The Atheist Mama

I came across this comment from this post last night:

>Meantime, on a practical and realistic level, congregations should take whatever legal means are available to stop trespass, defacement, vandalism or whatever covers these acts, as needed. Use hate-crime statutes if necessary - turnabout is fair play, no? Public exposure and ridicule of the “perps” might be useful also.

(emphasis mine)

The War on Easter being a hate crime?? Come on… Can you imagine?
Tresspassing? Is a church a public place? Don’t my tax dollars support the property that the church sits on?
Vandalism? What vandalism?

I think that a lot of people would support this though. My husband warned me about the hate crime possibility before the mission.

From The Washington Post:

Ancient fossils fill gap in early human evolution

An international team of scientists have discovered 4.1 million year old fossils in eastern Ethiopia that fill a missing gap in human evolution.

The teeth and bones belong to a primitive species of Australopithecus known as Au. anamensis, an ape-man creature that walked on two legs.

The Australopithecus genus is thought to be an ancestor of modern humans. Seven separate species have been named. Au. anamensis is the most primitive.

[…]

Then we have this from a days ago.

Paleontologists have discovered fossils of a species that provides the missing evolutionary link between fish and the first animals that walked out of water onto land about 375 million years ago.

The question is: What will it take for a creationist to believe that evolution is what is responsible for man?

(Apologies for this post changing before your eyes. When I started it, my son hit my keyboard and I didn’t realize that it had published)

Did anyone watch it?? Does anyone have a copy? I missed it!!
I’m really hoping that they air it again. Damn it.
If anyone can point me in the direction of a copy online, I’d appreciate it.

————————————————————–

Updated - Of course they will be airing it several times this week. I’ll be picking it up on Thursday. :-)

I found this in a comment in a post (about morality :-) at GifS.

>Former Ohio Congressman and the Fox News Host of Heartland John Kasich has made up his mind about the Gospel of Judas he says “I’m not very skeptical, I’m completely skeptical, I don’t believe it.” He ranks the Gospel of Judas it right along side the Da Vinci Code, all part of a conspiracy to destroy Christianity […]

Oh man. The ignorance is astounding. Go and watch.

MUST SEE!!! I found this on Details (another Columbus, Ohio blog). This is great. Harry Taylor has some balls. So, would you be able to give it to Bush if you had the opportunity, on national television?

Wait, I found it!! Give your thanks to Harry Taylor (thanks to the Suburban Guerrilla for the tip)!

Did anyone see South Park this week? (If you have it recorded and are planning to watch it, don’t read any further)

There was big controversy in this Colorado town because “The Family Guy” had an episode coming up that was going to show the prophet Mohammed in support of the Danish newspaper!! Fox censored Mohammed out, but there was still rioting and violence all over the Muslim world.
Then, the producers of “The Family Guy” demanded they re-air the episode censor-free. Fox caves in and again, there is chaos.
South Park wants to show the Muslims that they are not taking part in this horrible event and they decide that the best way to show that they aren’t involved in seeing and hearing about Mohammed is to bury their heads in sand.

South Park was to be continued… Will Mohammed be shown in the next episode??

In the comments of one of the previous posts on tolerance, Goose Henry posted this:

>A question:

>Do you think the nazi regime in Germany during the 30’s and 40’s was wrong?

Ok, point taken. If morality is relative (something that I believe) then who were we to go on into Germany and stop Hitler?

My answer to your question: Of course I think that the Third Reich was wrong. It was disgusting, and I think that the United States were absolutely right to go on in there and put a stop to it. Does that make me a hypocrite? Maybe, but I also think that it makes me human.

Here are a few other things to ponder:

Genocide in Darfur
Female Genital Mutilation in Africa
“Gendercide” in China and India

The above examples are just a tiny fraction of Human Rights Violations going on in the world.
Now a question for you:

Should the United States invade the above countries and start a war with them? If you say no, why not??

I wonder… If there was oil in these countries, would we step in then?

