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Lori Lipman Brown, director of the Secular Coalition for America, will be featured in The Colbert Report's "Better Know a Lobby" series during the broadcast tomorrow night, Thursday, August 28 at 11:30pm EST, 10:30 central on the Comedy Central cable channel.
Of course, even in the fake news business, events can overtake programming schedules, but barring breaking news, the segment will run on Thursday.
Lori spent two hours being grilled by Stephen Colbert in his New York City Studio on Wednesday, August 13th for the fifth in Colbert's 35,000 part series, "Better Know a Lobby".
Representing "The Fightin' Heathens," Brown gamely explained secular values, endured Mr. Colbert's withering (and hilarious) interrogation and played along with some outrageous antics, all the while sporting her prized WRISTSTRONG bracelet.
The Secular Coalition expects the final product, a roughly 5-minute segment, to be entertaining - perhaps even enlightening - and is eager to see how big a "Colbert Bump" the segment produces for the organization.
Previously, the series has profiled the Brady Campaign (Fightin'
Pacifists), Sierra Club (Fightin' Treehuggers), Human Rights Campaign (Fightin' Gays) and the Drug Policy Alliance (Fightin' Stoners).
We will post a link to the interview on our home page as soon as it is available. In the meantime, please feel free to post and share this exciting news.
Thanks very much!
Anne

Anne Singer, Communications Director
Secular Coalition for America

e-mail: anne@secular.org
www.secular.org

We support the separation of church and state, but do not endorse candidates or parties.

The DNC Convention. Discuss

Denmark Intends to Publish MEDINA
Danish publishers association Trykkeselskabet has approved the publication of Shery Jones's novel THE JEWEL OF MEDINA in Denmark. A spokesperson told a Danish newspaper, "Fear or threats should not keep a book from being published. It would be principally and entirely a renewal of all that Denmark has already been through with the Mohammed cartoon affair."

To that point, Jones's agent Natasha Kern wrote to the society, "When you consider what's happened in your country, I admire your readiness to ensure that freedom of expression is not obstructed."

http://jp.dk/uknews/article1417184.ece

The novel was brought into the spotlight in the US after Denise Spellman, a professor of Islamic history at the University of Texas, was quoted in the Wall Street Journal as saying the book was 'much more controversial than the Mohammed drawings from Denmark'. She called any decision to publish the book a 'declaration of war' against Muslims.

But Trykkeselskabet indicated that it felt the book needed to be published.

'Fear or threats should not keep a book from being published,' association spokeswoman Helle Merete Brix told Nyhedsavisen newspaper. 'It would be principally and entirely a renewal of all that Denmark has already been through with the Mohammed cartoon affair.'

Nuff Said

August 22, 2008

Fundamentalist Group Drops Public Funding Windfall After Americans United Protest

Kentucky Arm Of 'Teen Challenge' Gives Up $50,000 Federal Grant

A fundamentalist Christian group that claims to help young people overcome drug and alcohol addiction through Bible study and prayer has given up a federal grant after Americans United for Separation of Church and State protested the funding.

Attorneys with Americans United wrote a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in June, noting that a $50,000 grant to Teen Challenge of Kentucky raised serious constitutional issues. The money was allocated through the Compassion Capital Fund, a special program created as part of President George W. Bush’s “faith-based” initiative.

Teen Challenge, Americans United pointed out, requires participants to take part in prayer, worship, Bible study and other religious activities. Program participants must sign a “Civil Rights Waiver” in which each surrenders the right to “exercis[e] the religion of my choice.”

Applicants for the program are required to describe their Christian faith and agree to conduct themselves in a “Christ-like manner.” The organization vows to offer “deliverance from addiction through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and practical application of Biblical principles.”

Public funding of such sectarian activities, Americans United asserted, would clearly violate the First Amendment.

In response to Americans United’s letter, an official with HHS wrote to say that Teen Challenge “voluntarily terminated” its participation in the program.

The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, said he was pleased with the outcome but noted that Teen Challenge should never have received public funds in the first place.

“Teen Challenge boasts about its program being saturated with fundamentalist Christianity and makes it clear that required participation in religious activities is key to its approach,” Lynn said. “I cannot imagine a worse candidate for tax funding.

“Bush administration officials have claimed that they do not fund religious activities, but this grant suggests otherwise,” he continued. “Apparently their policy is to do it until they get caught.”

