Welcome To A Free & Open Mind!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

"Where knowledge ends, religion begins."

-Benjamin Disraeli

COMING SOON:

Speech on the Inequality in America entitled A Divided America

An extremely bad day for Christians

Adult Christians completely embarrassed and humiliated themselves in front of the neighborhood children, today, in the Independence Day Parade in Arlington Heights. Mount Prospect wasn't much better.

The newly redecorated Sherman-actor and I appeared in parades in those communities, earlier today. The mouths of Christian spectators were pathetic.
Every few seconds, some Christian would heckle my vehicle and me with comments such as, "You suck!" "Boooo, boooo!" and "F--- you!" Some would give a thumbs down sign and many gave the middle finger salute with one hand while holding up a Christian cross in the other.
I attempted to encourage the ugly god-believers to keep in mind that there were many young children present. I encouraged them to consider showing the kind of manners that an atheist would demonstrate, such as courtesy, kindness and a respect for diversity.
But not those Christians. They were filled with hate, rudeness, arrogance, meanness and hostility. To get an idea of the type of venom that they expressed, see the three (so far) comments left by "Vintage 05" in my earlier story, See the Godless-in-Chicago-mobile in three Fourth of July parades.
I'm often, very often, told that I'm a lousy atheist and that what I really should do is become a Christian, just like them.
After seeing the true nature of Christianity viciously unleashed upon me, today, and in the presence of many very young neighborhood children on top of that, I can't be any more proud of the fact that I am a thoughtful, friendly, warm, loving atheist.
I've seen many church groups participate in parades over the years, and it would never occur to me to disrespect any of them with any form of harassment. This is supposed to be America, where everybody has the right to hold, express and be proud of their theological perspective, but after what I heard today, it's clear to me that Christianity is the worst, most evil philosophy in the history of the world.
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For more about Rob Sherman, visit www.robsherman.com.

End 'cruel' religious slaughter, say scientists

Religious slaughter techniques practiced by Jews and Muslims are cruel and should be ended, says a scientific assessment from the Government's animal welfare advisers.

The Farm Animal Welfare Council says that slitting the throats of the animals most commonly used for meat, chickens, without stunning, results in "significant pain and distress". The committee, which includes scientific, agricultural and veterinary experts, is calling for the Government to launch a debate with Muslim and Jewish communities to end the practice.

One Muslim organization, the Halal Food Authority, already insists on the slaughterhouses it regulates stunning animals first on welfare grounds, as long as they are still alive when their throats are slit. But in other halal and almost all kosher slaughterhouses, animals have their throats slit without prior stunning which would render them insensible to the pain. Religious groups say that doing so would be against their interpretation of religious texts.

 

Godless Atheists, Agnostics and Humanists Invade Tempe, Sponsor Godless Billboard (w/Update)

Here's something guaranteed to tick off the faithful, or at least give them something to pray about: a group of atheists, agnostics and humanists are set to convene in Tempe this week, and they're bringing their godless message to a highway near you. You know, in a spot where hopefully your impressionable tykes will get to read it.

The group is the American Humanist Association, which will be having its 68th Annual Conference at the Tempe Mission Palms Hotel, June 5-8, where I'm guessing they will not be kicking things off with an invocation, the Eucharist, or ye ol' fire and snake dance. See, humanists are mostly "nontheists," either atheists or agnostics or "none of the above." In fact, if one of their tribe sneezes, they have to say, "Nobody bless you." 

So, Yahweh ain't their thing, and to drive home the point, they're gonna have at least one billboard up in the Valley with the verbiage, "Don't believe in god? You are not alone." It's a message the humanists have peddled in Denver, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Moscow, Idaho, of all places. Some organization called the Arizona Coalition of Reason is co-sponsoring the billboard. 

According to Karen Frantz, spokeswoman for AHA, the point of the billboard is to reach out to fellow nontheists.

"It's for likeminded individuals who may not feel there's a community out there for them," said Frantz via phone from her organization's headquarters in DC. "And to let them know that there are people out there who have the same belief system that they do, and that there's nothing wrong with not believing in god."

Frantz was reluctant to state exactly where the billboard will be, but the AHA Web site notes that at a "special press conference at 9:00 AM, Friday, June 5" these Bible-shirking deity deniers will "launch the event with the unveiling of a nontheistic billboard going up along a nearby, well-traveled Arizona highway." It doesn't say where either, but the 202 looks like the closest highway to the Mission Palms.

My big question is, "Are humanists hedonists, and do they have pool parties?" Wasn't it Dostoyevsky who said that if there is no supreme being, then anything goes? God, let's hope so...Otherwise, I'm going back to worshipping Satan.

As for the Christian response to the billboard, I think that's pretty obvious: "Don't believe in God? You won't be alone...In HELL!!!!"

 

UPDATE: According to Karen Frantz with the AHA, the billboard's location "can be seen while traveling southbound
on 44th street just after Washington Street on the right hand side." Um, god willing. Heh.