I’ve been thinking of this a lot in the last few days, because of the past few posts and comments. So, what is tolerance?? I mean, I know what it is, but I decided to look it up and see what the dictionary had to say.

>tol·er·ance
n.

> 1. The capacity for or the practice of recognizing and respecting the beliefs or practices of others.

The above is just one of the definitions, and the one that is relevant to this post.

Tolerance is what is expected from people in today’s world. Once upon a time, that was certainly not the case.
Today, to be intolerant is to be bigoted, narrow-minded and hateful.

So where does one draw the line? Who decides what is to be tolerated? Isn’t the intolerance of one groups views, no matter what those beliefs are, being intolerant?

Right now in Ohio, DeWine is backing a Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. Isn’t that intolerant? Of course it is. DeWine is a Roman Catholic, by the way. Being from a Catholic family myself, I know that the general beliefs of Catholics are anti-gay. They do no tolerate homosexuality. They also do not tolerate abortion, divorce, masterbation, pre-marital sex, etc. So why should I, as an atheist, tolerate their beliefs?

Evangelicals are intolerant of science, in my opinion. It is the tolerance of this that will damage our schools and ultimately the education of our children.

Does it all come down to morality? But then what is moral? What isn’t moral? In my opinion, morality is relative. What is considered moral to someone in, well, lets just say Iraq, isn’t at all moral here in the United States. But do we tolerate them? Do we tolerate acts that we consider crimes? Wouldn’t that be the PC thing to do?

Obviously, I don’t know the answers to a lot of these quesitons. This post is basically me, brainstorming. I’m very open to input and thoughts.

Actually, 2 of the more recent posts. The ones that I am talking about are here and here.

Let me share my thoughts and beliefs with you in regards to religion.

It is my belief that religion is nothing but a means for one group of human beings to control another group of human beings. I believe that this world would be much better off with out religion and the belief in a god, by anyone. Religion is no longer necessary in our world, and I think that it should be phased out. I don’t think that human beings need religion in their lives. Period.

Now, I get that now all atheists agree with me. You don’t have to! There are plenty of pro-life atheists out there. There are strong atheists, weak atheists, apathetic atheists, positive atheists, humanists, brights, agnostic - the list of names for people who don’t believe in god goes on and on.

In a comment in one of the previous posts was this:

>We will never improve our image as atheists and agnostics as long as some of us make such illogical and intolerant statements.

I understand what you are saying, but I can’t be someone I’m not… I do believe that religion is the “root of all evil” (or at least one of them).

If this makes me illogical and intolerant, well then so be it I guess. Not all atheists are as accepting of religion being forced down our throats as others are.

:-) That is all.

Tom of Who Hijacked Our Country brought this bit of good news to my attention in his comment here.

>I read that the Oglala Sioux Reservations in South Dakota might be opening an abortion clinic on the reservation. It would be legal since they’re sovereign and exempt from some state and federal laws.

So I went on the info search and found that this was absolutely true!! Here’s an article that I found:

>Giago: Oglala Sioux president on state abortion law
Tuesday, March 21, 2006

>”When Governor Mike Rounds signed HB 1215 into law it effectively banned all abortions in the state with the exception that it did allow saving the mother’s life. There were, however, no exceptions for victims of rape or incest. His actions, and the comments of State Senators like Bill Napoli of Rapid City, SD, set of a maelstrom of protests within the state.

>Napoli suggested that if it was a case of “simple rape,â€� there should be no thoughts of ending a pregnancy. Letters by the hundreds appeared in local newspapers, mostly written by women, challenging Napoli’s description of rape as “simple.â€� He has yet to explain satisfactorily what he meant by “simple rape.â€�

>The President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Cecilia Fire Thunder, was incensed. A former nurse and healthcare giver she was very angry that a state body made up mostly of white males, would make such a stupid law against women.

>“To me, it is now a question of sovereignty,â€� she said to me last week. “I will personally establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land which is within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation where the State of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction.â€�

>Strong words from a very strong lady. I hope Ms. Fire Thunder challenges Gov. Rounds and the state legislators on this law that is an affront to all independent women.”