Lynn noted that while Teen Challenge and other fundamentalist “faith-based” groups often claim high rates of success, no empirical data backs up the claim.

“Tax funds were being funneled to this organization even though it openly boasts about its religious content, and there’s no evidence its approach even works,” Lynn said. “This incident is a perfect example of what’s so wrong with faith-based initiatives.”

AU Senior Litigation Counsel Alex Luchenitser, who handled the AU complaint about the funding, said, “This was a clear example of unconstitutional support of religious coercion and discrimination. I’m glad we were able to bring the matter to an appropriate conclusion.”

American Atheists extends our congratulations and compliments to Americans United for your outstanding activism and bloodless victory in exposing and blocking an unconstitutional expenditure of federal funds unlawfully going to a religious organization in Kentucky.

WASHINGTON — Senator Barack Obama has chosen Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware to be his running-mate, turning to a leading authority on foreign policy and a longtime Washington hand to fill out the Democratic ticket, people told of the decision said.

Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, questioning Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a committee hearing in January 2007.

Mr. Obama’s selection ended a two-month search that was conducted almost entirely in secret. It reflected a critical strategic choice by Mr. Obama: To go with a running-mate who could reassure voters about gaps in his resume, rather than to pick someone who could deliver a state or reinforce Mr. Obama’s message of change.

Biden's a good choice, except for the name. How long will it be before certain older-than-dirt Bushies "slip up" and instead of saying "Obama/Biden" they say "Osama Bin Laden"? It rhymes, so they must be terrorists.

LANCASTER, Pa. (Aug. 20) - The Amish are expanding their presence in states far beyond Pennsylvania Dutch country as they search for affordable farmland to accommodate a population that has nearly doubled in the past 16 years, a new study found.

States such as Missouri, Kentucky and Minnesota have seen increases in their Amish populations of more than 130 percent. The Amish now number an estimated 227,000 nationwide, up from 123,000 in 1992, according to researchers from Elizabethtown College's Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies.

Over the same period, Amish settlements have been established in seven new states, putting them in at least 28 states from coast to coast. The new states are: Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Mississippi, Nebraska, Washington and West Virginia.

Well, at 230K, it's not really an "ambush", and Amish don't really do anything bad on a sect-wide level (unless you count how they treat each other, and their annoying habit of driving their buggies in the street). And they do make nice quilts.

But guess what they don't do -- READ THIS BLOG. BAD AMISH!

American Atheists Media Alert – ALABAMA

21AUG08: Blair Scott on Dominick Brascia Show AM 960 Birmingham, AL

Blair Scott, National Affiliate Outreach Director & Alabama State Director for American Atheists, will be appearing in studio on the Dominick Brascia Show on WERC AM 960 in Birmingham, Alabama. Blair will be appearing alongside religious representatives from Birmingham for a roundtable discussion on religion. The roundtable discussion will take place on Thursday, August 21st from 4-6 p.m. CST. You can tune in online at http://960werc.com by clicking on the Listen Live button in the upper-left corner of the Web Page.

WHAT: Blair Scott appearing on the Dominick Brascia Show (AM 960 WERC Birmingham) for a roundtable discussion on religion.

WHEN: Thursday, August 21st from 4-6 p.m. CST

WHERE: Dominick Brascia Show on WERC AM 960 Birmingham, AL and online at http://www.960werc.com.

ON THE NET:
American Atheists: http://atheists.org

National Affiliate Outreach Director: http://alabamaatheist.org/naod

Alabama State Director: http://atheists.org/al

WERC AM 960: http://960werc.com

Including two with my friend and arch enemy Bill Devlin.

Check out Interview with a Christian and the other shows as well. http://viewpoint.illdill.net/ViewShows.asp

Thanks Tim!

Calif. Supreme Court: Religion Not a Shield for Discrimination

Mike McKee
08-19-2008

Three months after approving same-sex marriage, the California Supreme Court gave gay rights another boost Monday by unanimously ruling that doctors can't invoke religion to refuse treating homosexual patients.

"There's a great diversity of religious beliefs in California, and they're all protected," Jennifer Pizer, senior counsel in the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund's Los Angeles office, said in a prepared statement. "But not to the point where laws are violated and other people are hurt."

