Denying Freethought Club “Essential” at U. of Dayton

It’s the truth—why, it’s the Gospel,
It is God’s Most Holy Word
To refute it or deny it
Is ridiculous! Absurd!
Our omnipotent Creator
Is behind its every letter—
It not only is The Good Book
But there’ll never be one better!

So we have to keep it coddled—
I don’t mean to raise alarm—
It’s so delicate and fragile,
We must keep it safe from harm
So the friars have decided
That the atheists can’t meet:
They believe in thinking freely,
And the Gospel can’t compete.

All the sordid details after the jump: [Read more…]

Fox News Commenters Hate America

This isn’t religious, it’s merely tradition
I’m certain our case will be met with approval
A secular prayer—just a trivial thing—
So we’ll fight tooth and nail to prevent its removal

The prayer was a gift from a class in the sixties
Its place in tradition just can’t be denied
This isn’t religious! It’s all about freedom!
And we’ll fight, with our secular god on our side

For decades, the mural’s been there in the hallway
And no one—not one—had complained it’s religious
The taunting and threats that this Jessica’s getting?
It’s her fault alone, cos she’s so damned litigious

She’s out for attention! That’s all that this is!
The god-hating liberal, atheist slut!
We good Christian people should teach her a lesson
How sometimes it’s safer to keep your mouth shut.

How dare she insult us? How dare she mock God?
How dare she belittle the prayer in the hall?
How dare she believe that the law’s on her side—
Remember… this isn’t religious at all!

Angry rant, after the jump:
[Read more…]

No God? No Problem.

So a comment from one of my students put me in mind of this one. For that, this verse is dedicated to a bunch of people who have no idea this blog exists… my students.

I’ve got absolute truths by the dozens
They depend on the god that you cite
And, my brothers and sisters and cousins,
I have to decide which is right.

Each claims their morality’s better
They’re divinely inspired, you see;
So I’d follow their laws to the letter,
Except that they all disagree.

Whenever I look to the bible
To see how a person behaves
I can trust that the info’s reliable,
Like how I should punish my slaves.

I don’t wish to be petty or selfish
I just want to know I am right
Is it worse to be gay, or eat shellfish?
Both are wrong, in Leviticus’ sight.

Is it sinful to kill and eat cattle?
Well, the Hindus, of course, would agree
But then, kosher’s a whole different battle,
Although bacon tastes yummy to me!

I’ve got absolute truths if you want ‘em
Each according to different gods
Some keep them, and others will flaunt ‘em
But you’re breaking some rules, say the odds.

When religions make war over quarrels,
And they claim that their god is the source
Can a person have humanist morals?
Of Course!

The Bravest, Smartest Girl In Rhode Island

The Providence Journal profiles the student behind the Cranston first amendment case; I’d be awfully proud of her if she were my kid.

As a high school freshman, Jessica Ahlquist wore shiny braces, read books and never missed an episode of “Dr. Who,” a TV show about a time-traveling alien who saves civilizations, helps people and rights wrongs.

“I was very shy,” says the 5-foot-tall student.

Hardly anyone noticed her — until she spotted a school prayer affixed to a wall in the auditorium of her new school, Cranston High School West.

She recognized that the mural violated the establishment clause, and began speaking about it at school meetings.

“I didn’t want to talk. I was terrified of saying I was an atheist. When I spoke, I heard a gasp. I knew then that people didn’t share my beliefs. It was an unwelcoming atmosphere. People belittled me and treated me like a little kid.”

She stuck to her guns, showing more intelligence and considerably more courage than her detractors, whose actions say this is a religious fight, but whose rhetoric claims it is an attempt to preserve the school’s traditions and not cave in “because one person in the history of the school objects.”

In this attempt to preserve the school’s traditions…

Since then, she says, students and adults have called her a “stupid atheist,” an ACLU tool, a witch and a “media whore.” They’ve also threatened her through e-mails or at school, she says.

A former classmate told her that, if she knew what he really thought of her, she would kill herself, she says.

Fortunately, some people see a brave girl on the right side of the law, and recognize her for it:

Next month, the ACLU will present her with the William G. McLoughlin First Amendment Award, named after a Brown University history professor and liberal activist.

