The Atheist Mama

It’s a bitter-sweet morning for this central Ohioan voter.

I am ashamed to admit that I voted Straight Democrat. Why is this embarrassing to me? Well as most of you know, I’m not a Democrat - I’m a Libertarian. I was quite happy with my Libertarian choice for governer - Bill Pierce. But I didn’t feel comfortable with the overwhelming possibility that the Republicans would remain in control. So I voted democrat, all the way across the board. I feel that I wasn’t true to my beliefs, but I’m satisfied with the outcome.

I am happy to say that I voted “NO” on all Ohio issues, but disappointed in the fact that several of them passed. “Smoke Free Ohio” is one of those issues. Of course, I also voted no on “Smoke Less Ohio” as well. I just don’t support a smoking ban. Period. But apparently most Ohioans do support the idea of the government making yet another law. So it goes.

I was also disappointed in the fact that Ohioans voted to “Raise the Wage.” I’m not a supportive of a minimum wage hike. I don’t think that it can do anything but harm the economy. Small businesses have a hard enough time making ends meet. Now they’ll have to pay employees more, and as a result some of them may end up unemployed. A better idea would be to fix the heath insurance issues! Bring the price down so that people can afford it and employer can afford to help their employees pay for it. Anyway, this is a whole different post.

The only issue that I was unsure of how to vote for was Ohio’s Learn and Earn. Learn and Earn? Ha…
Let’s just call it what it is - Gambling in Ohio. Anyway, I voted no, but I tossed that one around a bit. I don’t like the idea of telling people whether they can gamble or not. But that’s not what this is about. I guess I would just rather they not do it here. There are plenty of places in this country that allow gambling. I have no problem with that. I enjoy it myself occasionally. But is it really necessary here?

I am cautiously optimistic. I really hope that “the change” all of our democratic candidates were talking up is something that we will see. They need to show the American people that they made the right choices!!

So, things have been pretty exciting in the atheist blog community, huh? Four sites that I know of (including this one) were hacked and brought down. All of my backups were wiped out too. I don’t know if I should be pissed or feel honored… But I do know one thing - hacking blogs and their hosts? How Christ-like!! Your savior would be proud, huh? Does it piss you off that we all get back online? Do you know that these acts are criminal (in the US)?

I want to thank all of you who are blogging here. Allen, Amanda, Jim, Star and MomSquared (I don’t know if I’ve ever gotten your name) - thank you all!! LMAO, and feel free to continue if you would like! Things have been so nuts here… This is the first time I’ve gotten to sit down today (7:57 pm) - no exaggeration!

So tonight is Halloween. I went out before the trick or treating began to pick up some beer, and I passed an Evangelical church that I usually drive by on my daily route. There was a big shelter-like thing built on the front lawn. It looked like it was going to be a nativity. I was thinking it was a bit early for that… But as I got closer I saw the huge sign attached to it:

Not a trick, but the best treat ever.

I also noticed that it was a manger - complete with Mary, Joe and the baby Jesus (I think it was a doll). They were handing out candy to passers by. I have no doubt that they were slipping tracts into the bags of candy as well. I know the picture sucks. My normal digital is having battery issues, so I have to depend on my cell. But it’s better than nothing! :-)

Happy Halloween!!

So today, Dennis Mahoney from The Columbus Dispatch paid me a visit. Mr. Mahoney writes for the Faith & Values section of the paper. He contacted the president of the local Humanist community here in Ohio and told her that he was “doing a story on the segement of the population (both in U.S. and worldwide) that has no religious belief” and was interested in “talk[ing] to several local folks who fall into this category and explore why they think the way they do.” She recommended me, along with several other local atheists and humanists.

He was a very nice man and asked questions about what my family’s religious beliefs were, how I came to be an atheist, and how I plan to raise my children (as far as beliefs go). We also touched on morality, politics, and people. Overall, it was a great experience and opportunity!!

So the story is due out in 2 weeks or so. I’ll post the link when I see it!

A few weeks ago, we decided to go to Friendly’s for lunch. Boy, was I floored when we walked through the front door and were slapped in the face with this display!!

