A local win! The city council of my adopted city–Roswell, GA–has strongly rejected a proposal to begin council meetings with prayer. What’s more, council members report that the feedback of their constituents has been overwhelmingly against having prayer. I could not be more pleased with our city council. Actually, I could be more pleased, since it was a councilwoman (Betty “Getting Back to the Roots of Our Country” Price) who introduced the proposal.
Roswell, GA rejects city council prayer
March 12th, 2010
9th Circuit rejects Newdow
March 11th, 2010The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the Constitutionality of the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance and the motto “In God We Trust” on American currency. This double body-blow denies two lawsuits spearheaded by Michael Newdow. You can read the Court’s opinions here and here.
I have not had time to absorb these rulings in detail, but right away I wonder how the Court can use the Declaration of Independence (citing the phrase “endowed by their Creator” as an expression of the Founding Fathers’ beliefs) as a litmus test for the Constitutionality of the phrase “under God.” The DoI is an historically significant document, but it has no force of law whatsoever. The Constitution does, and it’s internally consistent throughout that government and religion ought not mix.
The Court also makes confounding statements like “the motto (’In God We Trust’) has no theological or ritualistic impact. As stated by the Congressional report, it has ’spiritual and psychological value’ and ‘inspirational quality.’” Please explain to me the substantive difference between “theological” and “spiritual”–for that matter, how can the word “God” itself be said to have no theological impact???
Rape your daughters for the apocalypse
March 11th, 2010A man in New Jersey is accused of raping and beating his five daughters over a 15-year period, fathering as many as six children through them as a result. Did I mention these gals were homeschooled?
Why? Because he had convinced himself there was no god and he could indulge himself with impunity.
Ah, who am I kidding? It’s because he had apocalyptic visions that (according to his wife), “the world was going to end and it was just going to be him and his offspring and that he was chosen.”
Now, I’m not saying this nut was motivated by religion. But I am pointing out how telling it is that nuts almost never have delusions about there being no god. I’m also pointing out how the understandable reluctance of authorities to split up families often leads to years of abuse, neglect and death.
That said, I seriously doubt any jury–Christian or otherwise–is going to cut this guy much slack. I just hope his daughters can salvage what’s left of their lives.
Anti-gay Senator is gay
March 10th, 2010Yeah, I know that sounds like a LOLCATS caption (it also sounds like one of those news-that’s-not-news items like “World’s Oldest Person Dies”), but apparently it’s true. California State Senator Roy Ashburn is the latest anti-homosexual crusader who is himself a homosexual. What is it with these people? What’s worse than his political bigotry is the explanation he offers for his voting record: that that’s how he thought his constituents would want him to vote. Now, I’m all for democracy, but not just undiluted mob rule. Representative democracy means the people get a voice, but it also means that elected representatives have an obligation to do the right thing based on their own best judgment, not by putting a wet finger to the wind. How sick do you have to be to repeatedly vote against the very thing that defines you?
Violence continues in Nigeria
March 9th, 2010Agnostics continue to slaughter atheists in Nigeria.
Ah, who am I kidding? It’s Muslims slaughtering Christians (and vice versa). Nigeria’s Acting President–the ironically named Goodluck Jonathan–has promised to quell the violence, but I suspect he’ll do no more than tamp it down temporarily.
Podcast #83 – Secular Coalition at the White House
March 8th, 2010
John C. Snider with Christopher Hitchens, Emory University, February 26, 2010
American Atheists president Ed Buckner reports on the recent meeting between representatives of the Secular Coalition for America with White House officials.
Plus: We meet the Hitch! Allison joins us to talk about “The Only Subject Is Love,” a seminar we attended at Emory University featuring Salman Rushdie, Christopher Hitchens, and filmmaker Deepa Mehta (who is developing a film adaptation of Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children). The event celebrates the opening of Rushdie’s archives at Emory. Surprises included spontaneous recitations of poetry (Hitchens selecting the heartwrenching “Dulce et Decorum est,” Rushdie the humorous “The Walrus and the Carpenter.”) And…we learned that Hitchens’ memoir–Hitch 22–is due out in June!
Homeschooled = Evangelical?
March 7th, 2010I’m not opposed to homeschooling on general principle. I think it’s possible for reasonably intelligent parents to provide their children a decent education at home. Unfortunately, in the United States the word “homeschooler” has an incredibly strong correlation with “evangelical brainwasher.” This recent news article reveals that the vast majority of American homeschoolers do so, not because they think they are better at teaching math at home, but rather for religious reasons. Indeed, as the article discusses, there’s a frightening number of publishers who put out textbooks that are really just delivery systems for fundamentalist propaganda–especially when it comes to evolution. Alas.
The Reason Project is now Project Reason
March 6th, 2010From Sam Harris:
Same foundation, same people, (almost) the same name:
In order to avoid ongoing confusion between The Reason Project and The Reason Foundation (with which we are not affiliated), we are changing our name to Project Reason.
Please note our new URL: www.project-reason.org
The Project Reason Advisory Board: Clifford S. Asness, Peter Atkins, Jerry Coyne, Richard Dawkins, Daniel C. Dennett, Brent Forrester, Rebecca Goldstein, Anthony Grayling, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Christopher Hitchens, Lawrence Krauss, Harold Kroto, Bill Maher, Ian McEwan, Dan Pallotta, Steven Pinker, Salman Rushdie, Lee M. Silver, J. Craig Venter, Ibn Warraq, and Steven Weinberg.
Podcast #82 – Creation
February 26th, 2010
Allison’s back–yay! She joins us to discuss the new Charles Darwin bio-pic Creation, starring real-life husband-and-wife Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly as Charles and Emma Darwin. Creation is based on the nonfiction book Annie’s Box (published in the US as Darwin, His Daughter, and Human Evolution, and reissued in conjunction with the film as Creation) by Darwin descendant Randal Keynes. Creation is currently in limited release, so check your local art cinema to see if and when it might play in your neighborhood. For more visit CreationtheMovie.com.
Thanks to the many fellow science fans who joined us for the Creation screening at Atlanta’s Landmark Midtown Art Cinema. And thanks to Royal Orchid Thai Cuisine for accommodating our unexpected horde.
Hitchens rewrites the 10C
March 5th, 2010Tags: christopher hitchens, ten commandments
Posted in atheism, commentary, ethics, history, religion | 1 Comment »