Separation of Church and State In America

Throughout history religion has torn apart all types of governments. Religion has oppressed so many people throughout the history of mankind to include the oppression of Europe even in the late eighteenth century. This is why our founding fathers imagined and sought to build a nation free from religion and oppression. A nation where everyone can live freely and not be subjected to religious influences or oppression. A nation that would last through the ages because there would be no religion to tear it apart but still reserving the right of every citizen to privately practice their own religion. Our founding fathers knew the importance of Separation of Church and State. Without this crucial separation no government will stand. It is important not to nationally, statewide, or locally sponsor any religion. America has been slowly torn apart by religion for decades but for the past few years it seems this process has accelerated. As separation of church and state is dissipating in this nation religion is quickly dividing this nation. As a divided nation, torn apart by religion, and barred down from progress by the restrictions and ignorance brought upon by religion America will soon collapse. This country has decided to sponsor religion despite the vigorous opposition set forth by our founding fathers. The disparaging words, In God We Trust lie despicably on our nation’s currency and on our nation’s coins. Any argument made in the defense of these words on the basis that our founding fathers were Christian men and thus founded our nation on Christian principles is a false one. In fact, as many of our founding fathers were spiritual men they were not deeply religious. In fact, based on many of the both private and public writings of Thomas Jefferson, it can be reasonably argued and concluded that Thomas Jefferson was very anti-Christian and anti-religion. Also, our founding fathers clearly expressed their wishes for separation of church and state. Some will argue that because the words, all men are created equal … that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights……, lies in the Declaration of Independence then this nation was founded on Christian principles and our founding fathers were religious. But, as I said before, our founding fathers were spiritual but not religious. However, more importantly, as the Declaration of Independence is an incredible symbol of bravery and freedom it is not a part of the structure and design of this government. Our founding fathers drafted a constitution for this and nowhere in the U.S. Constitution is the word God and nowhere is religion mentioned. It does say in the constitution though that this government must have separation of church and state. Any notion to say that it is not possible or worth maintaining separation of church and state is just an underhanded attempt to inflict personal religious doctrines into this government and thus destroying this government. A totalitarian style government is neither a better government nor a suitable government. Our founding fathers knew this and made clear in the constitution that this government should not be ruled by any religious influences. The answer to the question of the importance of removing the words, In God We Trust, and Under God, from our nation’s currency, coins, and pledge is that if you allow such contradictory and discriminatory representation of this nation then what are you saying about this nation. Let us not forget that the words, Under God, were not added to our pledge until 1954 despite the countless numbers of objections. The words, In God We Trust, weren’t added to our nation’s coins until 1864 during strong Christian sentiment emerging during the Civil War and it wasn’t added officially to our currency until 1956. By these dates alone shows you that our founding fathers had nothing to do with these destructive actions. These two destructive actions have led to some of the countless problems you see today in terms of default state license plates sponsoring and advertising religion. In South Carolina as well as other States (not all southern) the default license plate read for some time In God We Trust and still reads this in a lot of states. Religious sayings and structures are posted in State Capital buildings, public schools and libraries, and even in court houses. The Supreme Court Justices enters the courtroom under the words God save the Supreme Court. It’s like something out of the Holy Roman Empire. Judges depends more and more on religion, a major political party coordinates with the religious only, politicians can’t be elected to office without a religious belief and faith, and religion is taking over inch of society. Religion is tearing this nation apart. Because our government has respected the establishment of Christianity, Muslims, non-Christians, and non-believers in this country have found themselves without freedom and without America. It is illegal in a few states for atheists to run for public office but no one says anything about this terrible atrocity except for the non-believers ourselves and we are simply ignored. Religious convictions and ignorance has caused this nation to become prejudice and caused this nation and citizens of this nation to force personal religious convictions onto all Americans. Proposes has been made for marriage inequality and a vast majority of states have denied same sex couples the right to marry and the right to adopt a child. Not only this, same-sex couples have no rights as in traditional marriages in terms of healthcare, tax benefits, burial benefits, social security survival and death benefits and hospital visitation and life-death decision benefits. The government have also decided to pass special laws allowing religious organizations, churches, and institutions to conduct businesses as any other organizations and institutions yet remain tax exempt and have even decided to give tax payers’ dollars to these religious intuitions, organizations, and churches while denying these special benefits to ordinary institutions and organizations. This is not only discriminatory but also a direct violation of separation of church and state. The government has denied crucial medical and scientific research for the advancement and improvement of mankind. These denials of advancement and improvement where made solely based on personal religious convictions which should never be included nor influence any legal or government decisions. Religion have further divided this nation and is destroying the promises of our future, our children, by further tainting them by pushing religion on them and teaching them to frown upon and disrespect others’ religions and non-believers. Judges and this government have done nothing about parents who are forcing and influencing their children to attend church and religious schools despite the dangers and prejudice that will come from this and despite the child’s objection in some cases. The courts have done nothing about the fact that children are sometimes abused, neglected, thrown from their homes, and even sometimes considered to have behavioral problems when rejecting religion and God as a whole. Children are disciplined in the school houses and home every day because of their refusal to recite the pledge to the flag but no one wants to talk about this and even if you are successful in involving someone in a discussion about this you will quickly discover that they will simple argue the child has a disciplinary problem. Atheist children have been and continue to be denied their right of freedom of speech due to religions’ takeover of this country, Atheist children find that they can’t speak about atheism or against religion without disciplinary consequences. Religion have caused so much destruction to this nation that if anyone was to run for any public office or private office for that matter and holds public to an absence of a belief in a god of higher power they will never be elected or appointed to any position because society, much through the government recognition of religion, believes that one should never hold office without at minimum a rudementrery belief in God. Along with this belief Americans also believe that atheists are ill moral and evil when in fact it’s the other way around. The atheists in this nation only make up .25% of this nation’s prison population. Religion further destroys the future of this nation and divides this nation through the ongoing attacks on evolution being taught in school and the attempts to teach creationism in school. Religion causes lives not only through war but through religious extremists who kill abortionist doctors and pro-choice activists. Religion is praised for being the greatest factor in keeping the American family together when in fact it has destroyed the American family. When atheists come out to their friends and families as non-believers they are generally isolated and frowned upon mainly because of religious ignorance and the negative stigma attached to being an atheist. Atheists by the same principles are isolated and even in some cases banned and forced to leave certain neighborhoods and housing communities. In addition to religion destroying families who have atheist family members who seek to come out of the closet, religion similarly destroys families who have gay family members because of the bigotry, prejudice, and intolerance that religion teaches. Religion continues to oppress over thirty million American atheists and continues to divide this nation as a whole. Religion has caused this nation and continues to cause this nation to be deeply involved in unprovoked, ill moral, and illegal wars. It hinders this nation from positive change and future progress and punishes those who choose to remain open minded and a free thinker. Separation of church and state desperately needs to be restored in this nation and religion should never be consulted or influence any government decisions. Without restoring separation of church and state this nation will further divide and will completely collapse. The America our founding fathers envisioned and created over 200 years ago will die and the cruel dreadful times of the Holy Roman Empire will return and destroy this planet. Now is the time to change things and end Christianity’s hold on America so that the gears of progress will turn once more.