Here is what is printed on the framed piece of paper below the poorly drawn cross:

We would like to recognize your Church. Decorate our bulletin board with pictures and information about your church, your missions statement, activities and service times. Be creative!! The information will be featured here for 2 weeks and on our marquee. See manager for details.

Your head pastor/minister will receive Friendly’s gift certificates for himself and a guest.

Emphasis on “himself” mine. Just wanted to point that little gem out.

So I just got off of the phone with the friendly Friendly’s hostess. Unfortunately the manager wasn’t available to speak to me (it is breakfast time), but I asked her if this “Church of the Week” board was open to all faiths. She told me that she “thought” so, and that it’s purpose is to drive up attendance at your congregation.

Needless to say, I haven’t been back. I’m guessing this is a franchise owner thing. Does anyone know if Friendly’s is owned by fundies?? Where do I go for the list of companys to avoid for their crazy beliefs and practices?

Cross-posted at God is for Suckers

Today in the Gahanna News, I found this LTE:

Books fail to recognize true nature of Jesus

To the Editor:

We want to write a few lines in response to two hughly public books. The Da Vinci Code and The Gospel of Judas.
These books speak of Jesus but not rightly.
They recognize His goodnes, but not His holiness.
They propound His manhood, but not His uniqueness.
One suggests he fathered a child which is absurd to a Christian who knows Him as Prince (or Originator) of life.
The other presents Judas as a “model” disciple, who used his discipleship to betray his Lord. Really.
These books are profane and their effect pernicious.
The truth is that Jesus came into the world uniquely lived uniquely, died uniquely, and was raised uniquely.]
That He became Man is a blessed, glorious fact and endears Him to me yet His perfect, Divine holy nature has always been the same. His value is infinite and His work, eternal. His love’s without limit - time is all that runs out.

[Authors name]

[sic]

UGH.
The response that I just emailed in:

To the Editor:

In a letter published in The Gahanna News on June 28th, [Authors name] wrote of two books: The Da Vinci Code and The Gospel of Judas. [Authors name] claimed that these books were “profane and had a pernicious effect [on Christianity].”

I’d like to suggest that [Authors name], and others, have an open mind. So what if Judas was not the “traitor” that the Bible made him out to be? Why is the possibility that Jesus fathered a child so harmful to your faith?

That Christianity is threatened by the mere contents of a book is amazing to me, and should be embarrassing to you (Christians). You claim that your faith is strong, and that “He is the way,” yet you become defensive when a different theory is suggested. Some of the books that were chosen for the Bible, thousands of years ago, contradict each other. Isn’t it at all possible that some of what was written about Jesus is wrong?

The fact is this: no one knows the truth for sure. The assumptions made about Jesus in [Authors name] letter are no more a fact than are the stories written in the two books he spoke of in his letter.

Cassandra Cox

On this past Sunday (June 25th), I worked the at the booth that our local humanist group had set up at Comfest (which I wrote a little about a few posts ago UGH - never mind - I accidentally deleted the post that took me about 3 hours to write).

The festival was all weekend, but I was only able to work on Sunday evening. We passed out information on humanism, humanists, our group, and the AHA as well as other bits of information.

There was quite a bit of interest! I think that over the entire weekend, we had 42 people sign up for the HCCO newsletter. That’s me over there - the bright red one in the orange shirt - damn sunburn…

I learned, by working with some of the other people in the group, that there are so many different views of humanism. We all give ourselves different labels, and some of us don’t label ourselves at all. Some humanists don’t consider themselves atheists, and don’t like the word “atheist” because of the negative connotation. Some humanists are theists, which I don’t understand, but it’s never been explained to my by a humanist theist. It was hard for me to actually explain “humanism” to someone who had never heard of it without using “atheist” in the description, because I obviously label myself an atheist. So when someone approached the booth, and I ended up talking to them, I would tell them that humanists apply reason and science to life before anything else.

It was great being able to work for the group and help them out. It is also a great feeling, knowing that you are helping educate people, and suggesting that people give rational thought a try!!

This morning in The Columbus Dispatch, there’s a story about how Kent is banning their athletes from sites like Myspace and Facebook. University administrators are banning almost 400 athletes. This article is only mentioning the banning of athletes, but not other students.