Read the whole article–these snippets are a small fraction–and add Jessica Ahlquist to your list of real world heroes. It also includes an excellent summary and timeline of the case.

eta:
And read at least a few of the comments afterward–one in particular is from the mom, unnamed but also joined in the suit, who (quite reasonably) goes unnamed to prevent her own child from being harassed like Jessica has been, and you’ll see how ugly a majority can be, and how important rights are for protection against that ugliness.

Becoming An Atheist

You’ve started to question; the merest suggestion
Is making you queasy inside
The falsehood’s been busted; the people you trusted
To tell you the truth? Why, they lied!

You’re starting to find that you’re changing your mind
And it’s rapidly filling with doubts
You’ve opened your eyes, so it shouldn’t surprise,
Your religion is now on the outs

You’re feeling a hole where you once had a soul
Since you found it is all an illusion
Now the things that you feel have a difference—they’re real—
It was bound to create some confusion

In a bit of a lurch when you should be at church
You’ve instead got a morning of freedom
If it feels like a crime, you can donate your time
And your money to people who need ’em.

Or just lie there in bed, watching football instead
As reward for a busy week’s labors
Or make something to eat, for the house down the street
Cos it’s nice to be nice to your neighbors

If you’re feeling the loss of your crescent or cross
Which you wore round your neck every day
With your thoughts unconstrained, you’ll be freer unchained!
(Or you might try the atheist “A”)

When it’s time to go vote, though the church may promote,
Just ignore them and think for yourself
There is no need to look in a dusty old book
So the bible can stay on your shelf

As your freethinking world, like a flag that’s unfurled
Opens up to display all its glory
With your thinking now freed, look around you and read–
And the truth is a much nicer story

When you free up your thoughts from the church-imposed ‘oughts’
And insistance that free thought is sinning
The wonder around you may rightly astound you
And your new life is only beginning

Now with each passing day, old beliefs fade away,
And your new thoughts feel less and less odd
You’ll just go through your day in the usual way…
But no longer believe in a god.

…Therefore, Jesus

It’s possible some entity which cannot be detected,
Outside of our experience despite how we’ve inspected,
Was the first cause of the universe, and first began to move it
It’s possible, by which I mean that no one can disprove it.

And that’s why I, specifically,
Believe in Christ of Galilee

Beyond the grasp of scientists, beyond our poor sensations
Beyond the reach of telescopes, which all have limitations
Before the birth of matter, and of energy’s first pulse
There may have been intelligence—you cannot prove it false.

Believing in the Christian God
Is, therefore, not the least bit odd

The beauty of the universe holds all of us in thrall
No scientist would be so bold as claim we know it all
The open-minded person will admit that, just perhaps,
Some unseen causal entity lies hidden in the gaps

It cannot, therefore, be denied
It’s for our sins that Jesus died

A bit of bread, a sip of wine
Are flesh and blood, by will divine

A savior-king, of virgin birth
Who holds dominion over Earth

Belief in whom must hold the key
To heaven and eternity

Without whose love and magic spell
You’ll spend forever, trapped in hell

A god so strong, and so complex
He cares with whom we might have sex

We’ve never seen the evidence, and frankly never will
Another gap will open up for every one we fill
The less a god is visible, the more that god is strong:
As long as God does nothing, why, you cannot prove Him wrong.

Arkansas Atheist Bus Ads Debut

Eighteen buses
Zero fusses
It shouldn’t seem so odd
Lots of plusses:
Sign discusses
“Are you good without God?”

Bus campaign
Makes it plain
Godless are people, too.
Nice refrain—
Not profane—
Probably overdue.

Federal law
In Arkansas
Allowed a large deposit
Some foresaw
A target’s draw
With atheists out of the closet

But eighteen buses
Zero fusses
It shouldn’t seem so odd
Lots of plusses:
Sign discusses
“Are you good without God?”

Story after the jump:
[Read more…]

Donors Choose

“But look at the good that religions can do;
The hospitals, daycares, the soup kitchens too
They all let the love of the savior shine through
Like the light of the overhead sun”

Your invisible god has a bit of a quirk:
That good—every bit—is from people at work;
And working, not praying (“just clasp hands and shirk”)
Is how you get anything done.

So please join with me, and this atheist squad
(though your money’s still good if you worship a god,
Or an idol, a tree, or a cephalopod—
There’s really no way you can lose).

And click on the widget; follow the link
Root round a bit, and give it a think
And you’ve really helped students, as quick as a wink
By giving to Donors Choose

more, after the jump:
[Read more…]