The rise of the non-believers

I have no belief as to whether intelligent life exists on other planets. Furthermore, I don't care. I don't bother reflecting on the matter. It's utterly irrelevant to me.

Similarly, I have no religious beliefs. None. When Homer said "all men need the gods," he was wrong. Like roughly 34 million other people in this country (more than the population of Canada), I don't.

Why do I feel the need to go into this here? Because I live in, and write about, the United States. In this most religious of countries, I have learned to keep my lack of belief to myself.

There are signs now that attitudes here are slowly changing and I'll get to these in a moment. But think about it: holding no religious opinion at all, and saying so, has for many, many years been considered something of an antisocial act in this country.

While my neighbors might be amused by a discussion about the possibility of extraterrestrial life, the sudden unveiling of an atheist at their table would likely provoke an uncomfortable silence.

Lacking belief

Even a senior editor at CBC advised me that writing a column like this might not be advisable — that it could make me a target for critics.

Mass at Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis: 25 deacons lay prostrate during the Litany of Saints.
(Associated Press)

The thing is, though, I'm not even much of an atheist. That would require a belief of some sort.

Atheists are people like Christopher Hitchens, the author of God Is Not Great, or Richard Dawkins, who wrote The God Delusion. They go around attacking the very notion of God, and they have at least something in common with the religious fundamentalists they attack: great faith that they are right.

There's a better word for what I am: an apatheist.

It's a neologism that fuses "apathy" and "theism." It means someone who has absolutely no interest in the question of a god's (or gods') existence, and is just as uninterested in telling anyone else what to believe.

Godless Communists

Thoroughly laissez-faire, apatheism is a viewpoint you'd expect would be welcome in America, especially these days. "After all, we don't start religious wars," notes Herb Silverman, president of the recently formed Secular Coalition for America.

But no. In vast swaths of this country, especially in the prairie heartland and in the South, you'll be made to feel at home if you're a Christian and you'll be tolerated, for the most part, if you embrace some other God.

If you don't worship at all, though, it's probably best not to say so.

Because the residents of Bible-belt America aren't interested in clever new terms. To them, if you don't believe in God, you're an atheist and atheist is a deeply pejorative term.

"We are despised," says Silverman, a professor at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. "Here in the South, the first question people ask you is what church you attend.

"If you answer 'I don't believe in God, so I don't go to church,' you're shunned. The demonization started in the Cold War. The references to 'Godless Communists,' that sort of thing. Atheists were just lumped in."

Survey says

Until recently, it seems, non-believers in America generally avoided the question of faith, or changed the subject. But there are some significant new signs that the U.S. has been quietly changing.

Religion in the U.S., by affiliation

Catholics	57 million	25 % of population
Baptist	36 million	15.8 %
None	34 million	15 %
Mainline Christian	29.3 million	12.9 %
Jewish*	2.7 million	1.2 %
Muslim	1.3 million	0.6 %

*Refers only to religious observers, not the ethnic Jewish population.

Source: American Religious Identification Survey 2008

Two large studies suggest the United States is becoming less devout. The Pew Forum reports that Americans are becoming more fickle about religion.

And the most recent American Religious Identification Survey says that since 1990, the number of Americans describing themselves as Christians has declined by 10 per cent.

In that same period, the number of Americans who claim no religious affiliation at all has nearly doubled, rising from eight to 15 per cent.

That's a much greater portion of the population than religious Jews (1.2 per cent) or religious Muslims (0.6 per cent). The no-religious-affiliation population is now pretty much equal with self-declared Baptists and gaining on Roman Catholics (25 per cent), which is the largest of the Christian denominations.

There are now 3.6 million outright atheists and agnostics in the U.S., up from a million 19 years ago. Furthermore, those who claim no religions at all are the only demographic that has grown in all 50 states since 1990.

Those are pretty significant statistics and politicians are noticing.

Christian nation?

In the presidential election last fall, Barack Obama carefully genuflected to religious voters, talking in speeches about "kneeling beneath that cross." No surprise there, given that self-identified Christians still comprise 76 per cent of the population.

Nonetheless, at his inauguration in January, Obama made this remark: "We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers." And in a press conference last month in Turkey, he went further, declaring that Americans "do not consider ourselves a Christian nation."

That's pretty radical stuff in a country that still obliges its president, by law, to declare an annual day of prayer, a day which, for the past several years at least, was monopolized by people who seized on the occasion to reaffirm America's "Judeo-Christian nature."

But it's music to millions of secularists, humanists, atheists and agnostics, not to mention apatheists and varied other Americans who hold, as Silverman puts it, "no God belief," and who are increasingly emboldened to say so.

Silverman compares this outpouring of non-belief to the gay rights movement. He actually talks about secular Americans "coming out of the closet."

