Is it really any surprise?

Sarah Palin resigning as Governor of Alaska

Palin has stated:

“We know we can affect positive change outside government at this moment in time on another scale and actually make a difference,”

However, this move raises speculations that this decision will free up her time to allow her to travel about the country without the responsibilities as governor. She would be better able to focus on a run for the White House in the 2012 race. Will she be back, or is she gone from the political arena for good? We can hope for the latter, but I think we haven’t seen the last of her.

Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell will be inaugurated at the governor’s picnic in Fairbanks at the end of the month, Palin spokesman Dave Murrow said.

As the Friendly Atheist wonders, did Keith Olbermann not stop to consider the reasons why the atheist donor didn’t want his identity known concerning his large contribution? Maybe that information would have taken the focus away from the message of the bus campaign and the media would have focused on the “evil donor”. Or maybe that person wanted to contribute to the campaign and didn’t want to “come out” in such a large way for whatever personal reasons he or she might have. Olbermann must not have taken the time to think before making his hasty decision to publicly condemn the person for their “hypocrisy.”

I would not consider anyone who donates money to a good cause to qualify for the “worst person” list. As one YouTube commenter stated “Personally, I think the person who gave the generous amount of 10,000 should be appreciated for their generosity. . .”

So, what’s up Keith??? Why the snark?

Here’s the clip:

There are many reasons why the atheist would want to remain anonymous in regards to his/her donation. Hemant Mehta quotes Greta Christina:

There are some realities about living as an atheist that you may not know about, Mr. Olbermann. Coming out as an atheist can have serious real-world consequences. Parents get denied custody of their children for being atheists. People get harassed and vandalized by their neighbors for being atheists. Teachers get suspended for being atheists. Teenagers get harassed and suspended from school for being atheists. Politicians whip up anti-atheist fear to try to get elected. (And that’s just in the US. I’m not even talking about parts of the world where atheism is a crime, punishable by imprisonment or death.)

One can encourage others to “come out” even if it isn’t the right time or place for you to. We all have to do it in our own way, in our own time. Some just come out with it, for others it is a gradual and careful process.

A church in Connecticut holds an “exorcism” of a homosexual male and posts the video on YouTube. Unbelievable. One cannot force a gay person to be straight just as no one can force a straight person to be gay. It’s absolutely horrifying, appalling that this is going on in this country, in this day and age. They basically reinforce to this boy that there is something terribly wrong with him, and has to be extremely psychologically damaging to him. And these people think they are helping, they have no clue.

Conn. church creates stir with gay exorcism video

The video shows the 16-year-old boy lying on the floor, his body convulsing, as elders of a small Connecticut church cast a “homosexual demon” from his body.

“Rip it from his throat!” a woman yells. “Come on, you homosexual demon! You homosexual spirit, we call you out right now! Loose your grip, Lucifer!”

The 20-minute video posted on YouTube by Manifested Glory Ministries is being called abuse by gay and youth advocates, who are demanding an investigation. But a church official this week denied that the teenager was injured or that the church is prejudiced.

*snip*

It’s nearly impossible to say how often similar exercises occur in churches nationwide. But Kamora Herrington, who runs a mentoring program at True Colors and has worked with the youth, said she believes it’s fairly common.

“This happens all the time,” she said. “This is not isolated.”

Robin McHaelin, executive director of True Colors, an advocacy group for gay youths, said her organization is aware of five cases in recent years in which youths in her program were threatened with exorcism.

In one case, she said, a child called to report that his caregiver had called a priest who was throwing holy water on his bedroom door.

“I think it’s horrifying,” McHaelin said of the video by Manifested Glory. “What saddens me is the people that are doing this think they are doing something in the kid’s best interests, when in fact they’re murdering his spirit.”

The Friendly Atheist wrote an interesting post titled “Why Does Religious Literacy Matter in Secular Families?” Hemant asks a good question to consider, “Is it worth filling their heads with mythology when we know there’s no truth behind it?”

IMO, yes. Religious literacy does matter in secular families because in order to debate something, or make an informed decision, one must know all of the facts even if it brings a risk of the child choosing to believe and adopt one of the religions he or she is being taught about.

Hemant Mehta writes:

Dale McGowan, author of Parenting Beyond Belief and Raising Freethinkers, suggests four reasons why you should teach them about religion:

* So they can better understand the world
* To empower them
* To help them make their own informed choice
* To prevent the “teen epiphany”

Here is a video that he also posted to better explain:

In the aftermath of the recent Iranian “election”, young people and women are rising up in protest. This is amazing to see happen in a country where anti-government sentiment is not looked upon kindly by the “supreme leader” and those in power. In the following video which was taken with a cell phone, street protesters and riot police engaged in running battles, throwing stones, setting of fires in garbage cans and people shouting “death to the dictatorship!” These are some of the biggest protests Iran has seen in more than 30 years.

