A Queer Atheist in the Heart of Mormon Country
Huffington Post
Last weekend a group of around 400 Mormons marched in the Utah Pride Parade. Calling themselves "Mormons Building Bridges," they were met with enthusiastic applause. Carrying signs with messages like "Love 1 Another" and "LDS heart LGBT," they ...

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Can you be both a conservative and an atheist?
TheBlaze.com (blog)
The more you force Atheists into the corner with only Christians…you force them to live in their story which is contained in The Bible. It's a SCRIPT for a bunch of ACTORS. There is nothing wrong with having a script…but being scripted makes you a ...

The board meeting at which Ron Lindsay’s behavior at Women in Secularism 2 will be one topic to be discussed is next week. If you are concerned about the direction CFI is taking, if you value it as an organization and want to see it improve, if you think Ron Lindsay has served the interests of CFI poorly, put it in writing and let them know now.

Now! Be constructive. Tell them what’s wrong and what needs to be fixed. This is the time to make a course correction, before the catastrophic crash.

Title: “Leggy, Luscious, and Lethal.”

(via Underwater World of Wonder)

Glenn Greenwald has been right on top of this NSA story from the very beginning. He published a damning overview in The Guardian.

The National Security Agency is currently collecting the telephone records of millions of US customers of Verizon, one of America’s largest telecoms providers, under a top secret court order issued in April.

The order, a copy of which has been obtained by the Guardian, requires Verizon on an "ongoing, daily basis" to give the NSA information on all telephone calls in its systems, both within the US and between the US and other countries.

The document shows for the first time that under the Obama administration the communication records of millions of US citizens are being collected indiscriminately and in bulk – regardless of whether they are suspected of any wrongdoing.

The NY Times has published an article that’s more on Greenwald than the privacy breeches. It mentions that he begin his blog in 2005 covering news of warrantless surveillance by the Bush administration…and now here he is, discovering that the Obama administration is doing exactly the same things.

But it also gives the last words to his ideological oppenents.

His writing has made him a frequent target from ideological foes who accuse him of excusing terrorism or making false comparisons between, for example, Western governments’ drone strikes, and terrorist attacks like the one in Boston.

Gabriel Schoenfeld, a national security expert and senior fellow at the Hudson Institute who is often on the opposite ends of issues from Mr. Greenwald, called him, “a highly professional apologist for any kind of anti-Americanism no matter how extreme.”

Mr. [Andrew] Sullivan wrote in an e-mail: “I think he has little grip on what it actually means to govern a country or run a war. He’s a purist in a way that, in my view, constrains the sophistication of his work.”

“Purist” is one of those code words for “principled and honest”; “apologist for anti-Americanism” means he expects better of our own government’s administration. I really detest these lying conservative weasels who think it is in our country’s best interests to hide the underhanded crap our shadier elements perpetrate; these people make excuses for criminal activities that undermine our nation’s effectiveness and corrupt the goals towards which we should be working. You want to find a true anti-American? Look for someone who rejects any effort to uncover its flaws and correct them.

A perfect example: Barack Obama is meeting with President Xi Jinping of China. I’m sure Jinping welcomes the news that he’s negotiating with a country that has as little respect for individual liberty as his does.

The timing for Barack Obama couldn’t be worse. Just as he meets for the first time to forge a new diplomatic relationship with his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, a series of exposes on the secret surveillance programs of the US National Security Agency has presented a major distraction and eroded America’s moral high ground.

The meeting at a gigantic estate in California called Sunnylands is a chance for the two world leaders to establish personal rapport and find common ground, but it’s also inevitably a joust for diplomatic leverage. After months of leaked reports about Beijing’s cyber espionage campaign against US corporations and military targets in the lead-up to the Sunnylands meeting, Obama was expected to put cyber-security near the top of the agenda—and he probably will still do so.

But now Xi has an easy rejoinder to any criticisms from  Obama: how can the US complain when has been caught running a large-scale data harvesting program? The NSA’s inclusion of Americans among its targets has raised the most controversy, but don’t forget that the program is purportedly aimed at foreigners—surely many Chinese among them.

As is common, I expect the superficial ideologues of both the right and the left to complain bitterly that the problem isn’t the crime of compromising American privacy, but the exposure of the rotten behavior by our government.

