Florida Atheists Attorney Arrested by State

The persecution of EllenBeth Wachs, a retired attorney and the legal coordinator for Atheists of Florida, is a disgrace to all Floridians. Christians everywhere should be ashamed of how their fellow Christians in Florida are stomping on the United States Constitution and on a fellow American citizen's rights.

Atheists of Florida was doing what most atheist and secular organizations have to do these days: fighting the rising tide of government-sponsored religion. They've been playing a whack-a-mole game with the City of Lakeland's mandatory prayer that was held before each city council meeting. First Lakeland added a rabbi to the mix to prove they were inclusive, not just Christian. When Atheists of Florida got that thrown out, the city passed a new law giving Christians a few minutes before the "official" meeting to pray so that it looked like it wasn't an official part of the city council meeting. Everyone saw through that ruse too, and another lawsuit was filed.

So what did Lakeland do next? They arrested EllenBeth Wachs on felony charges of impersonating an attorney!

But that's not all.

On March 3, over a dozen sheriff’s deputies and other law enforcement officials, many garbed in SWAT style para-military gear, descended on her home in unmarked vehicles, arrested Ms. Wachs, and searched her home. Two bearded officials in SWAT gear held her two retail employees at gunpoint and for several hours unidentified agents proceeded to systematically tear apart her house, including searching her cars and employees’ cars and belongings. Agents seized Wachs’ personal and business computers, cell phone, documents and other items.

And guess what? It turns out that the arrest affidavit was signed by one of the defendants in Ms. Wells' prayer lawsuit. Big surprise.

It's a ridiculous charge. EllenBeth is a retired attorney (she practiced in Pennsylvania). The "evidence" of her

Alan Turing: Gay Man who Saved the World yet Died in Disgrace

What do you do to a homosexual mathematician whose code-breaking genius saved the world during World War II? Not figuratively, but actually saved the world from Nazi domination? You put him on trial, of course! You convict him of gross indecency. You force him to choose prison or chemical castration. You strip him of all dignity and hound him until in shame and despair he swallows a cyanide pill and dies.

The story of Alan Turing is one of the most disgraceful episodes of modern civilization. A man who should have been a hero of the free world and idolized next to Einstein and Newton in the history books was instead hounded to death because of religion-inspired homophobia.

In World War II, Alan Turing's genius at breaking Nazi secret codes was so successful that the Allies could have sunk almost every single U-boat and convoy that left Germany. Turing's work was so good it was like cheating at cards: if you win every hand, the other players will quickly figure out that the game is rigged. The Allies had to employ all sorts of tricks to hide their success; if you want a fascinating account, I highly recommend Neal Stephenson's semi-fictional Cryptonomicon, the story of the rise of modern cryptography.

Alan Turing literally saved the world from Nazi domination. Without his work, WWII would have ended very differently. The Nazi regime might have remained undefeated,

Bad News: Atheist Palestinian Faces Death Penalty

Reports are coming in about an atheist blogger in the Palestinian West Bank who was caught in a sting via Facebook and now faces the death penalty. It seems the best he can hope for is life imprisonment. Even members of his family say so.

This should completely dispel any doubts anyone might have about the importance of America's strong separation of church and state. The fact that in the year 2010 there are still people being put to death for their religious beliefs should be repugnant to every civilized human, regardless of faith.

But that's what happens when you mix government and religion. History proves it. Down through the ages, whenever the two mix you'll find that the zealots eventually get into power and persecute everyone who doesn't agree with their views. Not just their religion, but their particular sect. Without strong legal limits on religious coercion (such as in the UK) or an outright separation (like our Constitution), it seems inevitable. Is there even one place in the world that has religious tolerance and religious leaders who are superior to the elected leaders?

I hope the civilized people of the world, whether Christian, Jewish,

US Grants Asylum to ... Germans? For Home Schooling?

Political persecution is an awful thing, a sign of a corrupt government that can't stand on its own two feet, and has to kill or torture its critics rather than foster democracy. That's why the United States, and all civilized democracies, have a long and honorable tradition of granting asylum to victims of persecution.

