Oppose Spiritual Heritage Week

Today, Rep. Randy Forbes of Virginia, the Founder and Chairman of the Congressional Prayer Caucus, and twenty-four other members of the House of Representatives, co-sponsored a resolution in Congress that would “affirm the rich spiritual and religious history of our Nation's founding and subsequent history and express support for designation of the first week in May as America's Spiritual Heritage Week for the appreciation of and education on America's history of religious faith.”

The resolution, H.RES. 397, would put Congress on record as “recognize[ing] the religious foundations of faith on which America was built are critical underpinnings of our Nation's most valuable institutions and form the inseparable foundation for America's representative processes, legal systems, and societal structures.”

In addition, the resolution “rejects, in the strongest possible terms, any effort to remove, obscure, or purposely omit such history from our Nation's public buildings and educational resources” and justifies the need to keep “under God” in the pledge. 

Last year, when a similar measure was introduced, 93 members of the House of Representatives co-sponsored this legislation.

Our elected officials need to know that these "Christian nation" resolutions distort America's history and exclude the history of atheists, humanists, freethinkers and other nontheists who have made significant contributions to our nation. 

Their denial of the secular nature of our government means that these members of Congress are not only disagreeing with Americans who know that we are not a Christian nation (and never have been), but they are also disputing our President who recently promoted America’s secular heritage abroad during a trip to Turkey. 

In this new era of promoting science and evidence, no representative should feel compelled to support the agenda of the Congressional Prayer Caucus and their attempts to infuse personal religious values into public policy.

More Gun Control Please

U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly made a great ruling recently, halting the Bush Administration’s last minute attempt to allow loaded, hidden firearms into America’s national parks and wildlife refuges. The judge issued an injunction restoring prior rules in those public lands that weapons be unloaded and safely secured.

Bringing a concealed gun into a national park is simply ridiculous. I do not want some trigger happy yahoo packing a gun into a park where me and my family might be spending time.

There are too many guns in our society, and too many gun related deaths and injury. Education is a start, but we need to do more.

Those who own and possess guns put everyone around them at risk. There should be strict and stringent requirements for those who own and possess fire arms. Aside from criminal background checks, individuals desiring to own a gun should be made to pass competency tests (both written and practical) as well as a psychological evaluation. The cost of these examinations and evaluations should be paid by the individual desiring to own a fire arm.

Guns should be restricted whenever and wherever possible. We need more gun control, not less. It is time to take action. It is time to stop the gun lobby's radical agenda. It is time for Democrats to reclaim their leadership on the prevention of gun violence. It is time to support meaningful and comprehensive gun laws to address the gun violence crisis in America.

More Americans say they have no religion

A wide-ranging study on American religious life found that the Roman Catholic population has been shifting out of the Northeast to the Southwest, the percentage of Christians in the nation has declined and more people say they have no religion at all.

This is good news for all free thinkers who value reason and truth.

Be brave; be strong; be an atheist!

Conservatives love porn!

A recent study has shown that conservatives subscribe to more on line adult entertainment (porn) than their liberal counterparts. In particular, the study shows Christian fundamentalists and Mormons consume the most porn.


States that consume the most porn tend to be more conservative and more religious than those that consume less porn. The biggest consumer was Utah, with 5.47 subscriptions per 1,000 users; where as Montana bought the least with 1.92 per 1,000. Eight of the top ten biggest consumers of porn voted Republican in the 2008 Presidential election.

Residents of the 27 state that have banned gay marriage have 11% more porn subscribers than those states that do not explicitly ban gay marriage.

Subscriptions are also more prevalent in states where surveys indicate conservative positions on religion, gender roles, and sexuality. In states where more people agree that "Even today miracles are performed by the power of God" and "I never doubt the existence of God," there are more subscriptions to this service. Subscriptions are also more prevalent in states where more people agree that "I have old-fashioned values about family and marriage" and "AIDS might be God's punishment for immoral sexual behavior."

This story is worth a good chuckle, and serves as a pointed moral lesson concerning repression and hypocrisy.

Red or Blue?

I find it curious that folks are willing to bash Obama before he has even begun. But I am biased,I reside on the left coast and identify with the blue. The red states represent the ignorant, the backward, the frightened. Hence we must be defensive. The red states are dangerous. The red states represent social conservatives and religious fundamentalists.

I am thrown into the division - the culture wars - this is the world as I found it. And I will take a stand and I will take a side. Let me over simplify for the sake of brevity and clarity: Blue is good; red is bad. Left coast, liberal, progressive, is good; bible belt, conservative, Christian, is bad.

Not every single person in a red state is the enemy, just a majority. When the red state majority opposes gay rights, threatens a woman's right to choose, and cares more about keeping their guns than feeding the hungry, they are hurting people.

I urge you, gentle reader, to take a stand and engage the battle lest you regret your thoughtful indecision. If you choose not to decide you still have made a choice.