Coming on the heels of the marriage ruling in May, the opinion continued the California court's tradition of being sensitive to gay issues. In recent years, the justices have approved second-parent adoptions; strengthened non-biological parents' claims to parenthood in same-sex relationships; prevented businesses from discriminating against registered domestic partners; and approved municipal policies against doing business with groups that discriminate against gays.

Monday's case began in 2001 when Oceanside, Calif., lesbian Guadalupe Benitez sued Drs. Christine Brody and Douglas Fenton, who claimed their Christian faith prevented them from providing intrauterine insemination in some circumstances. The doctors, who worked at the North Coast Women's Care Medical Group in Vista, Calif., argued that they couldn't provide fertility treatments to Benitez because she wasn't married, but Benitez said they refused because of her sexual orientation.

Monday's ruling reversed San Diego's 4th District Court of Appeal, which held in 2006 that Brody and Fenton should have been able to use their religious objections as an affirmative defense at trial.

The Supreme Court's opinion, authored by Justice Joyce Kennard, said the doctors' actions violated the state's Unruh Civil Rights Act, which prohibits businesses from discriminating based on sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition or sexual orientation.

Kennard also pointed out that the U.S. Supreme Court has never exempted individuals expressing religious objections from following "neutral and valid" laws of general applicability.

"The First Amendment's right to the free exercise of religion," she wrote, "does not exempt defendant physicians here from conforming their conduct to the [Unruh] act's anti-discrimination requirements even if compliance poses an incidental conflict with defendants' religious beliefs."

This week both major candidates are expected to announce their running mates.

Dave's prediction: BOTH will tap emphatic Christians. Both are catering so much to the evangelicals and avoiding seculars like the plague, that both will find nice, white, Christian men to attract them.

BALTIMORE — After denying Javon Thompson food and water for two days because he wouldn't say "amen" after meals, the 1-year-old's caretakers waited for a divine sign that their message had been heard: a resurrection.

For more than a week, police say in charging documents describing the scene, the child's lifeless body lay in the backroom of an apartment. Queen Antoinette, the 40-year-old leader of a group that called itself 1 Mind Ministries, brought in her followers and told them to pray. God, she said, would raise Javon from the dead.

Instead, Javon's body began to decompose.

The boy's mother, Ria Ramkissoon, 21, and four other people, including Trevia Williams, 21, who authorities say are members of the group face first-degree murder charges. But Ramkissoon's mother and attorney say that she was brainwashed by a cult and acted only at the group leader's will.

Court documents describe a group that operated secretly, dressed all in white and eschewed medical care. Antoinette, also known as Toni Sloan or Toni Ellsberry, called her followers "princes" and "princesses." And she and her followers were possessive of the children under their care.

Children have been killed in similar groups for failing to follow cult teachings, said Rick A. Ross, who has studied cults for 26 years. That appears to have been the case with Javon, who was viewed as a "demon," according to police statements.

Dawkins wasn't the first one to point this out, but he did poignantly express that the problem with moderate religions is that it makes way for extremists. This poor child died, because the mother was conditioned by society to obey religious figures, and she picked the wrong one to obey.

Of course, the mother had to be mentally unstable in the first place, but there are a LOT of mentally unstable people out there who are trained by religions to follow orders without question. This leads to some believing their children are demons.

I hate death. But more than that, I hate needless death. More than that, I hate needless death of innocent children.

And this, my dear friends, is why I support the Death Penalty. Fry some cult leaders, and this will stop happening, IMO.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10103521
From Blair Scott

This is neck and neck and it looks like the Christians are rallying their troops to hammer the poll, so we might as well hammer back – let your “troops” know about this and get it back up at least to 50/50 where it was earlier today.

Is the phrase “In God We Trust” on US currency a violation of the Establishment Clause? The phrase was put on coinage (the penny) as early as 1901, but it was not put on any paper currency until McCarthyism and the 50’s when “E Pluribus Unum” was replaced.
Take the poll: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10103521

I still cross off IGWT when I get the chance. It's the patriotic (and perfectly legal) thing to do!

Watchdog Group Criticizes Saturday Forum On Faith At Saddleback Church

Voters have heard quite enough about the religious views of Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama and don’t need another forum on the presidential candidates and faith, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

The church-state watchdog group criticized both candidates’ decision to take part in the Rev. Rick Warren’s “Saddleback Civil Forum” this Saturday at his mega-church in Lake Forest, Calif. McCain and Obama will each submit to hour-long questioning by the church pastor.

