Newt Declares War on Judges who Favor Atheists and Liberals

Newt Gingrich is known for outrageous outbursts and wild ideas, but he's putting out some really scary stuff this week.

His latest attack is on the independence of the judiciary. Any time a judge issues a ruling that Gingrich doesn't like, he wants to send U.S. Marshals out with congressional subpoenas to haul the judge in front of Congress, where the judge would be grilled by every angry member of Congress who didn't agree with the judge's ruling.

Does that sound like a good way to ensure an independent judiciary?

Next, Newt will simply ignore the law if he becomes president. Under his leadership, the Executive Branch of government will simply ignore the Judicial Branch whenever Newt doesn't like the law.

Yeah, I think I'll do that too – just ignore any laws I don't like. If Newt can do it, why can't I?

And if that isn't enough to destroy the careful balance of powers enshrined in our Constitution, Gingrich wants to

Georgia License Plates Require 'In God We Trust' - Why this is Great!

Secular News Daily is reporting a new Georgia law that will require "In God We Trust" on all car license plates. Georgians who don't like it will have to pay extra to get a state-approved sticker to cover it up!

Atheists are naturally up in arms about this glaring violation of the First Amendment. But I sort of like it. I believe this could be one of the best things that happened to secularism in America in the last ten years – if they're foolish enough to go through with it.

Why? Because it could force the Supreme Court to take "In God We Trust" off of our money.

Atheists have objected to "In God We Trust" on currency and as the national motto for decades, but the courts have been unsympathetic. The Supreme Court stated that

Catholics Persecuted over Gay Adoption in Illinois? Not Even Close.

Once again, the Roman Catholic Church is giving out misinformation instead of facing the truth.

Catholic Charities, an Illinois adoption agency, had to close its doors because it lost funding from the state. According to attorney Peter Breen, the state is breaking the plain language of the law and violating the will of the citizens:

"The Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act only passed after specific assurances that the law would not impact the work of religious social service agencies. Specific protections for these agencies were written into the law, but unfortunately, Illinois officials refused to abide by those protections. This stands as a stark lesson to the rest of the nation that legislators promising 'religious protection' in same sex marriage and civil union laws may not be able to deliver on those promises."

Gosh, that sounds awful, doesn't it?

But this is nothing more than a smokescreen to hide the real truth. They lost on Constitutional principles that had nothing to do with the Illinois Civil Union Act.

The simple fact is that the Catholic Charities can continue to provide

Obama: Leave God in Pledge and on Money

"Under God" is going to stay in the Pledge of Allegiance for a while.

Last month a petition to President Obama to remove "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance was signed by over 20,000 American citizens. It's clear that this is a minority opinion in America, but protecting minorities is what the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights is all about.

Now the White House has made the administration's position clear: God should stay in our Pledge and on our currency. I know for a fact that regardless of the President's feelings about separation of church and state, he'd be committing political suicide to endorse anything that took God out of our government. That's just politics.

The heart of the White House response is this:

"A sense of proportion should also guide those who police the boundaries between church and state. Not every mention of God in public is a breach to the wall of separation - context matters.

That’s why President Obama supports the use of the words “under God” in our Pledge of Allegiance and “In God we Trust” on our currency.

So, we have to look at this petition as just one more step on a long road.

Below is the whole text the email I received from the White House.

California Law Makes it a Crime to Plan to Gamble in Nevada!

Taking inspiration from H.R. 313 (the "drug trafficking" bill that makes it illegal to plan or discuss smoking marijuana in Amsterdam, even though it's legal there), the State of California today made it a crime to plan a trip to Nevada to gamble, even though it's legal to gamble in Nevada.

"We're tired of Nevada's gambling casinos ruining the lives of California citizens," said Governor Jerry Brown. "From now on, if a Californian wants to go see Wayne Newton singing at the Tropicana, and happens to drop a quarter in the slots on the way to the show, that's fine. But by golly, if they even think about gambling before they head for The Strip, we want them to know they're going to jail for violating California law."

Governor Brown outlined plans to question all motorists and airline passengers entering Nevada. "A system of airport security stations and highway border-crossing stations will be built to ensure that California citizens aren't planning to gamble," said the governor. "They're only allowed to think about gambling once they've arrived."

Several other states are lining up to criminalize the travel-planning business:

"Ministerial Exception" - A Solution to Legalized Discrimination

The Christian Science Monitor has cast its vote on whether churches are allowed to discriminate on the basis of faith. Their answer, not surprisingly, is "yes":

"On Wednesday, the Supreme Court hears the case of a Christian schoolteacher fired in a dispute over a disability and church doctrine. The justices should be careful about allowing government to judge a faith's teachings when it is charged with discrimination."

