"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

Dollywood Asks Lesbian to Change Shirt

Would you be offended by this T-shirt?

marriage is so gay

Well, probably not, because you're reading my blog.

I'm not a huge country-music fan, but I've always liked Dolly Parton. Her commonsense no-nonsense philosophy and self-deprecating humor are wonderful. She mostly keeps her politics and religion to herself because she believes an entertainer should entertain. (Imagine that ... an entertainer who doesn't think her fame makes her an instant expert on religion, politics or relationships! It's refreshing.)

So I was surprised to read this headline:

Richard Dawkins (and the Creepy Elevator Guy) should watch MadTV

I'd somehow missed the whole "Creepy Elevator Guy" story, but my son called yesterday to bring me up to date. For those of you who don't know, women are badly underrepresented in atheist groups, and the few who do attend meetings sometimes get unwanted sexual attention, which occasionally turns into harassment. In this instance, Rebecca Watson got on the elevator headed for her hotel room at 4 AM and was propositioned by one of the male attendees. Hemant Mehta has an excellent summary of the details so I won't repeat it here.

I don't have a lot to add to what's already been said. Blag Hag had a good blog about it. PZ Myers blogged about it and got a rather disturbing letter from Richard Dawkins, and Hemant Mehta wrote a second blog that was very thoughtful (he has links).

A while ago I wrote a blog that's very relevant: Mormons and Animals: Denying our Deepest Instincts. Men can be total jerks and worse. But atheists have a huge advantage over religious people

America Hates Gays, but Hates Atheists Even More!

Last week's victory legalizing gay marriage in New York was a huge step forward. Although the pace of the civil rights campaign for gays is far too slow, it's great to see steady progress.

But now there's a new cause for celebration! A new Gallup poll shows that gays have achieved another huge victory: they're far more popular than atheists! When one oppressed minority gains ground on another, isn't that cause for celebration?

No, I'm just kidding (in case anyone misses the humor). I'm really pleased that America is slowly overcoming the religion-inspired discrimination and hatred against the LGBT community. But it's rather alarming that atheists are still so widely reviled. It's a testament to the power of religious discrimination that the Christian dogma machine has managed to instill such fear and loathing of America's most law-abiding group.

For your amusement, here is the Gallup breakdown of the most-reviled minorities in America. We atheists take the prize at

Child Denied First Communion Because of Cerebral Palsy

I'm on holiday this week, so I'll leave my faithful readers with this article.

Child Denied First Communion

The child has cerebral palsy, and Catholic law says that the person receiving communion must have "sufficient knowledge" of Christ. The priest decided that the child didn't qualify. It seems to me that anyone with "sufficient knowledge" of the story of Jesus would know that it's all a bunch of mythology anyway. But hey, I don't make the rules.

Dating Site Statistics: Gay Sex is Surprisingly ... Uninteresting

There are two fascinating items in the news today that once again illustrate how silly and misguided the religious right's anti-gay agenda really is. First, we find that gay dating is remarkably unremarkable, and second, we learn that in the Netherlands, the legalization of gay marriage had virtually no effect on the country.

The first news comes from OKCupid.com, the new "high tech" dating site that appeals to the young tech-savvy crowd. In addition to connecting people with their soul mates, OKCupid has published a fascinating series of articles about the statistics of dating. For example, they're the ones who discovered that Atheists get more first dates, and that Atheists score higher on writing skills.

The newest study from OKCupid is even more fascinating. They compared gay-versus-straight dating habits, and found that contrary

Australian Atheists: Stand Up and be Counted!

I spotted an article about a new atheist campaign in Australia calling on Australian citizens to "come out" with their non-belief. This is a fabulous idea, one that we Americans should emulate:

The Atheist Foundation of Australia has begun a campaign calling on those whose faith has lapsed to mark ''no religion'' on their census forms this year - with West Pennant Hills slated to host a billboard before August 9.

The 8.3 metre by 2.2 metre sign on Pennant Hills Road and another in Armidale will make a month-long appearance from June 20. Despite the location, the foundation's president, David Nicholls, said the campaign did not intend to attack religion, but to counter the extent to which Australia was unduly claimed as a Christian country in decision-making and funding.

