Church ordered to pay $10.9 million for funeral protest
(CNN) — A federal jury in Baltimore, Maryland, Wednesday awarded $10.9 million to a father of a Marine whose funeral was picketed by members of a fundamentalist church carrying signs blaming soldiers’ deaths on America’s tolerance of homosexuals.
The family of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder — who was killed in a vehicle accident in Iraq’s Anbar province in 2006 — sued the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, and its leaders for defamation, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Church members showed up at Snyder’s funeral chanting derogatory slogans and holding picket signs with messages including “God Hates Fags.”
Read the full article at CNN.com
Pew Research Center: Increase in Secular Americans
The number of Americans who say they are atheist or agnostic, or choose not to identify with a religious tradition has increased modestly over the past two decades, with Pew surveys since the beginning of 2006, finding that 12% of U.S. adults identify themselves as secular or unaffiliated with a religious tradition; that compares with 8% in the Pew values survey in 1987.
A movie for children with anti-religious themes – censored
I’m actually pleasantly surprised that New Line Cinema has invested $180 million in a movie based on a set of books by the openly atheist writer Philip Pullman. In fact, the story itself is very critical of religion. I was less surprised to find out that the Catholic League is calling for a boycott of the film, and that the producers of the movie have watered down its atheist message so as not to offend Christian viewers.
LA Time Article: Tests of faith over ‘Compass’
Nevertheless, if you’re a parent looking for a positive children’s movie that you can feel confident will not promote religious doctrine, this may be a good choice.
This is the trailer:
New Ben Stein Creationist-driven documentary grossly misrepresents scientific community
The New York Times reports:
A few months ago, the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins received an e-mail message from a producer at Rampant Films inviting him to be interviewed for a documentary called “Crossroads.”
The film, with Ben Stein, the actor, economist and freelance columnist, as its host, is described on Rampant’s Web site as an examination of the intersection of science and religion. Dr. Dawkins was an obvious choice. An eminent scientist who teaches at Oxford University in England, he is also an outspoken atheist who has repeatedly likened religious faith to a mental defect.
The documentary is called “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed”, a reference to “Intelligent Design” and the supposed ostracism of any scientist claiming to find evidence supporting an intelligent creator.
If you think you can stomach it, here is a preview of Ben Stein’s new diversion from rational thought:
The Price of Atheism
20/20 reports on a young girl in a Christian town who was forced to endure so much scorn from classmates and teachers due to her lack of faith that she ultimately was forced out of school.
30 Days: An Atheist Among Christians
Watch the full 45 minute episode of 30 Days, in which an atheist woman lives for 30 days with an evangelical Christian family. Be warned, it can get quite awkward.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1701937330320385668Discrimination against atheists covered on CNN
CNN did a piece on the discrimination against atheists . . . and their children!
Richard Dawkins brilliantly answers the question, “What if you’re wrong?”
Richard Dawkins, speaking on atheism, is asked the question, “What if you’re wrong?” Watch as he brilliantly takes this question to its logical conclusion…
Christopher Hitchens on Lou Dobbs
Lou Dobbs interviews Christopher Hitchens about atheism and his book God Is Not Great.
Lou Dobbs at the end of the interview calls God Is Not Great a “brilliant book” and recommends his viewers read it.
For the Ron Paul Supporters…
Progressives love Ron Paul! At a time like this, how could they not? He’s a man of honor. He has the courage to truly challenge the status quo. He opposes tyrannical practices such as empire-building, pillaging the environment, and charging citizens a federal income tax against the will of the Constitution and Supreme Court rulings. He wants to rid us of the federal reserve, which has been robbing us for as long as most of us have been alive. Whether you agree with him or not, he has progressives salivating – and a little confused, considering most of these progressives used to vote either Democrat or third party.
Those progressives should also understand Ron Paul’s positions on religion. As a man of God, he opposes abortions, and he opposes euthanasia . . . hardly the positions of a secularist. He believes this country was founded on Christian principles, despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
He even supports prayer in school . . . or at least, he supports allowing the states to decide for themselves.
Witness the way he refers to “secularists” in this article, written by Paul in 2005:
Here Ron Paul admonishes leftists for their “War on Religion”, because it has destroyed the Christmas spirit:
In this quote from Ron Paul, he makes his distaste for separation of church and state very clear:
The notion of a rigid separation between church and state has no basis in either the text of the Constitution or the writings of our Founding Fathers. On the contrary, our Founders’ political views were strongly informed by their religious beliefs. Certainly the drafters of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, both replete with references to God, would be aghast at the federal government’s hostility to religion.
This troubles me, because he claims to be a strict adherent to the Constitution… and here he claims that the Constitution is “replete” with references to God. If you take a look at the constitution (http://www.house.gov/paul/constitution.html), you can count the number of references it makes to God. My count: not once.