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Tell Your Representative to Stand Up For Fact-Based Education

What a concept. Fact-based education. Why are we fighting for this in the 21st century? I have no idea, but the fact is, it’s a big issue here in the United States. I don’t often meddle in political issues unless there’s a positive action you can take. The Secular Coalition for America makes it easy to contact your state representatives on certain important issues.

Here’s a 4:36 minute video and information you need. Then just go HERE to send letters to your state reps through the Secular Coalition For America. Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy.

By now, you’ve probably heard about the Texas State Board of Education’s moves to impose educational standards into its textbooks intended to indoctrinate Texas public school students with a telling of U.S. history that is based in extremist religious ideology. Read the rest of this entry »

Atheist Solidarity Day June 21 An Atheist Holiday

I created this ribbon for Atheist Solidarity Day, An Atheist Holiday, which is June 21st. It’s a Facebook group and I really like the idea of godless heathens having a holiday for themselves, just because! (see below for more info)

Edit: Now there’s an Atheist Solidarity website!

Here’s the description from the page: Read the rest of this entry »

Atheists Deserve A Community Too

The other day I received the following email:

Without criticizing or judging your page in any way, I just would like to ask you, why are you so vocal about your non-beliefs?
Can you see any correlation to the obnoxious holy-rollers that most people dislike?
Perhaps its just a need for self-expression, expressed. I guess it was the “Atheist/Humanist/Skeptical/Freethinker Group” poll that got me. Why do you need help to think freely? Or company? How is it not the antithesis of a prayer group?
I just think perhaps you need balance. I found mine, or the closest I’ve ever come to it, in the martial arts. Self-defense, but a wonderful integration of the physical and the spiritual, however one defines that, and although its frequently tied to a religion, that can be left to the individual.
I ran across the movie “The Secret” and found your website from a Google search entitled “the secret is bullshit”.
Have a good one.
By the way, I am a political conservative and a Christian, although most would argue (if they were interested, which they are not) I am not a practicing one. Just a believer.

These days, when someone tries to subtly insult me, I usually just brush it off and move on. But this email reminded me that maybe I need to speak louder, slower and more clearly.

First, this blog is for atheists and skeptics, not christians and mindless believers. This blog is by a skeptical atheist for people who like to think and use their minds. If you don’t like it, no one is making you read it. Go mind your own business elsewhere. I’m not coming into your backyard and whining. I’ll thank you to give me the same courtesy. Read the rest of this entry »

Boobquake: Dress Immodestly For Science April 26

Update! Boobquake results are in: Our immodest hair and cleavage did not cause any earthquakes. In fact, the mean magnitude of quakes actually went down during the experiment. Read the full results over at Blag Hag.

Some ideas strike me as terribly clever. Jennifer over at Blag Hag decided to start something by asking women to dress immodestly to show that it doesn’t cause earthquakes. It was spurred on by some little Iranian man who said:

“Many women who do not dress modestly … lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes,” Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi was quoted as saying by Iranian media. Sedighi is Tehran’s acting Friday prayer leader.

Women in the Islamic Republic are required by law to cover from head to toe, but many, especially the young, ignore some of the more strict codes and wear tight coats and scarves pulled back that show much of the hair.

“What can we do to avoid being buried under the rubble?” Sedighi asked during a prayer sermon Friday. “There is no other solution but to take refuge in religion and to adapt our lives to Islam’s moral codes.”

“A divine authority told me to tell the people to make a general repentance. Why? Because calamities threaten us,” Sedighi said.

Minister of Welfare and Social Security Sadeq Mahsooli said prayers and pleas for forgiveness were the best “formulas to repel earthquakes.”

“We cannot invent a system that prevents earthquakes, but God has created this system and that is to avoid sins, to pray, to seek forgiveness, pay alms and self-sacrifice,” Mahsooli said.

So on April 26, I will show my cleavage for science. I dress for comfort, not looks, so I’m a perfect person to “tip the scales” towards total devastating earthquake on Monday April 26. This is a scientific experiment. Read the rest of this entry »

Ideas About Atheist Groups

As you may know, I’m the co-cat herder (co-director) of Morgantown Atheists, a local group for unbelievers. I’m also the coordinator for Morgantown Coalition of Reason, an umbrella organization that encompasses Morgantown Atheists and other local groups so that we can work together in the name of Reason.

The funny thing is, I’m not really a people person. Like a lot of atheists (supposedly), I’m quite an outsider, as much of a hermit as I can get away with, in fact. I have never liked going out in crowds or socializing with large groups of people.

Why am I telling you all of this? Because I have realized something that I want to share with you. Even though I’m a curmudgeonly hermit-y atheist, I love going to the 3 atheist/freethinker meetings we have every month. That’s 3 Sundays a month where I happily leave the house and go socialize with a small group of people. And I look forward to it. The one or 2 Sundays where we don’t meet I miss it.

