Here’s another idea to herd-the-atheist-cattle that won’t work. Even if it did work, it wouldn’t accomplish the intended goal.

There’s an OUT Campaign being run by the Richard Dawkins Foundation. They want people to wear the a t-shirt, among other things. It’ll help promote atheists coming out, reaching out, speaking out, etc.

It’s a cute shirt. No harm in getting one and wearing it proudly.

But it’s not going to change anything.

The shirt doesn’t even say “atheist.” Which I think defeats the purpose of everything Dawkins’ people are trying to do.

If you’re going to wear a shirt to declare your atheism, be smart about it. Be funny. Be in-your-face if you want to.

We’ve all seen clever atheist shirts. Over the weekend, I saw one on a friend that read “Proud member of America‘s Most Distrusted Minority.” I like that. It gets people thinking. and it’s specifically talking about atheists.

If you’re not going to wear a shirt that screams atheism, I’m not sure that wearing a weak symbol is any better.

No outsider will know you’re an atheist when you wear the shirt. I’m not even sure that most people would catch The Scarlet Letter reference.

And why are people gung-ho about putting the symbol in the sidebar of their blogs? If you don’t know that PZ Myers is an atheist the second you see his site, the sidebar A is not going to help.

Buy the shirts if you want to. Proceeds go to a good cause (The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science). But don’t get the impression that this is the way to come out as an atheist.

Don’t get me wrong; I think it’s vitally important that atheists be open about their beliefs. We shouldn’t do it in a half-assed, secretive way, though. Go all out and be proud of it.


[tags]atheist, atheism, The Scarlet Letter, Richard Dawkins, Pharyngula, PZ Myers, OUT Campaign, The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science[/tags]

Child. Mother. Grandfather. One big happy family. Until religion got in the way.

The 49-year-old grandfather, Ronald Marquez, tried to perform an exorcism on the 3-year-old child. The exorcism involved choking the little girl. She was bloody, crying, and gasping for air.

The man held the girl in a headlock with one arm as he squeezing her torso with his other arm, causing her to gasp and scream, police said.

In the meantime, the 19-year-old mother was in the same room. She was just standing there, naked, holding a religious icon and chanting “something that was religious in nature.”

I’m not sure if she was on the daughter’s side or the grandfather’s side. Sky News says she was “struggling with” the grandfather. Though chanting something religious isn’t exactly helping your child. This article quotes police as saying “[the mother] was partaking in whatever ritual event they were trying to perform.”

A relative called the police. (Where the relative was, I don’t know.)

[The] relative reported she thought an exorcism was going on at the family home after one was performed two days earlier, police said.

There was a bed pushed up against the door. The police eventually got through that obstacle and Tasered the grandfather. It had no effect. Another officer used a stun gun and this time it worked. He lost his grasp on the child, and she ran away from him.

Marquez was placed in handcuffs after a struggle with officers and initially appeared normal, but then stopped breathing, [Sgt. Joel] Tranter said. He could not be revived and was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Good.

Police are considering filing charges against the mother.

Also good.

There’s probably a church and a pastor involved in this story at some level. And no charges will be filed against them, I presume. So it won’t be long until we hear a similar story.

Meanwhile, I’m waiting for the theistic crowd to chalk this up to insanity or superstition. Anything but religion.

(via Globalizati and Amused Muse)


[tags]atheist, atheism, religion, God, Ronald Marquez, Sky News, exorcism, Taser, Joel Tranter, church, pastor[/tags]

A couple weeks ago, this letter-to-the-editor appeared in the military publication Stars and Stripes. It referred to an article on Camp Quest, the summer camp for children of atheist parents:

The author of the article seems to be overjoyed and ecstatic about young teenagers being at a summer camp where the existence of God is happily denied and refuted, speaking of a revival of atheism and Camp Quest (the name of the summer camp) being a training ground for the atheist movement. How sad to see yet another example of God being kicked out and pushed aside in our society, and young kids being taught — or, in my opinion, brainwashed — to do it.

I wonder how long it will be before America becomes a completely secular society when I see and read things like the Camp Quest article. We already have people fighting daily to remove God from our money, the Pledge of Allegiance and more. As one girl who was quoted in the article stated, “This year, I stopped getting up and saying the pledge,” because it includes the words “under God” in it.

Like it or not, our nation was founded under God, upon Christian principles and values, and yet it seems people, such as the ones who founded Camp Quest, continue to ignore and defy it and encourage others to do the same. It seems to me a nation that forgets what made it great is destined to fail.

Obviously, he’s ignorant on many levels.

But this will make you happy. A couple military men wrote in to correct his mistakes. Here’s Staff Sgt. Gene Horrigan:

… Our nation was not “founded under God, upon Christian principles.” The first settlers of the new world were seeking, among other things, escape from religious persecution, not to form a faith-based colony. As Americans, we are granted the freedom of religion, which includes not having one, not the freedom to choose which form of Christianity we follow.