Ron Millar, one of Silverman's fellow secular activists, agrees. He says two factors provoked American non-believers to stand up in recent years: the political rise of the religious right, which tends to comprise people interested in telling others how they should live their lives; and the publication of a slew of agnostic and atheistic books, including Hitchens's.

Some of these books became bestsellers, notes Millar and they "sort of showed there was this community out there that people didn't realize was there, and it made people a little braver about self-identifying."

So what does all this mean? Possibly a return to a less overtly religious America.

As Silverman points out, this country was originally fashioned as a place of freedom to worship (often by those escaping religious persecution elsewhere), or not worship, according to your wishes. There is no mention of God in the U.S. Constitution and the phrase "one nation under God" was only inserted into the pledge of allegiance during the Cold War.

The phrase is still there, of course, and a great deal of attention is being paid these days to the Obama family's search for a new church here in Washington, D.C.

Apparently, a great many Americans care about the president's choice of a place to worship. Pretty clearly, though, quite a few others don't.

US judge refuses to dismiss 'Day of Prayer' suit

A federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit that claims the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb ruled this past week that the case brought by the Madison-based Freedom from Religion Foundation can move forward with discovery.
A federal law sets the first Thursday in May as the day for presidents to issue proclamations asking Americans to pray.
Crabb says the nation's largest group of atheists and agnostics faces a heavy burden in proving the tradition violates the separation of church and state. But she says they should have an opportunity to do so.
The Obama administration and National Day of Prayer Task Force filed motions to dismiss the case, but Crabb rejected them as premature
I am very pleased that Judge Crabb decided to deny such dismissal. Atheists have been subjected to this so call “national day or prayer” for far too long. President Obama didn’t hold a public ceremony in the White House like the Bush administration did but he did violate separation of church and state when he signed a proclamation declaring a national day of prayer.
Hopefully the judge will see justice through and the Madison-based Freedom from Religion Foundation will win the case.

The Court Rules On Prop 8

California voters legally outlawed same-sex marriage when they approved Proposition 8 in November, but the constitutional amendment did not dissolve the unions of 18,000 gay and lesbian couples who wed before the measure took effect, the state Supreme Court ruled today.
The 6-1 decision was issued by the same court that declared a year ago that a state law defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman violated the right to choose one's spouse and discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation.
The decision to uphold proposition 8 comes as no surprise to me. As I said before, as fucked up as it is, the Constitution of any state or any nation can be amended to limit and deny rights of certain individuals. As discriminatory as it is, it is unfortunately legal. This simply re-enforces my belief that there must be an U.S. Constitutional Amendment protecting same-sex marriages, couples and the homosexual people. The California Supreme Court decided that the marriages that have already taken place will remain but this by itself is a problem. First off these couples will not get the equality and respect that they deserve. Secondly it is now unconstitutional in the state of California to be married to someone of the same sex which means that technically the same-sex couples who were married before proposition 8 was passed is now in violation of the law. It is unfortunate that California has decided to join the side of stupidly, biasness, and ignorance by banning same-sex marriages. It is now up to the Same-Sex marriage activists to fight to get a ballet measure back to the voting polls this time to reverse proposition 8. I must say that I am very disappointed in California and urge same –sex couples and activists to keep the fight going.

Georgia lawmaker: 2010 should be year of the Bible

A Republican House member wants President Barack Obama to make 2010 the year of the Bible.
There's no sign that Obama will get the chance in the foreseeable future. Georgia Rep. Paul Broun's resolution would have no force of law if passed. And it can't be passed unless majority Democrats, who referred it to a committee, brings it to the floor for a vote.
The resolution reads in part:
"The president is encouraged ... to issue a proclamation calling upon citizens of all faiths to rediscover and apply the priceless, timeless message of the Holy Scripture which has profoundly influenced and shaped the United States and its great Democratic form of government, as well as its rich spiritual heritage, and which has unified, healed and strengthened its people for over 200 years."
Told of the measure, several Democrats and liberal and atheist bloggers objected. Some said it would violate the separation of church and state by advocating one book of faith over others.
"If Broun wants to practice his brand of Bible-thumping by legislative 'ministering' to the public, let him get his own damn pulpit outside the halls of Congress," blogged Talking Points Memo on May 13. The Politico also reported on the resolution.
Broun said the nation's values are based on those espoused in the Bible.
"The national year of the Bible resolution reminds us that our great nation was founded upon biblical principles and that religious freedom is guaranteed by the Bill of Rights," he said in a statement. The resolution has 14 co-sponsors.
There is precedent. By signing proclamation 5018, President Ronald Reagan designated 1983 the year of the Bible, "in recognition of the contributions and influence of the Bible on our Republic and our people."
"I encourage all citizens, each in his or her own way, to re-examine and rediscover its priceless and timeless message," the proclamation reads.
First, it was the “national day of prayer”! Now they want a so call “year of the bible”. This is unacceptable. If people want to declare next year the year of the bible that is their personal business but the government has no business getting involved. There should be no law of proclamation passed respecting the establishment of any religion. Fuck the bible, it’s full of shit anyway and constantly contradicts itself.

Manhunt for mother after she refuses cancer treatment for son

There is this story in the media now about the lady who refused treatment for her son. I'm sure you all have heard the story. The mother took off after the courts ordered the chemo treatment of her son to begin despite the objection from the mother. The mother wanted to use native America remedies to cure the son but the fact is these remedies weren't working. This boy is young and ill. The doctors have actually said that with chemo therapy the child has a 90% chance of survival. Now I don't know how much of that is true but the other problem is that the boy doesn't want the therapy either. I think that the mother brain washed the child and now has him too afraid to receive proper treatment. Nonetheless the mother should return with this child and get this child the proper treatment. It is not right that this boy has to die because of the mother's ignorance. It is ignorance like this that increases the need for laws protecting kids entirely from parents like this one. Luckily the law came through this time but the mother has taken the child and ran, how unfortunate.

"DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL"

Back in January, Second Lieutenant Sandy Tsao, a U.S. Army officer based out of St. Louis, came out to her superiors as gay resulting, under current policy, in a dishonorable discharge. At the same time, she wrote a letter to Barack Obama congratulating him on his election and explaining her decision and asking Obama to "help us to win the war against prejudice so that future generations will continue to work together and fight for our freedoms regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, or sexual orientation."
“Gay soldiers are being dismissed not because the president of the United States feels they should be discriminated against, which would be bad enough. Instead, they’re being dismissed because the president doesn’t feel like doing anything about it.”
On the campaign trail, Obama was clearly committed to ending discrimination in the military. "We’re spending large sums of money to kick highly qualified gays or lesbians out of our military," he observed, "some of whom possess specialties like Arab-language capabilities that we desperately need." Ever since the New Year, however, Obama and his team have been slow-walking the implementation of their promise. On January 14, Robert Gibbs equivocated, saying "there are many challenges facing our nation now and the president-elect is focused first and foremost on jump-starting this economy... so not everything will get done in the beginning, but he's committed to following through." In late March, Defense Secretary Robert Gates expressed his desire to push the issue "down the road a little bit." And in late April, the White House altered language on its Web site in a way that appeared to soften the administration's commitment to changing the policy. On May 5, Tsao got a handwritten note from Obama reiterating that he is "committed to changing our current policy." Then on May 7, Dan Choi, a National Guard officer who, ironically, is fluent in Arabic, got word that he would be dismissed from the military for being too gay.
The game being played here is easy enough to understand. Obama's decision on a variety of fronts has been guided by a clear desire to avoid some of the early missteps made by Bill Clinton. And conventional accounts of Clinton’s early presidency put the way he got into an early dispute with the military brass over treatment of gay and lesbian service members high on the list of missteps to be avoided.
But while the political logic behind the administration's thinking is understandable enough, the moral logic is contemptible. The dismissal of gay and lesbian soldiers was unjust when undertaken by administrations that believed in the policy. But disagreement about policy is inevitable in a democracy and sometimes injustice reigns. What we have today, however, is an absurdity—an administration that clearly does not believe in the policy, that is on record as opposing the policy, that campaigned explicitly on changing the policy, and that nevertheless declines to change the policy.
Tsao and Choi are being dismissed, in other words, not because the president of the United States feels they should be discriminated against, which would be bad enough. Instead, they're being dismissed because the president doesn't feel like doing anything about it.
Indeed, at this point sure laziness and indifference seems to be the best the defenders of "don't ask don't tell" can even come up with on their merits. "In all due respect," John McCain told George Stephanopoulos on Sunday's episode of This Week, "right now the military is functioning extremely well in very difficult conditions so we should leave well enough alone."
As a defense of discrimination, this is pretty weak tea. The military performed pretty damn well in World War II but that didn't stop Harry Truman from ordering the desegregation of the military in the late 1940s.
The problem with the arguments for inaction isn't that they're wrong; it's that they prove too much. The military is always doing important work under difficult conditions. And the president is always dealing with a variety of hugely important issues. No day is ever going to be a convenient day for the brass to stop doing what they're doing, and start dealing with the difficulties involved in getting soldiers accustomed to serving alongside openly gay and lesbian crew members. And no day is ever going to be a convenient day for the White House political team to pick a fight with the military. But that's a reason to avoid delay, not to embrace it. The current policy is as wrong as it was during the campaign, and firing skilled and patriotic linguists is as insane today as it was during the campaign.
In his letter to Lieutenant Tsao, Obama suggested that the need for congressional approval is the source of the delay. But there's some dispute as to whether or not congressional action is needed at all. And there's no doubting that the president has the power to influence the implementation. But more to the point, the White House has much ability to influence the pace of congressional action. Legislation to end discrimination in military service has been introduced, and the president could be strongly and vocally backing it rather than using the purported need for such a bill as an excuse for delay. And ultimately delay does no one any favors. The change will have to come sooner or later. In political terms, the White House may as well act decisively, take whatever hits they're going to take, and be done with it rather than letting this fester like a sore. And substantively, if the military is going to have to adjust they may as well do it sooner rather than later rather than lose more valuable personnel.
Instead of writing more letters to patriotic men and women in uniform who are tired of living a lie, it's time for Obama to start writing letters to members of Congress urging them to change the rules.

President Obama has promised to end the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy despite disagreement from within the military. Speaking as a military personnel myself, this policy hinders this nation and denies the equality of homosexuals. This is unacceptable and so yes the policy needs to be changed and if military personnel don’t like it remember that a majority of military personnel didn’t like it when the military was desegregated decades ago either but the right thing is the right thing.

Imagine If All Atheists Left America

I was looking at some videos on YouTube and came across this one. A question is asked, “what if all the atheists would leave America?” It brings up some good points that surly got my attention. People always think that atheists are evil and have no morals but we atheists contribute a lot to society and this country and we only account for an extremely slim number of prisoners in this country. Also I had no clue there are a lot of famous actors and actresses who are non-believers. I encourage everyone to watch this video and think, “Do you really want all the atheists to leave America?”

