I will be a guest on a radio show called “Interconnect” on Monday 3/6/06 from 9 AM to 10 AM eastern time. The show is hosted by WMUB at Miami University of Ohio in Oxford. Edward Tabash from CSH and Americans United will be the other guest. The topic is “Civil Rights for Atheists”
Category: Positive
On 2/23, the ACLU reached an agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in a case challenging federal funding of religious activities in a nationwide abstinence-only-until-marriage program, the Silver Ring Thing.
HHS agreed to stop funding the program which also proselytize to the teens.
And a recommended website that supports separation of church and state
On Tuesday, February 14th, at the monthly meeting of the Ohio Board of Education, it voted 11 to 4 to remove the lesson plan that allowed Intelligent Design to be taught in public schools.
Of course the issue is not closed. I would be foolish to think so, but it is less likely now that the same lesson plan could be approved again. However since four board member’s terms end at the end of the year, real science supporters need to pay attention and make sure that religious conservatives don’t back door us again.
HCCO sent letters to the mayors of several Central Ohio cities and asked for a proclamation recognizing February 12th as Darwin Day in their city. Mayors issue proclamations as way to give special recognition to various groups and ideas. It is common practice for a mayor to issue one in recognition of the National Day of Prayer.
One of the responses was a surprise.
Mayor Robert L. McPherson of Reynoldsburg, OH was the first mayor to declare Darwin Day.
We are told we are “affected” by skepticism that we only believe what we see. Our minds are small, we are told, unable to grasp the whole “truth” of the vast universe. We are told that there would no art or romance and we would live in a dreary world indeed. We are told children need to believe or all light in the world would be extinguished — What the hell!?!
What is interesting about the editorial is if you substitute “Jesus” or “God” for “Santa Claus” you can read some of the very same arguments used to rebut those who don’t believe in any of them.
Here is how I rewrite the editorial had it come to me in 1897:
Virginia, your little friends are right. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their minds. We may not know everything about this great universe of ours, but we know there is the possibility we may learn.
Read more in the latest episode of Secular Left
On December 20, 2005, Judge John E. Jones III, In The United States District Court For The Middle District Of Pennsylvania, ruled that the Dover District School Board violated the US Constitution when they changed the 9th grade Biology curriculum to include Intelligent Design (ID).
Some of the members of the Board who voted for the change didn’t even know what ID was all about.
The Judge also took to task some members who lied under oath and tried to cover their tracks when the change caused some issues for the community.