Some people have considered the recent criticisms of the CEO of the Center for Inquiry to be a wholesale attack on the organization (well, “some people” meaning “freakin’ loons”). Nothing could be further from the truth. I’m a supporter; I think many of their causes are essential; I appreciate the work of many of the people there. Let’s not forget that the whole of the organization is not the brain of the CEO, whether it’s Paul Kurtz or Ron Lindsay, both of whom have also done good work. We have to trust in the quality of the group to overcome the flaws of the individual.

So I thought I might throw out an occasional post to let you know about a few of the commendable efforts of CFI — you know, try a little positive reinforcement in addition to my usual spiked bludgeon of criticism.

CFI has an Office of Public Policy.

The Office of Public Policy (OPP) is the Washington, D.C. political arm of the Center for Inquiry. Our mandate is to advocate for public policy based on reason, science, and secular values. This includes lobbying at all levels of government — Congress, the Administration, and the international community, including the United Nations — to promote and defend separation of church and state, the role of scientific evidence and secular ethics in policymaking, and basic civil and human rights. 

This is the unit that lobbies the government directly for secular causes — if there is something that pisses you off about public policy, this is an effective place to ask for assistance. The director of the OPP is Michael De Dora, who has been working his butt off to get things done. He’s also their representative to the UN.

He meets with the State Department on issues of international concern for secularists, and as we all know there have been a number of those lately, with atheists being persecuted in several countries. He lobbies to keep religion and politics out of science, and has fought against the corruption of our educational system.

He’s also stood up for women’s issues, opposing restrictions on emergency contraception and abortion. You can find a good summary of his position in his speech at the Unite Women rally.

If CFI had really felt it necessary to tap a high-ranking man to give an introduction at the Women in Secularism conference, it would have been a good choice to delegate it to De Dora, who has a solid record on women’s issues and would definitely have been politic enough to avoid throwing a few rhetorical grenades into the crowd. In the past I’ve said some rude things about a few remarks he made about creationism, but…he got better. I’ve met with him a few times, and I’m confident in his abilities in his job — and he’s one of a lot of faces at CFI who do great work.

So keep on criticizing where criticizing needs to be done — it’s how the organization gets better. But let’s not forget that CFI also does invaluable work on our behalf.

Michael De Dora of CFI addressing the Unite Women rally

Raw Story
CNN's Wolf Blitzer tells atheist tornado survivor: 'You gotta thank the Lord'
Raw Story
With the number of atheists continuing to rise, CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday afternoon learned the danger of assuming on live television that his interviewee is a Christian. “I guess, you gotta thank the Lord, right?” he told the survivor of a deadly ...

CNN's Wolf Blitzer Asks Atheist Tornado Survivor If She 'Thanked The Lord'
Mediaite
Brian, your husband is blessed. Anders is blessed… I guess you got to thank the lord, right?” When the woman shrugged off the question, he repeated it, asking, “Do you thank the lord for that split-second decision?” “I–I'm actually an atheist,” she ...

WRTV Indianapolis
Atheist group claims Ball State prof is teaching creationism
News Sentinel
INDIANAPOLIS — An atheist organization has complained to Ball State University that an honors course curriculum exploring the nature of the universe is religion disguised as science. University officials say they're investigating the issue. The ...
Group claims Ball State prof teaching creationismPost-Tribune
Eric Hedin: State University Professor Teaches Creationism, Calls It SciencePolicyMic

all 5 news articles »

Texas 'Merry Christmas Bill' is 'a bunch of bullsh*t' says atheist TV host
Raw Story
Raw Story spoke with Russell Glasser, co-host of the Austin public-access TV show “The Atheist Experience,” who said that the law is a way for Christian lawmakers to burrow further into their illusion of constant persecution and win the votes of ...

and more »

GPB
Group wants atheist books placed with Bibles in Georgia state parks
Yahoo! News
ATLANTA (Reuters) - A national atheist group said it plans to donate enough books on its views to be placed in all Georgia state park cabins after the state's governor said Bibles should remain at the vacation properties despite an atheist's recent ...
Deal On Atheist Books At State ParksGPB
Georgia orders Bibles back in park cabins; atheist mulls next moveWashington Times
Atheist Books To Be Placed Next To Bibles In Georgia Parks In Response To ...Huffington Post
Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) -WRCB-TV -Patch.com
all 33 news articles »

Group wants atheist books placed with Bibles in Georgia state parks
Reuters
ATLANTA (Reuters) - A national atheist group said it plans to donate enough books on its views to be placed in all Georgia state park cabins after the state's governor said Bibles should remain at the vacation properties despite an atheist's recent ...

WND.com
Not 'intelligent' enough to be an atheist?
WND.com
Christian evangelist Ray Comfort was a platform speaker at the 2001 National Convention of American Atheists, Inc., has spoken on the subject of atheism and evolution on ABC's 'Nightline,' on the BBC, at Yale University, is a TV co-host (with actor ...

As mentioned in this post, I was waiting for Foundation Beyond Belief to put up a crisis response page. If you were thinking of making an aid donation, go here to help victims of the Oklahoma tornado.

I’ve seen some reluctance to donate because Oklahoma’s senators, Coburn and Inhofe, are fucking selfish scumbags. Don’t let that hold you back — the children who were killed or hurt or made homeless didn’t vote for them, so just think of them when you dig into your pockets.

(Also, apparently my very general link from last night led to about $3000 in donations — you can do better now that you’ve got a specific focus!)

Atheist group claims Ball State prof is teaching creationism
News Sentinel
INDIANAPOLIS — An atheist organization has complained to Ball State University that an honors course curriculum exploring the nature of the universe is religion disguised as science. University officials say they're investigating the issue. The ...

