Florida School District Sued For Treating Atheist Group Differently Than Christian Group

created image showing The Wall Between Church and State

Some Christians and right wingers cry and whine about their freedom of religion being suppressed when their Christian privilege is called out or shut down. But time and again, when the roles are reversed, those same Christians see no problem in suppressing points of view that contradict their beliefs. Orange County School Board in Florida allowed a Christian group to distribute literature, including the Holy Bible, in their high schools. When an atheist group wanted to do the same the school district and the schools did everything they could to sabotage the effort. The Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) is suing the school district in Federal court.

Hemant Mehta at Friendly Atheist has the details:

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As Some Dismiss Feminism In The Atheist Movement, They Fail To Know Their History

image of American Atheist founder Madalyn Murray O'Hair
Before Richard Dawkins, Madalyn Murray O’Hair was THE public face of Atheism

As much as I get frustrated about the unnecessary backlash against atheist feminists, it makes me even more upset to see some well meaning opponents of feminism in the movement who fail to learn from history. Tom Flynn, the editor of Free Inquiry and the executive director of the Council for Secular Humanism, points out the work of women on the front lines in the struggle of freethought in the last 40 years of the 20th century. Women have led the major atheist groups from the 1960’s to the present.

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Seculars, Young And Old, Need To Work Together

clipart showing a reading circle
How I imagine older Humanists passing on their knowledge to younger Humanists

It has been almost 20 years since I officially chucked religion once and for all and identified as an Atheist and Humanist. Getting rid of the irrational belief system called religion was the most liberating thing that had happened to me in my life to that point and I wanted everyone to know it. I became an evangelist for rational thought and if you didn’t agree with me you were a moron. Now 20 years and many battles later I don’t feel the fire in my belly as much. I’m still a non-believer but I am more selective about what gets me cranked up. Is it my age? Have I gained some kind of wisdom as I got older that mellowed me out. Maybe it is some kind of secular menopause.

*Editor’s note* Since this post was originally published and after some good feedback in the comments below I have rewritten a couple of paragraphs to clarify my thoughts. I didn’t intend to offend any reader young or old. This post was mainly an expression of my thoughts on the subject and how I need to do better. I expressed the thoughts I know are not productive as means of illustrating that it was not productive. If you read the entire post you should see that my point as set in the title is that all of us seculars, young and old, need to work together. We all have different things we can bring to the movement. Thanks again for the feedback and reading this post.

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With Sanford Win, Family Values Crowd No Longer Morally Superior

image of Mark Sanford
Family Values Poster Boy: Mark Sanford

Serial adulterer, liar, and former Governor of South Carolina Mark Sanford won a seat in Congress on Tuesday. What gets me is the family values crowd who claim to be morally superior and who dare to demand we live our lives a certain way yet don’t hold their own members to the same standard. Mark Sanford thy name is hypocrisy.

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Today Is The National Day of Reason

graphic with words National Day of Reason
National Day of Reason: May 2nd 2013

Thursday May 2nd is the National Day of Reason in the United States. The day is a secular celebration for humanists, atheists, and other secularists and freethinkers in response to the National Day of Prayer, that is unfortunately a legal holiday in the United States. Our government shouldn’t be giving official sanction to a particular religious belief. It should spend its time trying to solve issues of concern to all Americans.

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