Here’s one from the Georgia homefront. A judge in Douglasville, GA put a woman in jail for trying to enter the courthouse wearing her hijab, or Muslim headscarf. The judge cited a rule about no headcoverings. This same judge previously had another woman removed from court for not removing her hijab.
As we discussed in podcast #19, the government of South Carolina decided it was a good idea to print special license plates featuring a Christian cross and the words “I Believe”. Various and sundry groups sued, and now…
Check out the newly revamped American Atheists website. Is nice. And easy to remember: Atheist.org
iTunes just announced their 2008 Top 25 lists, and “The Skeptics’ Guide 5×5“ was selected as one of the best podcasts that began in 2008. “5×5″ is produced by the same folks who bring you “The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe”. Alas, American Freethought didn’t make the list, a criminal oversight to be sure (but perhaps we can rationalize our disappointment by noting that AF actually started in 2007…) At any rate, congrats to the SGU-ers - keep up the good work!
We take a look at the (alleged) War on Christmas and the various over-reactions to it.
But first…some Thanksgiving leftovers! Columnist Jim Griffith of the Newnan (Georgia) Times-Herald paints a bleak picture for atheists on Turkey Day.
Lest you think it’s only small town news hounds who blame everything on the infidels, get a load of the recent essay by Daniel Henniger in The Wall Street Journal. Who knew the economic implosion was triggered by the scrooges who don’t like to hear the words “Merry Christmas”.
A Christmas tree, that is. Check out this news item from sunny Florida:
PARRISH, Fla. – Authorities say a Florida man who lives with his parents has been charged with attacking his father with a Christmas tree and its metal stand.
American Atheists is suing the Commonwealth of Kentucky over a 2006 law that requires the state to recognize God as an indispensable cog in the Homeland Security system (and you thought the days of tribal gods was a thing of the past!). There’s no doubt this will be overturned in court, but it’s a damned shame we have to keep playing whack-a-mole (whack-a-god?) on these things.
Some non-believers exchange gifts during the holidays; some don’t. If you’re one of the former, consider shopping at Amazon.com through us. You’ll get the same great prices and you’ll help toss a little change to AmericanFreethought.com. Just click on the banner and you’re on your way…
If you live in the United Kingdom, you can use our Amazon.co.uk link here:
The American Freethought Podcast celebrates its first anniversary today. Whee! Yay! Yippee!!! Thirty-four episodes, a dozen interviews, one ill-considered rollerderby incident and innumerable libertarian rants later - and the public still hasn’t risen up with pitchforks and torches to give us our just desserts. We’ve performed live at a sci-fi convention, waged a War on Christmas, sacrificed Yellow Peeps at the Altar of PMS, and generally pissed off the Baptists. So it hasn’t been all bad.
Many thanks to our growing listenership and our cadre of regular commenters. Thanks to the wives for their love and longsuffering support. (Awww…) And thanks, David, for keeping me on my game!
In this crazy win-some-lose-some political season, no other issue has had a more mixed result than gay rights. Now a Florida judge has ruled the statewide ban on adoption by gay couples is unconstitutional. Wrap your head around this one: it’s now unconstitutional to gay-marry in Florida but constitutional to gay-adopt.
