Atheism makes headway in two surprising places

http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/05/23/atheism-makes-headway-in-two-surprising-places/

“Atheism is making strides in some unlikely places–first, in the Arizona House of Representatives, and then, in a radio address by the Pope himself.”

Atheists Like What They See In Pope Francis’ New Openness

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/23/atheists-like-what-they-see-in-pope-francis-new-openness_n_3329548.html

“We are a community that is just trying to do good and live good lives, just like most communities are,” said Greg Epstein, Harvard University’s Humanist chaplain and author of “Good Without God.” “His statement is an acknowledgment of that. It is welcome and it is gratifying.”

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Is Catholic Church taking over health care in Washington?

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2021029685_westneat22xml.html

“By the end of this year, half of [the state of Washington's] medical system will be Catholic-run, as measured by number of hospital beds. That’s the highest share in the nation, and rising fast — up from about 30 percent just last year. Somehow our godless state has become Ground Zero for faith-based medicine.”

Congrats on the Boy Scouts accepting gay members.

http://www.oregonlive.com/today/index.ssf/2013/05/boy_scouts_vote_to_accept_gay.html

Nice to know that when the fire gets hot enough, they’ll finally budge.  A little.

Gay leaders, however, are still banned.  Because, everyone knows you can’t trust gays.

*SIGH*

Removing the ban on ATHEISTS, of course, isn’t even on the radar.  For either the Scouts, OR the media articles covering the news.

There’s three times more atheists than gays in this country.  But atheists are still OK to hate… so they do.

More Christian proselytizing in the college classroom

https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2013/05/18/the-ffrf-gains-another-victory-against-christian-prosyletizing-in-the-college-classroom/

“Why, in a country where the separation of Church and state is mandated, [do you believe] it’s not okay for high school teachers to inject religion into their classes but it’s okay for professors at state universities to do so. There is no relevant difference here: in both cases it’s government entanglement with religion. There is no Constitutional provision for ‘academic freedom,’ but there is for separating religion from government activities, which include teaching in public schools. Do remember that teachers and professors at public schools are government employees.”

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Change in the Force may allow Jedi marriages

http://www.globallegalpost.com/global-view/change-in-the-force-may-allow-jedi-marriages-37729924/

“Allowing Humanist weddings in [the rest of] Britain would ‘dilute’ the institution of marriage by allowing other ‘ridiculous’ sects to marry couples.”

Humanist weddings are already legal in Scotland, and the “institution” of marriage has not crumbled there. See:

http://www.humanism-scotland.org.uk/content/wedding_ceremonies/.

Humanist officiants

http://www.postbulletin.com/life/lifestyles/human-rites/article_38d43191-c1d5-5e22-b09d-1a4ab147781f.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanist_officiant

Meet Mr. and Mrs. None

http://gazette.com/meet-mr.-and-mrs.-none/article/1500527

‘We are not fighters by nature, but nor are we the kind of people who sit around and watch as religious zealots change our community. Humanism teaches that people need to take responsibility for their own lives and our society, and that’s what we have tried to do. ‘

The Bonobo and the Atheist: In Search of Humanism Among the Primates, by Frans de Waal

“I think morality is actually older than religion.”

http://www.kxan.com/dpps/health/he-studies-where-morals-come-from_6110672

A primatologist “synthesizes evidence that there are biological roots in human fairness, and explores what that means for the role of religion in human societies.”

Why do people need religion?  Well, that’s a good question. I’m struggling with that. I’m personally a nonbeliever, so I’m struggling with if we really need religion. … I’m from the Netherlands, where 60% of the people are nonbelievers. So in northern Europe, there are actually experiments going on now with societies that are more secular, to see if we can maintain a moral society that way, and for the moment I would say that experiment is going pretty well. … Personally I think it is possible to build a society that is moral on a nonreligious basis, but the jury is still out on that.

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If Atheism Was a Religion

A test of your hypocrisy quotient

http://www.news24.com/MyNews24/If-Atheism-Was-a-Religion-20130508

From time to time there is a lot of yapping by theists who charge atheism with “being a religion”.  It is always done with a sneer, a sleight that carries insinuation that being a religion is the height of idiocy.  Much as we agree with that implied sentiment, the howling irony of religious people denigrating the worth of religion seems to elude these commentators; but I don’t want to be distracted too far down that path.

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Religion, Secularity and Suicide

Can a secularist be optimistic?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-w-kropf/religion-secularity-and-suicide_b_3232907.html

We all know, or think we do, what religion is. Nor is there any question in anyone’s mind regarding the finality of suicide. But regardless of all the ranting against secularism by churchmen or religionists — who seem to forget that it is secularity that gives us the freedom to be religious in whatever way we choose — there seems to be quite a bit of confusion on the subject. So just what is it that we mean by the words “secular,” “secularity” and “secularism”?