I stumbled upon a transcript on the National Public Radio site awhile-back. It was a speech made by John F. Kennedy in 1960, given to a group of Protestant ministers a few months before the election. JFK was a devout Catholic, but he was also had a solid understanding of the separation of church and state; this speech has some excellent excerpts that exemplify this. JFK was the first Catholic elected president, and during the elections other religious groups (primarily the Protestant group) were concerned about rumors that he would send an ambassador to the Vatican and be taking direction from the Pope. As it turned-out, it was Reagan who established the first ambassador to the Vatican in 1984. Read the rest of this entry »
The HPV vaccine has jumped into the news again as the UK reports their first death following a vaccination.
The US (and western world in general) has already been struggling with vaccines, and this could make things more difficult in the UK. With all the claims of vaccines linked to autism, Jenny McCarthy’s wild-ass claims, and Muslims stopping the distribution of the polio vaccination — there’s a lot of pseudoscience, superstition, and urban legends up against vaccines.
Then there is the religious angle against the HPV vaccine. Because the human papillomavirus is a sexually transmitted disease, the abstinence-only proponents think giving a girl this vaccine gives her the go-ahead to be promiscuous.
It will be interesting to see what kind of media attention resurfaces from this; but I can already see the email or Facebook posts flying around again, claiming how bad this vaccine is, and possibly how bad all vaccines are. So in an attempt to arm you with knowledge before you even get that email or see someone post it on Facebook, here are some facts for you to counter with.
Read the rest of this entry »
Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF.org) recently put up a billboard near Pell City, Alabama. One of their classics, modifying a line from one of John Lennon’s songs: “Imagine No Religion.”
The sign is located on east-bound I-20 just past the Pell City exit. Atheist billboards really are nothing new, especially to those of us in the atheist community. What makes this one notable is that it is believed to be a first in Alabama; and is one of a very few in a bible-belt state. Eleanor Strote commented “A lot of people didn’t even know there was an atheist group in town. And they do now.”
FFRF local chapter president, Pat Cleveland said it is not meant to be a recruiting tool, but meant to inform. “There are people of no religion in Alabama. I’m one of them.” This is a way to let atheists, agnostics, and non-believers know there is a group for them in the bible-belt, “more like a member information campaign.”
The local news coverage tries to sound unbiased, but when they refer to the billboard as ‘impious‘ and ‘irreverent‘ its obvious even they are against it. Shall we take a look at how Atheist [Bus & Billboard] Campaign got started? FFRF placed their first billboard in Wisconsin in October 2007. However the real ‘war’ started after JesusSaid.org ran bus advertisements inviting people to their website (in mid-2008). Upon visiting the website, people were greeted with the bold statement that “all non-Christians would burn in hell for all eternity.” Way to be respectful, pious, and reverent there Christians! Read the rest of this entry »
How irresponsible and wasteful! No matter which side of the political teater-totter you sit on, most of us aren’t happy with the current financial situation; both in the economy and in the government. I’m no financial whiz, but I know that right now the government should not be spending thousands (or more likely tens of thousands) of dollars of tax payer money to add a few engravings to the United States Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) (Wikipedia Entry | Official Site).
Construction of the CVC started in 2000, and was completed and opened to the public in December 2008. The CVC provides a central hub for tourists visiting the capitol; on average 8000 people visit the capitol per day and you can bet most of them go through the CVC. The CVC is an addition to the United States Capitol and also serves as expansion space for the US Congress. Read the rest of this entry »
The Treaty of Tripoli was negotiated while George Washington was president; eventually ratified by the U.S. Senate on June 7th, 1797; and then signed by President John Adams on June 10th, 1797. Although this treaty is no longer in effect today, Article 11 provides some significant insight into the infancy of the United States as a nation.
Art. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.