…

I highly doubt any of the children at Camp Quest would be chastised if they thought a higher power might exist. On the other hand, what would happen if a child at a Christian retreat voiced doubt that Jesus was the son of God?

Atheists come from every walk of life and many are educated about several faiths. As a child I was fortunate enough to be allowed to attend many churches. By the third grade I knew there was no God, and still educated myself by attending a variety of services. This is common with a lot of atheists. Many people force their children into the family religion and shun other beliefs, that’s the true “brainwashing.”

There is no atheist revival, we’ve always been here as a silent minority, most just choose to live their own lives and let you live yours.

And here’s Spc. Jeremy Hall:

… Since America is a Christian nation, I guess everyone else is just second-rate! Sorry (insert religious minority here), you’re not good enough. Nowhere in the Constitution is there a mention of a God. Religion is referenced as exclusionary. Such as stating that “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust.” (Article VI) That sounds secular to me.

The U.S. is a free nation. The First Amendment applies to every private citizen. And that includes us atheists. It is the individual freedoms that make our nation great.

Thankfully, they’re not the only atheists who serve our country.


[tags]atheist, atheism, Stars and Stripes, Camp Quest, God, Christian, Gene Horrigan, Jesus, Jeremy Hall, First Amendment[/tags]

Brian Parra has 10 tips on how to be an atheist activist, with some help from Bobbie Kirkhart, Victoria Parra and Ingemar Hulthage.

He goes into a lot of depth for each tip; here’s his list in brief:

10. Stay current on atheist matters.
9. Respond when people assume you are religious.
8. Broaden religious traditions.
7. Be a watchdog in your local community.
6. Join a membership group.
5. Support political lobbying.
4. Volunteer your time to support an atheist cause or any good cause in the name of atheism.
3. Share your atheism with people you know.
2. Share your atheism with other atheists.
1. Be a living ambassador of your ideals.

A good list so far. Here are a few more:

• Don’t be a jerk.
• Don’t put your real address on anything.
• Don’t let the hate mail freak you out.

What else is missing?


[tags]atheist, atheism, Brian Parra, Bobbie Kirkhart, Victoria Parra, Ingemar Hulthage[/tags]

Christians and Muslims clash. It’s brutal. The victims are beaten to death. Beheadings occur. Then the criminals try to hide the bodies. 17 men took part in this crime.

The 17 men were all Christians, by the way.

They did it in response to Indonesian government executions of three Christians last year.

So much for that whole forgiveness thing…

(via Deep Thoughts)


[tags]atheist, atheism, Christian, Muslim, beheading, Indonesia[/tags]

If I had to have a pastor, I guess it would be James Kilgore.

One of his parishioners left Bible study to find that his car was missing. (The irony of this did not cross anyone’s mind, apparently.)

Kilgore, who “always keeps a gun and handcuffs in his fanny pack,” took action. He and another churchgoer tracked down the car thief a few blocks away:

The pastor followed the driver until he crashed, tackled him as he crawled out of the car and then handcuffed him until police arrived on the scene.

And, of course, he thanks his law enforcement training for giving him the skills needed to apprehend the criminal…

I’m just kidding. It was all God:

Kilgore said he was glad to put his law enforcement training to use, but said it was likely God had a role in helping him restrain the suspect.

(via Globalizati)


[tags]atheist, atheism, Christian, James Kilgore, God[/tags]

Chris Hansen’s coming to get you.

He already got one guy.

The first man to come that day was a 37 year old software developer Frank Smith who drove over 200 miles to meet our famous atheist alone here in this house. Online he was calling himself “Ultimate747″ and claimed he was a 21 year old college philosophy major.

That Atheist Guy’s Blog has a transcript of what happened to poor, unfortunate Frank:

Chris Hansen: Hi there, what brings you here today?

Smith: What? Uh… who are you?

Hansen: We’ll get to that later. I have copies of your chat transcript here. Why would a grown man like yourself be interested in driving over 200 miles to discuss the problem of evil?

Smith: Is Professor Dawkins here? I thought he was going to meet me.

Hansen: Oh, you were planning to meet Richard Dawkins? Have you met other atheists before?

Smith: No. Well, not really, I…

Hansen: Because it says here you often meet up with other atheists. By the way, what’s in your bag?

Smith: Um, I just brought some books. (laughs nervously)

Hansen: (looking at the books) The God Delusion? The End of Faith? Do you have any idea how this looks?

Smith: I wasn’t going to do anything crazy. I was hoping he could sign his book and maybe we could have a beer.

Hansen: So you brought alcohol too? Well, I should tell you I’m Chris Hansen with Dateline NBC and we are doing a show on atheists meeting online. Now you are free to go, but if you have anything you want to say, we’d like to hear it.

But he’s not free to go.

Outside that door, others are waiting for him…

Poor Frank.