The Atheist Kid

The video clip below is a good example of the treatment that atheists get from their family when coming out as an atheist. I encourage parents to take a lesson in how not to act when a family member or child comes out to you as an atheist. Being an atheist does not make you a bad person and atheists should not be isolated, tormented, harassed, or tried to be converted by their family members. This video is a perfect example of why atheist kids need to be protected from such parents and why this country must start doing something about parents who try to overly push religion on their kids.

Why We Believe in Gods - Andy Thomson - American Atheists Convention 2009

What is Atheism

As many of you know I have been an atheist for almost ten years now and have been arguing the definition of atheism for some time. You can actually read my review on atheism at http://www.marquellgarrettreviews.blogspot.com/2008/02/atheism-review-marquell-garrett-july-5.html. After watching these videos on the subject of atheism I felt that I had to share them with you. So please feel free to watch these videos and tell me what you think.

Testimony of A Southern Atheist

My name is Marquell Garrett. I was born in Aiken, SC on July 27, 1985 and was raised by a single mother. I was raised in Edgefield County until the age of 13 and then moved to North Augusta, SC (Aiken County) with my sister after my mother passed. At age fourteen I officially declared myself an atheist internally (not solely of dominantly based on my mother’s death). This isn’t to say I was hiding being an atheist but I wasn’t shouting it to the world either. I categorized myself as an agnostic for about four years in a subconscious attempt to protect myself from the negative stigma, isolation, and discrimination that comes along with being an atheist. After becoming an equal rights and political activist at age 18 I decided to make it clear that I was an atheist while not making myself out to be anti-religion. So I changed my category from agnostic to agnostic-atheist but this too was a subconscious attempt to avoid the negative stigma, isolation, and discrimination that comes along with being an atheist. After being an equal rights and political activist for three years and realizing that hiding the fact that I am an atheist was very hypocritical and wasn’t going to change things for the better in this country or world I decided to change my category to just plain old atheist and now refuses to hide my lack of a belief in a god or higher power/supernatural being. I specifically called it a lack of belief intentionally because atheism is simply a lack of a belief in a higher power or supernatural being and not the disbelief in a higher power or supernatural being. Atheism is not a religion and does not define what a person believes in. I personally believe in evolution, science, and proposing theories and hypothesis and rationally setting out to prove the theories and hypothesis true. I do not believe in hiding my lack of a belief in a higher power or supernatural being and will tell anyone who asks me of my religious beliefs that I am in fact an atheist. Matter of fact I have a State license plate frame on the front and back of my vehicle that reads, “Life Long Atheist”, and “Atheist For Life”. I was raised in a very religious family. Since I was a baby my mother took my sisters, brother, and myself to church every Sunday for Sunday school and church services. We also went to bible study on Wednesdays. It was unacceptable to question your belief in God and unacceptable to miss church. Even once my mother became too ill to go to church the church van would still come by the house to take my sisters, brother, and myself to Sunday school and church services on Sunday as well as bible study on Wednesdays. Before my mother passed I was secretly already questioning my religion since the age of 8. After my mother passed I continued to secretly question my religion being that it was unacceptable to openly do so. Even though my mother was dead and I then lived with my sister, my sister continued my mother’s religious traditions and convictions and so my brother and I would go to bible study every Wednesday and Sunday school and church services every Sunday. I began to study several different religions and at the age of 14 I declared myself an agnostic (secretly while subconsciously being atheist). I continued to study various religions and still do to this day. I even studied with Jehovah Witnesses and went to “Kingdom Hall” (Jehovah Witnesses’ place of worship) on multiple occasions. When I lost my faith in God and in any god for that matter (at age 14) I was terrified. I had been taught and was still being taught that without God and a religion you stood no chance in this world. I know now that this is not true but it was hard for me being young, black, and an atheist in the south. I must say that it is very difficult for atheists in the south than in any other place in this country. My first major test of discrimination and prejudice school wise came when I was in my senior year of high school when like every morning we all had to stand and recite the pledge. Being I was an agnostic but really an atheist I decided not to stand up and recite the pledge in protest as I had done a few times before. As I had done in the past, I did not make any noise and did not disturb the rest of the class. I guess the teacher finally got upset about the matter enough to send me to the disciplinary principal. I walked down to the principal’s office thinking I had done nothing wrong so nothing is going to happen to me. Boy was I wrong. I was told that I needed to apologize to my teacher and my class and that I would be getting two days of Saturday school detention. I couldn’t believe this and immediately called my sister to tell her what had happened. In her biasness and hatred against atheists she decided to take the side of the principal versus her own brother and so I was given 4 days of Saturday school detention due to the fact I refused to apologize to my teacher and my class. My sister decided to punish me by kicking me out the house. I then went to live with my older sister for some time who also knew I was an atheist. I had to agree to tone down my behavior as long as I stayed with her which I did while I was in her house but definitely didn’t when I wasn’t in her house. I decided to never recite the pledge to flag again until the phrase Under God is taken out of the pledge. My school was pretty upset with the matter and gave me three weeks of in-school suspension but after I still refused to recite the pledge to the flag they finally gave up. My first major test of discrimination and prejudice family wise was not being kicked out of my sister house, although this was pretty dramatic. My first major test was being screamed at, talked down to, and isolated by my uncle and family while being home on leave from the Army. I had a State license plate frame on the front and back of my vehicle that read, “Life Long Atheist”, and “Atheist For Life”. This is what started up the dramatic event as most people in the room at the time, including my uncle had no clue that I was an atheist. My first major test of discrimination and prejudice society wise was when I was driving to the Airport to drop a friend off. I was going 44mph in a 40mph zone when a police officer pulled me over. I was polite and corroborated with the police officer although I strongly felt it was unacceptable for him to pull me over in a 40mph zone for going 44mph. The police officer gave me a ticket for $125.00 and then asked me what was wrong with my license plate. He told me that it was hanging off to one side. I told him I wasn’t aware of the matter and I would get it fixed ASAP. I then watched him walk back to his car and drive off going about 45mph in a 40mph zone and did not have his police lights or sirens on so why didn’t he give himself a ticket? I then got out of my car and looked at my license plate. There was absolutely nothing wrong with my license plate. I then thought well maybe he fixed it but I realized that I watched him come to my car and leave and he never touched my license plate. Then it occurred to me. My license plates have a frame on the front and back of my car that reads, “Life Long Atheist”, and “Atheist For Life”. Was I a victim of profiling just because I was an atheist? It is hard being an atheist in the south, this I know from a firsthand basis. Still this does not mean that there shouldn't be more protests, boycotts, lawsuits and other mechanisms set in place to fight for equality in the south for atheists. It does atheists no good for southern atheists to hang out in the closet, we need the numbers and financing to fight back right wing America and claim our place in this nation as well. Never give up, and never forget that being an atheist doesn’t make you a bad, evil, ill moral person but rather a person free to advance and achieve anything.