“Campaign 2008 is starting to feel like a Sunday school Bible drill,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “We’re electing a president, not a national pastor. I don’t see what good it will do for the American people to again hear the candidates spout pious platitudes about their favorite Bible verses or how devout they are.

“Candidates should appeal to the voters based on their qualifications for office and their stands on the issues, not their religious beliefs,” Lynn said. “This event continues the campaign spiral into religious matters. Americans want to hear the candidates’ views on important issues such as constitutional rights, public education, the Iraq War and the economy.”

Here is where I usually jump in and give my two cents, but Barry said it perfectly. 'nuff said.

The following is provided by TxAtheist and is edited and verified by me:

You can hear the forum on The Word starting at 7 p.m - 9pm (central), 8pm to 10pm EST. Analysis on how the candidates addressed poverty, climate, AIDS and human rights, etc. will follow for 1 hour. Local callers can dial 637-9673 (WORD). Out-of-town listeners may call toll-free (888) 860-9673. ... The program is available on FM radio and over the internet at http://www.theword993.com

Where was God?' ask refugees from Georgia war

By MANSUR MIROVALEV –
ALAGIR, Russia (AP) — Sarmat Kapisov ran all night through the forest with his family, fleeing the fighting in South Ossetia and headed for the Georgia-Russia border. On his back, the 17-year-old carried his brother, who has cerebral palsy.

"It wasn't easy," Kapisov said, huddled alongside his mother and seven siblings, who have taken refuge here at an Orthodox convent across the Russian border.

The convent director, known as Mother Nonna, said thousands have passed through since the bloodshed began one week ago in the pro-Russian separatist province claimed by Georgia.

Most were South Ossetian women and children on their way to a refugee center set up inside a summer camp by Russian authorities. Many of the fathers and older brothers stayed behind to fight.

Mother Nonna said she had never seen so many terrified children clinging to their mothers' skirts.

"The most difficult thing was to answer their question: Where was God?" she said. "They had so much fear in their eyes."

I am not trying to diminish the horror felt by anyone who is displaced from a war being waged by or on their government. However, I did want to mention the whole idea of people being unprepared for real tragedy because they think an invisible man in the sky is somehow in charge.

So here is the assertion du jour -- religion IS harmful even at a moderate level because it allows the believer to avoid reality, thereby being unprepared for when reality hits. If they expect a miracle, and one never comes, how can they be prepared? There is hope, but then there is crushing disappointment when reality sets in.

Today is my 42nd birthday. Whoopadee-doo. I'm spending it working all day and sleeping in a moderately-priced hotel room alone. Whee.

JWs don't celebrate birthdays, and I think that's just silly. We all need one day a year to say "MEEEE". It's one thing we all have in common; we all have a birthday (actually, a birthday anniversary), and I really find it repugnant that a religion has taken that away from its people.

Then I get over it. Too bad. More presents for Meeeeeee!

Cross Is Central Symbol Of Christianity And Must Not Be Secularized By Government, Americans United Tells Court

AU, Allies Say Officials' Use Of 'Secular' Crosses To Memorialize Utah Highway Patrol Officers Is Offensive And Violates Church-State Separation

The cross is a Christian symbol and government should not try to use it as a secular memorial marker, Americans United for Separation of Church and State has told a federal appeals court.

In a friend-of-the-court brief filed today, Americans United and allied religious leaders and organizations take issue with a federal court decision allowing Utah officials to place crosses along highways to memorialize state highway patrol officers who have died in the line of duty.

State officials insisted that the Christian symbol is a secular symbol and can be used regardless of the personal religious beliefs of the officer being honored.

U.S. District Judge David Sam ruled in November of 2007 that the cross is a “secular symbol of death” and held that Utah officials and the Utah Highway Patrol Association can continue to erect the 12-foot crosses.

Americans United is asking the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the lower court ruling.

The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, said he is offended by the claim that the cross is merely a secular symbol.

“The cross is the preeminent symbol of Christianity,” said Lynn, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. “For the government to claim that the cross is a secular symbol is deeply offensive and betrays a poor understanding of religion and our Constitution.”

In its brief, AU points out that the cross has been tied to Christianity for many centuries.