Athletics Director Laing Kennedy recently told student-athletes they have until Aug. 1 to remove their Facebook profiles, citing a need to protect both their identities and the university’s image.

I’m a bit split on this issue. On one hand, universities are private schools, and the athletes do represent them. On the other hand, this is the first amendment they are dealing with. Gary Daniels is a spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio.

“There’s no clear connection between their roles as athletes and their use of these Web sites,” Daniels said.

“For the government to say that you can’t engage in First Amendment activities, they better have a really good reason. And saying, ‘I don’t want them to do it’ is not a goodenough reason.”

What do you think about this? How would you feel about OSU [or any other university] taking similar actions? As a parent, how would you feel about your college student having controlled access to the internet?

Cross-posted at weColumbus.

In my last post I talked about the good news that I had. Well, I’ve joined weColumbus as a blogger. I started today.

weColumbus is a site (with a blog) that has all kinds of info about Columbus and everything that’s going on in this happening city. I first found it through Dave’s Beer.

So make sure you check it out, especially if you’re in Ohio!!

Today is the offical first day of summer.  Here in Columbus, we’re ringing in summer with a thunder storm.  I love ‘em.  I’m not so fond of the heat we’ve been experiencing lately.

Usually, I make sun cookies or a sun cake, or something else sunny, but it’s too warm to bake (I rarely use my oven in the summer), so I’ll have to come up with something else.  Any clever ideas out there?  Maybe pineapple rings (grilled if I can get out there between storms)?

My local humanist group had planned on getting together for trash collection (adopt a highway) and then planned on meeting in a local park later in the evening.  It’s not  something that I can attend with the kids, but I think that it is an excellent way to celebrate the solstice (it was cancelled due to the weather anyway).

Anyone have any interesting plans for today?  Or is the solstice just like any other day in your world?

Oh, and I have some good news (for me anyway) coming up in my next post.  Stay tuned…

Today my family and I went to the annual Blues & Jazz Festival held here in quaint Gahanna, Ohio. There’s lots of people, music, and food. There is a lot of vending and it’s very easy to find a lot of neat things to buy. This is the third year in a row that I’ve gone to this.

So while we were walking around, we came across a booth that was selling t-shirts. I stopped to look at what kind of shirts they were selling and was quite shocked to see shirts like this one. So I took a big step back and looked for the name of the company that was renting this table out at my local festival. GODinc. Christian Apparal (feel free to Google). So I pulled my husband over and stood there pointing like it was some kind of strange creature on display at a circus. I decided that it was best for me to keep on walking, and avoid a conversation with the guy taking the money.

There were several other shirts, with the same type of message, and obviously, it’s geared towards the younger generation. So, what kind of message is this? I think that this type of advertising is just as bad as the fact that McDonalds uses a clown to lure in children. Talk about peer pressure… I think it’s going to be hard enough to teach my children about the dangers of smoking, drinking, and drugs. Now I have to worry about my children thinking they’re uncool because they’re not in “God’s Army?”

This is an excellent map showing the position that the states are taking on the abortion battle. There’s a lot more information in the USA Today article. I’m pretty surprised that Colorado is dark blue, because it’s certainly a red state.

Hat tip to Pam.

I’ve been really busy here in real life land. My boys… They have the ability to suck the life out of me. :-)
We’ve been outside A LOT, playing and working in the yard. My house hasn’t really been cleaned in forever, it seems.
I haven’t been returning emails or comments, so I apologize for that. Thank you to everyone who has checked in on me. :-)

So yesterday, I went to the National Day of Prayer Rally. There were about 12-15 of us, I believe, and we stood right behind the stage with our signs during the whole ceremony. Quite a few people showed us their support and appreciated what we were doing. Of course, there were a lot of people who told us they would pray for us, and that “we would see the truth, come judgement day.”

The rally wasn’t about telling people that they should not pray. It was about the fact that it is a clear violation of the whole church and state separation thing. You know, that whole first amendment thing?

Here’s a picture. I’m in the green shirt (ack! a full body shot!). You can see more at the Secular Student Alliance website.

Mr. Blackwell (the Republican candidate for Governor in Ohio) was there, and he even led a prayer. There was a reporter from the New York Times who was there covering Mr. Blackwell, and a few of the people in our group got interviewed. Very cool.