Marquell's Examination & Conclusion Upon Religion!!!

After I found the truth about religion and its origin, I felt like a complete fool on the matter. After fourteen years of being religious, I knew nothing about it. This is my final conclusion on what I ascertained about religion. If you would like to know the truth, don't hesitate to read it. Enjoy the absolute truth!

Marquell's Examination & Conclusion upon Religion
August 19, 2004; Thursday

(This report has no political influences or motivations, it is not attacking religious people nor is it trying to deter people away from their faith. It is made up of all facts and can be taking as a genuine document. These facts have been researched and checked several times. The conclusion concludes facts and my final say upon religion. My final conclusion is based upon facts upon religion that I may have not included in the explanation of the report.)



The Origin of Religion:



Following meticulous scrutinizing of religion, one was not successful in ascertaining the very true origin of religion*, however, one was successful in tracing the origin of religion back to the oldest know civilization to have practiced religion. One has discovered that during the Paleolithic period (Old Stone Age); religion was one of civilization's primary focuses. In fact, religion dictated the everyday lives of the cave men during this period in humanity history. Humanity's religion wasn't the concept of monotheism, one god; rather instead they based their religious beliefs upon polytheism, many gods. The mere reason why religion came into existence, one ascertains to be very simple. One can probably imagine all of the many questions surrounding humanity at the beginning of humanity history. Many of these questions were impossible to answer at the time and impossible to even imagine reasonable ways to come up with an educated conclusion containing to these questions, essentially, a valid answer for the unanswered questions could not be obtained. In an extreme way the human imagination expanded by addressing the complex concept of explanations to these questions. For the first time, the questions, how did we get here, who made the earth/universe, why does it storm or other strange events happen on the globe, and what happens after death could finally be answered. Also the concept of good versus evil was finally addressed. These ultimate questions were finally able to be answered by the concept that supernatural beings were in control of the universe. The concept of one god hadn't entered and conquered the human mind yet, but through thousands of years it would eventually do so. For each thing that could not be answered, there was a god. For instance, the sun could not be explained and so there was the god of the sun, and death could not be explained and so there was the god of the underworld or afterlife. From this ultimate idea of the gods sprung the idea of reincarnation.

Religious Influences on Humanity:



One has discovered religion have shaped and rule civilizations all over the globe throughout humanity's history. One civilization in which falls under this category happens to be the Nile civilization, also known as the Old Egyptian civilization. This civilization was polytheism and from the Neolithic time frame (New Stone Age). They were affirmed believers of reincarnation and based their lives upon this. They believed that once you die and was buried, the body would rise once again at its desired time and you would begin your second, or after/final life. Since you would be using the same body they attempted to make your body look presentable after death primarily by mummification, however, only the royal family, (pharaohs), the mummificationners, royal pets, and upper classmen received mummification. The pharaohs were also saw as gods, however, living gods. What ever the pharaohs said, went because not only were they your leader, but essentially, your god. With religion they dictated the laws of the land, hence, created the famous quote, "so shall it be written, so shall it be done". The Egyptian citizens were strong believers of the gods and so the gods were not questioned. However, if the gods were questioned, the person to question them would be killed. A similar civilization to the Egyptians were the Aztecs, who believed in many gods and that the sun god was the supreme god. They essentially made human sacrifices to their gods, symbolizing that they obviously believed the reality of the gods. The reason why civilizations such as the Egyptians and Aztecs believed in these gods were due to family passing the belief, without the fact of the origin, from one generation to the next. Scholars give the Egyptians credit for the expansion of the human mind, by coming up with the concept of one god, the god Atum. Atum controlled everything and was less complex like the concept of many gods, and obviously more powerful. This god didn't last long, however, the Judaism religion was simultaneously developing and began to spread beyond the Nile civilization. Their god was called God*, and was the one and powerful god, also the only god.