I looked around a little more and found that Kathryn had posted information on sending donations to Pine Ridge Reservation for the possible building of a Planned Parenhood. I looked a little further (and I’m glad I did because I’m just about to drop a check in the mail) and I guess there is some debate over the situation (I didn’t read all of these comments).

Hopefully over the next few days the air will clear and we’ll find out what is going to happen.

I really hope that President Fire Thunder makes this happen. It would be a better alternative to coat hangers, that’s for sure.

A member of the local Humanist group that I belong to brought this one to my attention via the Yahoo! Group. Thanks Dan!

Evangelizing is a terrible thing. As ridiculous as this new “law” is, they wouldn’t have to do such a thing if there wasn’t an effort to spread Christianity.
As much as a Christian would want to deny it, Christianity is still leading to death, persecution and oppression. Go ahead - Explain how I’m wrong.

>Algeria bans Muslims from learning about Christianity
Algeria, Politics, 3/21/2006

>The Algerian parliament has approved a law banning the call to embrace other religions than Islam.

>This law states to jail anyone “trying to call on a Muslim to embrace another religion,” in remarks to the Christianizing (evangelize) campaigns taking place in the country.

>The Algerian Ummah council (Senate) approved this decision on Monday. This decision which was approved by the national people’s council ( parliament) on March 15th is an attempt to withstand the Christianizing campaign which had witnessed a notable activity recently especially in al-Qabayel area east of the country.

>The ratified law stated to sentence imprisonment for two to five years and a fee between 5 to 10 thousands EURO against “anyone urging or forcing or tempting, to convert a Muslim to another religion.”

>The same penalty applies to every person, manufacturer, store or circulate publications or audo-visual or other means aiming at destabilizing attachment to Islam.

>The law also bans practicing any religion “except Islam” “outside buildings allocated for that, and links specialized buildings aimed at practice of religion by a prior licensing.”

>One official at the ministry of religious affairs said that the aim of the law is basically to “ban religious activity, and secret religious campaigns.”

>The Christian community constitutes the largest religious minority in the country. This community accounts for the time being to less than 11,000 after it was hundreds of thousands before Algeria’s independence in 1962 including 110 priests and 170 monks distributed all over Algerian lands.

All religions have got to go.

In case you haven’t heard, Abdul Rahman of Afghanistan is on trial for converting to Christianity (read more here).

Yup, I’m talking about Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and even those radical Pagans have got to let it go (ok, someone once told me that there were Pagan extremists who would one day succeed in taking over the U.S. - she was Wiccan - LOL!). I only mentioned a handful of the dozens (hundreds?) of religions out there. To accept religion, is to condone this type of bullshit. To be a moderate believer, is also to condone and accept these types of acts. If you asked me 5 years ago if I would be intolerant of religion, I would have laughed. But I have to say that I totally agree with Sam Harris when he says, “[…] that the very ideal of religious tolerance—born of the notion that every human being should be free to believe whatever he wants about God—is one of the principal forces driving us toward the abyss.”

Isn’t it about time we let go of the fairy tales and got on with our lives??

‘Nuff said.

>It has been three years since the beginning of the war that marked the end of Iraq’s independence. Three years of occupation and bloodshed.

>Spring should be about renewal and rebirth. For Iraqis, spring has been about reliving painful memories and preparing for future disasters. In many ways, this year is like 2003 prior to the war when we were stocking up on fuel, water, food and first aid supplies and medications. We’re doing it again this year but now we don’t discuss what we’re stocking up for. Bombs and B-52’s are so much easier to face than other possibilities.

>I don’t think anyone imagined three years ago that things could be quite this bad today. The last few weeks have been ridden with tension. I’m so tired of it all- we’re all tired.

Go read the rest over at Baghdad Burning.

