Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1883

A Conference for Atheist and Agnostic Alcoholics is Taking Place in California This Weekend

This weekend, in Santa Monica, California, the We Agnostics & Free Thinkers International AA Convention is taking place for non-religious people who struggle with alcoholism:

It’s fascinating for a few reasons: Alcoholics Anonymous is a theistic group (forcing atheists who use the program to make adjustments to the Twelve Steps). The speakers are (mostly) anonymous, using the typical first name, last initial designation.

The topics are interesting, too. Among them: “Is spirituality compatible with Agnostic AA?,” “The importance of having the WAFT voice in AA literature,” “Reaching WAFTs in the Digital Age,” and “LGBT WAFT.”

While it may not be possible, especially since this is the first conference of its kind — organizers plan to hold a conference every two years — I hope there’s a way to make these speeches and discussions available to the public. I’m sure they could help a lot of people who would shy away from AA’s religious program but who are unable to make it to California this weekend.

Incidentally, the New York Times covered the organization earlier this year and you can read more about how atheists deal with alcoholism here.

Poll Worker Ousted for Saying “God Bless You” to Everyone

There are a couple of simple rules for those working the polls on Election Day: Don’t talk about politics. Don’t talk about religion. You get the idea.

Ruth Provencal broke those rules during September’s primaries in Derry, New Hampshire by saying “God bless you” to voters.

That’s why she was asked not to work during Tuesday’s elections:

“She continually breaks the rules,” [chairman of the town's Supervisors of the Checklist Renee] Routhier said Monday. “She was saying, ‘God bless you’ to people who were out to vote. We have to be very careful what we do at the polls.”

Provencal claims she said “God bless you” several times when a voter sneezed and was shocked when she received the call last week.

“I was taken by surprise and said, ‘OK, and God bless you,’” Provencal said. “I didn’t know there was a law against what you could say.”

She didn’t know any better, but she doesn’t seem to show any sign of stopping, so it was the right move to ask her not to work. Provencal claims this is an infringement on her free speech rights, but that’s just her ignorance popping up once again. This isn’t a free speech issue. This is a matter of not influencing voters when they’re about to vote — and as the Religious Right knows very well, God is all too potent a force in politics.

(Image via American Spirit / Shutterstock.com. Thanks to Brian for the link)

“In God We Trust” Resolution Rescinded in Humboldt (CA) After Atheists Threaten Lawsuit

Earlier this week, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors (in California) scheduled a vote to display the phrase “In God We Trust” in the county chambers. The proposal was introduced by Supervisor Rex Bohn (below):

But as soon as the proposal was introduced, they were warned that a lawsuit would be forthcoming if they followed through with their plans. Atheist Carole Beaton and attorney Peter Martin, who put a stop to city-sponsored prayer breakfasts in the city of Eureka a couple of months ago, warned the supervisors they would be paying close attention to the vote:

In a letter sent to the board [Monday] morning, Martin suggested that Bohn is trying to “inject religion into county government” and thereby running “the risk of an expensive and divisive civil lawsuit against the County.”

The challenge worked! By Monday afternoon, Bohn said he would withdraw his proposal:

Bohn said he decided to abandon the resolution proposal due to the controversy as well as the potential expense of a legal challenge. “We have big fish to fry and we’re dealing with all these minnows,” he said.

…

Regardless, Bohn said he’ll keep the motto in mind personally. “I’ll change it to ‘In God I trust,’” he joked.

That’s precisely the point, isn’t it? You believe in God; we don’t. So stop putting up signs suggesting your beliefs represent everyone else’s.

(Thanks to Brian for the link)

More Than 20 Years Later, a Jesus Fish Symbol is Covered Up on a War Memorial in Missouri

More than 20 years ago, a war memorial went up outside the Bonne County courthouse in Missouri.

It honored veterans of Operation Desert Storm… and had a Jesus Fish at the bottom of it:

It wasn’t until this year that Americans United For Separation of Church and State found out about it; they sent a letter to county officials in May. That ichthus symbol is no longer visible on the monument because those officials, knowing they would lose a lawsuit on this issue, decided to cover it up:

[County Counselor C.J.] Dykhouse said a decision was made to “do the least harm” by reconfiguring the memorial to cover the ichthus “but leave the secular memorial honoring our veterans.” He said the Washington organization [AU] was “satisfied with that solution.”

Dykhouse said the decision to cover the symbol was “a very reasonable course of action” and “removed the litigation risk associated with the installation of a religious symbol.”

Peter Scavone, who helped put the monument up in the first place, was unhappy with the decision to say the least:

“It was allowed to be placed in 1991. I don’t think the church and state” separation “laws have changed in 20 years,” said [Scavone]…

…

“The county commission’s role is to worry about culverts and gravel roads, not church-and-state issues,” Scavone said Monday morning in a telephone interview.

