled, fire suppression-protected rooms housing the rarest materials were in grave danger. As American Atheists officers and staff were in the very act of hiring a contractor to replace the roof, a heavy rainstorm penetrated the ceiling of the library itself, bringing down some ceiling tiles. Fortunately, prescient staff at the Center had covered the ranks of books with enormous sheets of plastic film and no serious damage was done.

At the moment that I am writing this, the repair of the roof is nearly complete. The precious books, memoirs, publications, and ephemera that illuminate the path that reason has laid down over the centuries are safe — at least from the elements. However, we will have to dip into our normally sacrosanct trust fund in order to pay the roofers the $77 thousand they will demand. Unless we can replace that money quickly, our financial future will be seriously insecure. We depend upon the earnings of the trust fund to support many if not most of the day-to-day operating expenses of the Center. Even a small reduction in that income will seriously impact our ability to function — to do the things you need and want us to do. I ask everyone who can help to do so. Please add something extra to your normal contribution and indicate it is for the roof. With your permission, we will publish your name in an honor roll in the next few issues of American Atheist.
Although the deadline for submitting applications for the position of president of American Atheists, Inc. is August 24, 2008, several absolutely excellent candidates have already applied. I can guarantee that if any one of them is chosen to be my successor in this office the future of American Atheists is more than secure — it glows with promise. I am predicting a flowering of Atheism such as our nation has never witnessed throughout all of its history.
The new president will be able to lead an organization that is less cumbersome and more efficient as a result of important projects now in full swing. Most notably, four affiliated American Atheists corporations (including C.E.S.A.A.L.A.) are being merged into the flag-ship corporation American Atheists, Inc. The reorganization will be transparent to members, but it will enormously reduce the numbers of headaches our new president will have to suffer in the line of duty. A complete overhaul of our financial procedures and an integrated computer database will save endless hours of needless effort for my successor — hours that can better be spent representing Atheism in the world at large.
American Atheists has always aspired to be a full-service organization for its members and for the cause of reason, separation of government and religion, and Atheist civil liberties. For many and good reasons, we have not always been able to deliver everything we wanted to. With your help, however, our new president will be able to depend upon a Web-site that will be state-of-the-art, a cable TV program Atheist Viewpoint that will be fully professional in its production, and a monthly journal that everyone will be proud of. My successor will, of course, continue with vigor to prosecute law suits in defense of the rights of Atheists and to maintain the wall of separation between state and church.
In addition to all these things, however, the new president will preside over a fully functioning research library, where authorized scholars will be able to study the history of reason and the monuments left along the path leading to American Atheism. For too long this story has been suppressed, obfuscated, or simply consigned to oblivion. My successor will direct an expanded American Atheist Press, one that will not only be able to publish more new titles such as David Eller’s Atheism Advanced or René Salm’s The Myth of Nazareth, but also finally catch up in the reprinting of Atheist classics that are perennially in demand. An educational outreach will be implemented with the aid of AAP publications.
Finally, our new president will be able to depend upon the aid of a host of affiliated organizations — organizations that in turn will look to American Atheists not only for inspiration and leadership but also for help of a more practical sort.
For the future of American Atheists, the sky’s the limit. Assuming, of course, that the cost of the new roof doesn’t prevent lift-off!

http://www.atheists.org/cgi-bin/membership

Pope Urges Youths to Spurn Materialism

Pope Benedict News, World NewsText SizeAAASYDNEY, Australia (July 20) -- Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday a "spiritual desert" was spreading throughout the world and he challenged young people to shed the greed and cynicism of their time to create a new age of hope for humankind.
Speaking at a Mass before some 350,000 Roman Catholic pilgrims and a likely television audience of millions more, Benedict wrapped up the church's six-day World Youth Day festival. He urged the young people in his more than 1 billion-strong flock to be agents of change because "the world needs renewal."

The 81-year-old pope said it was up to a new generation of Christians to build a world in "which God's gift of life is welcomed, respected and cherished _ not rejected, feared as a threat and destroyed."
They must embrace the power of God "to let it break through the curse of our indifference, our spiritual weariness, our blind conformity to the spirit of this age," he said.

