jailed for wearing pants

All I have to say for this one is "you go girl."

The New York Times reports:

A Sudanese woman who wore pants in public was fined the equivalent of $200 but spared a whipping on Monday when a court found her guilty of violating Sudan's decency laws...Mrs. Hussein vowed to appeal the sentence and even walked into the court in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, wearing the same pair of loose-fitting green slacks that she had been arrested in.

But Mrs. Hussein refused to pay at all, facing instead a one-month prison sentence.

Mrs. Hussein said flatly: “I would spend a month in jail. It is a chance to explore the conditions in jail.” read the full article.

On Monday night, she was taken to jail, and demonstrations have erupted since. Love the sense of pride, bravery, and adventure she took in handling this issue.

atheism: repping the cause

When a person identifies with a given group--especially any sort of minority--there is (whether it is "fair" or not) a double-burden of representing the whole. I was thinking about this recently when a friend of mine had a bad experience with anti-Prop 8 canvassers. The canvasser rudely refused a $1 donation, insisting that all donations must be made minimally with a symbolic $8. First off, that is just stupid. If every person gave that $1, the campaign would be in great shape. But worse, the cranky canvasser misrepresented a movement about inclusion, equality, and love as dismissive, condescending, and rude. Aside from being in poor taste, it is also in poor campaign strategy.

This brought me back to my own atheist dilemma. As a secular humanist, I encounter all sorts of religious people that feel an unrelenting need to preach to me--even strangers on planes. The problem is, I can't say what I really want to say, because the last thing I would ever want to do is affirm the idea that atheists "can't handle god" or are "close-minded" or "stubborn" or "extremists." In an effort to represent the cause, I have to put up with listening to so much banter. I don't want to go to your seminars "proving" god or read your "science-based" books--not because I am scared of the truth, but because to me, that would be the equivalent of reading objective support for the boogy monster or the tooth fairy or Santa Clause.

I'm a busy person. I have countless other interests. It literally pains me and is a waste of my life force to hear people rationalize god to me. But I feel this pressure and guilt to politely, respectfully, and rationally engage as an atheist and represent my peeps.

Humph. A double-burden and a double-bind.

Call to action: keep the Capitol Visitor Center free of religious engravements

The Center for Inquiry Office of Public Policy is launching a campaign against House Concurrent Resolution 131 (H. Con. Res. 131), which would engrave in the new Capitol Visitor Center the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag and the national motto "In God We Trust."

According to CFI:

The Pledge of Allegiance and the original national motto, E Pluribus Unum (“out of many, one”) were unnecessarily altered during the 1950s in an ill-conceived effort to make religious minorities feel like outsiders to the national community.

By the way, confusing church and state is not free. This project costs an estimated $100,000 taxpayer dollars, is unnecessary, and alienating to secular Americans.

Tell your representative this is a lame and offensive waste of money by clicking here, or calling the office.

visibility at what cost: gay marriage and gay night life

My pal over at the Gluten Freeway sent an interesting article about the demise of the Boston gay bar scene. While the internet and online social networking has been described as a contributing factor, the acceptance of gay marriage is also thought to be nurturing mixed-orientation socializing at the expense of gay bars.

This raises the issues of "visibility at what cost?" Enclaves, whether religious, ethnic, or sexual, are created when a group of people is "othered" or differentiated on the basis of a specific characteristic. This is why I believe that Judaism is alive today--because of the vicious and even more subtle forms of Antisemitism that have followed Jewish people throughout history. Tolerance and assimilation would not have forced into preservation a strong identity and rich cultural heritage the way fierce hatred excluded and thereby cultivated a growing and strengthening sense of Jewry over time.

I think it's far too utopian to suggest that the acceptance of diverse sexuality will lead to the magical disappearance of gay bars. Exhibit A: Prop 8. However, I think communities will face changes differently at different times. And while many people choose to assimilate, others still choose to self-segregate--and some prefer a hybrid of the two.

atheist organization membership on the rise

They're just more and more of us, and we keep on organizing. The New York Times reports:

They are connecting on the Internet, holding meet-ups in bars, advertising on billboards and buses, volunteering at food pantries and picking up roadside trash, earning atheist groups recognition on adopt-a-highway signs.

They liken their strategy to that of the gay-rights movement, which lifted off when closeted members of a scorned minority decided to go public.

“It’s not about carrying banners or protesting,” said Herb Silverman, a math professor at the College of Charleston who founded the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry, which has about 150 members on the coast of the Carolinas. “The most important thing is coming out of the closet.”

Polls show that the ranks of atheists are growing. The American Religious Indentification Survey, a major study released last month, found that those who claimed “no religion” were the only demographic group that grew in all 50 states in the last 18 years. Read full article

changing trend in Indonesian party politics

The New York Times reports that in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country, radical Islamic parties are experiencing a drop in popular support. Read the full article

Fellowship Baptist Creation Science Fair 2001

In case you needed a sobering reminder of anti-thought, here are some winners from the Fellowship Baptist Creation Science Fair (which was made "to get kids excited about Creation and motivate them to discover the truth of our Lord on their own").

2nd Place: "Women Were Designed For Homemaking"

Jonathan Goode (grade 7) applied findings from many fields of science to support his conclusion that God designed women for homemaking: physics shows that women have a lower center of gravity than men, making them more suited to carrying groceries and laundry baskets; biology shows that women were designed to carry un-born babies in their wombs and to feed born babies milk, making them the natural choice for child rearing; social sciences show that the wages for women workers are lower than for normal workers, meaning that they are unable to work as well and thus earn equal pay; and exegetics shows that God created Eve as a companion for Adam, not as a co-worker. READ MORE

Obama confuses church and state

Obama expands the White House Faith Office.

Why?