One of my more popular blogs (I still get emails about it several years later) was my Atheists, Get Out of the Damned Closet!, in which I encouraged atheists, a large percentage of whom were blogging anonymously, to declare themselves publicly.

Well, it's time for the American public to do the same. I think a campaign here in America

Law Forces Atheist to have Christian Roommate?

I'm usually opposed to everything the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) does, but here's an interesting case where I find myself 100% on the side of the Christians.

How would an atheist feel if he or she was forced by law to accept an evangelical Christian roommate?

The actual case is the reverse, a Christian woman who advertised for a Christian roommate. But the law cuts both ways, so if this woman loses it would apply to theists and nontheists alike.

The woman posted a notice on her church bulletin board saying, "I am looking for a Christian roommate." Next thing you know, she was the target of a lawsuit by a private group called the Fair Housing Center of West Michigan. They claimed the Christian woman was violating the US Fair Housing Civil Rights Act of 1968, which prohibits discrimination based on race, gender and religion.

The most interesting cases in law are where two different rights collide. For example, you have a right to free speech and I have a right to privacy; what happens when you want to talk about my private life? The boundaries in these cases are always vague. There is no clear line, and it takes years of court decisions to clarify the balance of the conflicting rights.

Most people in America don't realize that discrimination is actually legal in most situations. I'm perfectly free to ban anyone from my home for any reason. I can be a racial, religious sexist bigot all at the same time and only allow white male atheists in my home, and that's my choice. The law has nothing to say about it. (My family might, though... in case there's any doubt, I am none of these things!)

Discrimination is only covered by the law in certain very specific activities: employment, government and business. If you are hiring, conducting business or running the government, you have to treat everyone equally. Beyond that, you can be a jerk.

But what happens when the two collide? When you rent out a room in your house,

Helping Christians Push Back Against the Gay Agenda in the Classroom

Wow, it seems that Christians, who vastly outnumber all other faiths and atheists combined, are a persecuted minority in America! Those darned gay activists are managing to kick Christians around the block and force their gayness on everyone.

Today's underdog is Focus on Family. In this amazing video, we learn just how sinister the homosexual agenda is!

We've got some back-to-school tools that will help you identify and push back against the gay agenda in the classroom.

If there's one characteristic trait of the gay agenda in the public school system it's this: it's sneaky! ... It's designed to look like something else to make it hard for parents to realize what's going on. ... Homosexual activists have become very adept ... at sneaking in these homosexuality lessons into things with innocent sounding titles. ... We've seen teachers give books to students in the name of 'diversity lessons,' and let me just mention that the gay activists have become very adept at using ... cute little pictures of furry animals ... to familiarize [children] with the whole idea of same-sex parenting and gay marriage.

That's the key to this whole thing. We need to be accepting and embracing and tolerant, but there's not a lot of tolerance and embracing and accepting of Christian values and the families that want their children raised with Christian values.

Do I have this right? They're facing discrimination and intolerance ... because they're not allowed to discriminate against gays? Yes, that's what they're saying: its anti-Christian discrimination when Christians aren't allowed to discriminate.

What's really scary about this video is how they've completely twisted their hatred of homosexuality into a paranoid delusion. Nobody, nobody, is pushing homosexuality on anyone.

Army tries to force Muslims, Jews and Atheists to attend Christian concert

How would you feel if you were a soldier training in Virginia, and your sergeant gave you this choice: attend a Muslim concert by a band known for its Islamic proselytizing, or be locked in to clean your barracks with no phone, internet or TV allowed until the concert was over?

That would never happen in the United States Army, right? I mean, we're a nation that represents freedom ... freedom of speech, freedom of association and freedom of religion. Our Army is there to defend these constitutional rights! Right?

Apparently not everyone in the Army sees it that way. Except it wasn't a Muslim concert, it was a Christian concert. And it wasn't the Christians who objected, it was the Muslims, Jews and atheists. It's just fun to flip the roles around so that even Christians can see how wrong this is.

Apparently this concert was part of the "Commanding General's Spiritual Fitness Concerts" series. A Captain (who probably wanted to earn points with the General) gave the order that men had to attend or be punished. Apparently following orders,

Anti-Gay Christian Denied Counseling Degree?