This past Wednesday, I met up with Kerry, Nancy and their kids! You know, the Christians from that church that I “attacked?” We met at a local restaurant for lunch. It was great fun. They are very nice people, and their kids are adorable. I only got to meet the 2 youngest. I got to hear a lot about their church. It was pretty crazy… They sat us right next to the ice cream table, and my oldest had his eye on it from the second we walked in. Their little boy asked me a few questions about God, and about what my boys would believe in. They came to the conclusion that my kids probably wouldn’t believe in God because I didn’t, but that we would see when we die. They also suggested that my kids would like their “God songs.” Their family prayed before lunch, and I was polite enough to join hands with them. I appreciated their kids being open and honest about what was on their mind. It was cute. I wonder how a similar conversation would go if my boys were old enough to take part. That would have been interesting.

Another thing that has been keeping me pretty busy is preparing for our trip to Hawaii. We are leaving for my mom’s house in about a week to drop off the kids, and then off to Oahu a few days later. We’re trying to figure out what we want to do while we’re there. We’ll be there for 7 days. I’m pretty set on meeting Hurley (from Lost) but I’m betting that won’t happen. If anyone has any suggestions for activities, let me know!! I think that snorkeling and parasailing are on the list, and possibly some horseback riding. I think that we’ll also be going camping on the North Shore. I’m very excited about that. We are considering flying to Maui or the Big Island while we’re there. We’ll have to see…

So I’ll probably post a few more times before I leave for my trip, but then I’ll be taking another break. When I come back, I’ll post all about my experienced in Hawaii. I’m really interested in religion on the islands of Hawaii.

Have a great Cinco de Mayo!! :-)

Now we can all try to get back to reality. Just a few thoughts this morning from all over the place.

This weekend we got some serious work done here at home. Did some major reconstruction of a flower bed, pressure washed the side of the house, pressure washed the deck, accomplished the first cut of the year (grass), did some major weeding, did some transplanting and some plant trading with the neighbors, grilled all weekend, and even got some shopping in. It was an excellent weekend, but the inside of my house was very neglected so now I have carpets and floors to clean, laundry to do, dishes to wash, fish tanks to tend to, plants to work with and kids to keep happy.

Wow. I LOVE Spring. Such hard work, but so very fulfilling. Even without the belief of a god. It is possible…

So yesterday was Easter and our neighborhood was just “hopping” with activity. I was wished a “Happy Easter” more times than I could count yesterday. I answered each one with “I don’t celebrate Easter, but thanks. I’m having a happy weekend.” It was interesting that not one person asked me why I didn’t celebrate Easter.

My neighbors don’t really know that we’re atheists. Not that we’re in the closet, but it just hasn’t come up. We prefer to stay away from religion and politics when it comes to the neighbors. I mean, we see these people everyday, and they are all actually the first neighbors I’ve ever had that I really like. So why bring such controversial subjects up? I’m much happier just talking about the kids, and yards, and what we’re doing for dinner.

But yesterday, the subject of Easter came up while I was working in the yard and my two neighbors (Christians, but not church goers) started talking about church and what myth they believe in. I piped up with “Well, we’re atheists.” and there was complete silence. Then one of them said, “Yeah, right. So are we.” I don’t know. Maybe he thought I was joking. LOL!! That was the end of it.

It was really great seeing familys spending time together yesterday. Everyone having a good time, kids playing, kites flying… We live right across the street from the neighborhood park, so we get to see it all. It’s just so sad that all of this togetherness is all about celebrating a myth of magic. It would be much nicer if all of this activity was just because.

I wanted to point out a great post over at Pharyngula, if you haven’t seen it all ready - Easter mourning. Read it.

Another interesting thing to mention: A Christian from the church that I visited with that DVD has agreed to a challenge. So we will do this here. I’ll get the details together and post them at some point today. Please come back and take part in this. I’m trusting that Kerry is sincere… I would like this to be civil. So that means there will be no name calling or putting anyone down (that goes for theists and atheists). Also, please note that this is a challenge to a Christian to examine their beliefs, not the other way around. Anyway, I’ll reiterate this and other points when we begin.

