Ohio State Senators Returning Teddy Bears Used In Anti-Abortion Stunt

January 16, 2012 by Doug

image of a Teddy Bear Last week I posted about the publicity stunt anti-abortion group Faith2Action pulled at the state house. Surrounded by children some state senators were given Teddy Bears that made a heartbeat sound to try and convince them to pass HB 125. The ‘heartbeat’ bill would prohibit any abortion if a fetal heartbeat is detected. Now it seems senators are giving back the toys because they cost more than $25 and would have to be reported on financial-disclosure forms.
Read Full Post

What Does Religious Freedom Day Really Mean?

January 10, 2012 by Doug

image of the logo for Religious Freedom Day January 16th is National Religious Freedom Day. The day commemorates the Virginia General Assembly’s adoption of Thomas Jefferson’s landmark Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom on January 16, 1786. The Virginia Statute was the basis of the 1st Amendment of the US Constitution and also can be used to support Jefferson’s idea of the separation of church and state. The Religious Right have of course co-opted the day by mass marketing misleading information about what real religious freedom means in this country. Luckily, Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) has some help available to tell the truth.
Read Full Post

War On Christmas? Not Really…

December 9, 2011 by Doug

image of FOX news graphic Like the ubiquitous terror warnings we all enjoyed during the Bush administration, the “War on Christmas” is another conservative dog whistle meant to piss off conservatives and other believers who fall for the false warnings from conservative propaganda machines like FOX “news”. The latest “fire storm” was the lighting of the holiday tree in the capital building in Providence, Rhode Island. The incident shows that efforts to be inclusive in what is a religious holiday, is shouted down by conservative bigots trying to protect Christians privilege.
Read Full Post

Dangerous Right Wing Republican Stupidity At The Value Voters Summit

October 9, 2011 by Doug

Values Voter logo with fine print This weekend was the annual meeting of the religious right wing of the Republican party at the so-called Value Voters Summit. The name of the event is similar to other ironic names associated with cheap-labor conservatives like “Defense of Marriage Act” and “Clear Skies Act of 2003“. Being it’s election season, the current crop of GOP candidates show up to kiss the ring of the Family Research Council and they say some really stupid crap.
Read Full Post

September 11th – A Humanist Response 10 Years On

September 11, 2011 by Doug

Image of WTC before the attack with US Flag in background Today is the 10th anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on US soil. The World Trade Center in New York was attacked shortly before 9 AM on a bright and sunny Tuesday in 2001. By the end of the awful day both towers were destroyed, the Pentagon had been hit, and people were killed in a fourth plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. Five days later I wrote an essay about the attacks from my secular humanist perspective. I went through it this week and have posted it again – changed little from the day I wrote it.
Read Full Post