The Iranian theocracy is now doing the typical thing of blaming the U.S. and the west for the uprisings. Story from Associated Press:

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran accused the United States on Wednesday of “intolerable” meddling in its internal affairs, alleging for the first time that Washington has fueled a bitter postelection dispute. Opposition supporters marched in Tehran’s streets for a third straight day to protest the outcome of the balloting.

The Iranian government summoned the Swiss ambassador, who represents U.S. interests in Iran, to complain about American interference, state-run Press TV reported.

The English-language channel quoted the government as calling Western interference “intolerable.”

The theocratic rulers find it “intolerable” that their young people dare protest and demand a fair election?

This leaves Obama with a policy dilemma:

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is in a box over Iran, caught between affinity for emboldened reformists and caution about further alienating a hard-line Islamic regime he wants to dissuade from seeking nuclear weapons.

The president’s dilemma showed clearly on Tuesday, when he said he shared the world’s “deep concerns about the election” but asserted that it was “not productive, given the history of U.S.-Iranian relations, to be seen as meddling.”

But here is an excerpt from Tehran Bureau website asking the world for our help:

The international community must refuse to recognize the legitimacy of Mr. Ahmadinejad’s re-election, demand cancellation of the elections, and holding new fair and democratic elections that can be monitored by international monitors.

You all probably remember Dwight Howard saying his team, the Magic, would win the NBA championship with great confidence. Why? Because he thought his magical sky daddy could “fix” the game for them to win. Dwight’s exact words were, “God. That’s the reason, I’m telling you.” We all know the outcome…the Lakers won and the Magic lost.

And after the Magic - Celtics game 7 on May 17:

“First, I want to thank God, man, because without Him none of this would be possible. I told my guys before the game if we come out, we play 100%, play hard for 48 minutes, then God is gonna do the rest, and He did it tonight. We got a good victory, man — it’s all because of Him.”

So where was his god vs the Lakers? His god liked the Lakers better? I’m with others who are tired of the media giving time and serious consideration to the god nonsense.

Love this comment by Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com:

If God really favored Howard and the Magic, God would make it so Howard connected on more free throws.

I wish just once that a reporter would ask a person why any god would care about sporting events and favor one team or player over another.

I love what Daily Kos had to say about it:

So let me offer a suggestion to Dwight Howard and all athletes who choose to use the camera to thank God for their victories in sports: It is okay if you don’t. Honestly. I will not think any less of you as athletes or as persons for believing in a higher power, and I’m sure that most fans wouldn’t mind if you chose not to promote your belief that God helped you win that game. If you wish to express gratefulness for anything, please be grateful for the fact that you are playing a game as your full-time job. Be grateful for the fact that millions of people look up to you and admire you and follow you all year round in the hopes that your team wins. Be grateful for the fact that you are skilled enough to be working in a profession that not only pays a huge amount of money, but that only a very small handful of people in the entire country ever get to do. Be grateful for the fact that you can do sports for a living when millions of families living in poverty, who live with no roofs over their heads, often cannot even get enough food to survive.

Ramen to that.

The Secular Coaliton for America was invited to the White House. Call me a cynic… but, if Dobson/Robertson/Warren, et.al., get face-time with President Obama, why didn’t the SCA?

White House Meeting Marks New Milestone for Nontheists (June 1, 2009)

The nontheist movement reached a new milestone when the Secular Coalition for America had its first individual meeting with White House officials last week. Although the Secular Coalition had met with White House officials before, this meeting was significant as it was the first private meeting focused solely on nontheists’ interests.

The discussion, held with White House Associate Director of Public Engagement Paul Monteiro, gave Secular Coalition representatives the opportunity to highlight what policy issues concern nontheists most. Specifics topics addressed were coercive religious proselytizing in the military, the faith-based initiatives, and employment discrimination.

As the broadest and most diverse advocacy group for nontheists, the Secular Coalition has the credibility to provide our nation’s leaders with an understanding of nontheists’ political and cultural interests. More importantly, this meeting is evidence that nontheists are becoming an influential and increasingly organized constituency, and that elected officials want to take our concerns into account.

The goal of the Secular Coalition has always been to increase the visibility of and respect for nontheists in America. This meeting was one small step for the Secular Coalition, but it was a significant leap for nontheists everywhere.

Come on, folks!  Is Ron Millar, acting SCA director, completely ga-ga over Obama?  Just another “crusher”?

I am not black but I’ve been around long enough to know that pre-Civial Rights battles, good little black folk were advised on advancement:  Sit down, shut up and don’t rock the boat — and you’ll get along real well.  Doctors, educators — hell, even Jackie Robinson! — and anyone else who aspired to something better and higher than the little niche whites approved for them were convinced by parents and peers to become invisible.  Conventional wisdom swore that that was the road to success.  That was why they “got” their own colleges and fraternities/sororities:  so that whites didn’t have to associate with them or (*gasp*) worry about them wanting to be your “frat-brother”.