[tags]atheist, atheism, Chris Hansen, Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, The End of Faith[/tags]

It’s real. How much fun with wordplay can you have with this one?

… it doesn’t matter if a base runner is safe—so much as if he’s saved.

What are the rules for Evangelical Softball?

• In the Cape Cod (Mass.) Evangelical Church Softball League, players become ineligible if they don’t attend two Sunday services a month.
• In eastern Massachusetts, teams in the evangelical league are limited to three “unsaved” players each—and must turn in a roster specifically highlighting them as such before the start of the season, so that others in the congregation can pray for their salvation and mail literature to their homes. (The rulebook cautions that “‘Outreach Players’ should not be selected for their athletic ability,” but rather for their genuine interest in finding Christ.)
• The rulebook of the Stateline Evangelical Softball League in Rockford, Ill., requires long pants at all times; in especially hot weather, shorts are OK only if both managers agree—and only, the rulebook notes in red type, if they are “moderate and knee length.”
• Stealing is not allowed.

What other quirks might this game have?

Lots of sacrifice bunting.

No suicide squeezes.

Something about how three outs make up a Holy Trinity.

My atheist friend Neil adds this: “They’re swinging at nothing.”

(Thanks to Lee for the link!)


[tags]atheist, atheism, church, softball, evangelical, Christian, Cape Cod Evangelical Church Softball League, Christ, Stateline Evangelical Softball League[/tags]

A few weeks ago, I noted my frustration with a local reverend who wrote an error-laden article about how our country is a “Christian nation.”

I asked for your help in writing a rebuttal and this was the draft I came up with thanks to your input.

It was finally published as a letter-to-the-editor in today’s paper.

Here’s what it said:

Rev. Vernon C. Lyons is blissfully unaware of our nation’s history when he says we live in a Christian nation. His definition of a Christian is someone who “definitely and personally receives the Lord Jesus Christ as our savior.” Yet, that very definition would not apply to the examples he provides. Founding Fathers Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams were all Deists. They believed in a God who created the world, but certainly not in the divinity of Christ or in a God who answers your prayers.

Lyons writes that our country was “not founded by Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, or Atheists.” But unlike what Lyons would like to have you believe, it was not founded by a group of Christians, either. Not by his definition. In fact, his definition would also rule out the Anglicans and Roman Catholics who founded our country.

Certainly some of the Founding Fathers were Christian. Still, many original documents –including our own Constitution – were purposely written without references to God and Christianity. That’s a striking omission if our country was, indeed, founded as a Christian nation. To go one step further, the 1797 Treaty of Tripoli (Adams was president at the time) said “…the Government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion…” It was passed unanimously by the Senate.

Lyons also wrote that non-Christians do not have fewer rights than Christians. That’s untrue. In fact several state constitutions still contain archaic provisions that atheists cannot run for public office. Thanks in large part to pastors who spread dishonest remarks about non-religious people, there is also unwritten discrimination in the country in the sense that most people would not even vote for an otherwise qualified candidate if the person was an atheist.

As for comments that our country must be Christian due to the fact that federal offices have Sundays off, we celebrate Christmas, and we swear oaths on the Bible, Lyons is mistaking true religion for what is actually mere tradition.

Reverend Lyons ends his piece by citing a Supreme Court ruling (Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States) that supposedly said we live in a Christian nation. He does not tell you that this ruling had absolutely nothing to do with our nation’s history (rather, it dealt with the issue of whether or not church employees were manual laborers). He also does not tell you that Justice David Brewer (who wrote that opinion) disavowed the very interpretation of his writing that Rev. Lyons is using.

The excerpt Lyons provides does not imply that our nation is Christian. Instead, it merely states that most of the population is Christian, a proposition that was (and still is) undoubtedly true. Furthermore, the excerpt was not a part of the formal ruling, and thus, was not a precedent for the future.

Lyons is the same man who declared a few years ago: “Muslim terrorists kill people. Moderate Muslims do not kill people. Moderate Muslims supply the cash to the militant Muslims.”

I wonder if the people in his congregation ever call him out on his mistakes. Does it take an atheist to point out his errors or does the title Reverend imply that it’s okay to make bigoted, ignorant statements (in the name of religion of course)?

At least one Christian agrees with me: Pastor Gregory Boyd is the author of The Myth of a Christian Nation and stresses that our country is not and never has been a “Christian nation.”

There were many commenters on my website, www.friendlyatheist.com, both religious and non-religious, who offered up the information I’ve presented. We’re all tired of people like Lyons revising history to sound more favorable toward his personal beliefs.

The Reverend owes patriotic Americans an apology.

Thanks for your help, everyone.


[tags]atheist, atheism, Christian nation, Vernon Lyons, pastor, Jesus, Christ, Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Deist, Hindu, Buddhist, Jew, Muslim, Anglican, Roman Catholic, Treaty of Tripoli, Christmas, Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, David Brewer, Gregory Boyd, The Myth of a Christian Nation[/tags]