Monotheism:



Monotheism shared many of the traits as polytheism. Like polytheism, monotheism had magnificent tales about heroic, and other events that supposable took place. One of the most famous tales of the monotheism religion is that of Jesus. Judaism sprung off Christianity and christians believe that Jesus was the Son of God. Gods have been seen with sons before, such as Zeus and Hercules, but for the first time in humanity, the son of a god was making himself a sacrifice for mortal beings, those that were not gods. The human mind had developed to another stage in the imagination of religion. Jesus made himself a sacrifice so that all good souls, still distinguishing from good versus evil, may receive a paradise like life. There are many Christianity groups, but the main ones seem to be Catholic, and Baptist. Wars are fought between nations in response to Christianity but it is nothing compared to the holy wars in the Middle Eastern region. Developed from both Christianity and Judaism, all believing in one god, Muslim is a dominant religion of the world as well. Majority of the religious members of the world are in fact monotheism. Buddhism, Hinduism*, even Methodist are monotheism. Humanity is no longer accepting polytheism as an answer to these questions but now one god as an answer to these questions. Muslims, Judaism, and Christians fight each other everyday over a strip of land that they all think is theirs. All three of these dominant religions believe that they are direct descendents from Abraham. Abraham, according to these three dominant religions, was promised land by God and so now his direct descendents are claiming the land. The only problem is that more than one religious tribe believes that they are direct descendents from Abraham, hence, more than one tribe is claiming the narrow strip of land. This idea of religion has caused all of this, leading one to only imagine what else it can cause, or more accurately, what has it already caused. Monotheism is an important improvement in human comprehension, however, the human mind has lots of more things to comprehend before we truly understand the universe and answer the ultimate questions. Many of the ultimate questions, such as why does it storm, and what happens after death have already been rationally and realistically explained by science, however, many simple refuse to accept this rational explanation because it eliminates the need for the idea of religion. The human mind is steadily developing and will eventually develop the concept of there being no god, and that we must think rationally.

Conclusion:



After wary examination upon the origin of religion, the facts of religion, and other major things containing to religion, not in this report, one have reached his conclusion upon this vigorous idea of religion. One is explicitly left with the question, who is God and is he real? To answer this question one must answer another question, what is religion? Religion is an idea developed by humanity, to answer questions that cannot be rationally answered at the time. God, essentially, is religion. He is the supernatural being to answer these questions, however, is he real? The idea of God is certainly real but not rational. God is the irrational and unrealistic explanation of the questions how did we get here, etc. There is no concrete proof with God and instead science offers proof. We have not yet achieved our max objective with science but should look to science rather than religion. God is an idea; hence, in this sense God is unreal. The possibility of a god or higher being is true but not evident to one devoting his life to it, also making God unreal. One must remain agnostic on the subject of religion and say that God is no more than religion itself, so is religion acceptable. One believes that we are all endowed with the right to practice the idea of religion or not to practice it, in that aspect religion is acceptable. However, we do not obtain the right to push our religion upon others directly, as done in the past, or indirectly, as being done today. In this aspect religion is not and will never be acceptable. One has decided that it would be irrational and irresponsible to practice religion or worship God. God and religion is overwhelmingly not real and participation in religion would mean a violation in ones realistic and rationalistic views. When it comes to religion humanity should return to the drawing board and attempt to answer questions rationally and realistically and not with an extreme gesture such as religion. It is ones final conclusion that one shall not precipitate in any religion or believe in any god. Religion is the cause of many things, mostly discrimination, segregation, and hatred. Religion goes against the five platforms* and therefore one is against religion. Religion is acceptable to practice but not to force others to practice and it is not acceptable to push religious beliefs upon others. Religion is an old involving idea and is an idea only of the imagination.

Self-Proclamation of Life!

(After departing from religion I sat down some basic morals that I shall live by. I am not a bad person and so I value these good virtues. I vowed to live my life in freedom and understanding, not confusion. In doing this I drafted the "Self-Proclamation of Life".)

Self-Proclamation of Life


On this day, one do hereby vow to live
ones life in reason, and logic.
One vow to never turn away from the phases of life.
One does not need religion or guidance from a superstitious source.
One is self-reliant and independent from all.
From this day forward,
hence now and forever more,
one vows to remain in control of ones self,
think about ones surroundings,
think bigger and outside the box of religion,
remain independent from the bible and religion,
accept science as truth but never stop thinking, questioning, and challenging,
remain a rationalist thinker and being,
fight for freedom for all,
question the ways of life and question other things,
accept atheists and agnostics as reasonable people and learn of their ways of thinking and fear not in joining them,
and always be ones self.
This one does hereby vow to for ones entire life.
To live by these codes.
The codes:
Self-control,
Thinking,
Independence,
Questioning,
Challenging,
Freedom,
Rationalist,
Atheist,
Agnostic,
and Science.
These codes are ones way of living and existence.

MEMORANDUM:

JUST BECAUSE WE HAVE A NEW PRESIDENT AND A NEW POLITICAL PARTY IN POWER DOESN'T MEAN THE FIGHT FOR EQUALITY IS OVER OR GOING TO BE EASIER. AS EQUAL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS AND AS THE FUTURE LEADERS OF AMERICA, WE AS AMERICANS HAVE THE OBLIGATION TO CONTINUE TO FIGHT FOR EQUALITY FOR ALL IN THIS NATION NO MATTER WHAT. WE MUST REMAIN STRONG AND CONSCIOUS OF THE PREJUDICE AND INEQUALITY IN THIS NATION. JUST BECAUSE THE MEDIA OR LEADERS IN THIS NATION DOESN'T ADMIT OR EXHIBIT SUCH INEQUALITY AND PREJUDICE CRISES, DOESN'T MEAN THERE ISN'T A CRISES. IT IS UN-AMERICAN TO IGNORE SUCH PROBLEMS AND WILL NOT BE STAND FOR IN AMERICA. THE TIME WILL COME WHEN WE ARE ALL FREE AND EQUAL, BUT UNTIL WE ARE THERE WE MUST CONTINUE TO FIGHT TO ARRIVE THERE. WE MUST PRESS ON FOR LIFE, LIBERTY, JUSTICE, EQUALITY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS!



SINCERELY,
MARQUELL GARRETT
THE FUTURE LEADER OF AMERICA