Is everyone qualified for every job no matter what? For example, should you hire a white woman to play Othello, or an overweight man to model women's clothes, or a Catholic to lead a Muslim temple?

Of course not. Our courts have ruled time after time that it's OK to bar someone from a job based on race, gender, or physical disability ... if the race, gender or religion are a genuine job requirement.

Now Jennifer Keaton, an openly anti-gay counseling student, is suing Augusta State University to throw this sensible rule out and make an exception for herself. What's her justification? Christians don't have to follow the rules. According to her lawyer Christians are allowed to discriminate against gays and are allowed to become licensed counselors even though they don't meet the American Counseling Associations code of ethics.

I say too bad for Jennifer Keaton.

Jewish Air Force Lawyer Fighting for Catholics and Atheists

Why is a Jewish lawyer, formerly of the United States Air Force, fighting for the religious rights of Catholics, Muslims, Protestants and atheists in our military forces? Because as a Jew, he, his father and his sons all faced terrible discrimination and even physical abuse at the hands of the Christian supremacist movement that is rotting our military forces from the inside.

The stories are horrifying, and Weinstein's courage is amazing. Check out Weinstein's stories:

• No Dominion: The Lonely, Dangerous Fight Against Christian Supremacists Inside the Armed Forces
• Mikey Weinstein: Jesus and the Generals – an interview.

Here's a quote from the second link to pique your interest.

"For three years [Weinstein, a Republican] was a Reagan White House lawyer and eventually the Iran-Contra investigation’s committee management officer. Weinstein was also Ross Perot’s general counsel. Despite his conservative background, in 2006 Weinstein established the nonprofit Military Religious Freedom Foundation, and he coauthored 2007’s With God on Our Side and appeared in the documentary Constantine’s Sword. HUSTLER explores why this thorn in the Pentagon’s side warns of “an unbelievable fusing of our Defense Department with Christian dominionist dogma.”

It's men like Weinstein that are protecting everyone's freedom to worship, even the Christian supremacists that he fights.

The Ongoing Battle Against Discrimination in California

Just a short blog today, life's other events is keeping me busy.

Former California governor Jerry Brown, who is now our state Attorney General, turns out to be a pretty good guy. My recollection of his governership is of a clueless idealist. But today, he is redeeming himself with his support of gay/lesbian rights in California.

It's a pretty amusing situation: He is offering opinions and evidence against himself in a court case! As state attorney general, he's supposed to defend Proposition 8, the discriminatory law against gay marriage. That means he is the defendent ... yet he is offering opinions to the court that says the lawsuit is without merit, that the plaintiffs are wrong, and that the law he is supposed to defend is unconstitutional.

The judge was so perplexed by this situation that he let Prop 8's organizers pay for an attorney to offer a defense, as otherwise there would have only been one side in the courtroom!

Jerry Brown is to be commended for this, and for a lifetime of public service.

LOL! Roadside Crosses Declared "Secular" by Utah Legislature

Ha, here's a good one. Apparently in Utah, the state legislature has the ability to convert the Christian cross into a purely secular symbol! Why didn't we Atheists think of that years ago? Instead of being offended every time we see a religious symbol sponsored by the government, all we have to do is have the government vote to make it non-religious, and all our worries are over. No more discrimination!

That goes for Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and everyone else, too! Now the government can put up crosses, and they're merely secular symbols. How can that offend anyone?

The cross is ... just a cross, right? An instrument of Roman torture. Say the Romans had chopped Jesus' head off in a guillotine (yeah, I know it wasn't invented yet, but go with me on this), and the Christians had made a guillotine their symbol, and Christians started marking their graves with little guillotines, so that pretty soon everyone knew that if you saw a guillotine by the side of the road, why, you'd think, "death," and you'd know someone had died there. And then the government couldn't put guillotines on public property, right? Because that would be government sponsorship of a particular religion. But hey, then we could just have the legislature declare that guillotines were secular, and that would be that!

Those Utah Mormons, so forward thinking, always one step ahead of the rest of us. Or maybe they're always good for a laugh.

Atheists Will be the Majority in Our Lifetimes!

