Yesterday, the Washington Post and other media outlets reported that the nonreligious are now the nation’s largest voting bloc, citing a recent Pew Research survey. Indeed, this is reason to be excited about the rise of the “nones” as we sometimes call ourselves, but let’s take a second look at the numbers and see if we’re comparing apples to apples. Here’s the graphic that the Post shared:
I’m currently on an airplane flying out of Cincinnati/Kentucky that contains roughly 50 people, one of which is a popular atheist blogger over at Patheos. By my count, that’s one too many atheist bloggers on a flight this small. So a safe landing would prove that God does not exist, since for a brief moment, he had us right where he wanted us. And if the big man does take us down, I would like to go down in history as the person who proved the existence of a deity.
All kidding aside, yesterday’s protest at the Ark Encounter was a smashing success. About 100 demonstrators joined the Tri-State Freethinkers in their effort to raise awareness of the several unethical, if not illegal, practices of Answers in Genesis, Ken Ham, and his irrational display of complete scientific ignorance being sold to adults and children lacking critical thinking skills at 40 bucks a head.
Image credit: FOX19 News, Cincinnati
Tomorrow I’ll be taking part in the Ark Encounter protest and rally with the Tri-State Freethinkers, as well as Dave Silverman, Dan Barker, Aron Ra, David Smalley, Dan Arel and many others. If you are in the area, please join us! The details can be found on the event Facebook pages for the protest and afterparty rally.
But if you’re not able to attend, I’ll be live tweeting the event on @SecularVoices, as well as posting on our Facebook page (and possibly broadcasting video there). The event is expected to draw national media and over one hundred demonstrators! The protest organizers are asking everyone to tweet using #ohnoahhedidnt during the event. Let’s get it trending and make some noise on the twittersphere.
On July 7th, the opening day of Answers in Genesis’ Ark Encounter theme park, the Tri-State Freethinkers are holding a protest during the day and a rally & after-party in the evening. At the protest, they’re expecting national media in attendance, since the practices of Ken Ham and his ark park have raised quite a bit of controversy over the past months and years. From religiously-based hiring practices, to securing millions in tax incentives for a religiously motivated project, to forcing employees to sign chastity pledges, to being just plain anti-science but marketing to impressionable children, this young earth creationism-focused “Genocide and Incest Park” (as TSF calls it) has been the focus of countless news and blog articles recently.
In Christiansburg, VA (a town whose name makes me shudder even more than my own hometown of Churchville), the Board of Supervisors has voted 4-3 to affix the national motto, “In God We Trust,” to the walls of its meeting room.
While such a decision will not likely be challenged in court, other similar cases surrounding the motto have been and will continue to be until the motto is changed back to its original e pluribus unum. So why not end the controversy? Save some government cheddar and avoid future waste by changing the national motto back to something inclusive, something our Founding Fathers intended, and stop wasting taxpayer money fighting to stick God on everything with a blank space.
Yet another Christian leader has confused preferential treatment with First Amendment-protected free speech this week. Pastor Lawson Perdue of Charis Christian Center in Colorado Springs has been notified by the local transit bench billboard company that his “Jesus is Lord” ads will no longer be allowed on the benches they control. The rationale he was given for this change in policy is that the ad company is trying to prevent having to allow hate speech in the future by not allowing “Jesus” on the benches either. This change was made after an unknown complaint was filed with the company.