He said the commission was responding to undocumented complaints, “which is typical cover for a one-party ruled banana republic like the commission.”

There’s a difference, of course, between the Jesus Fish being “allowed” and it going unnoticed. It wasn’t legal then, but no one called the county out on it until just recently. It’s not too late to correct the mistake.

(Image via Waymarking. Thanks to Brian for the link)

Mississippi Group Wants to Establish Christianity as the State Religion

A Mississippi group known as the Magnolia State Heritage Campaign is working to get an amendment on the 2016 ballots that would, among other things, establish Christianity as the state religion:

The State of Mississippi hereby acknowledges the fact of her identity as a principally Christian and quintessentially Southern state, in terms of the majority of her population, character, culture, history, and heritage, from 1817 to the present; accordingly, the Holy Bible is acknowledged as a foremost source of her founding principles, inspiration, and virtues; and, accordingly, prayer is acknowledged as a respected, meaningful, and valuable custom of her citizens. The acknowledgments hereby secured shall not be construed to transgress either the national or the state Constitution’s Bill of Rights.

As if the middle finger Mississippi was sending religious minorities wasn’t already large enough…

They still have an uphill battle, needing more than 100,000 signatures before the amendment can be voted on by the people. But this is Mississippi. If anything can get people excited to vote, this would be it.

Rob Boston of Americans United for Separation of Church and State says that the initiative has no chance of surviving even if it passes:

Finally, there is no way to proclaim — even in a quasi-official manner — an official state religion without running afoul of the U.S. Constitution. If the people of Mississippi are foolish enough to pass this monstrosity, there’s little doubt it would be immediately challenged in court. And the state will lose.

It wouldn’t be the first time the state does something idiotic.

The strangest statement in all this may come from one of the activists working to get the initiative on the ballot:

“My great great grandfather, James Hervey, fought on the Confederate side. Also, my grandfather died in World War II in segregated armed forces, fighting for the United States, so I have the right to fight for my southern heritage,” said Anthony Hervey of the Magnolia Heritage Campaign.

I don’t understand why anyone would want to preserve such an awful heritage… but it’s hardly relevant, anyway. Your wistful memories of segregation and slavery don’t trump the Constitution.

The group’s plan doesn’t stop there, by the way:

The measure would call for the display of the Mississippi state flag, which includes elements from the Confederate flag, in front of all public buildings, designate “Dixie” as the official state song, and preserve Confederate symbols at the University of Mississippi.

It’s like a big game of “How many awful ideas can we pack into one ballot initiative?” I don’t expect much from the state, but it’d be nice to see more residents speak out against this.

(via Raw Story. Thanks to Shauna for the link)

Counties That Adopt “In God We Trust” Resolutions Are “Poor, Uneducated, and Overwhelmingly White”

In God We Trust ~ America, Inc. is the organization dedicated to putting up religious plaques all around the country .

It turns out they’ve done quite well: Nearly 400 cities and counties have approved their sample resolution, putting up “In God We Trust” signs in government buildings.

Hank Sims, writing for the Lost Coast Outpost, decided to analyze the 77 counties (rather than cities, presumably so there’s no overlap) that have adopted the resolution to discover what they have in common. Turns out God’s Country, his name for the collection of 77 counties, leaves a lot to be desired:

The kind of county that adopts this resolution is poor, uneducated and overwhelmingly white.

Here’s just one example of what he found:

What conclusions can we draw from that?

Not very much, unfortunately. If anything, it just complements what we’ve known for a while: there’s a correlation between education levels, wealth, diversity, and religiosity.

So “In God We Trust” resolutions are passed in more religious areas… surprise!

It also suggests, though, that we need to pay special attention to these local governments because they’re the ones most likely to pass resolutions that enshrine religion into law. It’s that attention that led to an IGWT resolution being rescinded in Humboldt, California this week.

(Thanks to Brian for the link)

After Two Years, Lake Elsinore Will Finally Unveil a Veterans Memorial, This Time Without Religious References

In 2012, the City Council of Lake Elsinore, California unanimously approved a $50,000 veterans’ monument to be placed in front of Diamond Stadium, a city-owned minor league baseball stadium (a mockup of which is below):

That’s a soldier kneeling in front of several Christian crosses… and one Jewish star. Because only Christians have died in our country’s wars.

And one Jew.

And no one else, ever.

The city council’s lawyer warned board members that this would be illegal, but they didn’t listen.

In July of 2013, a U.S. District Court judge issued a preliminary injunction in the case, essentially saying the monument was illegal. It stopped the memorial from being built temporarily, but it wasn’t a final decision on its constitutionality.

Earlier this year, the same judge, after hearing both sides present their cases in court, issued a much more definitive ruling: the monument violated the law.

