Religion – Page 9 – Doug's Views

July 2, 2014April 18, 2020

After Hobby Lobby Decision Religion Can Get Between You And Your Doctor

US Supreme Court said Hobby Lobby owners know more than your doctor

The conservative propaganda machine is trying like mad to minimize the Hobby Lobby court decision. One argument is that women can still get contraceptives, they just have to pay for it. I wish it was that simple. Kind of like the decision some elderly people have to make – either pay for their expensive medicine and eat cat food or die from untreated medical conditions. It’s a ‘Sophie’s Choice‘ and one where conservatives show they have no heart. The decision covers ALL forms of contraception and includes talking to your doctor about them.

One attempt at conservative spin is to claim that women still have access to birth control but they would have to pay for it themselves.

June 10, 2014April 18, 2020

Atheists Who Cherry-Pick The Holy Bible Aren’t Helping

image of a the Holy Bible with a warning sticker

A link to a post titled ‘Bible Verses That Atheists Love’ showed up in my Facebook feed Monday and just the title made me throw up in my mouth a little. We atheists complain when theists cherry-pick the Bible because they tend to focus on the ‘good’ parts and downplay the ‘bad’ parts. Why in pink unicorns would atheists play into that game by contributing to this silly article. There is nothing in the Bible that I ‘love’ or even like and atheists who play this game aren’t helping the cause.

Several prominent atheists and atheist bloggers contributed to the article:

May 20, 2014April 18, 2020

Draw Muhammad Day

Tuesday, May 20, is ‘Draw Muhammad Day’ which is used to point out the restrictions on free speech and open dialogue concerning religion that exist in many countries. Blasphemy is a victimless crime. Blasphemy laws, however, harm real people for having different ideas about religion and faith than their governments allow. Criticism should never be a crime.

Here is my contribution:

May 2, 2014April 18, 2020

Elected Officials Need To Stop Being Preachers On Day Of Prayer

Thursday May 1st was the National Day of Reason (and for theists it was the National Day of Prayer). Since the majority of people observe the Day of Prayer, our local newspaper had a story about the God pep rally held on the west plaza of the Ohio Statehouse. A building meant to govern all people was turned into a church and the minister was Ohio State Auditor David Yost. The photo with the article made me ill. Elected officials shouldn’t be preaching their religion when acting in their official capacity and government buildings shouldn’t be used as churches.

Here is a screenshot of the front page of the Columbus Dispatch on its website:

April 18, 2014April 18, 2020

Unvaccinated Children Should Have To Register Like Sex Offenders

CDC Poster from the 1950s to vaccinate children against polio

There is an outbreak of Mumps in Franklin county. Even though it isn’t known what led to the outbreak, the event started up discussion on the need to vaccinate. A friend of mine posted a story about the rates of vaccination in the county and I learned that there is a religious exemption to the requirement for childhood vaccinations. This bit of religious privilege makes me angry. I think that if parents decide not to vaccinate their children for non-medical reasons, those children should be registered with the state, like sex offenders are, so we can avoid those children and excluded them from public activities if an outbreak flares up.