Why an atheist monument next to a 10 Commandments display is a good thing
Fox News
People entering the Bradford County Courthouse in Starke, Florida will soon be able to have a look at both a monument featuring the Ten Commandments and another one which will feature quotes celebrating secularism as well. And why not? What's good ...

Atheists set to unveil first public monument at Florida courthouse
Washington Times
Come June 29, a county courthouse in Northern Florida will have the dubious distinction of becoming the first public property in America to display a monument touting atheism. The monument is set for unveiling on that date, Religion News Service reported.

Hug An Atheist Day 2013: Indian Facebook Event Lists Cuddle Spots Nationwide
Huffington Post UK
Freethinkers in India will be getting touchy feely on Friday as the country celebrates 'hug an atheist' day. The event is a first for India and follows in the footsteps of the American tradition, which has been held on the first Friday of June for the ...

International Business Times
Atheist Monument To Be Erected Outside Bradford County, Florida Courthouse
International Business Times
Dave Muscato, the public relations director for American Atheists, told The Gainesville Sun that if religious groups are allowed to have monuments, "it's only appropriate that we have matching monuments." According to Muscato, the atheist monument is ...
North Fla. county to allow atheist monumentHouston Chronicle
Atheist Monument at Florida Courthouse to Protest 10 Commandments (VIDEO)Christian Post
First Public Atheist Monument To Go Up In FloridaWebProNews
Washington Times -The State
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Raw Story
Atheist group blames school for student reciting the Lord's Prayer at graduation
Washington Times
An atheist group is pointing fingers at the school board for a South Carolina valedictorian who ripped up his prepared remarks at a graduation ceremony and instead recited the Lord's Prayer. The Freedom From Religion Foundation said the Pickens County ...
Atheist group blames school district for valedictorian's graduation prayerRaw Story
Atheist group blasts teen valedictorian for reciting Lord's PrayerBizPac Review
Crowd stunned after valedictorian rips up speechFOX43.com
Patch.com
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IBTimes.co.uk
First Atheist Monument in US to Be Erected Outside Florida Courthouse
IBTimes.co.uk
The first monument dedicated to atheism is to be erected in the US outside a courthouse in Florida. The 1,500lb granite bench will be placed near a Ten Commandments monument installed last year. It is being put in place by the American Atheists, who ...

I read Scenes from a Multiverse every day, don’t you? I’ve been a fan for a long time, since Goats even. And now Jonathan Rosenberg has a new printed collection out, so you can buy it and read read read.

If you don’t like the comic, though, you should still buy it so you can read the foreword. It’s great, maybe we can talk the publisher into issuing it in its own special edition. Really, it’s that good.

OK, the comic is pretty funny, too.

Atheist monument at Florida courthouse to rival 10 Commandments display
Fox News
STARKE, Fla. – A North Florida county courthouse will soon be home to what's believed to be the first public monument dedicated to atheism in the nation. Bradford County has reached a deal to allow American Atheists to install a 1,500-pound granite ...

The hacker who exposed the rot in the Steubenville rape case has been arrested by the FBI and faces serious jail time.

At first, he thought the FBI agent at the door was with FedEx. "As I open the door to greet the driver, approximately 12 FBI SWAT team agents jumped out of the truck, screaming for me to "Get the fuck down!" with M-16 assault rifles and full riot gear, armed, safety off, pointed directly at my head," http://www.projectknightsec.com/Lostutter wrote today on his blog. "I was handcuffed and detained outside while they cleared my house."

He believes that the FBI investigation was motivated by local officials in Steubenville. "They want to make an example of me, saying, ‘You don’t fucking come after us. Don’t question us."

If convicted of hacking-related crimes, Lostutter could face up to 10 years behind bars—far more than the one- and two-year sentences doled out to the Steubenville rapists. Defending himself could end up costing a fortune—he’s soliciting donations here. Still, he thinks getting involved was worth it. "I’d do it again," he says.

Rape a girl, get a sympathetic press and a light jail sentence in the juvenile system. Expose the rape of a girl, get a decade of prison time. Anyone else find this a little bit out of balance?

