Kirk Cameron asks "Have you questioned your faith in Atheism?"

Yes our favorite late 80's trouble maker has a message for you!

You may think I posted this video as a joke and in a way I guess I kind of did but the truth is he does have a point, if you don’t question your beliefs (or lack there of) then are you really any better than any of the dogmatic religious folks that we look down upon? I guess what I’m trying to say is that I agree with Kirk you shouldn’t be an atheist because you think its cool (which it totally is) you should be one because that is the logical conclusion that you have come to. Look at the facts and then make your choice. I think it’s a rather easy one to make but everyone is different. If the Atheist Bible can change your opinion on weather or not there is a god then you were probably never really never that solid in your beliefs to begin with.

Quote of the week.

There has really not been a whole lot to post about this week so I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite authors:

"I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world."
- Richard Dawkins

Bus ads hit Madison

The Freedom From Religion Foundation debuted six free thinking bus ads last week in Madison Wisconsin. The ads took quotes from six famous freethinkers or skeptics of history including Clarence Darrow, Emily Dickinson, Butterfly McQueen, Mark Twain and Richard Dawkins. If you are riding a bus in Madison within the next few months you may look up and see this:

This is not the first bus ad that the Freedom From Religion Foundation has had with Madison Metro. In 1983 after stopping a state/church violation involving Madison Metro placing free ads saying, "Keep Christ in Christmas," for the Knights of Columbus the Foundation's got equal time with it’s first bus add which read: "The Bible: A Grim Fairy Tale." In 1984, the Foundation placed a second bus sign, showing a delighted Mary running out of the stable exclaiming, "It's a Girl!"

The Foundation is also known for its national billboard campaign which they started in late 2007 and have already reached about a third of the states. The billboards have several different messages such as: "Imagine No Religion," "Beware of Dogma," "Praise Darwin: Evolve Beyond Belief" and "Keep Religion OUT of Politics."

Ok here’s my take on all of this…I love that they started a national billboard champing in 2007 to me this is the best way to get our message out there, but once again I have an issue with placing the ads on a bus that is owned and operated by the state. In 83 they sued the state of Wisconsin because they ran a Christian ad so now isn’t it a bit hypocritical to place an ad about religion in 09? If you want to keep church and state seperate then you need to keep your own church seperate (or lack there of) as well.

And this is why Church and State don't mix...

As you know I have been following the Canadian atheist bus add story pretty closely and I have expressed my concerns about putting a religious (or lack there of) message on a state owned vehicle. Well this is exactly why I questioned the idea:

From the Edmonton Sun:

The Roman Catholics have talked about wanting equal space for their perspective and now the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada says they’re planning to buy their own bus ads promoting an all-faith approach to religion.

“It’s not an appropriate place (for the debate) but the other group decided to take this path,” Imam Syed Sohawardy said Thursday.

“We would love to have them in our places of worship and in our community centres so we can sit down and talk.”

The Islamic council already has the funding to place ads on five buses and it’s hoping to raise more money to buy more advertising space.

“It should be some slogan like, `God is merciful, God is with you and enjoy your life,’ ” said Sohawardy.

This puts TTC in a tough spot because they now need to give equal time and space to any religion that wants to be heard. Instead of promoting a positive view on atheism it has created more of a battleground for ad space. I guess this is not a terrible thing for TTC I'm sure with the economy in its current state ad sales have dropped a bit and this will provide them an entirely new client base but you have to ask your self do you really want various religious groups being that large of a client to a government run program?

You can ask why is this a bad thing it’s getting a ton of publicity and all publicity is good publicity right? Well yes if you’re an out of work actor who is looking to get their name out there but in this case I think it’s a bad thing it will only galvanize religious groups against atheists which will only tighten their grip on their followers by giving them another reason to fight against us.

If this was done on a privately owned billboard this would be a non-issue, the ads could stay up as long as there was funding to pay the rent and it would be up to the owners discretion if they wanted to give equal time and space to other groups. Church and state will never mix well because the state ahs to be fair to all of its citizens (in theory) while the church does not.

Don't Exist T-Shirts are now available!

If you would like to show your disbelief in style head over to Café Press and get your very own Don’t Exist T-Shirt!

http://www.cafepress.com/AtheistThought

Darwin Posters & T-Shirts

Mikero.com has developed several Darwin graphics which they are selling as T-shirts, posters, and other fun things with all of the proceeds going to NCSE. If you like what you see please visit thier online store.

Good News For People Living in Arkansas

You may be able to run for office soon!

A representative in Arkansas has submitted a bill to the state legislator to amend the Arkansas constitution and remove the law which prohibits atheists from running for office. The bill was submitted to the house on February 11 by Representative Richard Carroll. I'm not sure when the bill will go to vote or what the odds are that it will even pass but im sure I will post about when something does happen.

I live in California and don't really follow other states politics so I was completely shocked when I found out that a state actually had a law that banned it’s non-believing citizens from running for public office, well I did a little more research and found out that there are actually seven states which don’t allow atheists to run for office. Yes if you are an atheist and live in Arkansas, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, or Texas you can’t technicaly run for public office. I’m not a lawyer but aren’t these laws clearly unconstitutional?

Anywho I hope this bill passes, either way I plan on contacting Representive Caroll’s office and thank him for proposing this bill. I have to admit the guy has a lot of balls proposing a bill like this in a state like Arkansas especialy while he is in his first term.