It seems that in Tennessee, teaching science also qualifies, along side torture and murder, and the German Government is guilty of this awful crime!

A German family was granted political asylum in the United States, justified because of political "persecution" by the German government. This persecution consisted of nothing more than the government teaching science and history, things that every child should know.

It's a double insult: the asylum process, which was designed to foster open democracies, dialog and to spread knowledge, is now being used to prevent children from learning. How sad.

This is a recurring theme in conservative religions. People who believe in impossible things, like creationism, have to shun honest dialog and real knowledge, because with real knowledge, their beliefs don't hold up. Again and again, I find myself writing on this topic, but it seems to be a never-ending story. In Saudi Arabia, a university is censored. In Texas (and many other states), Christians try to suppress real science. And fundamentalists actively claim that rational thinking is misguided.

This German family has fallen victim to one of religions oldest memes, which teaches its victims to shun learning. It's ironic, that religions are, in a sense, doing the same thing as corrupt governments: They stifle dissent, and block real learning.

The Tennessee judge who granted asylum to these Germans is almost certainly a fundamentalist Christian, and has mixed his religion with the law. I hope his decision is appealed and overturned. It sets a dangerous precedent for American science, and trivializes the whole idea of political asylum, which should be reserved for real political dissidents who are in genuine danger.

Atheists: Get Out of the Damned Closet!

William J. Isom is gone. Yesterday I abandoned my nom de plume, and changed my blog and my book's web site, to reflect my real name: Craig A. James.

And today, I issue a challenge to all Atheist bloggers: Come out of the closet! Don't be afraid, be proud. You're a rational, grounded thinker. You have the courage of your convictions. You've picked a hard path, and stuck to it. Don't hide!

My decision was due to a comment from my book agent, who asked, "What are you afraid of?" I had no good answer to that question. There was just a vague, unsupported fear of persecution and harassment from the religious extremist.

Well, that made me kind of mad. I thought about the courage of our well-known authors, such as Harris, Dennett, Gould, Mills, Dawkins, and especially, Bertrand Russell, who was terribly persecuted for his atheism by the State of New York. If Bertrand Russell stood up to argue my cause, and I don't even have the courage to stand behind him, but instead hide behind the internet's veil of anonymity, then what kind of atheist am I?

I did a quick survey to find out who hides behind internet anonymity, Atheists or Christians? The results are stunning: Atheists, by a HUGE margin. Almost ALL Christians blogers use their real names, but roughly 70% to 80% of Atheists bloggers are anonymous.

To be fair, Christians are the majority, and have no reason to hide. But what about other oppressed minorities whose members have had the courage to take a risk, to stand up for what they believe? Should Rosa Parks have given up her seat on the bus to a white person? Should women have agreed that they weren't worthy of the right to vote? Should gays and lesbians stay in the closet and suffer? What about Bertrand Russell's courage?

Put your name on your blog. Put your name on your web site. When religion comes up at a party, don't be afraid to say, "Well, I'm an atheist, and here's how I see it..."

Oppression is a state of mind, and it takes both an oppressor and a cooperative victim for a human to be truly oppressed. Don't be a victim, be a courageous atheist.

Signed proudly: Craig A. James

About my "survey": Please see http://www.thereligionvirus.com/anonymous_atheists.php for a complete list of the Atheist sites I surveyed, and how I sampled them. Here is a raw list of the URL's.

www.atheists.org www.atheistrev.com ravingatheist.com www.cynical-c.com atheistmedia.blogspot.com atheism.about.com atheistblogger.com beaconeatingatheistjew.blogspot.com www.the-atheist.com yetanotheratheistblog.wordpress.com www.nullifidian.net thinkerspodium.wordpress.com exchristian.net www.atheistperspective.com friendlyatheist.com radicalatheist.com gods4suckers.net atheistself.blogspot.com canterburyatheists.blogspot.com dwindlinginunbelief.blogspot.com holyprepuce.blogspot.com/ www.irreverentmusings.com mereskepticism.blogspot.com possummomma.blogspot.com www.silentdave.net theatheisthandbook.blogspot.com godjeeringatheist.wordpress.com skeptalchemist.blogspot.com uberkuh.com