There are many good reasons why religion belongs in the home and churches, and not in the academic setting. One of them being that it violates the law of separation of church and state. Another reason is when public schools get into the business of encouraging or sponsoring prayer, Bible reading and other religious activities, it is usurping a role reserved for churches and religious institutions. But most of all, public schools should stay out of the religion business because it is divisive and counterproductive to a school’s core mission of education.

Things get complicated since this is a diverse nation of many religious beliefs (and many with no religious beliefs or affiliations). When attention is given to one particular belief over another, then resentment ensues and division. How can we teach tolerance for one another’s beliefs while giving special attention to some and not others? And if schools try to balance religious education and to give each religion equal time, academics gets lost. Leave religion to the churches, temples and synagogues, and keep it out of our public school systems.

Discord Among Ohio Students Shows Need For School Neutrality On Religion

Now lines are being drawn at the school. Students are attacking one another on the basis of religion.

Link to full article by Rob Boston

Video update on Ohio teacher who violated 1st Amendment

Jeez, all this hostility on this blog. Why are atheists so angry?…

McCain’s Spiritual Guide: Destroy Islam

The leader of a 12,000-member congregation, Parsley has written several books outlining his fundamentalist religious outlook, including the 2005 Silent No More. In this work, Parsley decries the “spiritual desperation” of the United States, and he blasts away at the usual suspects: activist judges, civil libertarians who advocate the separation of church and state, the homosexual “culture” (”homosexuals are anything but happy and carefree”), the “abortion industry,” and the crass and profane entertainment industry. And Parsley targets another profound threat to the United States: the religion of Islam. In a chapter titled “Islam: The Deception of Allah,” Parsley warns there is a “war between Islam and Christian civilization.” He continues: I cannot tell you how important it is that we understand the true nature of Islam, that we see it for what it really is. In fact, I will tell you this: I do not believe our country can truly fulfill its divine purpose until we understand our historical conflict with Islam. I know that this statement sounds extreme, but I do not shrink from its implications. The fact is that America was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion destroyed, and I believe September 11, 2001, was a generational call to arms that we can no longer ignore.[…] Parsley claims that Islam is an “anti-Christ religion” predicated on “deception.” The Muslim prophet Muhammad, he writes, “received revelations from demons and not from the true God.” And he emphasizes this point: “Allah was a demon spirit.” […] At the end of his chapter on Islam, Parsley asks, “Are we a Christian nation? I say yes.” Without specifying what actions should be taken to eradicate the religion, he essentially calls for a new crusade. Parsley, who refers to himself as a “Christocrat,” is no stranger to controversy. In 2007, the grassroots organization he founded, the Center for Moral Clarity, called for prosecuting people who commit adultery. In January, he compared Planned Parenthood to Nazis. In the past Parsley’s church has been accused of engaging in pro-Republican partisan activities in violation of its tax-exempt status.

I don’t know about all you non-believers. You’re all way too hostile, and you just don’t understand the right path.

Many of our problems on this planet are human fault. Gotta have our big cars, gotta have all our electricity, our garbage piles high. We don’t think about it because we won’t be here…let the next generations worry about it. People killing other people. Greed. War. Violence. All caused by humans and only humans can change all this. No god is going to clean up the mess.

Nature is at “fault” of most natural disaster. It’s just the way things are. NO god causes these things, no god prevents them. They just happen and no help comes from any god to clean up the mess. No messes get cleaned up unless humans intervene and take action. No god waves a magic wand and makes things all better. No god cures the cancers and disease in little children and adults, no god feeds those who are starving to death in third world countries and no god prevents the exploitation of the poor and impoverished. No god keeps a president and leaders of nations from starting wars and killing innocent people who have no say in the matter. No god prevents perverts from molesting and murdering children. No god stops the gangs from murdering, stealing and killing each other. No god comes. Humans struggle to find cures for disease. Humans attempt to fix what other humans destroy. Humans strive to sort out the messes other humans make. But no god causes it, no god cleans up the messes. . . and . . .

only humans can save humanity.

