American Freethought

Here’s a notice from author Sam Harris:

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is the most prominent advocate of free speech and women’s rights in the Muslim world, and for this she must live under perpetual armed guard, even in the West.  Unfortunately, on October 1st of this year, the Dutch government officially rescinded its promise to protect her.  Now, Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s friends, colleagues and admirers must come to her aid.

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A sneak peak at the upcoming film and what its aftermath says about the current health of the Afghan nation.

by John C. Snider © 2007

Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner is one of the most talked-about books in recent years.  Not only is it a heartbreaking story of childhood tragedy, this 2003 novel provides an invaluable insight into the culture of late 20th century Afghanistan - the culture that would trigger 9/11 and plunge the globe into a bitter, and likely-to-be-protracted, conflict.

Hosseini’s book wasn’t particularly controversial, but controversy has most definitely found the movie adaptation, directed by Marc Foster (Monsters’ Ball, Finding Neverland, Stay, Stranger than Fiction, and the as-yet-unnamed Bond 22), with screenplay by David Benioff (25th Hour, Troy, Stay).  Filmed in the western Chinese province of Kashgar, the film is notable for its multi-ethnic cast, including three young Afghan boys who are now at the center of a media storm.  More on them later.

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As I reported before, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue has organized a prayer meeting on Tuesday, November 13 at the Georgia Capitol to pray for rain to relieve the state’s severe drought.  Local non-theists have announced plans for a peaceful protest.  Their news release is included below.

(Something for the Governor to consider:  Matthew 5:45 says “…He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”  If God sendeth the rain to the just and the unjust, logically he also withholds rain from the just and the unjust.  Why has God withheld rain of late?) 

NEWS RELEASE (for IMMEDIATE RELEASE)

The Governor of Georgia, Sonny Perdue, has called for a prayer service on the Georgia Capitol grounds, Washington Street side, at 11:45 am. on Tuesday, 13th November 2007 to pray for rain. This is embarrassingly foolish, a great mistake, a waste of taxpayer money, and unconstitutional on its face.

The Atlanta Freethought Society, along with two of the biggest and best national organizations for freethinkers, the Council for Secular Humanism (headquarters in Amherst NY), and the Freedom From Religion Foundation (headquarters in Madison WI)–will engage in a polite and peaceful protest on next Tuesday, 13 November at the Georgia Capitol Building in downtown Atlanta (Washington Street near the intersection with Martin Luther King Drive SW–the north corner of the Capitol grounds), from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

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by John C. Snider © 2007

Whether we like it or not, the Evolution/Creation Wars will be with us for a while.  The forces of Creationism are as determined as ever to challenge Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, especially as it is currently taught in public schools and universities.   The Creationists’ latest ploy is ”intelligent design”, or “ID”, which posits that lifeforms are so “irreducibly complex” that they must be the result of some super-intelligent agent.

Nevermind that the Creationists have been turned back repeatedly in recent years.  In 2005, the courts ruled that Cobb County, Georgia could not place evolution disclaimers in biology textbooks.  In 2006, a similar tactic by the school board of Dover, Pennsylvania was overturned by federal Judge John E. Jones III (a George W. Bush appointee, no less).  Dover voters tossed out the school board during the next election.  And in Kansas, the fate of the entire state’s biology curriculum has been the subject of not one, but two struggles within the state Board of Education.  Despite these setbacks, there’s no reason to believe that this battle won’t be fought again and again in various places across America.  The Kansas Wars are the jumping-off point of filmmaker Randy Olson’s new documentary Flock of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circus, which looks not just at the nuts and bolts of the debate, but also at the tactics used by each side.  Why is it that the Creationists seem to be winning the PR campaign, when all the scientific evidence is against them? 

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