The Court concludes that Lake Elsinore’s veterans’ memorial was designed without a predominantly secular purpose, and that its principal effect is to advance religion. Therefore, the memorial design violates the Lemon test. Because the memorial design violates Lemon, the Court concludes that the memorial violates both the U.S. Constitution’s Establishment Clause and California’s Establishment and No Preference Clauses.

Judge Stephen Wilson based his conclusion about how the monument’s “principal effect” was to advance religion by quoting the City Council members themselves:

… there is strong evidence that at the October 23, 2012 Lake Elsinore City Council meeting, multiple City Council members expressed a predominantly religious interest in keeping the cross on the memorial. Responding to members of the community who expressed legal concerns about including the cross, Mayor Pro Tem Hickman said “I feel sorry for us that we as Christians cannot show the cross because of the First Amendment. Okay. It really is a shame that our society, to me, is leaning that way.”… Later in resisting a motion to continue a vote on the memorial until other designs were considered, Mr. Hickman added: “I’m not going to sit here and wait for people to denigrate my beliefs, okay… Let them just present their designs. We don’t have to change it.”… Council Member Melendez added that “it is a sad reflection on our society when as a Christian nation, one of the principles upon which we were founded is something that we are forced to hide.”… And in response to the motion to continue the vote, she later stated: “You know what… I think at some point you have to take a stand. I’m sorry. I just think you do. And I’m going to make a substitute motion that we approve this project as is and where it is.”

Which brings us to what’s happening this week in Lake Elsinore.

A Veterans Memorial will finally be unveiled this weekend outside Diamond Stadium… but it won’t have any religious references:

The City’s new Veterans Memorial includes two monument areas in front of the entrance of the Diamond Stadium. The upper memorial area is a large, custom premium black granite monument etched with the depiction of a solider in front of a fallen soldier’s battlefield grave. The grave is marked by the rifle, helmet, dog tags and the boots of a fallen soldier. This has become a well-known symbol to respect and honor those lost in battle and is a practice that dates back to the American Civil War.

In an article about the unveiling, my favorite passage has to be this one:

After forming a committee to come up with a design, the City Council approved a design that included Christian crosses and Stars of David, despite opposition. Two residents successfully sued the city to block the design as a violation of the principle of separation of church and state.

Though a nonprofit legal group defended the city at no cost, the city wound up having to pay plaintiffs’ attorneys fees of $200,000, dwarfing the $60,000 budgeted for the project.

That legal group was Pacific Justice Institute, which prides itself on working “diligently, without charge, to provide… clients with all the legal support they need.”

Keep that in mind the next time a group like Alliance Defending Freedom says they’ll represent a school district or other group for free. They won’t charge their own fees, but if you lose the case (which you probably will), you’re on your own when it comes to paying for the other side’s legal bills.

(Large portions of this article were published earlier. Thanks to Brian for the link)

Egypt Court Sentences Eight Men to Prison for Gay Wedding Video

Eight men in Egypt face a three-year jail sentence for broadcasting a video of a same-sex wedding and, as a result, “shaming God.”

The men were charged for “spreading indecent images” and “violating public decency” after filming two men kissing, exchanging rings and celebrating with cheering friends on a Nile riverboat, suggesting a same-sex wedding. They were initially detained in September after Egypt’s chief prosecutor called the video “shameful to God” and “offensive to public morals.”

Egypt is a primarily Muslim country with a minority of Christians, and while homosexuality isn’t outlawed, it is still a “social taboo.” According to Al Jazeera:

The arrests were the latest in a string of highly publicized police raids on suspected gay people in the country, prompting a US-based social networking application used by gays to urge caution to users in Egypt.

Homosexuality is not specifically banned under Egyptian law, so the men, arrested in September, were convicted of broadcasting images that “violated public decency.”

Because homosexuality is not technically illegal in Egypt, the charges in this case and others like it are tied heavily to the idea of respecting Islam and the “public morals” of that religion, hence repeated mentions of concepts like decency and morality in the verdicts.

In the past, homosexuals have been jailed on charges ranging from “scorning religion” to “sexual practices contrary to Islam,” the country’s dominant religion.

In April, a court sentenced four men to up to eight years in prison for practicing homosexuality.

Prosecutors had accused them of holding “deviant parties” and dressing in women’s clothes. Three were sentenced to eight years and the fourth to three years in prison.

The Associated Press adds that the Egyptian government has been targeting not only LGBT people, but atheists, liberals, pro-democracy activists, street protesters, and anyone else who appears to counter its conservative Muslim ideals:

Human Rights Watch, which is based in New York, said in September that Egyptian authorities had repeatedly arrested and tortured men believed to have engaged in consensual gay conduct.