The exciting new poll (USA Today) on America's shift away from religion is one of the most inspiring pieces of news I've read in a long time.

Fellow bloggers, THIS is why we're here. This is why what we're doing matters. It IS making a difference.

Atheists are rapidly headed towards becoming the majority of Americans. From 1990 to 2008, our numbers grew from 8% to 15% – that's a doubling rate of only twenty years, and it may be accelerating. To us, decades are a long time, but in the timescale of societies and history, this is a fantastically fast change.

That means most of us will live to see Atheists become the majority of Americans!

Atheists are already more numerous than all religious denominations except Baptists and Catholics, and within two years will easily pass the Baptists. A few more years and we'll leave the Catholics behind, becoming the single largest "faith" in America. Another decade or so and we'll surpass all Christians combined, and – easily within my lifetime – we'll be more than half of all Americans.

Which leads me to the point I want to make today: We bloggers and authors are the "sales force" for Atheism, and we need to learn one of the first lessons of sales: To be successful, you have to act successful. If you act like the underdog, people may sympathize, but they don't want to be on your side.

There is still plenty of discrimination, resistance, family shunning, and worse, against Atheists. And it's likely to get worse as the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and other religious ranks shrink — their religions have had thousands of years to evolve, and have developed some exceptionally good "immune systems." We can expect plenty of hard work, and probably some unpleasantness, from the ultra-conservatives and evangelicals, as they try to keep their ranks from dwindling. We need to expose these violations of our rights and of common decency, to make sure they're not tolerated.

But at the same time, we need to adopt the attitudes of the winner. We need to blog as though we're already the majority. We need to stop hiding our beliefs, and just present them in a completely matter-of-fact way, with boldness and confidence. We need to flip society's attitudes upside down, so that Atheism is the norm.

My father was in a lawsuit with a big corporation once, a two week trial, and coincidentally, had just had a knee operation. His lawyer played it to the hilt. On the first day, he had my father dress in a wrinkled shirt and poorly-knotted tie, he really made a show of the crutches, limping into the courtroom with a tired, hang-dog attitude. Day by day, he dressed better. He used the crutches better, then switched to a cane. He stood straighter, combed his hair better, and looked more refreshed. By the last day, he wore a sharp new suit, crisp tie, and pressed shirt, he was barely limping, he stood up straight, talked with his attorney with confidence, and looked directly at the jurors with a smile. He won the case.

As a group, Atheists tend to present our side in factual terms, but leadership and "marketing" matter. We need to make people want to be on our side. It's time for the Atheist community to stop acting like the underdogs, and take on a new attitude of confidence and leadership, to help guarantee that we'll truly become the majority in the decades to come.

Tags: atheism religion christian judaism islam blogging catholic USA Today

Hallelujah! Christians can Legally Discriminate!

(Note to my readers: This article was originally a parody, but I decided it was over the top, and have withdrawn it. Here is a short note about the original news article.)

It seems there's a way to be exempt from normal laws prohibiting discrimination: Become a church! The California Appeals Court ruled that it's OK for churches to discriminate, because "as a private, religious organization" churches are exempt from normal laws prohibiting discrimination. Unlike other businesses, religions don't have to follow these laws that are supposed to protect minorities.

It seems a two girls at a Christian high school admitted to being in love and having a relationship, and were booted from the school. The court's ruling was apparently designed to be narrow; by declaring that a religious school is not a business, they can exempt the school. Unfortunately, this also exempts the school from ALL laws about discrimination.

Tags: lesbian discrimination court christian atheism

Religulous: The Joy of Being With Friends

Like all good Athiests, I had to see Bill Maher's commentary on religion. All I can say is: Brilliant! Well done!

But what really made me happy was not the movie, but the audience reaction. It was like a huge, communal exhalation, a massive sigh of relief, a place where sensible, rational people could all simultaneously feel free to finally laugh out loud, to express their true feelings about what's going on in the world today.

This experience made me realize that, even though I think of myself as an out-of-the-closet Atheist, there is still discrimination all around. I'm surrounded by Christians who think of me as peculiar and misguided at best, and evil at the worst. I can't really be myself most of the time. Normally I just live with this repression, and I didn't even realize I was doing it. It wasn't until I was suddenly among friends, free to really express myself, that it was clear just how much we Atheists have to suppress our true opinions.