The Atheist Jew sent me this asshattery for all of you to “critique”. We rejoice when people like Falwell go to meet their imaginary maker, but when one crazy evangelist dies, another just fills in his place. Ravi Zacharias says no atheist can defeat him in debate and he always wins the argument. That’s because no matter who really has the better argument, he declares himself the winner despite his lack of actual evidence for the existence of his god, just like a typical fundie.

Who is Ravi Zacharias you might ask? Jeffrey J. Lowder writes: “Ravi Zacharias, the former Hindu-turned-Christian apologist, is President of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, an organization dedicated to “presenting the credibility of Christianity as the only reasonable option by which people should live.”

Ravi Zacharias says,

“It is a mindless philosophy that assumes that one’s private beliefs have nothing to do with public office. Does it make sense to entrust those who are immoral in private with the power to determine the nation’s moral issues and, indeed, its destiny? …. The duplicitous soul of a leader can only make a nation more sophisticated in evil.”

Well, we have a President who many evangelicals believe holds higher moral standards and look where that got us.

I am sure you will have a lot to say to dispute this video. It was very difficult for me to watch the whole thing without my blood boiling. Zacharias and others like him attempt to intellectualize absurd religious beliefs and are maddening the way they pompously proclaim victory while offering no evidence except his bullshit rhetoric. Apologists are the most annoying to debate because they are so “smug” in the way they try to woo us with their “intellect”.

For those who might not have known…

A beautiful response…

It’s time to raise our voice in prayer,
And pray to–well, there’s no one there.
No god to urge to do our bidding;
Go on and pray–just know you’re kidding.

It’s time to all sit on our asses,
And pray forgiveness for trespasses
(Or is that to forgive our debtor?
Who cares, as long as we feel better.)

It’s time we all embrace god fully,
Feel all righteous, good, and holy–
Or be some atheistic jerk,
Roll up your god-damned sleeves, and work!

It’s time to say “I do not care
To join you in this day of prayer.”
Sure, a day off looks like fun,
But there is work that must be done.

Our problems will not fix themselves
There is no god to send in elves
To do the work of human ranks
So… join, today, in prayer? No thanks.

And another good response…

May 1st is National Talking to an Imaginary Friend Day where believers pray to their multiple versions of the great invisible sky daddy for whatever. Never mind that “intolerant Religious Right groups are dominating observance of the National Day of Prayer”…there shouldn’t even BE a national day of prayer that is sponsored by any government official. Not only should the government not support intolerant religious groups, but should not be supporting ANY religious events or programs. This is total and utter nonsense.

National Day Of Prayer Showcases Intolerant Religious Right Agenda, Says Americans United

Government Officials Should Not Promote Dobson Prayer Task Force Events, Church-State Watchdog Group Says

Intolerant Religious Right groups are dominating observance of the National Day of Prayer and government officials should refuse to lend them support, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

The congressionally mandated National Day of Prayer scheduled for May 1 this year has been largely hijacked by the Religious Right and is being used as an opportunity to promote a far-right religious-political agenda.

“In many cases, this event is more about politics than prayer,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “It’s just another excuse for the Religious Right to attack church-state separation.”

Many events around the country this year are being coordinated by the National Day of Prayer Task Force, a Colorado Springs-based Religious Right organization run by Shirley Dobson, wife of Focus on the Family Chairman James C. Dobson.

The NDP Task Force’s Web site claims it is the “National Day of Prayer Official Web Site,” but, in fact, the group has no official status. The Task Force states that its purposes is to “Foster unity within the Christian Church” and “Publicize and preserve America’s Christian heritage.” Non-Christians are usually prohibited from leading or speaking at NDP Task Force events.

The Dobsons require volunteer prayer coordinators to sign a fundamentalist statement of faith that declares that “the Holy Bible is the inerrant Word of The Living God” and that “Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the only One by which I can obtain salvation.”

In addition, the NDP Task Force Web site promotes “Drive-Thru History,” a home-school curriculum produced by pseudo-historian David Barton that promotes the idea that America was founded to be a “Christian nation.”