“In upholding the display of roadside crosses on public land throughout the State of Utah, the district court embraced the State’s characterization of the cross the clearest and most universally recognized marker of Christianity as nothing more than a ‘secular symbol of death,’” asserts the brief. “This conclusion is historically inaccurate, blind to contemporary realities, and offensive to believers and nonbelievers alike.”

The brief in American Atheists, Inc. v. Duncan argues that governmental display of the cross violates the constitutional mandate of government neutrality toward religion.

Joining Americans United on the brief are the Anti-Defamation League, the Hindu American Foundation, The Interfaith Alliance, the Union for Reform Judaism and Dr. Eugene Fisher, retired associate director, Secretariat of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

I'm very pleased that this issue has drawn so many allies and so much attention. The whole concept of the "secular cross" is insidious. If the Cross is declared secular, the next step is "secular" crosses on the White House, in the Supreme Court, everywhere, without a hint of government neutrality.

Can you think of a time when a cross is secular? If a cross is secular when it’s erected, as in Utah, for dead cops, would you erect one for a dead Jew? Muslim? Atheist? Why not?

I spoke about this on the Catholic Channel (Sirius), and the callers were siding with me! CATHOLICS are on OUR SIDE! Did I just type that?

AMERICAN ATHEISTS, INC.

Office of the National Affiliate Outreach Director & Alabama State Director http://www.atheists.org http://www.atheists.org/al/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: AUG 11, 2008

For more information, please contact:

Blair Scott, National Affiliate Outreach Director and Alabama State Director, (256) 701-6265, scott@atheists.org">bscott@atheists.org

ATHEISTS HAIL DECISION BY WILSON COUNTY TN FAIR TO OFFER "CHURCH BULLETIN" DISCOUNT TO RELIGIOUS AND NON-RELIGIOUS CITIZENS

Hale Moss, the President of Wilson County Promotions advised reporters at the Lebanon Democrat that printouts from Web Pages of non-religious groups would be honored at all ticketing booths to receive the "church bulletin" discount at the Wilson County Fair's "God and Country Day" on August 17th 2008.

Blair Scott, the National Affiliate Outreach Director for American Atheists said, "I am exceptionally glad to hear about Mr. Moss'
decision. I am pleased to hear that Wilson County had made the decision to honor all groups regardless of their religious or non-religious affiliation. I was excited to pass this information on to non-religious groups in Lebanon, Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Huntsville, Birmingham, and even nationally."

Atheists around the region are ecstatic about the news that they will not be discriminated against and will receive equal discount and treatment as religious citizens.

Mr. Scott, along with atheists from across the region, including Secular Life Nashville, North Alabama Freethought Association, and Florence United Non-Theists will continue their plan to gather at the Wilson County Fair on August 17th to support Foxhole Atheists. Area Atheists will be wearing t-shirts supporting Foxhole Atheists proudly serving in our nation's military branches.

AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends civil rights for nonbelievers, works for the total separation of church and state, and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy.

American Atheists, Inc.
PO BOX 158
Cranford, NJ 07016
Tel: (908) 276-7300
Fax: (908) 276-7402

He cheated on his wife. He may have a love-kid. Normally, I wouldn't care.

Except...

It should be noted that Mr. Edwards was the token fundy Christian for the Democrat party. He supported moments of silence, and did not express any substantial support for the separation of church and state.

Just pointing that out. Carry on.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Aug. 10) -Isaac Hayes, the pioneering singer, songwriter and musician whose relentless "Theme From Shaft" won Academy and Grammy awards, died Sunday, the Shelby County Sheriff's Office said. He was 65.
...
His career hit another high in 1997 when he became the voice of Chef, the sensible school cook and devoted ladies man on the animated TV show "South Park."
...
But Hayes angrily quit the show in 2006 after an episode mocked his Scientology religion. "There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins," he said.
Co-creator creators Matt Stone responded that Hayes "has no problem, and he's cashed plenty of checks, with our show making fun of Christians." A subsequent episode of the show seemingly killed off the Chef character.

I found it so sad that he would quit the show because it made fun of Scientology (which deserves all the ridicule it gets), but not after they made funs of Jews or Christians. The guy was so blinded by his brainwashing that he left the show rather than stay and confront the satire. Sad.

These aren't Vanity plates. They are "sanity" plates, and there are lots of them. This first one is donated by our own Mushinronjya. The latter two are mine.

How out can you be??? What's on YOUR car??