(The fourth-grade teacher was fired because she took a disability leave, was asked to resign, and then filed a discrimination lawsuit rather that using the employer's Christ-based dispute-resolution process.)

The Monitor goes on to explain that some religions are so bizarre

Do It! Sign the Petition to take "Under God" Out of the Pledge!

OK all you dilettantes and dabblers, you casual readers and sideline critics ... it's time to get off your butts and do something important! This will take you less than five minutes – three if you're quick – and it will make a difference.

Sign the White House Petition to remove "Under God" from the Pledge.

If you're a fellow blogger, put this link on your site too! (http://wh.gov/g0T)

The number of signers already blasted past the original goal of 5,000. Can we get 100,000? 500,000? A million atheists standing up for their rights? It could happen! But it depends on you.

You'll have to spend about thirty seconds typing your name and email to create an account on whitehouse.gov, then wait a few seconds for the

Good News: Court Sides with Two Atheist Lawsuits

Life is keeping me busy today, so there's just time for a couple quick links. The first is a story about a Christian teacher who was ordered to remove a huge Christian poster from his math classroom:

Court says teacher has no right to banners referring to God

The court originally ruled in favor of the teacher, but the school district appealed and the District Court in San Francisco reversed the decision. The teacher now has to pay the school's legal fees.

The second story is a follow-up: remember James Corbett, teacher extraordinaire? He made the mistake of treating Christianity like any other topic, open to analysis and criticism in his history classes. He was sued by a Christian student who claimed Corbett had violated his right to religious freedom.

Last month we got the good news that the Appeals Court finally sided with Corbett. The Court ruled that Corbett's lessons in the classroom were not against the law. The ruling was somewhat technical, but still a big victory for education and good teachers.

The Best 9/11 Quote Ever: Leon Wieseltier at the Kennedy Center

Leon Wieseltier, literary editor of The New Republic, is being widely quoted from his amazing speech at 9/11: An Evening of Remembrance and Reflection at the Kennedy Center. The part that everyone likes the best is this:

The obscenities of September 11, 2001 exposed the difference between builders and destroyers. We are builders. Let us agree, on this anniversary, that it is an honor to be an American and it is an honor to be free.

Truly great words. That distinction, between those who create and those who destroy, between those who want to move forward and those who want to drag us down, is the very heart of why 9/11 happened. The Taliban and all terrorists are nothing but vandals who would tear down the great works of others. Their own actions condemn their religion.

But the mainstream media seem to be deliberately ignoring the very best quote from Leon Wieseltier's speech:

We affirm ... that none of our worldviews, with God or without God, should ever become the worldview of the state, and that no sanctity ever attaches to violence.

That is the real heart of 9/11. When sanctity attaches to violence, anything can be justified. And when a state, which has

US Air Force Nuke Launchers' Training Included Christian Ethics Class

Conservative Christians are howling because the United States Air Force dropped an ethics class ("Just War Theory") that included material from the Bible. And as usual, these complainers are trying to gloss over the real facts. Texas Senator John Cornyn wrote in a letter to the Air Force:

“Suspending a course like this because of references to religious texts misrepresents the First Amendment. Although our Founding Fathers rightly included language in the Constitution that precludes the federal government from establishing an official religion, this language does not, as some have argued, protect them from exposure to religious references."

Religious references? Wait a second, Senator. This class was taught by Christian clergy for the last twenty years! And it used text from the Old and New Testaments. You call that "exposure to religious references"? I call it forcing Christianity on our Air Force personnel at government expense.

When it comes to having your finger on "the button" to launch nuclear weapons,

Bachmann, Romney and Cain: Religious Rights Trump Gay Rights

What do you do when two groups' civil rights come into direct conflict?

Three of the front-running Republican presidential candidates (Bachmann, Romney and Cain) say that religious rights trump gay rights when the government is giving out our tax dollars. And a fourth, Texas Governor Perry, almost certainly would have said the same thing if he'd been able to stay for the debate (he had to return to Texas because of the wildfires).

This shows a stunning misunderstanding of the United States Constitution and the very meaning of civil rights.

The question they were responding to was about gay couples adopting children. Many of the adoption agencies in this country are run by Christian churches, particularly the Catholic Church. And these same agencies get a lot of funding from the federal government. It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that Catholic adoption agencies don't want to let same-sex couples adopt children. The Catholic Church claims it violates their right to religious freedom.