I just reactivated my Facebook account. (please befriend me, if you like! I’m Neece Campione over there. Just let me know you’re from here!) So much of my family seems to only converse by Facebook these days, so I gave in and finally went back to it. If you can’t beat ‘em…. Oh jeez… I just got a fever and reactivated my Twitter account too (ZeNeece over there) oh the madness!
ANYHOO… where was I? Oh, yeah. Facebook and family. What’s the deal with everyone being so god this, jesus that lately? And they’re so in-my-face about it. I am pretty sure they all know I’m an atheist. Where’s the respect? Why can’t they tone it down? It’s incredibly – dare I say it – offensive to me to have to be bombarded with this sheeple thinking every day. My friends are all atheists (how interesting, don’t you think? LOL), but the family… they’re unbearable. In the last week, every conversation with them has involved their invocation of their holy lord and savior, all to my irritation.
Now, I know you will probably disagree with me, but I haven’t said a word to any of them. I’ve politely ignored the pleas that I pray for them or the requests for a miracle to save them from their bad situations (which they got themselves into … sans god). Being on Facebook really has it in my face even more. They want to chat with me all day and it seems that the invocations to god come fast and furious. It’s maddening. Or the stuff they leave on their pages – it’s like swimming in a pool of religious hallmark cards, and all the papercuts that would cause.
I know that this is my fault. I’ve kept my mouth shut all these years and now they just walk all over me. One of them actually gets really frustrated and snippy with me when I say happy holidays instead of merry christmas. She goes on and on about putting the christ back in christmas all through december. Unbearable. Oh, I should mention, 98% of these family members are in-laws. Yeah, that’s probably important, isn’t it?
So, I feel like I’ve reached a crossroads. Granted, it’s my fault for indulging them for so long. But how do I restore my sanity now? Do I say, ‘HEY, you are all idiots! There’s no invisible sky daddy!” Ok, that’s a bit harsh. Um, do I post pro-atheist stuff all over my facebook page? Hmm, that’s so passive aggressive, and easy for them to ignore, which would leave me where I am now.
I want to be nice and respectful. But no one is respecting me. I’m so sick of their god being thrown in my face all the time. I have a feeling that most of them will be offended by any little thing I do or say, then will pointedly ignore that it was said, and just shout jesus-isms from the rooftops even louder.
So I’m asking for your help. Like I said, I am pretty sure most of them already know I’m an atheist. I give them respect but get none in return. How do I get some sanity back? Is it even possible? Or do I have to just become a hermit in a shack in the woods, and get myself a nice old typewriter? I’m so frustrated!
You know, this seems to be a serious point of contention these days. The majority of sheeple toddling around on their cell phones, driving their SUV’s, barely doing their jobs, letting TVs raise their kids, all seem to be proud of their ignorance in different areas. Here are just a few:
- Philosophy (in this sense I am referring to morality, beliefs, etc)
- Science
- Math
- Computers
- Critical Thinking, Logic and Reason
- Finance and Banking
- The Concept of Responsibility
Now I’m not all saying we need to be Socrates, Einstein, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, a brain surgeon and a rocket scientist all rolled into one. But understanding the world around us is pretty important. Also how we think and what we believe is critical to how we make decisions. It’s also important to understand that even if we’re ignorant of something, we can still be personally responsible for our actions.
My parents weren’t very good at raising kids, to be honest. But my grandparents (on summer vacations) and public school took the time to teach me basic manners, a bit of common sense, the concept of cause and effect, personal responsibility for my behavior, basic money handling, and I got a good foundation in science and math at school as well.
I sometimes deal with younger people and they don’t seem to have any respect for knowledge, information or learning. They seem to refuse to be personally responsible. And the idea of thinking logically is as alien as an 8 track tape player.
When did it become cool to be so freaking ignorant? When did everyone collectively stop thinking for themselves? I’d say it’s just the youth of today, but I know many people my age and even older that refuse to think about their own belief systems or how they see the world. Most people are quite content to let a priest or pastor tell them what their morals are. Read the rest of this entry »
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