Adam Lee has a nice summary of the Women in Secularism conference. However, he does reveal that we Ftbullied him into talking the picture below, which is a no-no. You were told not to tattle, Adam Lee. The next time we meet, expect a pantsing, or even a swirlie. Also, put your lunch money in an envelope and mail it to me right now.

Oh, and look — even more ftbullying! We’re all holding signs abusing the theocratic governments that jail atheist bloggers.

The normalization of rape continues apace.

Three teenagers face sex assault charges after they raped a 12-year-old girl at gunpoint and posted a video of the December attacks on Facebook, prosecutors said.

Scandale Fritz, 16, Kenneth Brown, 15, and Justin Applewhite, 16, were all ordered held in lieu of $900,000 bail in a hearing today before Criminal Court Judge James Brown, said Cook County state’s attorney spokeswoman Tandra Simonton. The three were charged as adults.

That’s not just dumb, it’s a problem of attitude: now raping a 12 year old girl is something so amusing, something to be proud of, to the point where rapists are sharing videos of their criminal attacks on facebook.

I’m curious to know if they were surprised when police officers showed up at their door, and I’d love to know what kind of excuses they offered.

mediabistro.com
Atheist group says The Daily Caller is the 'most unethical news publication'
Daily Caller
In a press release, the coalition quotes Bedford as saying in an email sent May 3: “I'm not sure what y'all believe in beyond annoying America, but if it's what most atheists believe, I hope it comes true: I hope you live a long, happy life surrounded ...
Daily Caller Called 'Most Unethical' Publication After Editor Sends 'Dick Pic'mediabistro.com

all 4 news articles »

Damned monkeys. Stop gawking, put the cell phone away, and flee.

We get these things up here in Minnesota, too, and one thing you will not get from me is a video showing it off. I’ll be in the basement, hiding under a mattress.

Sikivu Hutchinson has a new book, Godless Americana: Race and Religious Rebels, and she was recently interviewed about it.

What’s the most important take-home message for readers?

That humanism can be culturally relevant to communities of color. Traditional mainstream white-dominated freethought/atheist/humanist models don’t offer an adequate basis for social justice. They don’t address the intersection of women’s rights, civil rights, anti-racism, heterosexism, the racial wealth gap, and educational apartheid.

…

So while there are numerous grassroots atheist groups spearheading their own projects, the movement as a whole continues to be publicly defined by a handful of superstars and their limited vision. The absence of historical and sociological context for atheist politics, and its disconnection from social justice activism, will keep it in the lily-white one-percent column.

I have no patience for single-issue white male atheists who inveigh against the backwardness of organized religion as the fount of all evil and then have the luxury to retreat into their segregated ivory towers, insulated conferences, and highly-paid seminar bubbles. In Godless Americana I address the lived experiences of some of the most religious communities on the planet in one of the richest nations on the planet. I probe the sociological context for faith traditions and hyper-religiosity in American communities of color.

I have this grand, optimistic vision of humanity’s future, and escaping the dead-end lies of religion is part of it. But mostly what I see are people — all people — given the security and knowledge to live lives with true meaning, where they can grow and learn and engage in productive struggle, fighting to make the world a better place with every generation. I have my causes and my biases, but I don’t see how we can achieve that goal by having the causes and biases of a narrow subset imposed on the whole; rather, the few have to open themselves up to appreciate the experiences of the many. We must have the humility to change.

I am one of those white male atheists. I work in an ivory tower that is mostly white, I go to those conferences in beige, softly carpeted hotels, I sit contentedly in the seminar bubbles (but not highly paid — I have something better, a secure position that gives me the privilege to not have to ask for payment). But I am not a leader. I have no position in any hierarchy of any atheist/humanist organization. I just write and speak what I think, and that’s all I can do.

What I think is that for my vision to come true, no one can grasp at power, we have to surrender it. We have to sacrifice control by an elite for an expansion of opportunity for the base. We have to let go of the perspectives and interests of one gender, one race, one class and start thinking in terms of humanity.

You’d have a hard time finding someone more committed to the importance of freethought and science than myself — those are the ways to build a better world. It can’t be a better world if it only includes me and people like me — it has to be a better world for all. We have to include that in our equations and our principles.

Washington Times
Georgia orders Bibles back in park cabins; atheist mulls next move
Washington Times
Nathan Deal has ordered that state-run lodges bring back Bibles they had just banned — the latest in a constitutional religion question that surfaced via a complaint from one atheist. The dispute started when atheist Ed Buckner took his family on ...
Atheist group sending books to Georgia state parksAtlanta Journal Constitution (blog)
Atheist Books To Be Placed Next To Bibles In Georgia Parks In Response To ...Huffington Post
Atheist group to give Ga. an atheist book for every Bible in state parksDaily Caller
Access North Georgia -Christian Post
all 29 news articles »

The Atheist delusion (The up rise of Barcode Man)
News24
The Tesla turbine is a bladeless centripetal flow turbine patented by Nikola Tesla in 1913. It is referred to as a bladeless turbine because it uses the boundary layer effect and not a fluid impinging upon the blades as in a conventional turbine. The ...

Last year, the first statewide PA atheist/humanist conference was held in Harrisburg. This year, the conference will be held in Philadelphia and will kick off with an anti-superstition party and feature a long list of guests and a...

University Will Investigate Christian Professor's Intelligent Design Class ...
TheBlaze.com
Despite having negative comments to throw Hedin's way (he called him a “dingbat professor”), PZ Myers, a biologist at the University of Minnesota who is also an atheist, defended the professor's right to tout and explore unpopular ideas in the classroom.
Ball State investigating intelligent design classWorld Magazine

all 2 news articles »

It’s the lovely Pink Dragon millipede — it’s bright enough to belong in the girls’ aisle at the toy store.

It also squirts cyanide at you if you annoy it.