Many Americans don't realize that outside of employment and housing, it's perfectly legal for an ordinary citizen to discriminate against anyone for any reason. If I were a racist, it would be perfectly legal for me to

Bachmann's Faith Would Destroy America

Remember the "no religious test" clause of the United States Constitution that guarantees everyone the right to hold government office regardless of faith? I'm beginning to wonder if it's time to repeal it. Maybe it's time to ban people who are religious extremists from holding federal office! Michelle Bachmann comes to mind...

A couple days ago while driving down the road enjoying a bright, sunny Southern California morning, I spotted a beautiful old classic 1958 Pontiac. "What a beautiful machine!" I thought. "Back in those days, you could actually tune the car yourself. No computers, hand-crank windows that always worked, and if it had seat belts, it was your choice to use them or not. Those were the days!"

It almost made me have some compassion for Michelle Bachmann's desire to turn back the clock to a simpler time.

Then I pulled in behind it to get a better look at it ... and was assaulted by a terrible stink, something I hadn't smelled in quite a while. It was unburned gasoline, partially burned motor oil, nitrous oxide, thousands of different carcinogenic hydrocarbons, and no doubt a good dose of odorless carbon monoxide. If this had been 1958 when

Shhh! Keep Gov. Perry's Idiocy a Secret from the Republicans!

OK everybody, I know you're incredulous at Texas Governor Rick Perry's idiotic pronouncements. But STFU! It's a secret! If we can just keep quiet and let Perry win the Republican nomination, the 2012 election will be ours!

Seriously, people ... can we really have a leader of the free world who uses a controversial and unapproved stem-cell medical procedure, but at the same time doesn't believe in evolution or global warming? Can the President of the United States lead the world if he believes prayer is the only solution to our problems?

Maybe when pigs fly. This kind of stuff scares even moderate Republicans. But don't tell the Tea Party! The evangelical right has hijacked the Republican party, and they're totally drunk on their success. They've become blind to Perry's hypocrisy and anti-science views. They're elated! They honestly think they can drag the entire country from the twenty first century back into the dark ages.

But they're going to have a really hard time getting Perry elected. The Governor of Texas doesn't even know what's going on in his own state! He recently claimed:

Gov. Rick Perry Fail

Remember how when you were young, there was always that one nerdy kid in the class that nobody really liked? Nobody wanted to go to his birthday party. But you and maybe one other kid felt bad for him so you went. Or maybe your mom made you go. He was so glad and thankful that somebody showed up that it was embarrassing. All you wanted was to get out of there.

Governor Rick Perry held his big prayer party (the "Response") on Saturday, and sadly, only one of his invited guests showed up. Oh sure, they had a whole bunch of evangelical Christians there, praying and singing. But Perry invited all forty-nine state governors to come pray with him, and only one showed up (Kansas Governor Sam Brownback). Just one. Just like that kid in elementary school.

Governor Perry and his supporters are trying to paint "The Response" as a big success. They had 20,000 to 30,000 evangelicals in attendance. They had people all over

Candidate Cain: Constitution Allows Anti-Islam Discrimination!

I've seen politicians twist the Constitution before, but this one takes the cake:

"Our Constitution guarantees the separation of church and state. Islam combines church and state. They're using the church part of our First Amendment to infuse their morals in that community ... [The communities] objected to the fact that Islam is both a religion and a set of laws. ... They have a right to [ban a Mosque]"

Wow. Mr. Cain says we all have a constitutional right to free speech, freedom of assembly and the freedom to worship as we please ... but all these rights evaporate if our religion tries to inject its beliefs into government!

Mr. Cain has conveniently forgotten that this is exactly the same thing that America's evangelical Christians believe.

Let's start with Cain's opponent, Mitt Romney, who said:

"Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom... Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone."

Hmmm, that sounds like combining church and state to me, Mr. Cain. So Romney's out. What about Mike Huckabee, another front runner?

"[Some of my opponents] do not want to change the Constitution, but I believe it's a lot easier to change the constitution than it would be to change the word of the living God, and that's what we need to do is to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than try to change God's standards."

Gosh, we're not getting anywhere, are we Mr. Cain? It seems those darned Christians are no better than the Muslims you despise!

What about Michele Bachmann, another Republican candidate? Oh yeah, she's the one whose family runs a "clinic" that "cures" gays of their homosexuality using prayer and Christian practices. And she also

Best Christian Quote of the Year: Preacher Fail

This has to be the best Christian quote of the year:

"... [If] God doesn't destroy America pretty soon, He’s gonna have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah."
– John MacArthur, Christian evangelical author and preacher

One of the biggest problems facing America today is that preachers like John MacArthur are diverting us from the real problems.