Of course, it was harder to be invisible when your skin wasn’t white.  And whites were watching the “ladders” just to make sure only white feet were on the rungs.

And don’t you dare marry a white person!

Gays?  It’s easier to stay in the closet and get by — no worries about skin tones.  Ask any gay who wants to run for office.  Only Barney Franks and Tammy Baldwin are openly gay.  The Democratic Party is not ashamed of them.  The GOP is rumored to have several gays; I’m sure you’ve heard the same names I have.  Notwithstanding Michael Steele, the Republican Party is made up of, almost exclusively, Old White Rich Fundamentalist-Christian Men.

So, back to Millar and his meetup:   How much progress can we look forward to, based on his gushing press-release?  White House Associate Director of Public Engagement Paul Monteiro?  In DC-speak, Monteiro is nothing:  if you’re not the Director or the Deputy Director, you can assume “associate director” is a jumped-up file clerk.

This, mi compadres, is NOT progress.

After the Eight-Year-National-Nightmare-that-was-George-Walker-Bush(TM),  I was looking forward to a respite from xian gobbledy-gook and dog-whistle code.  It seems my hopes are dashed.

President Obama is a xian, NOT a muslim.  I was satisfied on that subject very early on.  In fact, I heard it said by wingnut-pundits and ignored it.  Desperate fool/tools lie.  The greater the desperation, the balder the lie.  Duh.

For whatever it is worth, I’ve never felt “teh love” for Obama among atheists.  Liberals and liberal xians, yes.  They give off a sort of RockStarGroupie aura, “crushing” on him in shameful ways.  I like him but I feel a deeper kinship with his wife.  And, there again, we find a big “crush” factor.  Her clothes, her shoes, her bare-arms (awesome!) — but, still,  many are obsessed with her.  I just like her.  After dowdy Laura-Librarian, she is refreshing.  As for touching the QofE, Liz seemed less fazed than the media.  (Shades of Georgie’s casual manner with Ratzi!)

So, two articles arrive in one morning that are somewhat at odds.  First, Politico runs Atheists keep faith with Barack Obama.

…But while atheist advocates railed against Bush, they seem willing to give Obama a pass on his God talk — at least for now.

Nathan Bupp, director of communications for the Center for Inquiry, says that many nonbelievers view Obama’s invocations of faith as nothing more than a “symbolic gesture” used to aid his quest for social justice.

“There is a sense where secularists are politically savvy enough to do this,” says Bupp. “They realize [Obama] is not doing what he’s doing for Pat Robertson-type reasons.”

…

Politico then presents a companion piece, Obama invokes Jesus more than Bush.  But, again, they dissect the issue and find that there may be complex political reasons:  spike the muslim issue, soothe the national community (especially the MiddleEast), disarm the fundies, re-empower the liberal xians and more.

Guess who likes it?  Tony Perkins, Family Research Council’s rectal-spokesman(TM).

Obama’s invocation of the Christian Messiah is more overt than Americans heard in the public rhetoric of Bush in his time in the White House — even though Bush’s victories were powered in part by evangelical voters.

“I don’t recall a single example of Bush as president ever saying, ‘Jesus’ or ‘Christ,’” said Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Christian group Family Research Council. “This is different.

To Perkins, Obama’s overtly Christian rhetoric is a welcome development from an administration that he largely disagrees with on the issues, though Perkins sees a political motive behind it, as well.

“I applaud that. It gives people a sense of comfort,” Perkins said. “But I think it’s a veneer, a facade that covers over a lot of policies that are anti-Christian.” That includes, in his view, Obama’s stance in favor of abortion rights.

And guess who DOESN’T like it?  Rev. Barry Linn, AmericansUnited.

“I don’t need to hear politicians tell me how religious they are,” Lynn said. “Obama in a very overt way does what Bush tended to do in a more covert way.”

Also, David Kuo, …

…a former official in Bush’s faith-based office who later became disillusioned with the president he served, worries that both men have exploited religious phraseology for political gain. “From a spiritual perspective, that’s a great and grave danger,” he said. “When God becomes identified with a political agenda, God gets screwed.”

Screw David Kuo.  I want Obama to be an atheist,  Failing that, I want him to be a liberal xian.  After all, wasn’t his mother a secular-humanist?  Since he was brought up by his maternal grandmother, I wonder how infected he is.  Granny might  have been of a Rock-of-Ages, Old-Time-Religion faithful.  We do know that he was a regular congregant at the church of his media-whore pastor, Rev.Wright.  Does that tell us anything?  Nope.  A man’s thoughts are his own.

I, too, professed to a belief I never had…