Here’s the article:

>Public Smoking Ban Starts Friday

>By Shawn McGinnis, KTLA News

>March 15, 2006, 6:22 PM PST

>CALABASAS — A first of its kind ban on smoking in all public places goes into effect Friday in Calabasas.

>The city’s anti-smoking measure promises to make Calabasas the first virtually smoke-free city in the country by banning smoking on sidewalks, bus stops, parks, outdoor businesses, restaurant patios and condominium common areas.

>Smoking will be allowed only in designated areas at shopping malls or at work.

>Last month, California air-quality regulators became the first in the country to declare secondhand smoke a toxic air pollutant. The Calabasas ordinance cites 52,000 non-smokers killed each year by secondhand smoke, including 3,000 from lung cancer.

>But not everyone agrees with the new law.

>It will be the responsibility of Calabasas business owners to enforce the ban in their establishments. Many of them say they plan to look the other way. However, members of the general public may report breaches of the law to authorities.

>Violators could be fined up to $500, while repeat offenders could face jail time.

Ok, let’s start with the most absurd part of this new ban -
“Violators could be fined up to $500, while repeat offenders could face jail time.”

Jail time?? Do they have nothing better to do in Calabasas, CA?

I’ve been a non-smoker for 129 weeks, 2 days, 9 hours, 30 minutes, 12 seconds (and counting…). I like to breath clean air just as much as the next non-smoker, but give me a break. Secondhand smoke is not the only pollutant in our air.

The smoking ban in the city that I live in (Gahanna, OH) just recently took effect (it was passed by a vote of 64-36 percent). I voted against it. I really think that it should be the business owners choice. I used to think that smoking bans were good, but I really don’t like the government telling a person how to run their establisment.

Smoking may be bad for your health, but it shouldn’t be criminalized. The government doesn’t need a say in every aspect of our lives.

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 -

[Link]
Doesn’t this sound familiar?? I could swear that I heard the same thing… Oh about 3 years ago or so… Was it Iraq?? Oh, oh, I know. Al Queda. Well, who ever it was, I think I heard something like this right before we bombed the hell out of them.

The National Security Strategy is now out for us to read.
In case you were wondering, September 11, 2001 was mentioned once, and September 11 was mentioned 7 times in the document. 9/11 wasn’t mentioned at all. Yes, I counted.

And it begins:

>My Fellow Americans,

>America is at war. This is a wartime national security strategy required by the grave challenge we face – the rise of terrorism fueled by an aggressive ideology of hatred and murder, fully revealed to the American people on September 11, 2001. This strategy reflects our most solemn obligation: to protect the security of the American people.

Also, there’s this:

>We may face no greater challenge from a single country than from Iran. For almost 20 years, the Iranian regime hid many of its key nuclear efforts from the international community. Yet the regime continues to claim that it does not seek to develop nuclear weapons. The Iranian regime’s true intentions are clearly revealed by the regime’s refusal to negotiate in good faith; its refusal to come into compliance with its international obligations by providing the IAEA access to nuclear sites and resolving troubling questions; and the aggressive statements of its President calling for Israel to “be wiped off the face of the earth.â€� The United States has joined with our EU partners and Russia to pressure Iran to meet its international obligations and provide objective guarantees that its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes. This diplomatic effort must succeed if confrontation is to be avoided.

(emphasis mine)

I guess Iran is next. Watch out everyone! The United States is coming. Make sure that Bush likes what he sees.

Well, this is a sad loss for the show! I had no idea that Chef was a Scientologist!
Oh well. I guess he can give it, but he can’t take it.

>[Link]
>ISAAC HAYES is giving “South Park” the shaft.

>Hayes, the longtime voice of Chef, has quit “South Park,” saying he can no longer stomach its take on religion.

>We mean Scientology.

>We’re not sure what he means.

>Hayes, who has played the school cook in the animated Comedy Central satire since 1997, said in a statement yesterday that he feels a line has been crossed.

>”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,” the soul singer and Scientologist said.