Also, make sure you check out The Carnival of The Godless this morning over at A Rational Being. Some great entries to read.

Have a wonderful day!

Well, first of all, I have no doubts that they have found the DVD. My most recent visitor was from the very church that I paid a visit to yesterday. They found me by googling “www.theatheistmama.com.” So I’m sure that they know exactly where the DVD is by now.

I’m seeing negative comments all over the place. That’s fine. I see a lot of your points. But like I said before: It was a prank. A joke. It wasn’t done with any intent to harm anyone. I’ve seen “use your time and effort to do good.” Well, I do. All day long. If anyone here knows me at all, they know that I don’t spend my time trying to think up ways to hurt or attack people.

I’m also seeing a lot of threatening comments from Christians.

“If I found one of my boys picking up one of these pamphlets or movies that one of these scumbags left in the pew, they would have confirmation extremely quick of the existence of God…”

Comments are being left by “the last guy you want to bump into while planting your hate propoganda” on the War on Easter site.

This one isn’t a “threat” but still interesting:
“And since when did being a Christian mean I cant tell you to go fuck yourself. You may take this as implying that Im not a perfect Christian. Oh well. Go fuck yourself.”

“I hope next time you try to put one of your hate mongering propaganda DVD’s in a church you are caught by another sort of extremist who will give you a taste of your own medicine.”

Wow.

You know, in Colorado Springs, they once included a Bible in with the Sunday newspaper? It went to everyone who had a subscription.

When I lived in Colorado, I had a box FULL of the Watchtower from witnesses. They came to my house once a week for 3 years.

I get people knocking on my door right now a few times a month with a Bible in their hand, ready to read to me.

I get junk mail all of the time from churches in the area trying to get me to come in.

It’s interesting that when the favors are returned, we are called “Nazi” “Hate Monger” “Animal Killers” and “Perverts.”

Ok, not really. It actually began about around 9:30 after I had dropped my oldest off at school, and cleaned out my car.

The reason that I picked the this church because of all of these little green signs that are popping up in lawns all over my neighborhood:

So I pull up into the gigantic parking lot. I had no idea how massive this place was.
(Note the FSM emblem) :-)

I walked in and talked to the woman at the front desk. I told her that I had seen the green lawn signs around and I was wondering if I could just take a look around. I should also mention that I had my 19 month old with me who was busy trying to go into every open door in sight. The woman at the desk was very friendly and helpful. She told me that everyone was in a prayer meeting so I wouldn’t be able to see anyone, but I was more than welcome to walk around.
I had my flyers folded up in my purse, and I began to place them in random spots on my way down the hall. Taking pictures of this wasn’t easy, especially since I was trying to keep up with this guy.

We walked around the lobby area. Unfortunately, the “sanctuary” was locked. I was told that this was due to frequent vandalism and theft. So I walked around and planted flyers while my little one climbed all over the furniture.

Then it was time to plant the DVD. I placed it among pamphlets and information on things like pregnancy decision, pro-life resources, ministries, and missions.

Can you find Jesus?

On my way out, I managed to get a few flyers into the windshields of cars parked in the lot. But only a few, because a lot of cars began pouring in to the parking lot.

I know that I may get some negative comments over this one. But I didn’t do anything illegal. It was all in fun. I was very polite and I have no ill feelings towards anyone there, and was very welcomed. The woman at the front desk actually suggested that I was sent by God because she was just praying that she would meet women from my side of town for her new Women’s Group. Besides, I can’t count how many times Xian tracts have been left on my doorstep.

Visit The War on Easter.

OHIO: Successful attack by Atheist Mama

Today in Columbus, there was a peace march and a really at the State House.

(the pictures you see may or may not reflect my personal beliefs)

It started at Goodale Park in the Short North. It’s a beautiful park, and it was a beautiful day, minus the cold and the wind!!

I showed up at around noon and there were only a few there at this point. I stood around and talked to a couple of people and ended up meeting a really nice girl named Michelle (who may come by here - if you do, say hello!!) who is also an atheist (and a mom).

People started showing up at around 1 pm or so.

This last picture is of the girl Michelle that I followed all afternoon. :-)

This was quite an experience for me. It’s the first protest/march/rally I’ve been to (except for the 4th of July Hemp Coalition Rally back in ‘92… or ‘93… that was fun).