I am telling myself that Barack is just trying to do his dance down the middle of the aisle. Closing Gitmo: 1 point for the civil libertarians and libs. Religious mumbo jumbo: one for the religious right.

But I won't lie--I am just disappointed. Social services? Yes. Faith-based organizations receiving federal funds? No.

jew-hating bishop must eat his words

From the BBC:

A statement said British Bishop Richard Williamson must "unequivocally" distance himself from his statements to serve in the Roman Catholic Church.

The Vatican also said that the Pope had not been aware of the bishop's views when he lifted excommunications on him and three other bishops last month.

Earlier, a senior cardinal acknowledged the Vatican had mishandled the issue.

The Pope's decision, ending Bishop Williamson's excommunication on an unrelated matter, has caused a bitter row, as the bishop does not believe that Jews were gassed by the Nazis in World War II.

The BBC's David Willey in Rome says it is almost unheard of for a pope to admit publicly that he has made a mistake. But that is in effect the significance of the urgent statement put out by the Vatican, our correspondent adds.

"Bishop Williamson, in order to be admitted to the Episcopal functions of the Church, must in an absolutely unequivocal and public way distance himself from his positions regarding the Shoah [Holocaust]," it said.

It said Bishop Williamson's positions on the Holocaust were "absolutely unacceptable and firmly rejected by the Holy Father".

"The God Who Wasn't There"

Check out the trailer for the "The God Who Wasn't There"--a documentary exploring the historical likelihood that Jesus never even existed.

You can also check out the official website and order the dvd here.

atheist group challenges governor of Colorado

Kudos to the Freedom From Religion Foundation:

Reporting from Denver -- Bill Ritter Jr. was not the first governor of Colorado to declare the first Thursday in May as a day of prayer.

But he was the first to attend a celebration of the National Day of Prayer at the state Capitol, joining a crowd of several hundred Christians in 2007. His appearance at the event caught the attention of a Wisconsin-based atheist group, which has mounted a campaign its leaders hope will dissuade him and other governors from participating again.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has filed a lawsuit in state court, seeking to stop the governor from issuing any proclamations it says endorse a particular religion and send a message to nonreligious residents "that they are expected to believe in God."

"Everybody has become too comfortable with this interaction of religion and government. Sometimes someone needs to push back," said David Habecker, 63, one of the lawsuit's plaintiffs and a member of the foundation.

Habecker was ousted as town trustee in Estes Park, Colo., in a 2005 recall after he refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance because he objected to the phase "under God."

The suit is part of a broader campaign by the group to overturn the 1952 law designating a National Day of Prayer and mandating an annual proclamation by the president. full article

atheist placard alongside nativity scence--what's the fuss?

The Freedom from Religion Foundation put a sign celebrating the winter solstice and denouncing religion next to a Nativity scene in the Legislative Building of Olympia, Washington. While calls of appreciation are pouring in (25% of residents are unaffiliated with religion or atheist), so are angry residents and Christian organizations.

On the issue, Governor Gregoire commented, ""I happen to be a Christian, and I don't agree with the display that is up there,but that doesn't mean that as governor, I have the right to deny their ability to express their free speech."

Thanks, Governor. You are exercising rational thought.

Read the full article.

"You Help Run The Country and Do Not Believe in Evolution?"

religion and disease

The Economist featured a great read on the interaction of disease and social behavior--suggesting that the former might drive the latter.

Their hypothesis is that in places where disease is rampant, it behoves groups not to mix with one another more than is strictly necessary, in order to reduce the risk of contagion. They therefore predict that patterns of behaviour which promote group exclusivity will be stronger in disease-ridden areas. Since religious differences are certainly in that category, they specifically predict that the number of different religions in a place will vary with the disease load.

whoa whoa whoa

...majorities continue to say they believe in God (92 percent), heaven (74 percent), hell (59 percent), and angels and demons active in the world (68 percent)

This comes from a study that finds:

Most Americans say they are absolutely sure about standards of right and wrong – and are just as sure that no one religion holds an exclusive franchise on the truth.

Really what this tells me is "Us god-lovers can get down with other god-lovers...but not those damn atheists"

Although I think the point of the study is lame, the article is full with interesting/disturbing facts about religion in America.

a great one

From Post Secret:

Christian license plates?

Sure glad I don't live in South Carolina. Though the "I Believe" plates didn't make it in Florida, I guess the Jesus-mobile just drove elsewhere. Read more.

nominate the next unlikely alliance

If we are going to solve climate change, we need to do it together. That's why, despite other polarizing differences, coalitions must be built between opposites.

With this in mind, we can solve the climate crisis has created Unlikely Alliances. You can check out one pair, Revs. Pat Robertson and Al Sharpton, below...and you can also nominate your own unlikely alliance here (like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston, etc)

church discriminates against disabled children

After her son was banned from church via restraining order for autistic behaviors, a mother seeks to rally church leaders across the nation to create a special welcome for special-needs children.

Check out Project: Adam's Pew

Doesn't sound very Jesus-like to turn away an autistic child.

Bahrain names Jewish ambassador

Great:

Bahrain's king has appointed a Jewish woman as the country's envoy to the United States.

Houda Nonoo said she was proud to serve her country "first of all as a Bahraini" and that she was not chosen for the post because of her religion.

She is believed to be the Arab world's first Jewish ambassador.

Ms Nonoo, 43, has served as a legislator in Bahrain's 40-member Shura Council for three years and is head of the Bahrain Human Rights Watch.

...Bahrain has one of the world's oldest and smallest Jewish communities. It was, at one time, home to as many as 1,500 Jews. Today the community has a synagogue and numbers around 50 people.

Bahrain is a close US ally but has no diplomatic relations with Israel.

It has a Shia Muslim majority, roughly 65% of the population, but the ruling elite is Sunni.