The Atheist Mama

SAO PAULO, Brazil - Just weeks after Pope Benedict XVI denounced government-backed contraception in a visit to Brazil, the president unveiled a program Monday to provide cheap birth control pills at 10,000 drug stores across the country.

(applauds) If this is the effect the Pope has on the countries he visits, I encourage him to tour widely and often.

“The church favors responsible parenthood, with parents using natural (birth control) methods,” said Tempesta, who oversees the church in the northeastern state of Para.

- Brazil to subsidize birth control pills

As the joke goes, the Catholic Church allows women to use mathematics to prevent pregnancy, but neither physics nor chemistry. “Natural Family Planning” has always struck me as a ridiculously contrived loophole. I once heard it explained that the method leaves open the opportunity for God to “give” you a child, if he so wishes. I suppose that if I were to believe in an omnipotent deity who reputably once managed to impregnate a virgin, I’d likely trust that neither a condom nor a pill full of hormones would be likely to thwart him. Perhaps I’m over-estimating omnipotence.

(cross posted at Irreverent Musings)

I have one of those “Born Again� Christian aunts who dutifully forwards me e-mail chain letters about Jesus and angels and prayer, sometimes four or five a day. While I admit they do have a certain entertainment value, it really is frightening that she not only believes this nonsense but feels urgently compelled to share it with everyone she knows.

The following is an excerpt from a particularly inane e-mail with the subject heading “This is what the problem in our nation and schools is about! Read below…� In the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, the author quotes from a speech (allegedly) given by the father of a student killed in the Columbine tragedy to illustrate the real cause of this terrible violence:

Your laws ignore our deepest needs,
Your words are empty air.
You’ve stripped away our heritage,
You’ve outlawed simple prayer.
Now gunshots fill our classrooms ,
And precious children die.
You seek for answers everywhere,
And ask the question “Why?”
You regulate restrictive laws,
Through legislative creed.
And yet, you fail to understand,
That God is what we need! (emphasis mine)

and at the end:

“As my son Craig lay under that table in the school library and saw his two friends murdered before his very eyes, he did not hesitate to pray in school. I defy any law or politician to deny him that right!

I challenge every young person in America , and around the world, to realize that on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School prayer was brought back to our schools. Do not let the many prayers offered by those students be in vain. Dare to move into the new millennium with a sacred disregard for legislation that violates your God-given right to communicate with Him. To those of you who would point your finger at the NRA — I give to you a sincere challenge.

Dare to examine your
own heart before casting the first stone!

My daughter’s death will not be in vain! The young people of this country will not allow that to happen!”

Do what the media did not - - let the nation hear this man’s speech.. Please send this out to everyone you can. God Bless. (emphasis mine)

Speaking as a teacher who has worked in a public school for over ten years, these accusations are patently ridiculous. While there are restrictions on compulsory prayer or Bible reading, students are free to pray voluntarily, read the Bible or other religious texts, and organize religious groups and clubs on campus.

What’s even more galling, however, is the implication that these horrific events are a direct result of the mythical outlawing of prayer, specifically Christian prayer, in public school. What evidence is offered? None. Statistical correlation? Nope. Peer-reviewed research? Nah. Just ignorant, opportunistic propaganda.

Needless to say, I “broke the chain.” Sorry, Auntie.

–Allen