MacArthur is one of those doom-and-gloom preachers who love to preach darkness and damnation. He must be pretty famous because he's authored or edited something like 150 books. (One has to suspect there's a certain amount of redundancy in his writing after the fortieth or fiftieth book.)

His big show involves the classic Christian recipe:

• Convince his audience that everything pleasurable is actually a vile sin that's damned by God.
• Point out that everyone likes fun stuff, so we're all vile sinners.
• Connect this to confusing prophecies and irrelevant myths that were written by stone-age farmers two to three thousand years ago.
• The sky is falling! God is going to get us, and boy are you sinners going to be sorry!

Here are a couple samples:

“Materialism, drunkard pleasure seeking, arrogant conceit, defiant sinfulness, moral perversion, and corrupt leadership… Do you not see [them] in America?”

"What do we have here? We have here, folks, Anthony Weiner type people…corrupt leaders. Is there ever any end to this corruption... ?"

But the real danger from preachers like MacArthur is that they want to take over America and turn it into a theocracy

"No other nation has literally been born out of a desire to be faithful and obedient to the living and abiding Word of God. America is the first nation that separated Church and State."

It's sad how many people fall for this brand of doom-and-gloom speech. There are certainly problems in America and around the world, but not the ones MacArthur is talking about.

Did you see drug users causing the subprime mortgage crisis? No, it was bankers and

Great Legislative News: 7 Anti-Evolution Bills Dead, 2 Shelved

There's great news from the National Center for Science Education: Creationists are losing! Here's the Creationist scorecard for the first half of 2011 for their anti-evolution legislation:

Tennessee	Postponed (2 bills)
Florida	Dead
Texas	Dead
Missouri	Dead
Kentucky	Dead
Oklahoma	Dead (2 bills)
New Mexico	Dead

This doesn't happen by chance. The people who fight these battles rely on you and me to support their efforts. If you haven't already, I hope you'll consider supporting the NCSE.

Koran Burning Pastor: Where Does First Amendment End?

Pastor Terry Jones, the Koran-burning Baptist preacher, presents a real challenge to America. Is our right to free speech absolute, or are there limits? Is he to blame for several dozen deaths from riots that his actions caused, or are Muslim rioters entirely to blame?

If you know that exercising your constitutional rights will cause the death of innocents, should you do it anyway? When are our constitutional rights more important than human life?

These are not easy questions, and anyone who thinks there are black-and-white answers has his head in the sand.

Let's get the man himself out of the way: pretty much everyone agrees that Pastor Terry Jones is a complete jerk. Even those who defend his right to free speech think he's an ass. He's also a creepy old man, fixated on the bathroom and bathing habits of his students. But in America we're all equal in the eyes of the law, so we'll put our dislike for the man himself aside.

The real challenges to freedom and democracy don't come from easy cases. When terrorists fly an airplane into a building there are no

Why does this keep happening? Virginia school district posts Ten Commandments

Are these people living in the dark ages? Don't they have newspapers and the Internet?

A Virginia school district is restoring the Ten Commandments to their classroom walls in spite of being told by their own lawyers that it's illegal.

There are so many aspects of this that baffle me that it's hard to know where to begin.

Do they really think this is going to convince their children to believe in God and stay in their faith? Is their regular Sunday (and often Wednesday) church not enough?

Don't they have better ways to spend their money ... like on the kids' educations? This is certain to spark a lawsuit

Alabama Christian Governor: Do Politicians Have a Right to be Prejudiced?

Do politicians have a right to hold beliefs that are offensive to modern society? Do they have a right to espouse those beliefs in public? Should they be held to a higher standard than the rest of us?

Robert J. Bentley, the newly-elected governor of Alabama, is "raising eyebrows" according to the LA Times.

"If you're a Christian and you're saved ... it makes you and me brother and sister. Now I will have to say that, if we don't have the same daddy, we're not brothers and sisters. So anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, I'm telling you, you're not my brother and you're not my sister ..."

The governor made these remarks in church, not during his official duties as the state's governor. Does that make it OK?

I don't think so. Governor Bentley abused the power of his office, plain and simple. He used the State of Alabama to promote Christianity. It may not be illegal, but it certainly is unethical. The governor should be ashamed of himself.

Governor Bentley has a duty to represent all of the citizens of Alabama: people of all faiths and no faith, people of