The aim was "a new age in which hope liberates us from the shallowness, apathy and self-absorption which deadens our souls and poisons our relationships," he said.

The Mass came a day after the pope made a forceful apology for the sexual abuse of children by Australia's Roman Catholic clergy, keeping up efforts begun in the United States to publicly atone for what he called evil acts by priests.

Once again I will harp on the point Il Papa seems to be conveniently forgetting: The priests who did those "evil acts" were acting by recommendation of Benedict himself. HE RECOMMENDED SHUFFLING PEDOPHILES and deserves to be doing some blame-taking, on a personal level, because it was he, personally, who dictated the policy.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/apr/24/children.childprotection

"I'm sorry the priests did what I told them to do" doesn't cut it.

Friends,

Hello from Texas! I made a video today about the new Bible classes in Texas public high schools. I used a large boarded-up church as my background. Cost: Priceless.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=pEzBytmleag

Essentially I'm challenging Atheist and/or state-church separation minded public high school students to take those Bible classes, and bring up our best critiques of the Bible. When they receive no clear or reasonable explanations, when they receive no explanations that don't leave the Bible looking like a piece of garbage, I'm challenging them to say so. To declare out loud that the Bible is a piece of garbage, and a class on such a book is an utter mistake. (They should use respect, of course.)

Then I'm challenging them to make a video about it for Youtube. If they tell me about their video, I'll review it along with others like it, and make another video about those videos. I wish I had something tangible to give away for participation, but everyone who takes part will probably feel they've accomplished something; that being increased communication among the Atheist community about this fairly new state/church issue, and perhaps the enlightenment of a few teachers.

Please let me know your comments on this idea. I'll probably talk this up at the upcoming Texas Freethought Convention: www.texasfreethoughtconvention.com I think this is a good idea, but I need to hear feedback. ) Thanks!

Joe Zamecki
Texas State Director, American Atheists
www.atheists.org/tx
www.youtube.com/aajoeyjo

We're at yet-another-sci-fi-convention this weekend, and my daughter has found a new fun thing to do in the hotel room -- find dirty stuff in the bible! She looks on-line, finds entries with poop or sex or death penalties, and marks them. It's analogous to what I do with the buy-bull, except I find inconsistencies, and she just finds, well, stuff that's funny to 11-year-olds.

She has her own buy-bull now (courtesy of Marriott and the Gideons) and she's got it all marked up with sticky-notes and highlighter. I've made it clear that she can and should read the book when she wants to, but she has made it clear that she'd rather just skip to the good parts.

Ahh. I sense a new father-daughter activity.

CHICAGO (AP) - For decades the Rev. Jesse Jackson has rallied against the use of the N-word - an ethnic slur he has repeatedly told the American public is hateful and degrading. But Fox News confirmed to The Associated Press Wednesday that the longtime civil rights activist used the term in what Jackson thought was a private conversation during a break from a TV interview.

Jackson has already come under fire this month for crude off-air comments he made against presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama that were recorded during a taping of a "Fox & Friends" news show.

In additional comments from that same conversation, first reported by TVNewser, Jackson is reported to have said Obama was "talking down to black people ... telling 'N-words' how to behave."

Fox declined to release the full transcript of the July 6 show and did not air the comments.

The man can rhyme, the man can speak.
Supposedly helping supposedly weak
But though he is a "man of god"
His words amount to total fraud
I wonder if his god concurred
It's right to use the famed "n-word"
or if at this his god would frown,
Because God lives in "Heimey-town"
We all know he will serve no time
When god's involved, fraud isn't crime.

His rhymes are better than mine -- who cares?
At least I'm not the one praying to air.

"During Homerun Derby, your announcer
said, “It’s a sad night to be an Atheist.” He
was referring to the turnaround in Josh
Hamilton’s life as an alleged result of
religion. This was hurtful as all beliefs or
disbeliefs should be equally respected. Would
you allow, “It’s a sad to be a Jew? It’s a sad
to be a Catholic? Of course not, for those
statements are hurtful and disrespectful. This
statement against non-belief must not be
ignored by your network. The right thing to do
is an on-air apology!"