I’m not sure how many ended up showing. I’m really bad at estimates when it comes to crowds, but there were a lot of freaking people!

Bring the troops home NOW?? Well, I don’t know… I have to say that if we were to bring them all home tomorrow, I would fear the fallout. What would happen to the people of Iraq? What would happen to us? Oh man, if the world doesn’t hate the United States now… Can you imagine what they would think if we were to abandon what we did to those countries?

I don’t know. But I do think that an exit strategy is necessary. However, I don’t think that the exit strategy should necessarily be Iran.

Forgot to add:

When the rally started, the speakers were all from religious groups. That was kind of disappointing. All of these people (most were Christian, I think) talking about peace in Iraq and pulling our troops out. It was kind of strange and backwards. We walked away just about as soon as they started.

Here was my FAVORITE sign of all today -

Public schools, according to Nicholas Jackson. He is the Executive Director of Reform America here in Columbus, Ohio.

Here’s what was published in The Columbus Dispatch today:

>Public schools immoral places for children
Monday, February 27, 2006

>In December, I submitted a resolution to the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio, urging pastors and parents to investigate the indoctrination of our young people into the homosexual agenda and to encourage concerned Christian parents to remove their children from public schools.

>At the heels of the recent 11-4 decision by the State Board of Education to censor any criticism of Darwinian evolution, it has become clear that our young people are being indoctrinated into not only a pro-homosexual, but a humanistic religion, as well. Ohio schools have become officially atheistic, godless and toxic, morally, intellectually and spiritually, to our precious children. Ohio evangelical leaders and pastors must urge parents to remove their children from Pharoah’s oppressive schools and give them a thoroughly Christian education, through either Christian schools or home education. Why send them to Sunday School, only to have their faith torn asunder Monday through Friday? It is time to let the children go. NICHOLAS A. JACKSON Executive director, Reform America Ohio coordinator, Exodus Mandate Newark

Maybe he (and his followers) should move to South Carolina or Domino-ville (thanks for the link, Dave)?

It’s “The Hot Issue” on The Columbus Dispatch online. What do you think? Go give your opinion.

Ok, brace yourself. This is absolutely disgusting, disturbing, and just sad. This man was arrested in my town, at the movie theater right down the road.

[Link]
>A disturbing case was discovered Tuesday about a Central Ohio man who allegedly told police he likes to drink the urine of adolescent boys.

>Alan Patton, 54, is in jail after allegedly telling Gahanna police that he enjoys drinking urine.

>Detective Ron Fithen interviewed Patton after he was arrested while leaving a movie theater last weekend.

>”Listening to his describe it, it’s like listening to a crack or cocaine addict. He’s addicted to children’s urine,” Fithen said.

I heard this on the radio this morning and I was stunned. This man was convicted of rape 13 years ago.
So obviously this guy needs to be locked up - somewhere. But where? Is drinking urine against the law (I can’t believe I just typed that)? Should he be in jail? Would a state hospital be a better place?

Thanks to RBH at The Panda’s Thumb for posting the text of this resolution.

>Resolved, that the Superintendent of Public Instruction be, and she hereby is, directed to take the following actions immediately:

>1) Delete the model lesson plan, Critical Analysis of Evolution, from the state board-approved curriculum and remove its availability from print sources, technology sources, and any other Ohio Board of Education/Ohio Department of Education mechanism that makes it available for use.

>2) Delete the following sentences from Grade 10 Life Science Benchmark H: “Describe how scientists continue to investigate and critically analyze aspects of evolutionary theory. (The intent of this benchmark does not mandate the teaching or testing of intelligent design.)â€�, and delete Indicator 23 in its entirety, and adjust all print sources, technology sources, and any other Ohio Board of Education/Ohio Department of Education documents to reflect the removal;

>3) The Achievement Committee of the Sate Board of Education is charged to consider whether the deleted model lesson, Benchmark H and Indicator 23 shoud be replaced by a different benchmark, lesson, and indicator, and if so, to present any recommendation to the entire State Board for adoption;

>4) Communicate the fact of the above actions to all public school superintendents and high school principals in Ohio.