>”Religious beliefs are sacred to people, and at all times should be respected and honored,” he continued. “As a civil-rights activist of the past 40 years, I cannot support a show that disrespects those beliefs and practices.”

>Hmmmm…

>Back in 1999, “South Park” was taken to task by the Catholic League for an episode in which the boys meet a priest who discusses resurrection, and Kyle, whose dad is having sexual dysfunction problems, hears “erection” and the next thing you know Cartman is being hung from a cross to see if, when he dies, he has one.

>There was no sound from Isaac Hayes.

>And after a 2003 episode that had fun at the expense of the Mormons? Hayes said nothing.

>All the Satan references? No word from Hayes.

>What about “Passion of the Jew,” “Christian Hard Rock” and “Red Hot Catholic Love”?

>Oh, Isaac. We can’t hear you, Isaac.

>”South Park” co-creator Matt Stone said yesterday, “This is 100 percent having to do with his faith of Scientology… . He has no problem - and he’s cashed plenty of checks - with our show making fun of Christians.”

>But last November, “South Park” targeted the Church of Scientology and its celebrity followers, including actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta, in a top-rated episode called “Trapped in the Closet.” In the episode, Stan, one of the show’s four mischievous fourth-graders, is hailed as a reluctant savior by Scientology leaders, while a cartoon Cruise locks himself in a closet and won’t come out.

>Stone said he and co-creatorTrey Parker “never heard a peep out of Isaac in any way until we did Scientology. He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin.”

I heard about the death of Tom Fox yesterday, but I really haven’t had a chance to read anything about him or the situation until today. While reading the an article on The Washington Post online about the discovery of his body, I learned that he was formerly an assistant manager at the Whole Foods in Springfield, Virginia.
I’m from Fairfax, VA and I was a frequent shopper at that Whole Foods. I was also an employee of Whole Foods once upon a time. I remember Tom well (although I can’t say that he knew me). He was a very nice man and I saw him just about every time I went into that store.
I know that a few of my highschool friends that were also employees there knew him well. Very well infact, and I’m so sorry for their loss. I can’t imagine what they must be feeling.

Tom was a Christian peace activist, but he wasn’t in Iraq with the sole intention of spreading the word of God. He was in Iraq on a mission of peace. Regardless of his beliefs, I’m so sorry that he suffered the way that he did.

I found a link to his blog somewhere (don’t remember where). Of course, it hasn’t been posted to since November of 2005, but he was abducted that month, so that would make sense.

I also found this today:

>The body of American Tom Fox, who was among four Christian peace activists kidnapped last year, was found near a west Baghdad railway line with gunshot wounds to his head and chest and his body bore signs of torture, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said Saturday:

>I must ask you why tom had to die, yes he was in a army GODS ARMY:

>No weapons only a bible you searched him you knew this,so why, he was there to help

>you and your people.

>You had 60% of the world trying to stop the war tom was one of them but now you have now got a holy war and god will have no mercy on your souls.

>you prove once again your cowards and sick there is nothing in the koran about killing

>christians.

>And to think we where forced to pass your places of worship knowing your so called holy men were hidding guns and criminals.

>But i will say this some of the mighty leaders of the world will be in church to-day

>saying a prayer for tom and maybe end there easy going with you lot.

>I did feel that the war should be over, but im not sure now.

>And please no moslems crying on here use your energy to write on the moslem blogs

>and ask for the release of the other christian peace activists.

>THE REAL GOD IS WATCHING YOU; SO IS THE WORLD

(emphasis mine, although I should have bolded the whole damn thing)

I don’t even know where to begin with this one. How is this (above) any different than anything going on “over there”. All I know is that I’m scared.

It was in May in 1997 that I found out that I was pregnant.

I was 18 years old. I had graduated highschool the summer before. Instead of going to college (I did have the opportunity but turned it down), I chose to move from Northern Virginia to Asheville, North Carolina with my boyfriend.