Even people like me benefit from social community and contact. The beauty of the atheist/freethinker community is that we are relatively like-minded. We have a foundation of common ground. But we are also quite different, of course, which is good because that makes things interesting. The added bonus of freethinkers, skeptics and atheists is that we seem relatively level-headed (overall – there are exceptions, of course) and we argue and discuss matters with interest and fairness. No drama llama is invited! So it’s actually fun and mentally stimulating.

I think we all need some type of community, which is one thing that religion has in its favor that being a lone atheist does not.

But this is easily remedied. I thought I’d share some thoughts on how to get involved with a secular group of like-minded people. If none exist in your area, you can start one up.

Tips For Finding A Local Atheist/Humanist/Freethinker/Skeptical Community Read the rest of this entry »

What’s Going On!?

Remember the other day I told you I was working on my computer, installing some hardware upgrades? That saga continues and is yet to be resolved. Sigh! Unfortunately I know just enough about computers to get myself into trouble and not be able to fully get myself back out again. So I’m telling you because it’s taking up a lot of my brain power, trying to figure out how to get everything to play nice. So that’s that!

Also, I don’t often talk about politics, but I told you about the federal funding of religious schools bill that Joe Lieberman was pushing. I thought you might like an update. In this case, secular values won! Woot!

Here’s what the Secular Coalition for America said about the victory:

Two weeks ago, we alerted you to Sen. Joe Lieberman’s proposed amendment to the Senate jobs bill that would reauthorize the “D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program,” an initiative that forced American taxpayers to subsidize religious institutions through school vouchers.

A July 2009 report by Rutgers University on the D.C. voucher program concluded that the way the voucher program is structured “essentially push[es] students into Christian Association and Catholic schools, pricing out independent (non-religious) schools and Hebrew schools.”

Those of us who do not wish to subsidize religion with our tax dollars would continue to be forced to do so if Senator Lieberman had his way.

Thousands of you responded, writing to your senators to tell them that public funds should be never be used to pay for anyone’s religion. The amendment never made it to the jobs bill–though Senator Lieberman promised he would bring it back as soon as he could.

So the Secular Coalition for America took your message directly to the Senate. SCA staff met personally with over fifteen key senators to make the case that our tax dollars must not be used to fund religious activities, particularly in schools.

Tonight, Senator Lieberman managed to bring the amendment to the floor, attaching it this time to a bill funding the Federal Aviation Administration. Debate was heard, votes were cast, and the amendment was defeated, 42 to 55. We worked together, and helped to stop the unconstitutional public financing of religious education.

It’s only the latest sign that the secular movement is growing. Just last month, the Secular Coalition for America and representatives of the secular movement met with the Obama administration for an official policy briefing-the first of its kind for our movement in history-opening up new lines of dialogue between our community and the White House. Many more issues lay before us, and we need your help to keep up the momentum.

If you are interested, sign up for the SCA Action Alerts. When the rights and values of nontheistic Americans are on the line and you can put in your two cents, the SCA makes it really easy.

Want to see how your senators voted on this bill? Go here. Then if they voted nay, consider going to that senator’s official contact page and thanking them for respecting the separation of church and state.

Please keep commenting about Advertisements and Logical Fallacies. I am still thinking about your input for a follow-up.

Your Two Cents About the Faith Based Initiative Program

The Secular Coalition of America sent me a request a few minutes ago, asking me to write a letter to Obama about the Faith Based Initiative Program. I pretty much keep my nose out of politics, but I thought I’d pass this along because I firmly believe in the Separation of Church and State as my God Given Right!

Seriously, this country was founded on the incredibly important idea of religion and politics being separate. If you want to see a country where there is no separation, just go to Iran. I’m pretty sure they are a theocracy. Don’t hold me to that, though. My world politics skills have never been very sharp.

Anyway, I think letter writing campaigns work best when the people or organization targeted gets absolutely inundated from all over the place with the same request. Here is what the Secular Coalition for America says:

As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama promised to abide by “a few basic principles” that would protect the constitutional separation of church and state in his plan for an expanded faith based initiative program. He was specific: “First, if you get a federal grant, you can’t use that grant money to proselytize to the people you help and you can’t discriminate against them – or against the people you hire – on the basis of their religion. Second, federal dollars that go directly to churches, temples, and mosques can only be used on secular programs.”

On February 5, 2009 President Obama issued his Executive Order establishing his Faith Based Intiative program. Twelve months later at the National Prayer Breakfast, President Obama claimed that his administration had “turned the faith-based initiative around” from its misuse during the Bush administration. But it appears the only thing President Obama has changed about how millions of federal dollars are spent is that the office guiding the direct funding of houses of worship is now called the “White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships” rather than the “Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives.” Twelve months, Two words. That’s not a turn around, it’s a re-branding.

Go Here to Send a Letter to Obama through the Secular Coalition of America. Hey, maybe if enough of us say something it might just make a difference. Read the rest of this entry »

Tell Your Representative to Stand Up For Fact-Based Education

Boobquake: Dress Immodestly For Science April 26

What’s Going On!?

Your Two Cents About the Faith Based Initiative Program

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