In 2001, Egypt made news around the world when 52 men were arrested in a police raid on a Nile riverboat restaurant and accused of taking part in a sex party. After a highly publicized trial in an emergency state security court, 23 of the men were convicted and sentenced to prison terms of one to five years on charges of immoral behavior and contempt of religion.

Egypt’s crackdown on gays and atheists is taking place as the country of nearly 90 million people appears to be steadily moving to the right, as the army and security forces battle Islamic militants waging a campaign of violence in Sinai.

The eight defendants denied the charges — as well they should have — and their families are rightly outraged at the verdict. And it’s pretty clear that government officials aren’t the only ones perpetuating these toxic ideas, which is just as disappointing.

One defense lawyer, Emad Sobhi, insisted that the court had caved in to popular pressure in the country.

“My clients are innocent of practicing homosexuality,” he told the AFP news agency. “The court succumbed to public opinion.”

(Image via Shutterstock)

Texas School District Challenged for Allowing Crosses and Bible Verses in Classrooms and Selling Religious Shirts

How many church/state violations does one public school district need to make before even other Christians start saying they’ve gone too far…?

Well, let’s see what’s happening in the Mt Vernon Independent School District in Texas.

There are religious messages on the walls, like this one from Ronald Reagan:

“Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face.”

There’s also a (likely misattributed) quotation by Thomas Paine that says: “Reputation is what men and women think of us, character is what God and angels know of us.” Paine, you probably wouldn’t guess from the quotation, was a Deist.

What about this wall of Christian crosses in a kindergarten classroom, some of which have Bible verses printed on them?

What about this list of “Bible Verses for Teachers” that one high school Spanish teacher has up on her classroom wall?

That list includes Ephesians 3:16-17: “I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.”

What about this t-shirt sold at Mt. Vernon Elementary that says “FAITH — Family — TIGERS” with the “T” in “FAITH” replaced by a cross?

The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s attorney Sam Grover sent a letter to the district recently documenting all the problems and urging the district to put a stop to all these endorsements of Christianity:

“Given the variety and pervasiveness of the violations reported to us, we recommend that the district not only address the specific violations reported here, but also make an effort to educate all district employees about their obligation to remain neutral toward religion under the Establishment Clause,” the letter concluded.

“We have rarely seen such a collection of egregious state/church violations in one school district,” commented Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president. “This is religion run amok, targeting a captive audience of young students, including elementary school students. All of these religious mottos, symbols, posters, bible verses and Christian T-shirts should be removed immediately.”

This would never stand if the district was pushing Islam or atheism on students. For the same reason, it shouldn’t be allowed with Christianity. That’s not an anti-Christian argument. It’s pro-neutrality and it’s best for everybody in the schools.

High School Football Player Celebrates Touchdown with Brief Prayer… and Gets Penalized for Unsportsmanlike Conduct

On Friday night, when Sam Turner caught a touchdown pass for Fort Myers High School, he celebrated with an end zone prayer — and was quickly flagged with a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct:

The penalty is pretty much guaranteed when a player drops to his knees for a celebration, regardless of reason, but it’s hardly surprising that some Christians see this as an assault on faith and are congratulating Turney for what he did:

Although the 15-yard penalty Turner received for the 5-second devotional was not expected by the 16-year-old senior, he has since taken it in stride.

“It’s very cool to see how everyone is taking it,” he said. “I use my faith as a platform for my talents. My teammates are giving my tons of support. They all know I’m strong believer, even though it cost us 15 yards.” He also acknowledged it might have been a little tougher if the penalty had cost them the game.

That article at The News-Press includes several comments from Christians:

Gina Marie What the hell is wrong with this country? It’s America…. this is God’s country. They shouldn’t have to pay to get in the game then because it’s made with money that says In God We Trust. Worry about more important crap than a kid praying you idiots.

…

Susan Natalia Jerger It was awesome and I hope if it happens again that he does it again! I also pray this goes national and some awesome college football coach that shares Sam’s faith, both on and off the field, recruits and picks him up after seeing this! I’ve got one in mind Sam!!!

…

Tom Stawicki WTH… this is high a school game. Ref get a life.

The refs were just doing their job, just as they did in September during a Monday Night Football game when the Kansas City Chiefs’ Husain Abdullah intercepted a Tom Brady pass, ran it in for a touchdown, and slid to his knees in a brief prayer. (The refs in that case later apologized, arguably due to pressure.)

At least Turner’s coach understood the ref’s decision:

Turner’s coach, Sam Sirianni Jr., said he cannot fault the emotions displayed by Turner nor can he find fault with the reaction by the officials.

“It comes down to a ref’s discretion,” he said. “To them, they try to follow the letter of the rules. You accept both sides. I have seen it happen at all levels. The officials have to toe the line.”

It’s amazing how a disciplined player can do everything he needs to do to score a touchdown… but is unable to resist the shout-out to Jesus afterwards.

(Thanks to Matt for the link)