I was living every young hippie’s dream. The mountains, a dog, a few cats, and 60 acres of land. I spent my days hiking and studying the medicinal plants that grew all over western NC. My dream was to become a midwife or an herbalist, or Dr. Quinn - Medicine Woman.

When I wasn’t pretending to live in Little House on the Prarie, I was working as a hostess at a fancy Italian restaurant near the Biltmore Estate. I probably made no more than $6.00 an hour. My boyfriend was working for our landlord building houses. He made $7.00/hr. We had a 6 month lease on this house, and it was in the month of May that our lease was up. See, our landlord rented this house out for the winter and in the summer months, his parents would come back to NC from FL and live there. So, instead of searching out another place to rent for the summer months, the landlord offered to put us up in one of his campers rent free so that my boyfriend could continue to work and live close by.

Since it was to be rent free, I decided to stop working for a while so that I could “study” (this was all independent study) full time. So we were bringing in a little over $13,000 a year. We were staying in a 20′ camper. It was actually pretty cool. We looked at it as camping for the summer. We stored most of our stuff and filled the camper with books and food and music and flowers. It was parked on the land and we were plugged in to electric. We were young, we were poor, we were childless, and we were camping for the entire summer in what we considered paradise.

Things slowly started to go sour though. Living in this small trailer was not easy. Yeah, it would have been fun for a week or two, but we were crazy to think that it would work for as long as we were planning for. It was hot. The water situation was just horrible, and we ended up with no running water. The landlord was being stingy with the pay and hours, and we were making next to nothing. We turned into slaves of this man. He was taking advantage of 18 year old kids, and we were having a hard time finding a way out. We didn’t have enough money to make a deposit, pay a month of rent, get utilities turned on, get gas in the car, and eat, so we felt very stuck. Both of our parents lived 8 hours away. It was then that I found out that I was pregnant.

After taking the 3rd pregnancy test, we accepted it. We spent a day straight crying. But we made the decision. We had to have an abortion. Bringing a child into the horrible situation that we had gotten ourselves into would not have been good for anyone. We didn’t have health insurance. We didn’t want to end up on welfare, and WIC, and food stamps. While we were in a tight spot, we KNEW that we would have pulled out of it eventually. But there would have been no chance of that if a baby had come into the picture.

I called the clinic (this clinic was later bombed and shot at) the next day from a payphone, and tried to make an appointment. It turned out that I was way to early in the pregnancy to actually have an abortion, and that I would have to wait 2 weeks before having the procedure. We’ll just say that it was the longest 2 weeks of my life.

When I finally was able to make the appointment, I put the $450 on a credit card. My appointment was on a Saturday morning. We drove up to the clinic and had to drive through the mass of protesters standing outside of the parking lot. Luckily the clinic had a large chain link fence around it, so we were able to park and go into the clinic without having to walk through them. But you could still hear their screaming and yelling. I remember the word “whore” clearly.

I won’t go into much more detail about the procedure. It was painful, it was scary, but it was done, and I was thrilled to be able to go on with my life. I was able to make a choice about my own future. It was a choice that I will never regret. I am where I am today because I was able to have that abortion.

We pulled ourselves out of the misery that we were in. We moved on with our lives. Later, we split up. There were some big differences between us. One of the biggest being the fact that he didn’t want to ever have children.

I’m writing this in response to South Dakota’s Governor, Mike Rounds and his decision to strip the women of his state their Constitutional rights. Fuck you Governor Rounds.

I am a woman. IT’S MY BODY. Let ME choose.

Please see Miz BoheMia’s post and Pia’s post.

Need an abortion but your state won’t let you have one? Here’s another interesting link that Jim posted about.

Sorry, this post isn’t very organized. I have a lot to say, and it’s not easy organizing my thoughts right now. I’m having a very hard time wrapping my head around the fact that the government is taking my rights away. I knew it was coming in SD, but it’s really hitting home now. Please, if you haven’t done so already, sign Planned Parenthood’s Save Roe Campaign. Write letters, make phone calls, SAVE WOMEN and their futures!!!