To compound the hypocrisy, Lostutter is being criminalized for cracking open supposedly private data. At the same time, it has been announced that the Obama administration has authorized the NSA to snoop on private email, chats, file storage—everything we put on the net. If the data has already been compromised to hell and gone by our own government, how can our government make a case against Lostutter? Can we expect a SWAT team to nab Barack Obama now?

I can’t believe…YOU CAN DO WHAT IN TEXAS? Jesus Fuck, but it’s time for a national intervention in that goddamn state. Redirect the drones from Afghanistan to this bloated tumor in our own country now, or if that’s politically untenable, rip out their rotten political core and replace it with something decent.

Decent Texans are bowing their heads in shame right now. Or planning to move.

There are very good reasons to use a pseudonym on a blog. Perhaps you have opinions that are contrary to the majority in your region, and you face serious consequences if your identity gets out; Lord knows, many atheists have that particular problem. Or perhaps you just want to use the internet to have a conversation, and would rather it not lead to greater and more intrusive involvement; I know women who’d rather not see an escalation of an interaction from people who don’t know how to graciously accept a “no.” Sometimes people sensibly try to limit their commitment to the internet and the often too agressive efforts by the internet to commit to them. All things in moderation and all that.

But there are also bad reasons to use a pseudonym on a blog. The very worst? Some people use anonymity to empower their ability to be a shithead. They snipe and sneer, they hide behind fake names, they use multiple sock puppets to generate the illusion that more people support their hatred, and also to prevent people from blocking them — they want to force you to read their venom.

I do not support shitheads.

I ban them. I am announcing now that if you persist in being a shithead on my blog, I won’t hesitate to expose your IP address and email. There have just been too many of you lately, and I’m spending too much time cleaning up the smears of shit you leave everywhere you go. I am aware that you’ll spend more effort now trying to cover your tracks, because that’s what you do: you’re a shithead and a coward. But I don’t care, and if I find you are using an anonymizer, or a fake email address, or are using multiple identities, that will be sufficient grounds to ban you.

On a related note, I’ve noticed that prominent shitheads tend to have absolutist opinions about their “rights”. They have a right to free speech, they declare; they can say any damn thing they want, and it is their privilege. They also shriek in outrage about “dropping dox” — how dare anyone reveal their identities to the world? I have seen enough of this black and white nonsense about an unqualified support for free speech and an unqualified opposition to “dropping dox”, and I’m here to tell you…you don’t get to hold both positions. They’re incompatible. If you want to be free to say anything, I expect you to have the courage of your convictions and be willing to stand up for what you believe.

I have absolutely no respect for someone who insists on the privilege of simultaneously being a shithead and being free of any responsibility for what they say.

So post anonymously if you want, but realize that I expect responsible and reasonable behavior if you do so.

A Queer Atheist In the Heart of Mormon Country
Religion Dispatches
(LGBTQ adults and atheists still cannot do so openly.) As I read about Utah Pride in preparation for my remarks this upcoming weekend as the 2013 Boston Pride interfaith speaker, I couldn't help but reflect on what I learned during a recent visit to Utah.

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Christian Post
Atheist Monument to Stand By Ten Commandments at Florida Courthouse (VIDEO)
Christian Post
The first monument dedicated to atheism will be constructed alongside a Ten Commandments monument at a courthouse in Florida, according to reports. decalogue (Photo Courtesy Community Men's Fellowship)A Ten Commandments monument at the Free ...

Atheist monument going up soon in Bradford County
Gainesville Sun
American Atheists didn't plan to erect a monument to atheism when the Ten Commandments monument was unveiled last year, Muscato said. It wanted the religious monument removed from its perch in front of a government building and sued Bradford ...

Christian Post
North Fla. County to Allow Atheist Monument
ABC News
The courtyard outside the Bradford County Courthouse in north Florida will soon become home to a monument to atheism. This small county has reached a deal to let a national organization install a 1,500-pound granite bench near an existing Ten ...
First Public Atheist Monument To Go Up In FloridaWebProNews
Atheist Monument at Florida Courthouse to Protest 10 Commandments (VIDEO)Christian Post
Atheist monument refutes notion US founded on Christian religionExaminer.com

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