Bright Regards,

Larry

http://www.the-brights.net

Did anyone hear this? If so, you may want to give ESPN an email.
http://proxy.espn.go.com/espn/contact

As the Pope touches down in Darwin, Sydney's sex industry is ready for the big boom. Brothels have announced special "papal visit packages" for the 125,000 foreign visitors who come to Sydney for the World Youth Day (WYD) celebrations this week. Bordellos and sex shops across the city are expecting sensational turnovers. Many establishments have recruited extra staff to cope with the expected rush demand for sexual favours during the event. Some pride themselves on being able to welcome their pious international clientele in a wide range of languages with sex workers speaking French, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Arabic, Thai, Korean, Nepalese and Mandarin. The "Xclusive Gentlemen's Club" offers 10-per-cent discount to those with accreditation as official WYD visitors. As one of the biggest houses near Randwick Racecourse, the club expects to benefit from its proximity to the venue of the Pope’s final open air mass which is expected to attract half a million of pilgrims. The high expectations of the "Forbidden Fruit industry" are based on solid experience. When the World Council of Churches had their congress in Canberra back in the 1990s, we enjoyed our best business period ever, said a spokesperson of Australia’s adult industry group Eros Association.

When religious mass events are in full swing, sex seems to be in the air. After the WYD 2000 in Rome had closed its weeklong celebrations with Pope John Paul II’s open air mass in the Tor Vergata field, rubbish collectors discovered the next day thousands of used condoms in the debris of the festival ground. Media reports showed images of the find, but the Vatican angrily dismissed them as fabrications. Critics of the Vatican's doctrinal stance against birth control, extra-marital sex and the “grave sin” of contraception, however, never stopped mocking about it. They say it reveals that young Catholics have a blithe disregard for the Vatican’s reactionary teachings – which is indeed excellent news if correct.

www.rationalistinternational.net

With the recent changes in the organization, the task has fallen to me to take a leadership role in the Atheist Viewpoint TV show. We usually tape 4 shows at once, and the topics range widely.

The "on-line system" is now being upgraded (thanks to Tim) so we will be able to show you more episodes on-line, and we already do the video Podcasting.

I'd like to know if anyone has any suggestions as to what subjects they'd like to see discussed on the show. Debates? Special guests? Likes/dislikes? Did you know the show existed?

Also, as a reminder, it would be great if you as individuals could sponsor the show. It's good activism and doesn't cost anything -- just a bit of effort. Here is the link to the (temporary) web site for sponsorship information http://viewpoint.illdill.net/sponsorship.asp

In Minnesota, what's likely to be the most expensive and closely watched U.S. Senate race in the nation has lately been consumed by talk of an old Playboy article, a Capitol Hill crash pad and whether a onetime professional wrestler will jump in the race next week.

The contest pits Republican incumbent Norm Coleman against former Saturday Night Live funnyman Al Franken — and quite possibly former Gov. Jesse Ventura.
...
After months of refusing to speak with any news media, Ventura agreed Sunday to an interview with NPR in a parking lot in suburban St. Paul. He still insists he won't announce whether he's running until July 15, the deadline for filing in Minnesota.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92489103

Well, he did appear on Howard Stern a little while back, but he didn't mention running for Senator!

I love me some Franken, but any governor who goes on record for calling religion a "crutch for weak-minded people" gets my vote for ANYTHING.

I also love the way he says "Minesooota".