Despite its sectarian character, the NDP Task Force often draws support from elected officials. The Dobsons annually visit the White House for its NDP event, and public officials attend NDP Task Force events held at the U.S. Capitol.

This year, President George W. Bush’s official National Day of Prayer proclamation used the same theme as the Dobsons’ Task Force “Prayer! America’s Strength & Shield.” A large number of governors have also issued proclamations adopting the NDP Task Force’s theme.

“The National Day of Prayer Task Force doesn’t even pretend to acknowledge religious tolerance or our country’s great diversity,” Lynn said. “It’s time for the government to stop working with this group.”

Lynn noted that leading Founders such as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison opposed government proclamations of days of prayer. They believed such events constitute improper government intrusion into religious matters. [my emphasis]

Wrote Jefferson, in a Jan. 23, 1808, letter to the Rev. Samuel Miller, “I do not believe it is for the interest of religion to invite the civil magistrate to direct its exercises, its discipline, or its doctrines; nor of the religious societies that the general government should be invested with the power of affecting any uniformity of time or matter among them.

“Fasting & prayer are religious exercises,” observed Jefferson. “The enjoining them an act of discipline. Every religious society has a right to determine for itself the times for these exercises, & the objects proper for them, according to their own particular tenets; and this right can never be safer than in their own hands, where the constitution has deposited it.”

Madison, in his “Detached Memoranda,” warned that governmental religious proclamations “seem to imply and certainly nourish the erroneous idea of a national religion.” He warned that there would always be a tendency “to narrow the recommendation to the standard of the predominant sect” and that partisan political considerations would be likely to come into play.

“The last & not the least objection,” observed Madison, “is the liability of the practice to a subserviency to political views; to the scandal of religion, as well as the increase of party animosities.”

Are Rev Wright’s rants and attracting media attention to himself hurting Obama’s campaign for the Presidency? Is the media making Wright look like an unpatriotic whackadoo, or is he really an unpatriotic whackado who needs to shut up? Is he still causing more division in contrast to Obama’s desire to unite America? Is Rev Wright confusing our desire to maintain separation of church and state as an “attack against the black church?” Is this just another god believer crying persecution when he can’t have his way and campaign from his church altar?

BILL MOYERS JOURNAL | Rev. Jeremiah Wright | Clip #1 | PBS

BILL MOYERS JOURNAL | Rev. Jeremiah Wright | Clip #2 | PBS
BILL MOYERS JOURNAL | Rev. Jeremiah Wright | Clip #3 | PBS
BILL MOYERS JOURNAL | Rev. Jeremiah Wright | Clip #4 | PBS

And

Reverend Jeremiah Wright National Press Club pt.1

Seriously, at this stage of the game, are we really that surprised?…

Soldier Sues Army, Saying His Atheism Led to Threats

FORT RILEY, Kan. — When Specialist Jeremy Hall held a meeting last July for atheists and freethinkers at Camp Speicher in Iraq, he was excited, he said, to see an officer attending.

But minutes into the talk, the officer, Maj. Freddy J. Welborn, began to berate Specialist Hall and another soldier about atheism, Specialist Hall wrote in a sworn statement. “People like you are not holding up the Constitution and are going against what the founding fathers, who were Christians, wanted for America!” Major Welborn said, according to the statement.

Major Welborn told the soldiers he might bar them from re-enlistment and bring charges against them, according to the statement.

Last month, Specialist Hall and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an advocacy group, filed suit in federal court in Kansas, alleging that Specialist Hall’s right to be free from state endorsement of religion under the First Amendment had been violated and that he had faced retaliation for his views. In November, he was sent home early from Iraq because of threats from fellow soldiers.

So, if people ever uses the old “atheists in foxholes” canard in your presence, you can (1) tell them that they’re probably right, because the other xian soliders in their platoon would turn their guns on them and shoot them if they said anything else; or, (2), simply point them here (or here).

Ah, xians — just gotta love ‘em…

(You know, because they’ll KILL YOU if ya don’t…)