My wife is Jewish, and I always wondered why the Jews stick together so much. Now I have a better idea – it's not because they don't like their Christian friends and neighbors. It's because when they're together, that's the only time they can truly relax and feel free. We Athiests are ten times their numbers, yet we're still an oppressed minority. It took Religulous, and being among friends, to bring that message home, to make me realize just how much I feel the repression on a daily basis.

Tags: atheism atheist maher christian christianity discrimination jewish judaism religulous tolerance

More anti-atheist discrimination in the courtroom

My local newspaper had a new example of unequal rights for Atheists. A local policemen, Officer Bessant, was tragically shot and killed by gang members, mostly to increase their "street cred", their stature in the gang community. The murder was a despicable setup, a cowardly assassination.

The main witness against the murders is also a gang member who testified that he repeatedly lied to police, and to his parents. This witness also admitted shooting at other gang members in a gunfight with rival gang members. This is not a man you'd normally want to trust.

Yet, this lying criminal was magically transformed into the prosecuter's star witness, for the simple reason that he started reading the Bible. He found God. He decided to repent. Jail made him realize the error of his ways, and he turned to religion. By merely declaring that he was now reformed, following the teachings of Jesus, all that lying and attempted murder was forgotten (literally – he was given immunity), and he became a credible witness.

Now the man may in fact be telling the truth; that's for the jury to decide. But how is this discrimination against Atheists? I'm glad you asked.

Imagine that the "reform" was reversed, that he'd been a Christian gang member, lied to everyone, and participated in a gunbattle with a rival gang. After being caught, and spending some time in prison, our hypothetical witness realized his mistake – Christianity had led him astray.

"Yes, your honor, I realized that it was the illogical rules, the stories of genocide, and the undecipherable mythology in the Bible that confused me. I finally realized that Humanist morals made a lot more sense. As a Humanist, I have to actually think about my life, and the mistakes I've made. And your Honor, I now can see the error of my ways. I know I have to be truthful and honest, because that's the Humanist thing to do. I've repented, and stand before you as a new man, one who has rejected God and all Christian mythology."

Does anyone in these United States think an Christian-turned-Atheist would be able to get the same forgiveness that this criminal is receiving? Does anyone think that an Atheist would be believed by the prosecutor, the judge, and the jury?

Case closed.

Atheists? Not in OUR Army!

The United States Army accepted Blacks, Jews, Muslims, women, and even gays, but apparently being an Atheist isn't allowed. Army Spc. Jeremy Hall's unblemished service record, his two tours of duty in Iraq, and his unquestioned patriotism meant nothing. So severe was the discrimination and harassment against Hall, who became an Atheist while serving in Iraq, that the Army had to assign a full-time bodyguard to protect Hall from his fellow soldiers!

The Intolerance Meme is one of the tricks that religion evolved to further its goals. (What's a meme?) The concept, which arose a few hundred years after Moses, and justified in great detail in Deuteronomy, says that not only is your religion right, but that all other religions are wrong, and furthermore, that because they violate God's commandments, you can persecute, torture or even kill those who don't share your particular brand of religion. (See, for example, Deuteronomy 7)

It would be nice to think that Hall's experience is the exception, that most of the US Army's soldiers who believe in Jehovah/Yahweh/Allah/God have a more modern, tolerant attitude toward their fellow humans. Especially when that fellow soldier has proved his patriotism and courage by deed, not just by talk. But sadly, such is not the case. The Intolerance Meme is still alive and well, and is still an integral part of Christianity in America and our military. The persecution against Hall was so severe and pervasive that the Army had to send him home for his own protection. Instead of fighting in Iraq, he had to serve out his tour of duty in Kansas.

These intolerant soldiers should should be forced, each and every one, to read the words of the main author of the United States Constitution:

I never told my religion nor scrutinized that of another. I never attempted to make a convert nor wished to change another's creed. I have judged of others' religion by their lives, for it is from our lives and not from our words that our religion must be read. By the same test must the world judge me.
– Thomas Jefferson