(D)evangelical Comedy
The PIT
154 W. 29th St (Between 6th and 7th Ave)
$8

Featuring:

Mike Drucker (23/6, McSweeney's)
John Knefel (Huffington Post)
Eric Andre (Live at Gotham)
Harry Terjanian (Disney's "So You Think You're Funny") Jamie Kilstein
(BBC, Sirius Satellite Radio)

http://www.thepit-nyc.com/daily.html?y=2008&m=07&d=12

As Richard Dawkins once said, "Faith is the great cop-out." Five atheist comedians talk about religion and the evangelization of America. Like a Cecil B. DeMille villain, they demand to know where your God is now, although they don't really expect much of a response. Prompt apologies if there is one. Hosted by John Knefel and Mike Drucker. You bring the brimstone; we'll bring the doubt

Sarasota, Fla. - Sir John Templeton was many things to many people.

To the general public, he was one of the past century's greatest investors and philanthropists – a man who revolutionized both mutual fund investing and the effort to explore the nexus between science and religion.

After his passing this week, he will likely be remembered by the rational and affluent West as a poor boy from Tennessee turned Rhodes scholar and Dean of Global Investing.

Christians might remember him for his Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, and as someone who puts first things first: Faith, patience, prudence, and ethics were foremost in his thought.

Scientists might remember him most for his Templeton Foundation, which gives millions to study the links between science and religion.

Also, Tom Disch, an prolific writer and commenter on this blog, apparently took his own life last week. His blog is here http://tomsdisch.livejournal.com/

Tickets are on SALE NOW to the FIRST EVER Atheist Outdoor Festival in the United States
It will be "An Unbelievably Good Time"

http://atheistdays.com/

Please do not delay or you will have to wait till next year.

Hat tip to Sandefur for catching this. President Bush was at Monticello for a 4th of July celebration and he delivered an address. But it's quite telling that his speechwriters, in quoting Jefferson, cut out an anti-religious statement from a long and famous quote. Here's the way Bush put it:

Thomas Jefferson understood that these rights do not belong to Americans alone. They belong to all mankind. And he looked to the day when all people could secure them. On the 50th anniversary of America's independence, Thomas Jefferson passed away. But before leaving this world, he explained that the principles of the Declaration of Independence were universal. In one of the final letters of his life, he wrote, "May it be to the world, what I believe it will be -- to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all -- the Signal of arousing men to burst the chains, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government."

Now let's look at the full quote, including the part that was cut out. This is from a letter he wrote to Roger Weightman reflecting on the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence (which, it turns out, was the day both he and John Adams died):

May it be to the world, what I believe it will be, (to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all,) the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government.

Jefferson made many such statements, of course. Clearly they are best edited out by those who advocate nothing if not monkish ignorance and superstition.

oh boy i can blog from my phone . thats neat. still on vacation. lots of smiles from wearing a-wear on July 4. will be back soon. stay tuned for convention 09 information

Don't forget that tomorrow, July 4, is National A-Wear Day -- the day to wear your Atheist shirts, hats, and jewelry in the most public setting possible, say, fireworks or a town parade. I personally recommend the T-shirt that says "Proud to Be an American Atheist".

The 4th of July is my favorite holiday of the year. No work, good weather, parades, and fireworks. I love it!

Unless something special happens I won't be posting tomorrow, Hence our official Independence Day thread. We're independent from those crazy Brits, with their official church and rampant Atheism.

This always brings up the question which we should always ask ourselves -- are we wrong? IS the separation of church and state allowing churches to flourish at the expense of the secular? Would an "official religion" be better for atheists?

It may have led to a more secular society if an official religion had been adopted in the founding fathers' years, given 20/20 hindsight, because we'd be in a situation more like Europe now. Pure speculation, but speculation can be fun.

It's way too late, of course, and we are stuck with a fight. If we lose the fight, the official religion will take over the government, dictate our laws, and interfere with our lives and wallets in every way possible. It's just funny how the Church of England has nearly no real effect on the British population.

Happy 4th. Stand for the National Anthem, but SIT if they play God Bless America. Enjoy the fireworks.

Tomorrow I take my daughter on a special journey-- a daddy-daughter day at Hurricane Harbor. I'll wear my Reality Rules T-shirt of course, so when they scrape my carcass from the ground near the "Ultimate Enema Super Slide" they'll know not to pray over me.

The next day, Six Flags. Then recovery in the beach at Cape May. For a week.